It’s the world’s worst kept secret that Halo 5’s reception at launch was…poor. Much poorer than to just attribute to “The Halo Cycle” (the cycle in which the newest Halo game is ''the worst game ever made", the game prior was “not that bad”, and the game previous that was “a masterpiece”). Coming off the heels of MCC’s launch disaster, Halo 5 Guardians needed to release a stellar game at launch to bring fans back in.
Unfortunately, what we got at launch was an unfinished game with fewer multiplayer gamemodes than Halo Combat Evolved 14 years prior, a new mode centered around a microtransactions system, armor and emblem customization that was a massive step back from even Halo 4, no Forge, and a campaign and story that was reviled by many fans.
It’s safe to say that three years later, Halo 5 is in a much better position. Many of the bugs have been ironed out, the multiplayer is an actually complete, if flawed, experience, Forge was released and beefed up with every update, and the UI was improved (though not as much as it should have been). But there’s a saying- you only get one shot to make a first impression, and Halo 5’s first impression was incredibly disappointing.
To ensure we’re all on the same page, we know 343 is taking their time with Halo Infinite (and that’s good, by the way), and with it we seem to be getting, in part, a return to form. What’s even more important is that they’re listening to us, the fans, and so long as we’re respectable about it we’ll be heard. That’s why I’m making this post- not to spread hatred and vitriol, but to help make Halo Infinite the best it can reasonably be.
THE CAMPAIGN- A Long Way Yet To Go
Okay, I’m not here to break down every reason people hated the Campaign- The Act Man has a six-video series about it- but I want to lay out the little we know about Halo Infinite’s plot, story, and general tone.
- The story will be focused on Chief- no new playable characters. - Installation 07, the last surviving ring of the Greater Halo Array (the original, larger array of 12 rings assembled by the Greater Ark), is heavily hinted to be a prominent setting. Don’t get your hopes up- this ring will only likely be one setting of several. Lore novels that detail the particular significance of this specific ring include Hunters In The Dark, Primordium, and (I think) Fractures. - The story is a direct sequel to Halo 5. - The story is implied to be set after the events of Halo Wars 2 and the lore novel, Bad Blood, in May 2560 if the Pelican’s broken dashboard from the Halo Infinite teaser is to be believed. - The aim with Halo Infinite’s story is to create a simple yet effective story that gives players a good starting point to jump into the Halo series- hinting we might be seeing similar storytelling as Combat Evolved, albeit with 343’s emphasis on lore and characters.With this kept in mind, there’s a few- well, a LOT- of loose ends to tie up in Halo Infinite. So let’s examine them.
SPARTAN JAMESON LOCKE & FIRETEAM OSIRIS
While Locke, Vale, Buck, and Tanaka were rightly criticized in Halo 5 for their lack of character-building, it will be interesting to see is how Halo Infinite will manage to sideline some of these characters. I have no doubt that Locke will return, but I think Vale and Tanaka will be relegated to cameos, if not cut entirely. Buck is back with Alpha-9 (the ODST squad from Halo 3: ODST), who have also become Spartan IVs (to my personal dismay, but Bad Blood is a great novel in spite of this). It’s doubtful Buck will be much more than a cameo or a side character. If Locke is present as a side character, he needs to be given more depth. He needs to be given reasons to bump heads with the Chief from time to time. Conflicting dialogue is the most interesting between characters seeking the same goal through opposing means (i.e. Chief would try to reason with Cortana, Locke would try to force her from the Domain himself).
THE MASTER CHIEF AND BLUE TEAM
I an of the mind that the Chief in Halo 4 was a great start to making him feel much more palatable and relatable in a stagnant industry of same-y shooters. It wasn’t perfect, but a lot of effort was put in to make him feel fallible and imperfect. It served its purpose. Halo 5 almost immediately discards this internal conflict in favor of flashy animatics and terribly blocked and choreographed fight scenes. Halo Infinite needs to try and find a good balance between the silent suit of armor and the broken old man that he has become. He needs to have a theme of internal conflict, as though everything he knows is shattering around him. Blue Team are very important Spartans in the lore, and while I don’t want them to be absent from Halo as a whole, realistically, like Osiris, they don’t present much to build upon in terms of story. Again, the best way to handle them is cameos, terminals, Easter eggs, co-op characters, etc.)
THE COVENANT
Here we go. Halo 5’s unceremonious discarding of Jul 'Mdama leaves a gap in the power structure, and the destruction of Sunaion has eliminated a large portion of their forces and strength. That said, “The Covenant” has gone from a term used to represent the actual Covenant created by the Sangheili-San’Shyuum Writ of Union and is instead used by warlords, brigands, and zealots to recruit wayward species to their cause. In the case of Jul’s Covenant, the idea was to use the post-war discord as an opportunity to sieze power and exact revenge for the destruction of their empire. So what will the new “Covenant” look like? It’s highly unlikely to be the Banished- they’re still locked on a war on the Ark, and introducing them to the main story would be a cluttering mess. As far as I can tell, the new Covenant will be controlled by Cortana, seeing as they have no choice but to submit to her. Some, like the Unngoy, will readily accept her aid, while others like the Sangheili and Jiralhanae will submit by force or through religious beliefs. They will fight the UNSC for revenge and to prevent punishment of their own species by the Created.
CORTANA, PROMETHEANS, WARDEN ETERNAL, AND THE CREATED
Not going to say a whole lot on this. Cortana being brought back from the dead and turned into robot -Yoink!- is not a story arc I like or care about. Halo Infinite will have to pull some really, really good writing if it wants to make me to care about the conflict with the floaty bit bots. We know they’ll be there. The only question is whether we’ll care about them.
THE UNSC INFINITY
I’m just going to put it blunt. I think the UNSC Infinity should, and will, be destroyed. This is the only ship Cortana seeks by name. It’s the most powerful ship humanity has ever created. It has Covenant and Forerunner tech bolstering it. It has to go down for the story to have any narrative weight.
TONE AND THEME
Halo Infinite NEEDS A CLEAR TONE. I should not ask myself “What does the writer want me to feel?” and come up empty. You should not leave a Halo game and feel like the story wasn’t trying to tell you anything. Every Halo game, regardless of quality, did this. Except Halo 5.
That’s all I’ll say on campaign. Now a few words on the rest of the game in part 2…
Hate on H5 story line all you want, it was garbage, but it also gave 343 an opportunity to completely redeem themselves imo. It’s short sighted to say there’s no way the story can be good now.