Disclaimer: I’m not advocating for a full on restricted or adult only game.
I’m talking about a game that can actually appeal to adults like myself. I’m talking cigarattes, alcohol, marines cracking dirty jokes on the battlefield about eachother’s wives/girlfriends or husbands/boyfriends, the marine captain or spartan squad leader giving one of the Joes or Janes a good smack in the back of the head for saying or doing something stupid, marines or spartan’s playing a game of spades or poker and talking mad smack when he/she wins, using phrases like “you ain’t poop” or “you hear that bell ringin’? someone just got SCHOOLED!”
All this kind of stuff is the little stuff in old Halo games that people appreciated and added to the overall charm of the franchise, and it also made the UNSC a believable representation of an actual military. Examples:
- Marines in Halo 1, 3, and ODST who are either suffering from mental PTSD illusions or just freaking out, and then spewing some very well written and amazing dialogue, or marines freaking out and shooting you like the one in CE on the 343 Guilty Spark level. These are some of the things that made us feel that we were in an actual warzone or battlefield. - Marines yelling awesome and hilarious dialogue during fire fights such as “see ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!” or “check yourself before you wreck yourself!” Also, when they get injured or shot at, they would utter desperate lines like “it burns!” or “what the hell?” or the famous Halo 1 marine on Truth and Reconciliation bellyaching “We’ll never get out of here. We’re screwed, we’re screwed man!”
I could go on and on about it, but I think I’ve made my point. Old Halo games were aimed at an older audience who can appreciate this stuff, so why should new Halo completely change and be more kid friendly?