Dear 343Industries, Please Evolve Halo. It didn't get a good treatment since Halo 2.

Games Other Halo
1

Does anyone remember playing Halo 1 and thinking “Wow, this game is absolutely addicting and fun” And just absolutely loving it?

Then they made Halo 2, and then We were all thinking “Did the best really just get better?”

Then Halo 3 came out, and it was a slight disappointment as everyone was thinking “This is cool, but its basically Halo 2 with new features”

Then Reach came out, which MANY people were excited for, but Gameplay just wasn’t the Raw, Fun experience it was in previous Halos. AA’s and bloom and over powered grenades and weak vehicles as well as bloom all really didn’t satisfy the community. They took risks, and I am glad for that, But I really hope the game acts more as a “Don’t” in some aspects, for what NOT to do in Halo 4.

People say things like “They need to make gameplay more balanced” or “they need to speed up gameplay” or “they need to make halo 3.5 (which is really just Halo 2.5.5)” or “They need to cater to the Casual community” or “They need to cater to the Competitive community” thinking that will make the game fun again. While in some aspects the above things will make the game better, what the really should be focusing on is "How do we make this game fun, addicting, and an all around Good time for people that are used to Halo games."

and in the Halo 4 panel, Frankie said “their were many awesome features that were fun and great, but were cut because they weren’t “Halo” enough”. I Say “BS!” If its fun, and makes the game great, than it definately should be added. Heck, I hear people saying that they shouldn’t up the player limit because “It wont be halo”. HOW? because it will be too much like battle field? Go Cry about it! And Go cry if Halo 4 becomes great again because 343i (hopefully) comes out of this bubble of thought that “we need to make it very similar to other Halos” They need to explore and Evolve the Halo series, just Like Halo 2 evolved a lot from Halo 1.

Please! Make the game feel epic. Just like halo 2 felt absolutely great! Please make it worth the Hype! Revolutionize the Halo Franchise, but please do it right. So far since halo 2 the Focal point of Improvement was a Gadget of some sort for the spartans. It was equipment in Halo 3, Then armor abilities in Halo Reach. And in Reach it was over implemented because in Halo 3 people didn’t always use it. They went so far as to make maps work well for the AA’s, and build the game to fit them. You guys at 343i gotta understand that we don’t really like that. We want to be able to do everything without Gadgets, that means make jumps without jetpack, and dodge explosives without armor lock or evade. Please just build the game around a Raw spartan, and sure put gadgets in the game as pick ups, but make it so we can play the game just great, and balanced without them. And Lastly and very importantly Stop focusing on gadgets so much and Add OTHER cool features to the game.

Anyone out their with me?

2

Oh boy… this thread again.

Just kidding, I agree with your post.

3

To be honest, Halo: Reach tried to innovate. That didn’t go so well, now did it?

That being said, I really respect 343’s integrity to the Halo experience. Honestly, I want to play a Halo game, not something that strives to be a Halo game, but in reality, isn’t.

Additions to the experience are good. Changes to it are bad.

4

Thanks for stating the obvious genius!

5

PERFECT!!! THIS IS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE!!! SPREAD THIS THROUGHOUT THE DAMN FORUMS!!! THIS IS THE WAY TO GO!!! Make all the great new features but don’t make Halo revolve around them. If 343 follows this, Halo is going to be at its freaking best.

6

> To be honest, Halo: Reach tried to innovate. That didn’t go so well, now did it?
>
> That being said, I really respect 343’s integrity to the Halo experience. Honestly, I want to play a Halo game, not something that strives to be a Halo game, but in reality, isn’t.
>
> Additions to the experience are good. Changes to it are bad.

I am so glad you didn’t post on bungies forums when halo 2 was in production.

7

There is a certain feel to a Halo game that other shooters don’t have. Deviating from that makes Halo just another shooter, not Halo. Which is what Frankie was referring to.

Yes, new things should come into play. Higher player count, new guns, some new mechanics, but if it doesn’t feel like Halo, then it’s best to shelve it for a while.

