Can Halo Get Back to Its Roots?

Games Other Halo
1

Now I’m not here to say that Halo needs to be exactly like CE, but this game has fundamentally changed too much over the last two games. So much so that what most of us loved about it has been lost.

I feel that the mistakes that Bungie made with Reach will forever tarnish this great game, and saying that hurts me but it is true. Introducing AA’s into the franchise though made since in Reach because of the Spartan 3’s. They were designed to have cheaper armor and enhancements, expendable, and sent to suicide missions. AA’s were created for their short-comings.

Evade was used to bring extra mobility because of the loss in strafing speed. Sprint was used to make the player faster because of a slower movement speed.
Jetpack was used to bring height advantage that was lost from decreased jump height. The list goes on, but this should have ended with Reach.

Why this was brought back in Halo 4 confuses me. The base movement, speed, and jump height have all been restored to how they were in Halo 2/3, but for some reason AA’s stayed. Which is nothing more than a plight on this game.

What I am getting down to is that there have been things added to this franchise that do not fit. Speaking of course of Loadouts, Ordinance Drops, and AA’s. I cannot understand why 343, a new company trying to make their mark, copied the last Halo game. This was there chance to bring it back to how it should of been. Instead of being a direct sequel to Halo 3, it was a sequel to Reach. A game whose MP was not accepted by a large part of the community.

343 had a chance to make Halo 4 their game, and instead they just copied Reach. So I beg you 343, from the heart of a Halo fan, to bring back what made Halo fun and unique. Okay? We love this game because of its innovations, because of what it did for gaming.

Halo CE refined what a console FPS should be. Halo 2 made Live what it is today, integrated friends list and chat, being able to board vehicles and dual-wielding. Halo 3 simply refined it further and made significant enhancements to Live, equipment was a hit and miss.

But in all those games the gameplay fundamentally stayed true to what made Halo awesome. It didn’t copy other games, it stood by itself and was a guideline for other companies in making a great shooter. Please bring it back to its mantle of glory, and not being beat out in popularity by Minecraft.

2

After Halo Reach : Yes it could have , Halo Reach was a prequel

After Halo 4 : No, 343 dont care about the old Halo , they made it more generic to appeal to more people and result in more money. They’ll add whatever is selling and unfortunately at the moment CoD is selling.

This is referred to a a sellout

3

halo’s roots = guns, grenades, melee

Those roots are still intact today.

AA’s are fine, and you can argue one way or the other.

you can say they are a plight on the game, I could say they add an extra level of strategy to the game play.

4

> and not being beat out in popularity by Minecraft.

Implying Minecraft is a bad game and doesn’t deserve to mentioned with AAA games.

5

Hope so. Wished they sticked with the same formula as Halo 3 did, and just add other things.

6

> I feel that the mistakes that Bungie made with Reach will forever tarnish this great game, and saying that hurts me but it is true. Introducing AA’s into the franchise though made since in Reach because of the Spartan 3’s. They were designed to have cheaper armor and enhancements, expendable, and sent to suicide missions. AA’s were created for their short-comings.

You’re confusing SpartanIII’s and Noble Team with each other, and a bit of Headhunters.
Noble Team is made up of SII genetic capable Spartans. They’re not just SIII’s, they’re the best human-kind has to offer. Because of this, Noble is no more dispensable than any other SpartanII.
Also, Noble’s armour also wasn’t cheaper or required AA’s like SIII’s that did go on suicide missions. The armour worn by Noble was the prototype specialist suits that gathered data to create the streamlined suits worn by the Chief and his Spartans. Their mass produced and therefore cheaper armour was the culmination of Noble Team’s efforts AND the AA’s were in the locker rooms that got torpedoed by the Covenant when the Chief found Alpha Halo.
If you mean that Noble’s armour wasn’t as durable as the Chief’s, than I’d suspect you’re confusing the Mk.V armour with the Mk.VI armour, or don’t realise how similar in many traits that CE and Reach are.

> Halo CE refined what a console FPS should be. Halo 2 made Live what it is today, integrated friends list and chat, being able to board vehicles and dual-wielding. Halo 3 simply refined it further and made significant enhancements to Live, equipment was a hit and miss.
>
> But in all those games the gameplay fundamentally stayed true to what made Halo awesome.

I can’t help but notice that you go nonchalant on the H3 equipment but feel very adverse to H4’s AA’s while completely forgoing Reach (within that summary paragraph), even post-TU Reach with ZBNS. With setting changes in Reach, the abilities that MLG, other competitive players, recreational players and even casuals, have long used since HCE, Reach by your definition of Halo IS more Halo than H4. You can use the options post-TU to make Reach like H3 except for dualing and a burst-shot weapon.

You feel CE and H2 are fundamentally the same but Reach and H4 are not even close even though the only non-option H4 has in respect the other games for player traits is sprint. You feel the dualing of weapons changes little. You feel the removal of fall damage changes little. You feel the change in shield recharge rate changes little… Yet you feel those returned changes to Reach from H3 is a grand departure from the roots of Halo.
That really doesn’t compute and I think you need to reword (or rethink) some of those points.

> It didn’t copy other games, it stood by itself and was a guideline for other companies in making a great shooter.

You say the above but then say:

> Please bring it back to its mantle of glory, and not being beat out in popularity by Minecraft.

What does making a greater shooter have to teach other genres?
What does being a great shooter have to do with Minecraft’s popularity?

