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How can Halo have its day in the sun again?
- Thread starter cormack12
- Start date
SatansReverence
Hipster Princess
You might have missed it, but that was the joke.
Shut0wen
Member
Yeah infintes campaign is pretty under rated tbh, open world sections work really well, only critism is how much its kinda like far cry and the spammy mini bosses
nush
Member
Way back in the day I was working on branded licensed products, one of those being Halo 4 so it must have been about 2012 I guess. I'm in this big board meeting and there's a once removed 343i lacky in there to approve and sign off on stuff.
So he's huffing his own farts and comes out with this statement (That since then I've also read interviews with 343i staff saying the exact same thing) "What we want for Halo is for it to become a cultural touchstone like Harry Potter or Star Wars". I kept quiet, probably raised an eyebrow at most because we want the license because that's the business.
Internally I'm thinking 'You guys are fucking insane you can't be a cultural touchstone without an ensemble cast that's relatable to many demographics. You've got space soldier that rarely speaks and hologram girl with her tits out and your current audience is gamer bros".
Ten years later....
Corpsepyre
Banned
A complete overhaul from the ground up, with a very story-heavy direction, memorable characters, mechanics you don't expect in a Halo game, and solid as fuck art direction and presentation. Take warranted risks and they'll pay off.
Spyxos
Gold Member
It used to be the game, me and my friends played, but there hasn't been a really good Halo for far too long. Even if a 10/10 Halo came out now I don't think it would have the impact it used to. You would have to reboot it completely now.
I still haven't played through Halo Infinite, even though I've tried it several times.
And the series didn't exactly help.
I still haven't played through Halo Infinite, even though I've tried it several times.
And the series didn't exactly help.
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ProgenitorCastle
Banned
Halo Ico game
You've heard it here first
You've heard it here first
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
No. Just no.
Go PvE big time as end game to campaign and DLC often with real story full studio dedicated to the levels of Apex or Fortnite.
Separate arena and esports to the hardcore from MCC/splinter online engines already in use and go full open source with the community and mods, batshit open. That is the esports pipeline to with its own team and goals.
New multiplayer as Battle Royale and splinters off the same open world and interfaces as PvE e.g. Destiny hubs. LFG is part of the hubs directly in game. Loot is a huge part but rare loot you have to explore (PvE) or fight for (PvP). Both as valid as each other.
AI driven by Azure should feature heavily in the open world. Beat bosses, craft/repair tech and vehicles, have AI take and lose control on maps and regions of space. Use the Nylund action and Spartan's lore mixed with the hard sci-fi of Bear's books while driving cutscenes from Blur Studios.
Get it down like COD/WoW/Destiny/Sea of Thieves clockwork and punk away. Create reasons to go out in a team of 3 or 4 or 6 and explore/find interesting places, enemies, mysteries and loot.
Great maps, weapons, exploration and stories with action being the forefront. It was never rocket science. 343 had the roadmap, resources and freedom but made poor leadership choices with little vision.
And by the prohpets being back persistent ranks, clan battles tied to open world regions and let Forgers craftbin that single shared universe at their bases too for PvP.
Havoc2049
Member
Go back to an origin-fist contact story. Start out with the Master Chief and Blue Team fighting insurrectionists and when the Covenant first started invading the outer colonies. Flesh out Blue Team this time so that players care about the characters, as they did a shitty job in Halo 5. Make it M rated and dark/mysterious with a heavy ONI presence.
CuNi
Member
I didn't pick any of the proposed Lore-changes, since IMHO all they should really do is throw away everything 343i did with the story and start fresh where H3 left off.
It's not a perfect story, but it was solid, somewhat consistent and actually had a start and a finish.
343i's story didn't feel like it had any idea where it was going towards to, but instead focused on "how can we get rid of all the characters that people got attached too from Bungies story"
Especially how they handled Cortana is just shameful and reeks of spite. This only culminated in her being off'ed off-screen.
In my head-canon, Halo's story hasn't continued since the H3 Legendary ending, and I will refuse to acknowledge any existence of H4, H5 and especially Infinite.
It's not a perfect story, but it was solid, somewhat consistent and actually had a start and a finish.
343i's story didn't feel like it had any idea where it was going towards to, but instead focused on "how can we get rid of all the characters that people got attached too from Bungies story"
Especially how they handled Cortana is just shameful and reeks of spite. This only culminated in her being off'ed off-screen.
In my head-canon, Halo's story hasn't continued since the H3 Legendary ending, and I will refuse to acknowledge any existence of H4, H5 and especially Infinite.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman
leads to fear. Fear leads to xbox.
