I thought the campaign was great - 9/10
I started playing halo CE as a kid and have been a huge halo fan since. In the past ~20 years I’ve been disappointed by alot of halo media (games, books, ect…) but not by this game.
I love how 343 decided to stop evolving the game. Instead of continuing down the path that was set by Halo 4 and 5, they obviously took a step back, looked and all the games since CE and tried to take the best aspects of each. And it’s great.
The artwork and music is incredible 9.5/10. So many times I found myself just staring at the environment, the animal, the in-level details and appreciating them greatly. I wish there were more included epic moments to play the classic Halo jams over. And larger fauna like teased in the engine trailer (Moa’s, space Bisson, ect)
There are so many reference to previous games and books that also make the game incredibly immervie for someone like me, in a way I have not experienced in a game befor. Little detailes like the shape of a room I will remember from halo 1, or a hologram from halo 3, a name of a character from a book, or popular glitch from halo 2 obviously implemented intentionally. I really feel like the game offers alot to a hardcore fan… But at the same time, I worry that the average consume won’t recognize/appreciate these historic details and will fail to gain the extra enjoyment that they offer.
I would recommend that anyone who is interested in playing this game, to play through the first 3 games, read halo fall of reach (great book btw), the forerunner trilogy (not totally necessary but recommend), and Ghost of Onyx + Glasslands (somehow, I found the myself thinking of GoO+Glasslands while exploring the beautiful and alive ancient alien world)
I can’t speak highly enough of the art, music and story in this game. 9/10
There is ALOT in this game… but feel like it needs another couple levels round things out.
Gameplay was very fun. I was worried about the open world and grapple being “not halo”, but they were implemented very well and contributed alot of fun. 9/10
Stability, UI, and engineering. The game is fairly solid. The Cyber Punk team should be taking notes from 343. There’s some hate in the formes about stability but IMO it’s nearly as good as any Assassin’s Creed or GTA. Especially considering halo has never been an open world game and this is 343’s first try at it.
I pushed the boundaries pretty hard and got stuck a couple time… but hey, same as any Halo/non Halo game befor it. There were times when the music sort of came in unexpectedly, or finished what felt like too soon though. 8/10
I loved the game and I’m thankful for what 343 did with it. I’m excited to see what comes next!