To all who are reading this: Phil Spencer, the Xbox team at Microsoft, Frank, Kiki, Josh, and everyone at 343, and especially everyone out there who loves Halo. Please understand that in writing this that I realize, while I have spent countless hours enjoying and playing in my opinion the greatest Scifi stories and competitive and fun multiplayer games ever, to many reading this, this is their baby. They have worked countless hours slaving over every little detail, and I appreciate what you do. I am also very passionate on this subject so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I have gone back and forth on writing this letter for the better part of the last year. I own and have played every Halo game, and have read the majority of the novels. I love the universe, the games, the great stories, and especially the multiplayer.
I am extremely concerned about the direction the Halo franchise has been going since Halo Reach came out. I feel that while Halo 4 was an improvement in many ways, it has still not reached its full potential yet. This letter addresses those concerns, and gives suggestions as to what I and many Halo fans I have talked to in the last few years feel needs to be done.
My Background:
I started playing Halo in 2004. My first experience was on the original Xbox playing Combat Evolved’s campaign at a friend’s house. I was immediately hooked. I beat the entire campaign in a night. I had probably never had so much fun playing a game: mowing through hoards of covenant, exploring halo, fleeing for my life terrified of the flood, and in the end destroying and escaping the ring. I had no idea that this was just the beginning, but Master Chief was my hero. Unfortunately at that point I did not have any gaming system except for the original PlayStation. I asked my parents for a new Xbox 360 and Halo 2 for Christmas in 2006. Ask and you shall receive. Playing through Halo 2’s campaign added new depth to the story: The grandeur and complexity of the covenant. Their deep religious faith, and hate for humanity. Master Chief the ever stoic hero. The monstrosity of the flood. The amazing musical score by Marty. It all came together perfectly and ended on the most tantalizing cliff hanger. I was ready to finish the fight and could not wait for Halo 3. In the meantime I started playing local multiplayer with my brothers. We would play for hours, and hours, and hours. Maps like ivory tower, beaver creek, blood gulch, zanzibar, sanctuary, midship, and waterworks. The classics. I thought I was the greatest player to ever play Halo because I could consistently beat my brothers 3 on 1. The game was so balanced, so well made. The map design was stellar and yet it was soon to be topped.
Halo 3:
I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on Halo 3. I had just gotten home from football practice and my Dad and younger brother were already deep into the campaign, taking down the first mighty scarab. I was blown away by the graphics and the smoothness of the gameplay at the time. I would have to patiently wait my turn. From the time I picked up that controller in 2007 I have not stopped playing Halo 3. It is my go to. What is unbelievable is that after going on 6 years I still feel it is the crown jewel of Halo, but also all shooters. The campaign was outstanding, although as far as story line, I do not know that it surpassed Halo 2. The multiplayer was revolutionary, and is what keeps my coming back for more again and again and again. The weapon balance, map design, movement, spawns (eventually), matchmaking, sound, and party and statistics system were as close to flawless as I have ever seen. I have spent the last 6 years trying to find the next Halo 3; purchasing dozens of shooters and being have been disappointed over and over. I have just stuck with what I know, gotten my 50 in several playlists, and continued to enjoy both competitive ranked, and fun social Halo, something that is missing from the more recent titles.
Halo Reach, Halo 4, and Improving Going Forward:
I don’t want to spend too much time on Halo Reach, I spent months trying to convince myself I just needed to get used to it and it would get better. The campaign was okay. I appreciated the back story. The new mechanics, introduction of the DMR, poor map design with the exception of some of the remakes (you know you have a problem when everyone only wants to play forged remakes of the classic maps), and the introduction of armor abilities and classes made this by far the worst Halo game ever. This is as I and many others see it where Halo sold out and tried to mimic Call of Duty, and make the game easier for poor players to hang with the truly skilled ones. This single handedly destroyed the MLG pro circuit (which if you ever watched the live streams between some of the great teams Str8 Rippin, Instinct, Final Boss, Carbon, and Triggers Down, it was really something.) It also lost Halo a lot fans.
Then came the falling out with Bungie, and the creation of 343. I remained skeptically excited for Halo 4 after it was announced. As it got closer it seemed like 343 had put together an all-star team and was going to resurrect this great franchise. Leading up to launch I preordered a Halo 4 Xbox bundle. The game came out and sold extremely well due to an excellent marketing job and in my opinion the hope all the true fans had for a turnaround. I will say this it was a huge improvement over Halo Reach. It was a gorgeous game. It is very apparent 343 listened to the fans and made improvements accordingly.
The problem is it still did not come close to the greatness of Halo 2 and 3. The game was still geared towards tossing everyone into the same matches and leveling the playing field. There is not a true skill gap. The ranking system is in my opinion a travesty. Anyone can reach SR130 and be completely awful at the game. It is like giving out participation trophies to a sports team that loses every game. The campaign while beautiful, with a story that was also carefully conceived had flaws as well. I know the argument at Microsoft is that the game sold very well. The issue is that if you look at the online populations vs those of Halo 3 one year after launch, it is very troubling. If I recall correctly I remember populations of upwards of 300,000 in Team Slayer on a regular basis for Halo 3. Halo 4 sits at around 2,000 – 10,000. While the game did sell well, no one is playing it anymore, and if I was to guess, if improvements and marketing of those improvements back to what your core fan base looks for in a Halo game are not made Halo 5 probably will not sell as well.
Ideas for Change:
Halo used to be defined by two things. Great big team maps, with outstanding vehicular game play, and great small scale (symmetrical, or balanced asymmetrical) competitive play oriented maps. 343 did an outstanding job with the big team oriented maps. These are the maps that I also feel armor abilities have their place, to balance out the possibility of being attacked and overpowered by vehicles, and large numbers of enemies. Sprint is also very functional in this setting as it allows for navigating the larger open spaces without remaining exposed for too long. The weapon drop system in Halo 4 is also a great fit for Big Team. As a result Big Team is consistently the playlist that still gets played the most.