Your love for older Halo is admirable but to claim H4 is a direct copy of Reach when considering that when you remove AA’s from Reach you remove Sprint too, the options are there to allow for shielding recharge and fall damage to be at any rate the player chooses and that there are no playable Elites… I have to ask how much belief you have in your own words?

7

Halo 4 isnt even canon. DMR just magically appearing on Forward Unto Dawn? COME ON. THE DMR BREAKS THE GAME? AND NO FLOOD? Flood is a big part of halo. it being in reach was nice sort of but why have a gametype if its not even in the storymode? those are just a few things as well

8

I would say no, just because if the developers kept the games the same way since halo 2, I would have moved on to something else. Halo will have its hits and misses no matter what. And not everyone is going to be happy.

9

I believe this argument has been ended.

10

> halo’s roots = guns, grenades, melee
>
> Those roots are still intact today.
>
> AA’s are fine, and you can argue one way or the other.
>
> you can say they are a plight on the game, I could say they add an extra level of strategy to the game play.

halo’s roots= regenerative health, two guns, and domination of xbox live (in h2 of course).

the first three halo games added something that changed gaming forever

h1: mentioned prior
h2: two guns, xbox live, chat, clans, etc
h3: forge and theatre

11

> > and not being beat out in popularity by Minecraft.
>
> Implying Minecraft is a bad game and doesn’t deserve to mentioned with AAA games.

Implying a half-finished lego game made by one guy in Java is worth mentioning with Halo

12

IMO Halo should continue with Halo 4’s new direction, but remake Halo 2 FULLY with a remade classic multiplayer (unlike CEA) on the new Xbox to satisfy the longtime Halo fans, bring new fans up-to-date, and as fan service. It would bring in some big bucks, too.

13

Halo “roots” do not exist. This definition changes from each player and really, it’s only used selectively by players to support what individual changes each Halo game that they support. Health was in CE, yet you would find people saying that no health is part of Halos “roots”.

14

Apart from the title of this thread, ive not read a single line of test. So please forgive me if you think Isould have.
The roots of a game is beginning of the trunk, which BRANCHES off in sorts of directions, producing various kinds of fruit. I kinda like variety. So I like every halo since CE. Sure I would have liked one more than another, but the varity has more than added to taste to satisfy my appitate.

I am not as think as you drunk I am, So I hope this at least sparks a desire for change in the halo community.

Ok Im trolling. But id rather talk to you than anyone at the moment.

15

> Halo “roots” do not exist. This definition changes from each player and really, it’s only used selectively by players to support what individual changes each Halo game that they support. Health was in CE, yet you would find people saying that no health is part of Halos “roots”.

Thats because the armor got better. The same goes for why you didnt see the dmr in halo’s ce-3 (and shouldnt have seen it in 4), the guns got better (BR). Why 343i programed the dmr to be the better rifle or even in the game at all is beyond me.

Speaking of which, the armor got worse from halo 3 to halo 4. In halo 3 your armor could take fall damage, and shields recharged faster. This is not the case with halo 4. 343i says its to make it “canon”. I say its “Halo: Combat Devolved”.

16

I might have agreed with you except minecraft is awesome so therefore the rest of your argument must be inherintly flawed.

17

> > halo’s roots = guns, grenades, melee
> >
> > Those roots are still intact today.
> >
> > AA’s are fine, and you can argue one way or the other.
> >
> > you can say they are a plight on the game, I could say they add an extra level of strategy to the game play.
>
> halo’s roots= regenerative health, two guns, and domination of xbox live (in h2 of course).
>
> the first three halo games added something that changed gaming forever
>
> h1: mentioned prior
> h2: two guns, xbox live, chat, clans, etc
> h3: forge and theatre

halos roots are not regenerative health, two guns and domination of xbox live. It’s always been guns, grenades, melee and anyone who’s played every halo knows that.

What halo CE added that changed gaming forever was an FPS with vehicular game play.

halo 2 did nothing that changed online gaming forever.

halo 3 did nothing that changed online gaming forever.

reach did nothing that changed online gaming forever.

halo 4 did nothing that changed online gaming forever.

fps clans were around long before xbox live even started, map editors were around for fps games long before forge, theater was around long before halo did it.

18

THEY JUST NEED AT LEAST 1 CLASSIC PLAYLIST IN EACH NEW HALO THEY MAKE

The guys pulling the strings wont stop what they’re doing I can assure you but the least they can do is add in 1 SINGLE -Yoinking!- CLASSIC playlist to ENSURE THEY NEVER HAVE A “HALO ISN’T “HALO” PROBLEM AGAIN!!”

19

RX has solved the problem.

I say 5 or 6 per team, so we can get a variety of maps. Sprint disabled. Combo slayer and CLASSIC ctf gametypes. Some BR starts and some AR starts for variety. They could even have a no sprint/custom loadout gametype with magnum secondary and frags to replace plasma/Boltshot spammers if they need something to please the newbs in every playlist.

20

> RX has solved the problem.
>
> I say 5 or 6 per team, so we can get a variety of maps. Sprint disabled. Combo slayer and CLASSIC ctf gametypes. Some BR starts and some AR starts for variety. <mark>They could even have a no sprint/custom loadout gametype with magnum secondary and frags to replace plasma/Boltshot spammers if they need something to please the newbs in every playlist.</mark>

Could…no… everyone should be entitled to a classic playlist