"This does not feel like Halo"

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I have noticed that there are people who are concerned about what was shown in the Halo 5 opening cinematic. I infer that this is because we had never seen something like that in Halo 1-3, and for the people who wanted an iterative sequel to Halo 3, they don’t like seeing Halo 5 being so different compared to the original trilogy, which leads them to claim “this is not Halo”.

I assume for those people, “Halo” consists of Halo 1, 2 and 3 and those three games carry the same unique feel, which for those people, is what defines “Halo”. However this is not universally true. Halo has many different settings, moods and atmospheres e.g.

  • Halo 3: ODST definitely did not have Halo 1-3’s atmosphere, people could argue ‘it did not feel like Halo’ outside the gameplay - Halo Reach was a lot more sombre, had a different art style and you wouldn’t say its characters were cut from the same cloth as Sgt Johnson, Miranda Keyes, The Arbiter, Prophet of Truth and Lord Hood. - The Halo novels explored many different parts of the halo universe that were worlds apart from the adventures of Sierra 117 e.g. the insurrectionists, the Sangheilli civil war, Kilo-Five, John-117’s missions with Blue Team against human rebels, the adventures of Halsey and Blue Team in Ghosts of Onyx, the Forerunner saga, and Halo: Evolutions (which told stories about a kid who tried to kill his father before running away and being taken into the S-II program, a group of soldiers who were close friends shooting each other over gold, and descriptive reports of how Preston Cole fought naval space battles against the Covenant).All these stories feel very different to the stories in Halo 1-3, but that’s what makes the halo universe so good, because there are so many different areas of the universe, each with their own distinct flavour (Humans, Covenant, Forerunner -> UNSC/ONI/colonial insurrectionists/Navy space battles/Spartan programs; Sangheilli/Kig-Yar/San shyuum etc.) yet they are all woven together in one epic universe that can feel both familiar and new to us Halo fans.

The original Halo trilogy is not the one and only thing that “feels Halo”, it is only one part of Halo. What people are really saying when they comment “Halo 5 does not feel like Halo” is that Halo 5 does not feel like the original trilogy. That’s because Halo 5 is literally not in that trilogy, it is a new, different chapter in the universe of Halo, like how all the novels and other games are different chapters in the same universe.

2

Honestly the “It does not feel like Halo” statement is essentialy Godwin’s Law at this point in regards to the Halo commnity. Like what are you even using as a measure for that?

3

“It does not feel like halo” has been said by every person who hates halo 5. I can name a few youtubers/community members who say it, but don’t back up what they say.

4

Halo games should feel a certain way. Many people here become upset when others claim that something doesn’t “feel (or seem) like Halo to them”. I understand why it upsets most of them too . . . they don’t think Halo games should have to fit into some sort of box; especially those whom read the novels it seems. Honestly, I can sympathize some here.

On the other hand, game franchises cannot fundamentally change as much and as often as Halo has over the past 5-8 years (2-3 games) and it expect to sustain the type of success Halo and it’s ownership has become accustomed to over the years. This is so, simply because video games’ brand recognition has much to do with a feel that largely stems from gameplay. If that feel is not almost instantly recognized as familiar to a player, he/she might as well be playing a whole new game.

Yes, Halo CE was different from Halo 2, and Halo 2 was different from Halo 3, but the differences between those three games’ core gameplay mechanics were not drastic enough to break players’ recognition of/familiarity with the feel of the game as a series; "feels like Halo". I hope that 343 pays close attention when players claim things do not “feel like Halo”, because things “feeling like Halo” is not only a good thing for this game franchise, they are necessary for it to continue/thrive.

In summary, I think it’s in our best interest to be more considerate of others’ claims that something doesn’t “feel like Halo”. If that “feel” is ever lost, Halo games (at least as we know them today) might be in serious danger. Obviously you’re going to have some people stretching it to no end…I’m just suggesting we try to not jump all over people when/if they say things don’t “feel like Halo”. Things need to “feel like Halo” for a vast majority of us.

