Open worlds in Halo
Every Halo except for ODST and WARS has had a linear campaign style, where the character would have to shoot some enemies and ultimately just go to the next ‘zone’ that would offer a different experience; In Delta Halo from Halo 2 it started as shooting the enemies, than in a tank ect. However after playing nearly all the campaigns in TMCC the ones i enjoyed the most where the ones which had a part where i was given a choice on how to complete the mission. By this i don’t mean instead of killing the enemies with a weapon use a grenade, what i mean is giving the player a wide choice. In Halo 3 the mission ‘The Covenant’, the part with the 2 scarabs never gets old. i remember one time landing my hornet on the scarab then destroying the core then walking as fast as i could (there was no sprint) to get back to my hornet before the scarab explodes. I lot of games lack this vital segment in a game.
However, this poses the idea of open worlds in Halo 5: Guardians. Destiny attempted open worlds, but in my opinion they were just boring because there was nothing interesting.
Halo’s universe is has a story depth like no other, and I’m sure if 343 created an open world for Halo 5:Guardians than it would make me want to explore the place. imagine an open world on requiem:
You are Locke looking for any sign of chief (I know he’s not on requiem) and in the open world you see fragments of his visor, you notice footsteps so you follow them, however as you approach you hear sounds of the covenant, you turn back but it’s too late, you start sprinting away but then just in front of you an elite zealot ‘un-cloakes’ himself. You have to escape somehow. There’s a vine, and also another path but there might me covenant guarding both. Your only option is to fight the zealot (I’m guessing their AI is going to be a lot harder -A LOT)
This is the kind of open world that would be Amazing. If 343 was going to do open worlds, that is what it would have to be like.
The possibility of open worlds
The possibility of open worlds is higher than you might think. Look at Halo 1, Halo 2 and Halo 4, they all had Cortana. Halo 3 didn’t have Cortana but did have another companion: The Arbiter right from the get go. In Halo 5 Chief has supposedly gone rogue, and Locke being the second main character isn’t going to be chiefs companion for a good portion of the game because he is tracking chief. So with no one beside chief who’s going to tell him what to do and how? He will have to command what he does, and who is master chief? The player. A lot of things point towards an open world.
Take this with a grain of salt, because all of this could be opposed by something like the opening cutscene on the first mission showing chief set with a ‘placeholder AI’ or even the monitor. But Until E3 2015, we will probably never know.
What do you think of Open Worlds, do you prefer them or do like the classic linear style?