Who remembers the days of the original Halo trilogy where new announcements like the Elephant, Forge, Theater, The Spartan Laser, Bubble Shields and High Ground were fresh, new, innovative and pushing the genre in new unexplored directions for the genre? The days where Halo pioneered modern multiplayer. It seems like those days are gone.
CoD is losing popularity quickly thanks to how repetitive it’s getting. Countless people hate the MW3 multiplayer, and it seems like Black Op’s 2 will make things even worse for the series. This is a fantastic opportunity for all competing IP’s. 343i however, rather than capitalising on this and making Halo once again stand out in the genre, 343i are doing a Reach and moving even further away from the original trilogy and pushing it down the gritty road of military shooters, copying a tired forumula and making Halo suffer as a result.
It’s absolutely shameful.
> Both of the maps we’ve seen are closer to Reach’s absolutely horrible aesthetic. We’re seeing maps which are gritty like Countdown and Boneyard rather than clean, colourful maps like Sandtrap and Epitaph
> Where the -Yoink- did the Science Fiction go? The Spartans are yet again being ruined in the Halo universe. The Spartan IV’s are just regular guys in suits, what the -Yoink- is interesting about that? Why not focus on the Forerunners, The Covenant, The Flood? All of the intrigue in the Halo universe is weathering away. Will we see the Hunters again, is all of the cool stuff in the universe just being abandoned? It’s absolutely tragic.
> We’re losing the balance of the Halo universe. Something that fundamentally makes Halo is how even it is, everyone starts on the same level. Now with level progression, loadouts, weapon modifications, RANDOM WEAPON PLACEMENT??? and all that -Yoink- we’re essentially losing what made competitive multiplayer so excelent.
I want this trilogy to be good. I want it so badly to be good, yet I get the impression we’re going to be the Star Wars fans of the last decade. We’ll be forced to watch sadly as our beloved IP gets destroyed. We’re the old guard, they’re catering to the new, young and scrappy generation. There’s nothing we can do about it 
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Despite Spartan Op’s having an atrocious setting. It’s great that they’re expanding on the campaign.
Drop in/Drop out is a fabulous move.
If you limit the progression system to social multiplayer, and keep competitive Halo intact, that’d fix so many issues.
Please, despite all of this. Do not fail us on CGB + Dedicated Servers.