I get the feeling that a lot of people are going to shrug off this game as a flop, or they will turn the game down for not having a battle royale or other Disrespectful reasons. But to the fanbase, this game is more about the future of the franchise, than a game platform. Allow me to explain.
Halo has never been just a game, it’s been a universe. With details so broad that they will never be featured in gameplay and are there to add more flavor to the more Canon-focused media regarding Halo. To think we have only played 7 Halo Games in the first person doesn’t feel quite right does it? Think of Call of Duty, it feels the same every time and it feels like the experience is the exact same. Same controls, same HUD, same effects and weapons.
But Halo has had experiences that contrast so much with each other, that every game is notable. Halo 5 had the admittedly slightly annoying boost and spartan abilities, but this did add a certain skill gap for the game and therefore set the game as the ‘Competitive’ Halo. Halo 3 had a spectacular sandbox and theatre and forge mode that encouraged player creativity, it made Halo 3 the ‘Game Night’ Halo. Halo 2 had a great campaign and great competitive modes that made it the ‘MLG Halo’. Halo 3: ODST was moody, with an amazing soundtrack and deep, fleshed-out characters, it became the sort of ‘Relaxing’ Halo. And then there is Halo Reach, with the grittier, “all is lost” sort of feeling, but with fun gameplay and large lobbies for fun multiplayer, along with a detailed forge, and firefight, Making Halo Reach feel like, ‘The Nostalgia Halo’. Halo 4 had an interesting but different art style and introduced loadouts which unfortunately dubbed itself as the “COD Halo.”
This leads me to my point, Halo is an incredible franchise with a rather difficult fan-base. And yet those crazy bastards at 343 took us on with open arms and has spent the past 5 years and HALF A BILLION DOLLARS, to develop a brand new game engine to deliver us not only a game, but a platform for the next 10 years. And I have seen a lot from this fanbase except for one thing.
Thank you, 343
Tl;dr Thank you 343.