5

People who said “This does not feel like halo” are making their opinion. While the people who saying " If you buy halo 5, your a problem to halo" or trying to prevent other from buy it are the “real” problem in the community. When I saw halo 5 gameplay it didn’t feel like nor didn’t look like COD (IMO). People some days need to learn that COD isn’t the first one who made all this (just saying). :confused:

6

> 2535465515137096;5:
> People who said “This does not feel like halo” are making their opinion. While the people who saying " If you buy halo 5, your a problem to halo" or trying to prevent other from buy it are the “real” problem in the community. When I saw halo 5 gameplay it didn’t feel like nor didn’t look like COD.

Every big franchise has a loyal following. Every loyal following is made up of different groups and subgroups regarding specific interests and opinions. People urging others to, or not to, buy the game is natural… If this were not happening, Halo would not be the face of Xbox. It’s not a problem. If anything, it just draws more attention to the game at the end of the day.

7

I think each game should have its own “feeling”. And I mean that in terms of gameplay and atmosphere. Halo is a massive universe. Sure, there should be consistencies in terms of character, story, and continuity, but I think if you start recycling too many themes and following one good formula forever, then it’s a bit lazy. A franchise that’s been around this long shouldn’t be a one-trick-pony.

Atmosphere can be done right, too: for instance, in Halo 3, where you find the final terminal; it’s in the area that was one of the pulse generators that you needed to overload in CE. That was cute. It was a nice nod to the first game. But what was a better nod to the first game? The first two missions of Halo 4. Though, admittedly, it was a bit heavy handed on the parallels, but waking up from cryo sleep aboard a UNSC ship being boarded by the Covenant only to crash on a mysterious Forerunner Installation? It was done well enough that it took me a couple of play-throughs to catch on. It was still its own event and its own story, but the nod to the first game was there the whole time. Halo 4 was the first time I got Combat Evolved “feels” from another Halo game. Though, I’m not sure if “subtle nod” is worse or better than “basically borrowing” but the affect was greater on me, personally.

Gameplay is a different story and I won’t get into that. We can boil that one down to “there’s sprint, and there shouldn’t be because it wasn’t in the first three”. Personally, that doesn’t make Reach, Halo 4, or Halo 5 feel less like Halo. But I know it does for others.

8

> 2533274883669557;7:
> I think each game should have its own “feeling”. And I mean that in terms of gameplay and atmosphere. Halo is a massive universe. Sure, there should be consistencies in terms of character, story, and continuity, but I think if you start recycling too many themes and following one good formula forever, then it’s a bit lazy. A franchise that’s been around this long shouldn’t be a one-trick-pony.
>
> Atmosphere can be done right, too: for instance, in Halo 3, where you find the final terminal; it’s in the area that was one of the pulse generators that you needed to overload in CE. That was cute. It was a nice nod to the first game. But what was a better nod to the first game? The first two missions of Halo 4. Though, admittedly, it was a bit heavy handed on the parallels, but waking up from cryo sleep aboard a UNSC ship being boarded by the Covenant only to crash on a mysterious Forerunner Installation? It was done well enough that it took me a couple of play-throughs to catch on. It was still its own event and its own story, but the nod to the first game was there the whole time. Halo 4 was the first time I got Combat Evolved “feels” from another Halo game. Though, I’m not sure if “subtle nod” is worse or better than “basically borrowing” but the affect was greater on me, personally.
>
> Gameplay is a different story and I won’t get into that. We can boil that one down to “there’s sprint, and there shouldn’t be because it wasn’t in the first three”. Personally, that doesn’t make Reach, Halo 4, or Halo 5 feel less like Halo. But I know it does for others.

I don’t really disagree with you as far as story mode goes. The bolded paragraph is all I’m responding to here. . .

I think you’re underestimating how important familiar “feeling” gameplay is to a long-running series like Halo. I don’t have the numbers to say this for sure, but I’d be willing to bet that most people who purchase a Halo game (or any game for that matter) ultimately will never latch onto the storyline; especially not enough to go back and play out the previous games.

Reason I bring that up is because I think you’re own interest in Halo’s vast universe and riches of story is somewhat blinding you from seeing how the overall majority of any particular Halo game audience will perceive what they are experiencing. It all starts with gameplay, and how that gameplay feels. The best way to retain a video game series’ audience is to keep your foundational gameplay formula as similar as possible, because that makes each game familiar to the player.

