Though the original Halo received a PC release, it was only recently that the franchise returned to its roots. This past week, Halo: The Master Chief Collection owners on PC got a special treat when the platform received Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, an upgraded remake of the original game.
New players of the game might need to know of the classic hunt for 13 skulls hidden throughout the game's campaign missions. Collecting skulls unlock achievements and impact the gameplay with unique abilities. Skulls can only be found on the campaign levels and are collected by the player walking over them.
Iron Skull
The Iron Skull is the first skull players can find and is hidden in the back of the room during the mission "Pillar of Autumn." Once awakened from cryo-sleep, simply walk outside of the cryo-tank and make a right. Then walk towards the back of the room where there are some containers with purple-blue contents. The Iron Skull will be hidden on the floor behind these containers.
Collecting the Iron Skull will restart a level in the solo campaign or reload the last checkpoint in the co-op campaign when players die. Collecting this skull affects the game by punishing players upon death, forcing them to make careful decisions.
Mythic Skull
This skull is found on the level "Halo" and can be found right after Master Chief survives a crash landing. Players will notice a waterfall in the distance, opposite the direction of the main objective. After walking towards the waterfall, players will stumble upon a body of water with large boulders sticking out. The Mythic skull can be found behind the biggest and closest of the boulders, between itself and the cliff, in a shallow puddle of water.
This skull makes missions just a tad bit more difficult for players by increasing the enemy damage resistance. Covenant enemies have double the health, and all Sentinels have energy shields.
Boom Skull
The Boom Skull requires the player to use their Warthog to scale up a cliff. It is found on the level "Halo" on the ground behind a tree. This is just before entering the underground tunnel and is along the cliff edge to the player's right. It takes a while to find it and can be easily missed when driving the Warthog.
This skull doubles the damage radius and area of effect of all explosions. After collecting this skull, be aware of positioning because this applies to all explosions. Scripted explosions on levels such as "Pillar of Autumn" and "The Maw," explosive weapons, Grunt Funeral explosions, and Sentinel death explosions will all have their sizes increased.
Foreign Skull
The Foreign Skull is found on the level "Truth and Reconciliation" and is not only tricky to find but tricky to access. Players can find it behind sliding doors in the hangar bay. When killing off the enemies, stay to the far right of the hangar bay and be ready to go through the doors as soon as they open. If there are no enemies near these doors, they will shut and not open again. If timed right, the players will be allowed to walk inside and find the skull on the floor to the left.
Collecting this skull disables picking up enemy weapons. Without the ability to pick up enemy Covenant weapons, available ammo and weapons become very scarce to find, and the player can't use popular guns like the Needler.
Famine Skull
Found on the mission "The Silent Cartographer," the Famine Skull is on top of a small plateau at the beach. After getting off the Pelican at the beginning of the level, players need to turn in the opposite direction and walk until reaching a part of the beach where the land is raised. It is between the shore on the left and the cliff on the right. At the back of this raised land and closer to the ocean, there is a ramp going up its side. After scaling the ramp, passing a tree, and reaching the end of the plateau, the Foreign Skull can be found in the grass.
The Famine Skull has the effect of halving the ammo dropped by AI. Make sure to keep an eye on the ammo count!
Bandanna Skull
On the level "The Silent Cartographer," be sure to pick up an Overshield and a Plasma Grenade because a grenade jump or rocket launcher jump is required to get this skull. After entering the security building, walk down the hall that leads to the control room. On the left, there will be an open door that appears to have a platform in a dead-end or drop off. Grenade jump by jumping forward on top of a grenade about to explode and crouch. Try to use the explosion to gain the height and momentum necessary to land onto a structure to the left. Once on top of the structure, walk forward along a beam and you'll find the Bandanna Skull at the end.
Collecting this skull gives the player infinite ammo. However, they still need to reload.
Fog Skull
The Fog Skull is also going to require a grenade jump to reach. Before entering the canyon in the level "Assault on the Control Room," take the elevator down to the ground floor to find the skull on a raised platform surrounded by fog. To get to it, walk to the back end of the room and up the sloped wall. Aim a grenade jump to land onto another raised platform and jump into the space where the Fog skull is resting.
The Fog Skull disables the motion tracker. Players won't be able to detect any enemies around them and should be mindful of their surroundings.
Malfunction Skull
Also found on the "Assault on the Control Room" level, the Malfunction Skull is on one of the pipes sticking out in the vast underground room. Walking along the edge of the bottomless pit before they cross the bridge, players will see it resting at the end of a pipe. Simply make sure not to miss and fall into the hole itself!
The Malfunction Skull gives the effect of disabling random parts of the Player's HUD when they respawn. It could be anything, from the ammo count to the shield bar or even the health bar.
Recession Skull
In the mission "343 Guilty Spark," turn around immediately. Walk in the direction the Pelican is facing and then to the right. Walk along the water and in between some rocks until reaching a pair of trees connected by a vine. One tree is in the water, and the other is slightly raised on a hill. The Recession Skull is hidden behind that tree.
The Recession Skull makes it so that every shot is worth twice the ammo. This can quickly lead to an ammo drain, especially if players are careless during firefights.
Black Eye Skull
This skull is found in the back of a vent on the level "The Library." On the first floor at the start of this level, use a grenade jump into the squarish opening right before entering the door to the round yellow room. Use the flashlight and climb into the vent, the skull will be at the top.
The Black Eye Skull makes it so that the player's shield will not regenerate unless they melee attack an enemy. Players should be sure to keep an eye on that shield meter if they want to survive!
Eye Patch Skull
At the very end of "The Library" on the 4th floor, the skull is behind the vertical beam of light. Walk around the edges of the room to the back so as not to trigger the checkpoint. The skull is between two black rectangular containers.
Picking up this skull will disable all auto-aim features for weapons, increasing the player's chances of missing their shots.
Pinata Skull
The Pinata Skull is found during the mission "Two Betrayals." It will actually be directly above the exit to the underground tunnel from "Assault on the Control Room" on a snowy ledge. At the very end of "Two Betrayals," hijack one of the Banshees and use it to fly over to the top of this entrance. The Pinata Skull will be there on top of the entrance gate. This requires flying past the mission's objective.
This skull makes it so that melee attacking enemies makes them drop grenades. This makes the game's melee attacks a much riskier proposition.
Grunt Birthday Party Skull
Lastly, the Grunt Birthday Skull is found during "The Maw" and is located on a beam connected to the bridge. The Warthog needs to be used to climb up onto the beam. This is during the moment when Foehammer is shot down by enemy Banshees.
This skull's effect does no harm to the player unless they hate confetti bursting out of the Covenant Grunts they kill. With this one active, killing Grunts with a headshot causes their bodies to spray confetti.