343,
I want to first say that I applaud your efforts to provide such great fan-service with the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Halo is my favorite game series; a sentiment shared by most of the loyal gamers on these forums. I have anticipated and gladly opened my wallet for every single Halo release, and I have not been disappointed… until now. When I first heard about the release of The Master Chief Collection, I was thrilled at the prospect to relive some of the great moments I had playing through the various Halo titles. However, it seems that my excitement was misplaced. I come here not to fuel the fires of negativity, but to implore you to make this a game worthy of the Halo name.
I won’t regurgitate the issues of multiplayer that most people are facing. While I am encouraged that you are taking steps to correct this, it is simply not enough. Matchmaking has been an integral part of the series ever since the release of the first Halo. Therefore, it is unacceptable that people continue to have these problems several months after release.
Due in part to these lingering matchmaking issues, my friends and I have been patiently biding our time by playing the various campaigns. Unfortunately, this has become a wholly disheartening experience. Most nights when we try to launch a level in co-op, it rudely reverts us back to the main menu. After 10-15 tries, we may eventually be successful in launching a mission. However, the problems don’t end there. Just last night, my friend and I were attempting to beat the Halo 2 level Regret on Legendary. After making our way through the entire level, we started the last sequence of attempting to kill the prophet. After a few attempts, our game simply froze and returned us, once again, to the main menu. We were disheartened to say the least. This had not been the first time this occurred while playing through the Master Chief Collection, and we knew it probably wouldn’t be the last. Instead of getting back in there and trying again, we left and moved on to other games.
If you instinctively feel this to be a connectivity/network issue, I will stop you right there. In all the years I have been playing with my friend online (approximately 8), neither of us can recall having a single connection problem when it came to any other Halo title. These types of issues are prevalent every night while playing The Master Chief collection. It has come to the point where we don’t even want to play until these glaring issues in the game are fixed. Disconcertingly, we see a new wealth of hype arriving for Halo 5 while The Master Chief Collection is seemingly swept under the rug. I know that any loyal Halo fan would gladly bear a delay for Halo 5 if it meant making this a game worthy of Chief. We all know that 343 has an insane passion for Halo; that is something we all share. What I also know is that passion is not enough when making a great game. We see the love that you have for Halo upon release of a game, but ultimately, the game has to work in its’ intended way. Whenever someone asks me what makes Halo so great, I don’t solely tell them its the story, but that it’s also a great game from a technical standpoint. The first Halo was so refreshing, in part, because of the passion that made itself apparent through the refinement of the overall experience. This does not show in a game like The Master Chief Collection.
Normally I am not very active on the forums when it comes to issues such as these, but in this case I felt like I had to vocalize my concerns. Even if this post is unrecognized and disregarded, I know that I at least tried to fight for the game that should have been released. I bring these concerns in the hope that this game can eventually pay proper homage to the legacy of Halo. As of now, the Master Chief Collection is not a game worthy of the Halo name. It is not a game worthy of Chief.