You can now play the original Halo in your browser, 128-player multiplayer included

Halo: Combat Evolved can now be played in a web browser, featuring its complete single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode for up to 128 players. This achievement comes shortly after developers decompiled the 2001 shooter, providing a new foundation for adaptations and technical explorations. Mitchell Hynes developed the web-based version, which operates a port of the original game within a standard web browser instead of a console or traditional PC setup.

The campaign portion appears to be the more stable aspect of the project, running smoothly in Google Chrome and maintaining fidelity to the original Xbox release. Hynes adapted the Duke controller's controls from the original Xbox to a mouse-and-keyboard configuration, enabling the game to be played like a conventional PC shooter while retaining the original control logic.

This marks a significant departure for a game originally designed around fixed console hardware. The browser version's multiplayer mode is the more ambitious component of the project. Unlike the original game's split-screen play, local system-link sessions, and smaller multiplayer groups, the new multiplayer mode supports 128 players.

This demands a more extensive networking setup, with the game managing player movement, weapons, vehicles, and combat events across numerous connected clients. Early assessments suggest the multiplayer mode has been less dependable than the campaign. This development follows the recent decompilation of Halo: Combat Evolved, offering fresh opportunities for ports, performance enhancements, expanded modding tools, and modifications that were previously impossible through conventional fan patches.

The browser version exemplifies the potential when classic games become more adaptable for outside developers. Browser ports have gained popularity for older games in recent years, with examples like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the original Diablo, and Half-Life. These initiatives share the common goal of making older games accessible via modern hardware and software without requiring the platforms they originated on.

Other recent decompilation efforts, such as fully decompiling Super Mario Galaxy for PC and working on a PC release for the Nintendo DS title Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, are taking a similar direction. The legal standing of these projects remains unclear, as decompilation and fan ports can raise copyright concerns, particularly when involving full commercial games.

Microsoft, Nintendo, and Square Enix could potentially challenge projects based on their games, and the projects' continued availability is not assured.