I’ve been watching my brother play through the campaign now that I’ve finished it, and it really showed off how much exploration is rewarded and can lead you in multiple directions. He was going through places I had no idea were playable areas, found stuff I hadn’t even thought about looking for hidden in corners I’d never checked Even though obviously you get funneled through the same main points, there are a lot of really open parts of the missions that make me feel like this might be one of the most replayable halo games.
It makes you feel like you really have options regarding how you approach each encounter, and that’s what I like most about halo campaigns, but here it’s just much more clear and significant, the kinds of choices you can make and options you have.
I wonder if in the future the concept of freedom of approach could be expanded on so each mission is more like a big sandbox that you have objectives within, rather than a traditional progression of environments? Or perhaps they should just stick with making the paths through traditional missions more varied, I don’t know. Either way, 343, I really like being able to play through the same level very differently, so good job on this game!