043 studios making a good Halo game for once in their existence
VAVA Mk2
Member
They are all gone now. News broke yesterday Frank is finally gone and likely terminated.Get rid of Wolfkill, O'Connor and Ross.
Probably needs a full reboot. Halo 1-3 were great, with really enjoyable co-op many great days sat in a living room with friends gathered round blasting through a well paced campaign.
I don’t know what infinite was trying to be. It just felt shallow and forgettable. Blasted through the campaign in a long weekend, and I honestly can’t really remember any of it. I was hoping for some epic space opera, as it’s grandiose name, budget and long dev cycle suggested, but the whole thing was just “meh”, like a forgettable short AA weekend filler game; that if wasn’t in games pass you’d expect to see for £30. Big budget indie, but lacking soul.
I don’t know what infinite was trying to be. It just felt shallow and forgettable. Blasted through the campaign in a long weekend, and I honestly can’t really remember any of it. I was hoping for some epic space opera, as it’s grandiose name, budget and long dev cycle suggested, but the whole thing was just “meh”, like a forgettable short AA weekend filler game; that if wasn’t in games pass you’d expect to see for £30. Big budget indie, but lacking soul.
nightmare-slain
Member
I really enjoyed Infinite and thought it had potential to last a long time but obviously Microsoft/343 have no fucking clue what they are doing. They could still get away with giving it some story expansions but again they are seemingly incompetent so I wouldn't trust them.
Microsoft needs to gut out 343 from top to bottom. Add Halo 5 and Infinite to the MCC. If you own Infinite but not MCC then you get MCC for free. That's the end of the Bungie/343 era and if you want to play those games then go play MCC.
At that point scrap Halo completely, put it on hold for 10+ years, OR announce a complete reboot of the series. Make the game a live service title like Destiny 2 where it's going to last 5-10 years and get regular story expansions. I thought that's what they were going to do with Infinite but apparently not.
The main thing is that Microsoft need to sort out 343 or give it to a new studio. Until they get people in that know what they are doing then there's no point doing anything new. If Microsoft feels they can't get a competent studio to make a new game then just fucking kill Halo off.
Microsoft needs to gut out 343 from top to bottom. Add Halo 5 and Infinite to the MCC. If you own Infinite but not MCC then you get MCC for free. That's the end of the Bungie/343 era and if you want to play those games then go play MCC.
At that point scrap Halo completely, put it on hold for 10+ years, OR announce a complete reboot of the series. Make the game a live service title like Destiny 2 where it's going to last 5-10 years and get regular story expansions. I thought that's what they were going to do with Infinite but apparently not.
The main thing is that Microsoft need to sort out 343 or give it to a new studio. Until they get people in that know what they are doing then there's no point doing anything new. If Microsoft feels they can't get a competent studio to make a new game then just fucking kill Halo off.
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DEAD ORIGINAL
Member
Great linear campaign like Halo 1 with Co Op, kill the chief replace him with 2 new Spartans voiced by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, they go to a new evil ring/Planet which is a threat to the end of Earth, have 8 to 10 amazing levels with funny weird new enemies with great weapons and vehicles skippable cuts scenes.
Multiplayer just Remake Halo 2 multiplayer with the level 1 to 50 rank system.
Multiplayer just Remake Halo 2 multiplayer with the level 1 to 50 rank system.
There was nothing like Halo on PC or console when CE came out.
Trogdor1123
Gold Member
Was the new halo actually bad or just different?
-Zelda-
Banned
Alex, I'll take "Things that I want, but will never happen in a million years, so I am stupid for bringing it up" category for 1000: Port/remaster all the Halo games to Sony consoles. Not sure what that would do for sales and interest, but that's my completely unrealistic desire in general.
Shut0wen
Member
Thank god, literally ruined halo imo, not sure why ms even gave him full control of an ip
Honey Bunny
Member
Removing the holograms titties and making the soldier speak didn't seem to help.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Will never be the same as the 2000s.
Times have changed in gaming.
The last time sci-fi jet pack jumping red/blue arena shooters were the games to get were in the 2000s. And skewed to the earlier half of that decade since WWII and modern warfare kinds of games already took over back half of 2000s.
If Doom, Quake and Unreal isn't relevant in modern day gaming, Halo wont either. Although Doom does come out with games still. Quake and Unreal literally disappeared.
Times have changed in gaming.
