As many problems as Infinite has, it is by far 343i’s best stab yet at a “Halo” feeling Halo game, IMO. I liked the campaign and think the core gameplay experience is phenomenal. There’s not nearly enough content and some inconceivable exclusions from launch (co-op and Forge coming nearly a year late to a Halo game feels so wrong), but realistically I think it can only get better going forward now that the first gigantic player drop has occurred. Just my opinion.
As for the TV show, I still don’t have a strong opinion on it. The version of the Halo universe and characters it portrays is wildly different from what is seen in the games, but 343i wasn’t hiding the ball in that when they promoted the show. It’s a separate continuity. “Our” Master Chief from the games isn’t the Master Chief seen in the show, and that’s by design. I like Steve Downe’s Chief a lot more than I like Pablo Schreiber’s, so far, but I’m willing to give all of Season 1 a chance before I decide that it’s a terrible show. Having watched five episodes, it hasn’t really impressed me yet on its own merits, but I don’t think it’s awful either.
It’s more accurate to call it a reboot. Same franchise, but fully reimagined characters, events, and history.
Like Tim Burton’s Batman, vs The Dark Knight, vs Batman v Superman, vs The Batman. None of which take place in the same universe or any of the various comic book universes. All of which completely redefine the characters and events from the source material.
Im still going to watch the series but I see your point. The battle sceans are amazing but there aren’t enough of them and I dont mind chief taking his helmet off, just not all the time and every 3 seconds.
The campaign to infinite was good. Not as action like as previous halos but I still enjoyed it.
Whenever the showrunners say they want to “reimagine” the IP that means they want to crap the bed furiously and immediately. Essentially just disregard it and consider it not canon. Luckily, in this instance Microsoft had the foresight to make sure that this series was not canon anyway. Spoilers for later seasons, they will replace Chief with someone who is higher on the woke totem poll. After Ghost Busters 2016, Terminator Dark Fate, Doctor Who + Lost Children arc, etc we already know how it’ll all end, because it always ends the same way.
Halo Infinite is aimed at trend chasing and “turning players into payers”. There comes a point when making a lot of money is no longer enough for these giga corporations and they will turn their sights to making all of the money. In their pursuit of trying to make all of the money they will run the franchise right into the ground without any regard for the consequences.
As far as I am concerned there is no point in contracting an I.P if you’re just going to deviate from the cannon or the source material. Adding things is fine, for spin-offs, if it doesn’t contradict any parts in the cannon. But creating different timelines is just a lazy excuse to bastardize a story while hoping the I.P’s name pulls existing fandom to the show. I won’t watch this crap on principle. Infinite still has a chance though.
So we forgot how to write along the way? The shows a disjointed mess trying to cram way too many characters and plot lines that happened over 30 years into like a week.
I’m not saying original halo was perfect, but it was definitely more tightly written than this sappy shlock.