People rip on CoD (sorry to use this as an example, but it fits the bill here) for keeping most of the same gameplay mechanics, but that’s not where or why CoD deserves criticism at all…CoD deserves heavy criticism for literally pumping out the same animations on the same exact engine over two different generations of consoles. The fact that they keep their gameplay the same might very well be the only reason the series is still going as strong as it is today.

343 is trying to make their game more familiar to the average players by adapting the most popular/common mechanics and control schemes from other big-named fps games on the market. Maybe that will work just as well as it would if they just stuck with what HCE-H3 established. I honestly can’t claim to know, and I feel confident that nobody really knows for sure. If it were up to me, I’d have taken Halo 5’s gameplay back to Halo 2 and 3, bumped base movement speeds up, probably agreed to add in thrusters, and gone from there…

The story modes can always be rather drastically different from one each other, and I don’t think many people would argue that. As long as iconic weapons and familiar/recognizable characters (namely Master Chief) are kept mostly all the same and in the games, then the story can venture off into new territory. What doesn’t need to be reinvented each time out is the fundamental gameplay. IMO, that should remain mostly the same throughout, because it’s essentially the engine driving the game an if it’s not familiar and recognizable from each installment to the next (and the story is guaranteed to be quite different), then each game ought to just be it’s own unique, new self (in other words Halo: _____ and not Halo 1/2/3/4/5/6/etc.).

9

Yeah Bungie was going to make Halo 4 but they knew they’d have to tell a whole new trilogy…or saga or whatever. So they made Halo Reach instead. Halo 4-5 are in a whole new chapter and I am exited for this new chapter
The new wraith look, for 10 years you think the covenant would have the same gear? No, better. The universe is evolving. You cannot look at this like another game, get involved in the timeline and story.

10

> 2533274946634226;4:
> Halo games should feel a certain way. Many people here become upset when others claim that something doesn’t “feel (or seem) like Halo to them”. I understand why it upsets most of them too . . . they don’t think Halo games should have to fit into some sort of box; especially those whom read the novels it seems. Honestly, I can sympathize some here.
>
> On the other hand, game franchises cannot fundamentally change as much and as often as Halo has over the past 5-8 years (2-3 games) and it expect to sustain the type of success Halo and it’s ownership has become accustomed to over the years. This is so, simply because video games’ brand recognition has much to do with a feel that largely stems from gameplay. If that feel is not almost instantly recognized as familiar to a player, he/she might as well be playing a whole new game.
>
> Yes, Halo CE was different from Halo 2, and Halo 2 was different from Halo 3, but the differences between those three games’ core gameplay mechanics were not drastic enough to break players’ recognition of/familiarity with the feel of the game as a series; "feels like Halo". I hope that 343 pays close attention when players claim things do not “feel like Halo”, because things “feeling like Halo” is not only a good thing for this game franchise, they are necessary for it to continue/thrive.
>
> In summary, I think it’s in our best interest to be more considerate of others’ claims that something doesn’t “feel like Halo”. If that “feel” is ever lost, Halo games (at least as we know them today) might be in serious danger. Obviously you’re going to have some people stretching it to no end…I’m just suggesting we try to not jump all over people when/if they say things don’t “feel like Halo”. Things need to “feel like Halo” for a vast majority of us.

I will never be considerate to anyone using “it doesn’t feel like halo” “it doesn’t seem very halo to me” and the other ones you people use to dislike anything about halo 5. You guys are just as bad if not worse than the “I don’t want this in-game because it will ruin my immersion” crowd. Not to mention you people are extremely biased, an op yesterday said that he didn’t like the trailer because he believed it was “over the top” : then when someone that opposed his opinion described something the mastef chief did in a previous game the op said that was okay because “you experienced that moment” or something like that.

Also going by your flawed logic Mass effect andromeda won’t be as successful as the original trilogy or gears of war 4 won’t be as successful as the original trilogy, heck mass effect 4 won’t have Shepard and is in a different galaxy and gears of war 4 looks like its set on somewhere other than serra.