The last time sci-fi jet pack jumping red/blue arena shooters were the games to get were in the 2000s. And skewed to the earlier half of that decade since WWII and modern warfare kinds of games already took over back half of 2000s.
If Doom, Quake and Unreal isn't relevant in modern day gaming, Halo wont either. Although Doom does come out with games still. Quake and Unreal literally disappeared.
IFireflyl
Gold Member
James Sawyer Ford
Member
It needs a complete GoW style Reboot that focuses on mystery/intrigue rather than saturday morning cartoon exposition.
So much potential to turn Halo into an open world exploration/traversal/shooter RPG almost.
Go study a Zelda game on story instead of the campy hollywood action movies they seem to want to emulate
So much potential to turn Halo into an open world exploration/traversal/shooter RPG almost.
Go study a Zelda game on story instead of the campy hollywood action movies they seem to want to emulate
Madserb2023
Member
Halo needs to go back to its roots a bit like Capcom did with the Resident Evil franchise. The worst thing you can do is make a worse version of what the current trend is. A good game is a good game and they need to just make the very best possible Halo game not Call Of Duty Warzone with a Halo skin.
intbal
Member
-Split Halo single player and Halo multiplayer into separate products, designed by completely different teams with zero overlap (except for the concept artists).
-Release the single player game exclusively on console for six months before the PC release. Release the multiplayer game exclusively on PC for six months before the console release.
-Sell it on a physical disc that actually includes a full and playable copy of the final game (except for PC and Series S version, I suppose).
-Release the single player game exclusively on console for six months before the PC release. Release the multiplayer game exclusively on PC for six months before the console release.
-Sell it on a physical disc that actually includes a full and playable copy of the final game (except for PC and Series S version, I suppose).
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Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
It'd be a good way to just not have to make a game fit into a particular timeline, or you could even see a part of one of the previous games from a different perspective. You could do a story which is driven by a personal goals rather than orders from the military or massive aims like saving all of humanity. You could be a soldier trying to make sure your family gets evacuated when the covenant invade your city, or any other thing.
And it could all fit into one game. No cliff hanger, no prior knowledge needed. No (and if I'm honest here) baffling characters who don't really make any sense.
I honestly think they could come up with a better experience by using the rules of halo - the weapon set, the armour, the enemy types, the movement style and getting rid of everything else.
The Tourmaline Gorilla
Banned
A reboot, of sorts, is what Halo needs. First and foremost, it needs a creative director that is deeply/immensely passionate about it, its story, its gameplay and its legend. That person has to know what a good idea is, and must be able to lead management in such a way that teams maximise time, quality output, budget and ultimately efficiency.
It doesn't need a hard reboot, per say, but it definitely needs some time away from the gaming scene, so that whey it returns it feels fresh/novel. But it must also play fresh/novel. Obviously, you don't remove what already works, and Halo still has a fair bit going for it, that works extremely well - that's the gunplay, general gameplay and basic story (Super soldier saving mankind from crazy aliens). But it definitely needs more. By that I mean, while you're a super soldier, you never actually feel like one. Because your enemies are almost as large (or larger) and as strong as you, you never my feel powerful fighting them. At least, not nearly as powerful as how that power is showcased in movies and TV (if it's one thing the the Halo TV show nailed was showing off how powerful Spartans are).
With this, you have to be careful because while you want to portray the Chief as being a serious force of power, you don't want to turn the game into something else. You don't want it to feel like Infamous, Prototype or even Crysis. You want to retain the "feel" of Halo, but you'll need more than just the run and gun approach that Halo used for years. The introduction of the grappling hook was a great way of adding more dynamics to the gameplay, but I believe there's still a whole lot more that can be done. It will take some experimentation, but that's what time in the incubator is for.
Halo still has an extremely large, almost religious fanbase, and a lot of people are still rooting for it. People want to see Halo be great again, and with the right person or people in charge, it most definitely can be.
It doesn't need a hard reboot, per say, but it definitely needs some time away from the gaming scene, so that whey it returns it feels fresh/novel. But it must also play fresh/novel. Obviously, you don't remove what already works, and Halo still has a fair bit going for it, that works extremely well - that's the gunplay, general gameplay and basic story (Super soldier saving mankind from crazy aliens). But it definitely needs more. By that I mean, while you're a super soldier, you never actually feel like one. Because your enemies are almost as large (or larger) and as strong as you, you never my feel powerful fighting them. At least, not nearly as powerful as how that power is showcased in movies and TV (if it's one thing the the Halo TV show nailed was showing off how powerful Spartans are).
