Not a day goes by without a topic on Waypoint, pointing out what went wrong with 343’s takeover of the Halo franchise. The way I see it, is that well argumented critism delivered in a respectful manner can definitly serve a purpose…but so can positive remarks.
I want to use this topic for you and me to address the things 343 Industries did totally right in the Halo’s they’ve brought forth. If the developers are actually trying to take some inspiration from the community, why not show them what we really loved? That way, we might see those things return in future titels. It’s not so hard to be cynical about issues and point out the side you don’t like…but let’s be different for at least one topic and send some positive notes to the caretakers of Halo!
So share your (positive) thoughts here! Try to think of things we like as a community, things you frequently see getting praise around the topics, and maybe not just the things you think you like as a minority.
Maybe I could give you some examples of 343’s implementations to the series, that seem to be loved by at least a great deal of us and thus inspired me to make this topic:
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343’s design of the Hunters: I often see people praising how 343 finally created Hunters as the menacing beast they are being portraited in the canon. In Halo 5 Guardians, the Lekgolo don’t only look fantastic, but they are actually more aggressive and harder to beat than ever before. The fact that a pair displays such interesting ‘pair tactics’ now, with one Hunter giving suppresive fire with the rod canon and the other going for close quarters combat using supressive fire rounds, is frankly the stuff of dreams.
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The partnership with Blur: Halo 2 Anniversary really brought the Halo universe to life with the unbelievably good cutscenes Blur did. You could give this one to Blur Studios themselves, but ultimately 343 were the ones who picked out and collaborated with the studio to make it what it is today.
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The Forerunner Saga: This saga was the first chance for fans to really delve into the Forerunners, and the prelude to the Halo we knew and love. This had to be done right, and it did. Big kudos to Greg Bear, but again, 343 made sure it happened and must also have set the general outline for Greg to work with.
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Going back to basics: With Halo 5 Guardians, Halo finally saw the return of a fundemantal multiplayer element. The pre determined starter loadout. Everyone starts with the same tools, and not with a weapon of their choice. An absolutely vital Halo Multiplayer ideology that was a right direction after the custom loadout chaos of Reach and 4.
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The music in Halo 5 Guardians: This speaks for itself hopefully. Familiar yet new, the Halo 5 music delivered. The Halo 4 soundtrack was deemed…too alien to be recognized as Halo OST. No disrespect to Davidge as the soundtrack was solid in design…it was just not Halo. HOWEVER, fans (including here on Waypoint) saw beauty in a handful of songs, especially the ones made by Kazuma Jinnouchi. The call for Kazuma to do the complete Halo 5 soundtrack was born…and what do you know? He did it. And it’s glorious.
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The Hunt The Truth campaign: Now this is a controversial one right of the bat, but essential final example nontheless. The common love for the audio series and general marketing is huge, even after the reveal that there were no actual ties to the Guardians game. We all heard the stories about production issues and whatnot, but that’s not the point here. Hunt The Truth on it’s own was really well done, and frankly it shows the great potential 343 has. I still think we might see some of this campaign back in the Halo’s to come. The evidence is there. But wether that’s the case or not, the way they did it was unbelievably good.
So there you have it. I can think of loads more but I thought these are some universally loved traits about 343’s input to the series.
I would love to hear from you now. What are your favorite things 343 has done for the Halo franchise?
I really like how whenever I open a REQ pack, I don’t know what armor set or mongoose or scout warthog variant I will get, instead of those crappy legendary weapons that nobody wants!
Opinions are like rear ends. Everyone has one and they all stink. If I had to say one positive thing about 343 it’s that they brought Halo CE and Halo 2 back to life for online play
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> I really like how whenever I open a REQ pack, I don’t know what armor set or mongoose or scout warthog variant I will get, instead of those crappy legendary weapons that nobody wants!
Yea! Who wants Linda’s Sniper Rifle anyways? I want a Scout Warthog or Ghost! LOL
I like this! The forums have been so negative lately, it’s nice to see a change of pace.
I really like the weapons variants, and how many there are. Each weapon brings a new strategy and way of play into the game, whether it’s against the Covenant, Prometheans, or even other Spartans. It even creates new tactics of travel, such as the Pendulum Jump (See this video). And of course, nothing is as satisfying as getting 8 consecutive kills with Nornfang.
I also really like how the AI works; like you mentioned, the Hunters are more terrifying than ever. And those Warzone boss variants? Whew. They can be pretty devastating.
Vehicle variants are nice as well - there’s something satisfying about a Sword Needler Warthog, or a Banshee Ultra.
In fact, multiplayer in general I’ve noticed has been regarded very highly.
As much as I love 343, I’m still waiting for my more elite-looking armory to appear. Or CQB. Or EOD.
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> I like this! The forums have been so negative lately, it’s nice to see a change of pace.
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> I really like the weapons variants, and how many there are. Each weapon brings a new strategy and way of play into the game, whether it’s against the Covenant, Prometheans, or even other Spartans. It even creates new tactics of travel, such as the Pendulum Jump (See this video). And of course, nothing is as satisfying as getting 8 consecutive kills with Nornfang.
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> I also really like how the AI works; like you mentioned, the Hunters are more terrifying than ever. And those Warzone boss variants? Whew. They can be pretty devastating.
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> Vehicle variants are nice as well - there’s something satisfying about a Sword Needler Warthog, or a Banshee Ultra.
>
> In fact, multiplayer in general I’ve noticed has been regarded very highly.
Thank you for you post. Agree with your points. The weapon variants are pretty awesome indeed. There are so many but a lot play very differently!
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> I really like how whenever I open a REQ pack, I don’t know what armor set or mongoose or scout warthog variant I will get, instead of those crappy legendary weapons that nobody wants!
I have all of them so I just open golds and get req points until this next update
Introducing different phenotypes of the covenant species. Helped hammer home that not all Elites, jackals, grunts look identical. This isn’t shown in game but still
Also the Halo 5 arena weapon balancing is amazing
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> Introducing different phenotypes of the covenant species. Helped hammer home that not all Elites, jackals, grunts look identical. This isn’t shown in game but still
Little things like this are also more than welcome. Surely 343 did a lot of good also? Everybody cant wait to bash them, but when going for a positive approach a thread dies…
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> > 2533274904397463;9:
> > Introducing different phenotypes of the covenant species. Helped hammer home that not all Elites, jackals, grunts look identical. This isn’t shown in game but still
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> Little things like this are also more than welcome. Surely 343 did a lot of good also? Everybody cant wait to bash them, but when going for a positive approach a thread dies…
The bungieboos rule halo waypoint. You know, the kind of pessimistic “fan” who has to check which company came up with something before deciding if it’s ok to like that thing or not.