I think Halo 4, as much as I loved it, tried to change too much too soon. It led to complaints that it was changed so much that it was too far from the original. Problem is if you don’t change enough, people will complain that its simply the same game as the previous one.
Getting this balance right is going to be key for Halo 5: Guardians I think
I think the issue in regards to change with H4 was not that it changed but that on the one hand it changed certain things for the complete opposite for no justifiable/good reason (and then even executed them in a poor way additionally) and on the other hand it didn’t change/improve at all in certain fields (which could have needed attention) and rather stagnated or even regressed in them.
Halo 4 (as a whole) did not appear to me as if there ever was a clear concept behind its design but rather that they had no time, invested not enough time or simply perhaps failed to manage it, had no real ideas, did no or hardly any studies, quickly and thoughtlessly copied from previous Halos as well as from other popular shooters and eventually screwed and clued that all together.
So, I think what they (343i) have to seriously figure out (for themselves) is what they actually want H5, and with it Halo as a game, really to be and then give it the attention, thought and time it needs.
That will be the key in my opinion.
I get the distinct impression that Halo 4 will be viewed as the really messy experiment that made Guardians arguably the best Halo title yet.
Halo 4 had a “throw in everything and the kitchen sink” feel to it. I think 343 tried as many concept as possible without much consideration on purpose. To see which might have a future in the franchise.
Look at the facts: Halo 4 was end-console game that has reached the boundaries of what the 360 could deliver. It could only be so good. The competition has hit its stride – Halo 4 couldn’t ever compete against the current market. It’s sad, but it’s true. But that’s okay, Halo was always at its best when it was launching a new console and pushing boundaries, not hitting them.
So yeah, Halo 4 was a hot mess in a lot of respects: a milquetoast weapons sandbox, lots of bugs, terrible networking, no rank/social split, horrendous maps… And, maybe most importantly, a real lack of QA testing.
BUT: It was the time to make those mistakes. I’m already done with my 360 and I won’t miss Halo 4. So I truly believe 343 can take all the good and bad feedback from Halo 4 (and prior to that) to make Guardians the best game it can possibly be. Fingers crossed. I’ll be watching the Guardians Beta very closely!
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> Halo 4 had a “throw in everything and the kitchen sink” feel to it. I think 343 tried as many concept as possible without much consideration on purpose. To see which might have a future in the franchise.
That would make 343i into some of the most incompetent designers on the planet. No good artist haphazardly throws a bunch of colored paints onto a canvas with the hopes of viewers saying, “I didn’t like the upper-right green spots, but the lower-left blue spots look quite nice,” and then being able to make a new canvas that doesn’t use the color green because it failed last time.
To say that 343i’s lead multiplayer designers just tried to copy-paste CoD’s success onto Halo would actually give them more credit because at least they would have some type of goal in mind. The idea you pitched would show a complete lack of creativity and decision-making ability on their part.
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> BUT: It was the time to make those mistakes.
There is never a good or better time to make mistakes that should never have been made in the first place. There is nothing to be learned from Halo 4 other than, “well, whaddaya know, Halos 1-3 really were good games because of the way they were designed! What if we made a game that played like them?!”