8

> There is a certain feel to a Halo game that other shooters don’t have. Deviating from that makes Halo just another shooter, not Halo. Which is what Frankie was referring to.
>
> Yes, new things should come into play. Higher player count, new guns, some new mechanics, but if it doesn’t feel like Halo, then it’s best to shelve it for a while.

that is something I left out. Yes they do need to maintain 100% of that halo feel that halo 1-3 had ( reach didn’t feel a whole lot like halo IMO.) that needs to return definitely. I personally think sprint should never be in a halo game because it just lets people run away on small to medium sized maps. I very much so think they should keep it halo I am just hoping for some big new cool features which i beg they do some. I’m talking new game modes more customization and things that we never seen before on both halo and any other fps out there

9

> Frankie said “their were many awesome features that were fun and great, but were cut because they weren’t “Halo” enough”. I Say “BS!” If its fun, and makes the game great, than it definately should be added.

Usually I hate when people say “That’s not Halo” but the truth is that sometimes and idea can be brilliant but simply doesn’t fit in with that particular game. They are right to leave out good ideas if the ideas don’t fit the game, the problem comes when they’re too afraid to add good ideas that do fit.

10

343 has stated numerous times that they wish to remain more faithful to the core experience while at the same time innovating it. Which can really only be seen as good thing but we will see how it is in practice.

11

> 343 has stated numerous times that they wish to remain more faithful to the core experience while at the same time innovating it. Which can really only be seen as good thing but we will see how it is in practice.

The statements made by 343 get me really excited about Halo’s future. However, as you say we will have to wait to see how well they follow through with what they say.

12

I agree!

13

I don’t think you can accurately gauge the opinions of “everyone” on halo 3 without being everyone. Don’t use generalizations like that. You can say “me and my friends thought ______” but don’t say everyone. I for example, didn’t think it was Halo 2 with new features. Your statement is null and void.

14

> I don’t think you can accurately gauge the opinions of “everyone” on halo 3 without being everyone. Don’t use generalizations like that. You can say “me and my friends thought ______” but don’t say everyone. I for example, didn’t think it was Halo 2 with new features. Your statement is null and void.

Granted, generalizations shouldn’t be used, but in the case of his argument, “everyone” was the mass opinion of the time held by the majority of the Halo community, which gives the OP plenty of credibility.

Just because you don’t agree, doesn’t mean his statements are “null and void”. He has plenty of validity behind his statements, and who are you to judge what he can and can’t say. You’ve missed the purpose of his post entirely, instead focusing on his “generalizations”.

15

They should just cut their losses and release Gears of Halo.

16

So true. 3 and Reach are good but they are not nearly as competetive or fun for me as the “good halo’s”.

I’m pretty sure 343 won’t fail as hard as Bungie did with Reach. I’m all for innovation, but Bungie innovated for the sake of innovation. Resulting in a true tragedy of a halo title.

17

There’s an old saying- “If its not broken don’t blow it the -Yoink- up.” . . or something like that :wink:

Halo has a few core elements, gun/grenade, Melee, power ups, power weapons, and vehicle combat at the core that is Halo. Going into any match of Halo, you know the team that controls the power weapons and the map wins. Halo isn’t about spawning with an AK74U with a shot gun attachment and stopping power or whatever you kids play with. :wink:

Halo is about balanced focused game play, its simple, and anyone, be it a level 1 or a level 50 are on even ground when playing Halo, they spawn with the same weapons, have the same ability to get better weapons, the only deciding factor in who’s better, is simply experience, who knows the map, who knows how the weapons play, and who know were the weapons are, also something called team work, THAT is HALO.

You know why people loved Halo CE? SIMPLE the Single player was good, and the multiplayer, was balanced and simple, plus it really was the game that showed people that a console shooter works.

Halo 2 put Xbox Live on the map. And look at Xbox Live now, and how much better it is than the PSN (in my opinion), WHY is that? Because XBL had Halo 2 to rip off.

Halo 2’s single player was a schizophrenic mess. Halo 2’s story lost impact and mystery, because moments before something that could have left you wondering what’s going on, it was handed to you. Example, when your John on High Charity it would have been kind of cool to see the Elites fighting everything else, and not knowing why, instead your spoon feed the info moments before as the Arbiter. Not saying Halo 2 was a bad single player, but it lacked that WTF is going on that Halo CE had, and really it didn’t have to.

Now why is Halo 3 the weakest, Halo had perfected the wheel, what more did you expect? And your really underplaying things like Forge and Save films, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but something called machinima really took off because of Forge and Save films, now most of it sucks, but people are able to tell their own Halo stories.

Now look at Halo Reach. Reach isn’t a bad game, its just not as good as Halo 3, and like it or not Halo 3’s multiplayer was the best of the 3 games. It was more skill based than 2, taking out hit scan, more balanced than 1 with destructible vehicles, the formula was down for Halo 3, the only thing it really had going bad for it was the maps, and I blame the community for that one more than Bungie.

