I have been playing Halo since day one of CE’s release. The franchise has given me so many great memories and friends that I still have to this day. I love halo, by far my favorite game. But after spending probably more than a year of my life playing Halo games, I am finished with it. I have lost faith with 343i (that they never really earned) and I have grown tired of the division within the once tight and united community. I write this not to simply complain, I do not like to complain, but Halo had meant so much to me that I wanted to voice my displeasure and hope that maybe somehow, 343 can right this ship for the next batch of gamers coming up, because I am already lost.
Halo CE was a landmark game to be sure, it showcase the potential of the genera on the console and blazed a trail that the industry had to follow. The story for Halo CE is really what I remember most, thinking back to the second mission, Halo, and jumping the warthog out of the lower tunnel I had just fought through to reveal the (at the time) massive open world. That is one of those few moments in a game where I was just awe struck the first time I played it. The only other game that gave me that feeling was my first experience with Skyrim. I played Halo CE’s campaign probably 100 or more times, it never got old, and I always had fun.
Then came Halo 2, which somehow managed to shape the way the industry of competitive gaming would take for decades to come. Halo 2 had one of the best, to this day, multiplayer experiences ever in a console game. It brought popularity to MLG and helped build a community that would only become stronger in the coming decade. Most long time Halo gamers consider H2 their favorite due to the strict focus on competition. The fast paced gameplay and tremendous skill gap have those who dedicated enough time the ability to showcase their hard earned skills. For me though, Halo 3 was where it all came together.
Halo 3had a stronger campaign than H2 and more variety in the multiplayer, it was less of a revolution on the gamely front than H1 or H2 and more evolution, where H3 revolutionized the industry was community features. Halo 3 gave the community so much to do, forge and the file share system are two huge additions amongst the massive quantity of others. These features created sub-communities to developer inside of the broader Halo community. Halo 3 allowed third parties to look at stat tracking which gave birth to HaloCharts and HaloTracker. Halo 3 have every person something to do, casual, competitive, or creative you had something for you. Halo was addicting, fun, motivating, and most of all, it was something I could share with friends. I can remember every game i ran into an MLG pro and how sick that was. I can remember running into the HaloCharts #1 & #2 players for the first time and how exciting it was. Everything had meaning, and becoming friends with those guys and girls a true pleasure.
The next installment was Reach, and even though I did not like some of the choices Bungie made, it was still a solid game that tried to make a new innovation the same way that H1 & H2 did with gameplay and H3 did with community features. I felt like it may have been a step too far but it was not going to hurt my feelings for the franchise. But that was the first time I sensed the division growing the community. It was almost a sin to some if you liked Halo 3 more, and those who did felt the same about those who liked Reach more. But that was nothing a newer, solid entry the franchise couldn’t fix.
Then came 343i’s first crack at Halo with Halo 4. Halo 4, well, it is almost unanimously thought of as the worst Halo. Most didn’t like the campaign (though it did intrigue me) and the multiplayer just was not good. It felt like a hybrid of CoD and Halo, which will ultimately please neither CoD players or Halo players because it is too much like Halo for CoD players and too much like CoD for Halo players. This was forgivable though, it was 343i’s first shot, a hard lesson learned but the next game had to be great.
In drops the Master Chief Collection, said to be all 4 of the Halo games with the Master Chief with campaigns and multiplayer “as they shipped on their launch date.” What!? I can play halo 3 again with 60fps? Lone Wolf, Swat, Snipers, TS, Doubles, and all of their social counterparts? All that and all of Halo 2’s multiplayer and CE online for the first time!? Sign me up! Then I get home unboxed the game and installed it. Imagine my surprise when I saw next to none of that. That’s okay, even though they are mashed up playlists with 3 or 4 of the games in them, it will still be fun right? Well, maybe if I was able to find more than 10 games in the first SIX MONTHS of the game’s release. Unfortunately, by the time 343i fixed their broken game’s matchmaking, all of us who were swindled into buying this game had moved on to Titanfall or some other game. The kicker is too, that because the community shrank they put in ban for quitting out of games, not thinking that maybe a person might quit because half the people playing now stand afk which is no fun to be stuck with on a team. So, you quit and prompt get banned. They can’t ban me, I quit.
Well, okay, 343i now had Halo 5 coming. It is going to be the best Halo yet they say. So what do they deliver? They deliver the worst campaign, no social features, no forge, no btb, microtransactions, no multiplayer map variety at launch, the same player mechanics I see in Titanfall, CoD Blops 3, Crysis 3, basically any popular fps in 2015 or 2014, and no passion, no soul, just another horrible cash grab from the Halo name. 343i has taken the core gameplay which made halo unique and made it like everything else, it feels uninspired. I assume they did this to try and take some market share from CoD and other shooters, but as I explained earlier, if you try please everyone, you are sure please no one. I know they want to do their own thing to differentiate from what Bungie did, but you have to do it without changing the core experience. I am also not starting that Halo 5, in a vacuum, is not a good game, it is a very polished shooter, but for, it is not a good Halo game. Once you name your game Halo, it comes with certain expectations that have to be met, and Halo 5 continues the trend of leaving the core of what made Halo feel like Halo in the past.
So where are we now? The community is in tatters and it is shrinking by the day. I can’t watch this anymore, it is like watching a friend die a very painful death, I’d rather it just be over. That is why I will not purchase Halo 6, I do not have faith that 343i care about the community they inherited and are only interested in a quick buck, how much money they can squeeze out of the Halo brand. Well, they will not be getting my money. I can’t really explain everything that has lead to this choice, so I will leave it as the more general points above. I am not claiming that H1-H3 were perfect, they certainly have their flaws, but their flaws gave them personality. 343i’s entries have felt lifeless to me and their populations reflect the fact that I am not alone. I do truly hope that those that do purchase Halo 6 do not feel as disappointed as I do now. Best wishes to all, it was a pleasure getting to know so many over the last 15 years.
