Halo 5 to me felt dead. The campaign just felt so… stale. And rushed. The only emotions I got from it were anger and confusion to why it was so bad. When I played Halo 4, I got the feeling that this was a passion project. A new studio was trying their absolute hardest to make a great story, one that they could be proud of. Halo 5 does not have that at all. I don’t think the writers were pulling their hair out over trying to make a story that made sense, which actually was the case for Chris Schlerf( H4 main writer). Brian Reed did not pour his heart out for this game. He tried writing what was most comfortable to him. And that gave us characters not acting like themselves, nothing being carried over from Halo 4, and Blue Teams introduction ruined, as well as Cortana’s exit from 4. Halo 5 i’m guessing was something everybody was exited to work on, but then Something happened, and we got a rushed, passionless campaign mode. It sucks, but after seeing Kevin Grace and the story he is making for HW2, I still have hope 343 can make a good game.
> 2533274808210415;2:
> Look at the concept art found in the H5 achievements. You can almost definitely tell that something different was initially in store.
This, I’m convinced H5’s campaign was intended to be way more than we got. Not sure what happened, but something doesn’t seem right.
> 2533274808210415;2:
> Look at the concept art found in the H5 achievements. You can almost definitely tell that something different was initially in store.
That isn’t necessarily true. A lot of games have some cool concept art, but it doesn’t mean it was stuff that was going to make it into the games.
As much as I would’ve loved for Halo 5 to be better than what we got, I don’t think it’s accurate for people to point to the concept art as proof that we were gonna get something else.
Remember, it’s called concept art for a reason. Usually it’s just to get ideas bounced around on how something will look, but it’s not set in stone nor is it something that will be worked on. A lot of things get drawn up and scrapped during the concept art phase, and most never make it past that phase.
> 2533274814289862;6:
> > 2533274808210415;2:
> > Look at the concept art found in the H5 achievements. You can almost definitely tell that something different was initially in store.
>
>
> That isn’t necessarily true. A lot of games have some cool concept art, but it doesn’t mean it was stuff that was going to make it into the games.
>
> As much as I would’ve loved for Halo 5 to be better than what we got, I don’t think it’s accurate for people to point to the concept art as proof that we were gonna get something else.
>
> Remember, it’s called concept art for a reason. Usually it’s just to get ideas bounced around on how something will look, but it’s not set in stone nor is it something that will be worked on. A lot of things get drawn up and scrapped during the concept art phase, and most never make it past that phase.
Didn’t they once mention that things were gonna take place on Beta Gabriel AKA the planet Fathom takes place on? Also, Eden and Empire both take place in a war-torn city that looks suspiciously like the city seen in many concept art images that feature Chief wearing his silly stealth cloak. This means a certain amount of assets were made for those art images, and I imagine the ruined city had to do with Chief going rogue.
> 2533274808210415;7:
> > 2533274814289862;6:
> > > 2533274808210415;2:
> > > Look at the concept art found in the H5 achievements. You can almost definitely tell that something different was initially in store.
> >
> >
> > That isn’t necessarily true. A lot of games have some cool concept art, but it doesn’t mean it was stuff that was going to make it into the games.
> >
> > As much as I would’ve loved for Halo 5 to be better than what we got, I don’t think it’s accurate for people to point to the concept art as proof that we were gonna get something else.
> >
> > Remember, it’s called concept art for a reason. Usually it’s just to get ideas bounced around on how something will look, but it’s not set in stone nor is it something that will be worked on. A lot of things get drawn up and scrapped during the concept art phase, and most never make it past that phase.
>
>
> Didn’t they once mention that things were gonna take place on Beta Gabriel AKA the planet Fathom takes place on? Also, Eden and Empire both take place in a war-torn city that looks suspiciously like the city seen in many concept art images that feature Chief wearing his silly stealth cloak. This means a certain amount of assets were made for those art images, and I imagine the ruined city had to do with Chief going rogue.
Yeah, they might have planned some of that early on, but once they got to actually developing the game and building the models, most of the stuff from the concept art had probably been scrapped by then.
Again, just because it was concept art and they mentioned it, doesn’t mean they had any actual plans to make it a reality within the game. From what I’ve seem of 343, they seem to only do the bare minimum and whatever is easiest for them. So out of all the concepts they had, they probably just picked the simplest ones to make.
> 2533274821761464;5:
> > 2533274808210415;2:
> > Look at the concept art found in the H5 achievements. You can almost definitely tell that something different was initially in store.
>
>
> This, I’m convinced H5’s campaign was intended to be way more than we got. Not sure what happened, but something doesn’t seem right.
That doesn’t necessarily mean it would’ve been better, even if they originally planned something else. Sometimes ideas/ concepts get scrapped because they’re not as good as they wanted.
The writer for the first two Mass Efrect games said something regarding abandoned plot points in the third game and I think it could be applied here to. I’ll paraphrase: “People hear a few things and then they fill in the blanks themselves with what they want. It’s like how vaporware is always perfect - until it comes out. Whatever it would’ve been probably wouldn’t have been as good as you think.”