And this is something people never clarify, you want Halo to evolve. . . into what? I mean really? More players on the map? Well okay, but that wont make it EVOLVED, that will just give it bigger battles. Give it Aim Down the Sights? Um no? And that has A LOT less to do with keeping Halo, Halo and not CoD and more to do with, that doesn’t make since. I’ve said this before, SPARTAN in armor, with a Helmet, aiming down the sights would NOT WORK. All the scopes you see are in the visor, not the scope on the gun. Plus go out get a gun and put on a helmet with a visor than aim down the sights, not gonna be that easy.

Okay so what else can we add?

Nothing. Halo CE gave us a good multiplayer, Halo 2 gave us a good online console multiplaer, there is really nothing more for Halo to add to what its done and still be Halo, if you ask me it needs to start taking things way, and 343 sees that as well I think.

What Halo 4 needs to do, what it truly needs to do, is give us the best Halo story ever, multiplayer is nice, but give us something new, give us that Halo CE feel of what exploring this new world is like, give us that feel of fear for the first time, like when we first meet the Flood. Give us a story in the game that only the extended Halo U has given us. Just because they say something isn’t Halo doesn’t mean a lot, because Halo has a lot more to it than just the games. And I trust 343 to know what story elements need to be told.

If I were to add one thing to Halo, it would be choice, kind of like Masseffect, only not as often, but more meaningful.

18

well if they evolve halo its not adding stuff like bloom, perks or killstreaks. how about something thats not in every shooter and lame

19

> Does anyone remember playing Halo 1 and thinking “Wow, this game is absolutely addicting and fun” And just absolutely loving it?
>
> Then they made Halo 2, and then We were all thinking “Did the best really just get better?”
>
> Then Halo 3 came out, and it was a slight disappointment as everyone was thinking “This is cool, but its basically Halo 2 with new features”
>
> Then Reach came out, which MANY people were excited for, but Gameplay just wasn’t the Raw, Fun experience it was in previous Halos. AA’s and bloom and over powered grenades and weak vehicles as well as bloom all really didn’t satisfy the community. They took risks, and I am glad for that, But I really hope the game acts more as a “Don’t” in some aspects, for what NOT to do in Halo 4.
>
> People say things like “They need to make gameplay more balanced” or “they need to speed up gameplay” or “they need to make halo 3.5 (which is really just Halo 2.5.5)” or “They need to cater to the Casual community” or “They need to cater to the Competitive community” thinking that will make the game fun again. While in some aspects the above things will make the game better, what the really should be focusing on is "How do we make this game fun, addicting, and an all around Good time for people that are used to Halo games."
>
>
> and in the Halo 4 panel, Frankie said “their were many awesome features that were fun and great, but were cut because they weren’t “Halo” enough”. I Say “BS!” If its fun, and makes the game great, than it definately should be added. Heck, I hear people saying that they shouldn’t up the player limit because “It wont be halo”. HOW? because it will be too much like battle field? Go Cry about it! And Go cry if Halo 4 becomes great again because 343i (hopefully) comes out of this bubble of thought that “we need to make it very similar to other Halos” They need to explore and Evolve the Halo series, just Like Halo 2 evolved a lot from Halo 1.
>
> Please! Make the game feel epic. Just like halo 2 felt absolutely great! Please make it worth the Hype! Revolutionize the Halo Franchise, but please do it right. So far since halo 2 the Focal point of Improvement was a Gadget of some sort for the spartans. It was equipment in Halo 3, Then armor abilities in Halo Reach. And in Reach it was over implemented because in Halo 3 people didn’t always use it. They went so far as to make maps work well for the AA’s, and build the game to fit them. You guys at 343i gotta understand that we don’t really like that. We want to be able to do everything without Gadgets, that means make jumps without jetpack, and dodge explosives without armor lock or evade. Please just build the game around a Raw spartan, and sure put gadgets in the game as pick ups, but make it so we can play the game just great, and balanced without them. And Lastly and very importantly Stop focusing on gadgets so much and Add OTHER cool features to the game.
>
> Anyone out their with me?

This sums up everything good about halo 2!!! Well done everything you said is sooo true!
343 please read this!!!11

20

I don’t want to see Halo become something it’s not(like Reach).
It should stay true to the core gameplay no matter what.