Halo:Combat Evolved - Is it actually being Remade or Remastered ?

This is the question I've been asking myself for the last few weeks. It's no secret that Halo:Combat Evolved is regarded as the crown jewel in the Halo series. It's the game that started it all, the game that made us fall in love with the series. By the wider gaming community it has been accepted as one of the games that has set the standard for what a First Person Shooter should be on a console, along with the likes of Doom and GoldenEye.

Being listed with games of that stature shows you how good of a game Halo:CE was and to this day still is. But over the last few weeks, rumours have been circulating throughout the gaming world that Microsoft and 343 Industries have secretly been working on a remake of this classic game. This is no doubt down to the success that Sony has been having with their HD collections of some of their best games, like the SplinterCell and other HD collections that they have been making, which the names of have escaped me.

After witnessing the positive response to these HD remakes, it's only logical that Microsoft would consider this to be a viable option. Now Microsoft have been quoted as saying that they have no interest in following in Sonys example but recent reports would seem to prove otherwise.

Now you might think that any assclown could have started this rumour and just posted it on a forum somewhere, causing some unsuspecting forum visiter to see it as confirmation but that is not what seems to have happened. I was first made aware of this "rumour" when a friend of mine sent me this link from gamesradar, http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/xbox-360/news/halo-combat-evolved-remake-rumored-for-this-holiday/a-2011020410445223087/g-20060321132945404017

As you can see from the link above, it mentions that joystick.com claim to have confirmation of a Halo:CE remake to be released this holiday season, possibly exactly a decade after the original.
Here's the link http://www.joystiq.com/2011/02/04/halo-combat-evolved-hd/

But the interesting thing is, that this isn't simply a visual upgrade like the ones Sony have been doing, but in actual fact rebuilding the game with a more modern engine. It is said to be under the supervision of 343 Industries and being developed by Saber Interactive, the company behind Timeshift. It's stated that in this rebuilding, they are actually constructing all the game objects from scratch, yet keeping it faithful to the original.

Now, we all know that Halo:Combat Evolved never had the ability to be played online due to Xbox Live not being available for the launch of the Xbox V1. It simply had not been coded for use with Xbox Live. Now if this was simply Halo:CE in HD you would still have the same problem. However, what I pointed out earlier, with the use of a new engine, this means that it can and more than likely will be coded for use online. Reports of online multiplayer are still being worked out according to the joystick link, but suggests that online co-op is very likely.

Now to me a remake without any online features is pointless, but with the use of a new engine, leading to the re-coding of the game, I'm sure it'll have at least co-op. And if it has multiplayer and if they do justice to the original, I have no doubt that the Halo franchise is in good hands with 343 Industries.

If all of this goes well, I wouldn't be suprised if they do the same thing for Halo 2, after the cult following that it still has, after almost a year offline.

Personally, I hope that this is true and that it is done well. What do you guys and gals think ?