I wish they would just go all the way back to Halo 2 in the timeline and reimagine the Halo universe… take it the direction H2 was initially going. A far grittier, apocalyptic story… less over-the-top Sci-Fi space opera meets Saturday morning cartoon.
The original Halo was an epic story, but it was mysterious, and grounded in a certain “reality” of sorts. It felt believable. Now we’re a team of intergalactic Power Rangers fighting space robots. The story just feels outlandish now. It all started in H2… rather than epic battle sequences we got in CE and the one showcased in H2’s Campaign debut, we got alien spider-walkers, boss battles and dumbed down gameplay, and a half Covenant Campaign. Weak… some cool levels and set pieces, but much more linear.
They need to focus on creating epic gameplay scenarios… not just big set-pieces, but make the battles epic, the feel of the game, the gunplay… add “weight” to every large encounter. And cut the childish themes out of Campaign. The biggest problem with Halo is that it hasn’t grown and matured with its fanbase IMHO… it’s basically done the opposite.
> 2535456165221911;9:
> Halo 5 took about 3 years and taking extra months. How is it not taking time?
I don’t think all that time was focussed on one story. Every game has ideas that are scrapped, but Halo 5 feels like a completely different story altogether from what it was originally, with only a few things being used from the original. Also, you don’t just try and make another introductory game and forget to make a sequel to your first game in a trilogy(now a “saga”).Even an indie studio would know not to do that. The story we got did not just have cut content, but it was a cut storyline altogether.
> 2535458356653045;12:
> > 2535456165221911;9:
> > Halo 5 took about 3 years and taking extra months. How is it not taking time?
>
>
> I don’t think all that time was focussed on one story. Every game has ideas that are scrapped, but Halo 5 feels like a completely different story altogether from what it was originally, with only a few things being used from the original. Also, you don’t just try and make another introductory game and forget to make a sequel to your first game in a trilogy(now a “saga”).Even an indie studio would know not to do that. The story we got did not just have cut content, but it was a cut storyline altogether.
It’s their fault of changing the entire thing during the end of progress. It’s their fault not managing their time wisely.
> 2535456165221911;13:
> > 2535458356653045;12:
> > > 2535456165221911;9:
> > > Halo 5 took about 3 years and taking extra months. How is it not taking time?
> >
> >
> > I don’t think all that time was focussed on one story. Every game has ideas that are scrapped, but Halo 5 feels like a completely different story altogether from what it was originally, with only a few things being used from the original. Also, you don’t just try and make another introductory game and forget to make a sequel to your first game in a trilogy(now a “saga”).Even an indie studio would know not to do that. The story we got did not just have cut content, but it was a cut storyline altogether.
>
>
> It’s their fault of changing the entire thing during the end of progress. It’s their fault not managing their time wisely.
Yeah, I know. That’s what I kinda meant with the whole “When it takes its time”. Glad that we both see that.
Halo 5’s campaign was going to be a much better game, according to Latenightgaming’s leaks. It’s unfortunate that we got this instead. The story from the leaks and the trailers sounded amazing.
> 2533274808210415;2:
> Look at the concept art found in the H5 achievements. You can almost definitely tell that something different was initially in store.
This is common knowledge by now. Hopefully Microsoft backs the hell off and lets 343 do their thing.
> 2535458356653045;14:
> > 2535456165221911;13:
> > > 2535458356653045;12:
> > > > 2535456165221911;9:
> > > > Halo 5 took about 3 years and taking extra months. How is it not taking time?
> > >
> > >
> > > I don’t think all that time was focussed on one story. Every game has ideas that are scrapped, but Halo 5 feels like a completely different story altogether from what it was originally, with only a few things being used from the original. Also, you don’t just try and make another introductory game and forget to make a sequel to your first game in a trilogy(now a “saga”).Even an indie studio would know not to do that. The story we got did not just have cut content, but it was a cut storyline altogether.
> >
> >
> > It’s their fault of changing the entire thing during the end of progress. It’s their fault not managing their time wisely.
>
>
> Yeah, I know. That’s what I kinda meant with the whole “When it takes its time”. Glad that we both see that.
Yet, many people blame Microsoft for this crap instead of 343. Sure, Microsoft could be one of causes that made Halo 5 campaign bad, but blaming them for all baffles me a lot. It’s like manager told chef to cook pasta and chef cooked distasteful pasta. Should customer blame manager for giving distasteful pasta or blame chef? I am also glad we both see the same.
There was no flow in the story. I dont even remember the name of the planet for the first mission, then bam argent moon, okay now we’re on meridian, suddenly sanghelios, and finally, ARK 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.
There needs to be a time to set the table so to speak. There were hardly transitioning moments in between these places. Riding that Guardian into Genesis was a GREAT start, but it came too late and was too fleeting to immerse players into a sense of travel.
It’s really sad, when you see Halo 4 post mortem. 343 was proud of their work on Halo 4’s story. Josh Holmes telling the story of his mother with dementia and how Cortana’s sacrifice was something meaningful to him and his personal situation.