With this, you have to be careful because while you want to portray the Chief as being a serious force of power, you don't want to turn the game into something else. You don't want it to feel like Infamous, Prototype or even Crysis. You want to retain the "feel" of Halo, but you'll need more than just the run and gun approach that Halo used for years. The introduction of the grappling hook was a great way of adding more dynamics to the gameplay, but I believe there's still a whole lot more that can be done. It will take some experimentation, but that's what time in the incubator is for.
Halo still has an extremely large, almost religious fanbase, and a lot of people are still rooting for it. People want to see Halo be great again, and with the right person or people in charge, it most definitely can be.
Urban
Member
+ they lost a whole generation of gamers.
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Former 343 Dev that got fired on REEE kinda having a meltdown in the Halo reboot thread but claims the "best is yet to come" (we've heard that before?)
His name is LastNac
His name is LastNac
EverydayBeast
thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Halo knocks in sales, what an effort by 343 with infinite it was nearly perfect the fobs, the grappling hook, the best enemies and villains in the franchise etc. master chief became more interesting.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
A strong, very well made campaign with plenty of new wrinkles. Not the same old shit.
CircusOfValues
Banned
Activate a halo and put both the series and ourselves out of our misery.
Fbh
Member
Single player:
Some sort of soft reboot. Begin a new saga, do something like GOW2018 in that there's extra context for people who played the originals but make it so it works as a standalone story for people who didn't play the old ones (not to mention didn't read the book or extended universe...which is 99% of the audience).
Multiplayer:
I honestly don't know. Seems like people just no longer care about the classic Halo experience but at the same time turning it into a Battle Royale or DMZ would kill what makes Halo unique.
The GaaS approach wasn't wrong IMO but they need to treat it as a proper flagship franchise and give it proper support
Some sort of soft reboot. Begin a new saga, do something like GOW2018 in that there's extra context for people who played the originals but make it so it works as a standalone story for people who didn't play the old ones (not to mention didn't read the book or extended universe...which is 99% of the audience).
Multiplayer:
I honestly don't know. Seems like people just no longer care about the classic Halo experience but at the same time turning it into a Battle Royale or DMZ would kill what makes Halo unique.
The GaaS approach wasn't wrong IMO but they need to treat it as a proper flagship franchise and give it proper support
LaughingStock
Member
Just create something new.
SteelCurtain 59
Member
So I don't think Halo can get back to the level of popularity it had during peak Halo 2/3, even COD doesn't have the level of cultural impact it used to. But I do think Halo can regain it's status as the best FPS franchise (in terms of quality, not beating COD in sales)
For multiplayer I'll probably be in the minority, but get rid of all the crazy movement abilities/sprint/ADS and go back to what made Halo great, focus on gunplay, and level design, as far as I'm concerned there hasn't been a great new map in Halo since 3, they haven't been all bad or anything, but nothing special, oh and have more than 5 maps in the entire game for over a year. Like maps are arguably the most important aspect of an FPS and not only was there basically no maps, none of them were anything special either.
As for campaign, I actually liked the open world change for 1 game, but going forward I'd prefer them to go back to a more linear approach, every game in the world seems to have decided to have open worlds with tons of filler as opposed to a great ~ 8-20 hour linear game. There needs to be both, not just massive open worlds where 2/3 of the quests are just there to pad time.
Story-wise I honestly don't have a preference, they could completely reboot or continue right where Infinite left off. Really the only thing I care about is Master Chief being in it, and Cortana (or Weapon) being in it, and preferably focus on the Elite/Brute/Flood enemies as opposed to the Promethean ones
For multiplayer I'll probably be in the minority, but get rid of all the crazy movement abilities/sprint/ADS and go back to what made Halo great, focus on gunplay, and level design, as far as I'm concerned there hasn't been a great new map in Halo since 3, they haven't been all bad or anything, but nothing special, oh and have more than 5 maps in the entire game for over a year. Like maps are arguably the most important aspect of an FPS and not only was there basically no maps, none of them were anything special either.
As for campaign, I actually liked the open world change for 1 game, but going forward I'd prefer them to go back to a more linear approach, every game in the world seems to have decided to have open worlds with tons of filler as opposed to a great ~ 8-20 hour linear game. There needs to be both, not just massive open worlds where 2/3 of the quests are just there to pad time.
Story-wise I honestly don't have a preference, they could completely reboot or continue right where Infinite left off. Really the only thing I care about is Master Chief being in it, and Cortana (or Weapon) being in it, and preferably focus on the Elite/Brute/Flood enemies as opposed to the Promethean ones
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