Today, I went and utilized the 20 years of xbox digital museum and it was quite an experience, neat little bit of fun going through memory lane. What really got me was the Halo museum, going through that particular component of the site was especially emotional for this reason. Almost all of my significant happenings have been around Halo launches, I’ve met some of the best friends one could ever meet, from playing Halo 2 matches in school during lunch periods, my time in the military, all the bad days coming home and killing alien bastards on a giant hula hoop, the experience, the life happenings that surround this game could honestly be why why I’m the person I am today, not a bad life. The sheer impact Halo has had on people cannot be overstated, I’m sure that many of you may have similar stories. Halo moves mountains whenever it enters the world, in one way or another a mark is left.
Now, why am I posting a sap story? What does this have to do with Infinite? Well, I’ll tell you. When Halo 5 came out and I saw the beginnings of Halo moving slowly towards that type of , not sure if this is the right term for it, “looter shooter” like so many other games are transitioning to. I felt it in my gut that Halo was going down a road that it would never return from the same way ever again. With the whole lootbox scandal that occurred when Star Wars Battlefront 2 crossed that line I was shocked, like, how could a developer/Publisher take advantage of their community and customers in such a distasteful way(I get it, it’s EA). Halo 5 to me, while it didn’t cross a line left a unsatisfied feeling in me, the story was of questionable quality(I still don’t know where on the scale I would rate it) and the multiplayer was just a grind. There was little satisfaction in playing matches or even for that matter, playing the campaign, it felt so disconnected. I hoped with Halo Infinite we would be getting a breath of fresh air for the series but alas, after what I have observed, I am worried.
Halo Infinite’s beta has launched and to my horror, I find that it’s everything Halo 5 was, but worse. Now, I’m not talking about balancing or ranks, or anything gameplay related, I leave those concerns to my fellow community members. What I am concerned and overall horrified at is the sheer anti-consumer behavior that this game has shown itself to possess. To say I have to grind the game to get any return on the experience would not be enough to convey how I feel playing the game. I feel like what I do does not matter, from how many matches I play to how well I play, I could be cleaning house in a match and it still doesn’t matter. I feel like my time is not valued. Though the game doesn’t throw a store ad in my face every time I launch the game or change menus it does a great job at telling me that I can just give them money and save myself the trench-warfare slog. From the way the game is setup based on my observations, Halo has made the transition to a full fledged looter shooter and that makes me sad. To me, these games supplement or even on occasions replace quality experiences with shiny objects to distract players from the reality of the game. Maybe this is just where the industry as a whole is going and to try to reverse this course would be like trying to steer the titanic away from the iceberg. maybe Halo isn’t for the likes of me anymore, who knows.
My plea to you, 343… I ask two simple things of you, please, remember the legacy of what you have inherited and have committed your works to carrying forward and please stand by whatever decisions you make. If this is where you want to take Halo, so be it, but I hope you’ll defend that ground till the end. Don’t be like those other companies that have blatantly said whether by voice or by actions, eff our fans and our customers(looking at you, Sledgehammer, The Coalition, DICE)
Thank you all for taking the time to read my wall, I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and have a wonderful Christmas season, Aloha!