11

> 2533274946634226;8:
> > 2533274883669557;7:
> > I think each game should have its own “feeling”. And I mean that in terms of gameplay and atmosphere. Halo is a massive universe. Sure, there should be consistencies in terms of character, story, and continuity, but I think if you start recycling too many themes and following one good formula forever, then it’s a bit lazy. A franchise that’s been around this long shouldn’t be a one-trick-pony.
> >
> > Atmosphere can be done right, too: for instance, in Halo 3, where you find the final terminal; it’s in the area that was one of the pulse generators that you needed to overload in CE. That was cute. It was a nice nod to the first game. But what was a better nod to the first game? The first two missions of Halo 4. Though, admittedly, it was a bit heavy handed on the parallels, but waking up from cryo sleep aboard a UNSC ship being boarded by the Covenant only to crash on a mysterious Forerunner Installation? It was done well enough that it took me a couple of play-throughs to catch on. It was still its own event and its own story, but the nod to the first game was there the whole time. Halo 4 was the first time I got Combat Evolved “feels” from another Halo game. Though, I’m not sure if “subtle nod” is worse or better than “basically borrowing” but the affect was greater on me, personally.
> >
> > Gameplay is a different story and I won’t get into that. We can boil that one down to “there’s sprint, and there shouldn’t be because it wasn’t in the first three”. Personally, that doesn’t make Reach, Halo 4, or Halo 5 feel less like Halo. But I know it does for others.
>
>
> I don’t really disagree with you as far as story mode goes. The bolded paragraph is all I’m responding to here. . .
>
> I think you’re underestimating how important familiar “feeling” gameplay is to a long-running series like Halo. I don’t have the numbers to say this for sure, but I’d be willing to bet that most people who purchase a Halo game (or any game for that matter) ultimately will never latch onto the storyline; especially not enough to go back and play out the previous games.
>
> Reason I bring that up is because I think you’re own interest in Halo’s vast universe and riches of story is somewhat blinding you from seeing how the overall majority of any particular Halo game audience will perceive what they are experiencing. It all starts with gameplay, and how that gameplay feels. The best way to retain a video game series’ audience is to keep your foundational gameplay formula as similar as possible, because that makes each game familiar to the player.
>
> People rip on CoD (sorry to use this as an example, but it fits the bill here) for keeping most of the same gameplay mechanics, but that’s not where or why CoD deserves criticism at all…CoD deserves heavy criticism for literally pumping out the same animations on the same exact engine over two different generations of consoles. The fact that they keep their gameplay the same might very well be the only reason the series is still going as strong as it is today.
>
> 343 is trying to make their game more familiar to the average players by adapting the most popular/common mechanics and control schemes from other big-named fps games on the market. Maybe that will work just as well as it would if they just stuck with what HCE-H3 established. I honestly can’t claim to know, and I feel confident that nobody really knows for sure. If it were up to me, I’d have taken Halo 5’s gameplay back to Halo 2 and 3, bumped base movement speeds up, probably agreed to add in thrusters, and gone from there…
>
> The story modes can always be rather drastically different from one each other, and I don’t think many people would argue that. As long as iconic weapons and familiar/recognizable characters (namely Master Chief) are kept mostly all the same and in the games, then the story can venture off into new territory. What doesn’t need to be reinvented each time out is the fundamental gameplay. IMO, that should remain mostly the same throughout, because it’s essentially the engine driving the game an if it’s not familiar and recognizable from each installment to the next (and the story is guaranteed to be quite different), then each game ought to just be it’s own unique, new self (in other words Halo: _____ and not Halo 1/2/3/4/5/6/etc.).

I know, that’s why I said I wasn’t into that. There are new mechanics (example I gave being sprint) and some are okay with it, and some are not. I just said for me, clicking a button and moving faster doesn’t make it less of a Halo game. For others, it does. So … I wasn’t looking to start a debate on that matter.

My point with “feeling Halo” was with atmosphere since that was what the OP was focusing on. I do think he overlooked that when most people talk about it not feeling like Halo, they’re referring to modern FPS elements being implemented. So I mentioned that.

Personally, for gameplay, as long as there is gun, grenade, & melee at its core where it’s always been, and balance, I don’t mind if they add equipment or duel wielding or thrusting or sprinting, as long as that core is still there. That’s what makes it feel like Halo for me in terms of gameplay. If I can take someone down in the same manner that I could in CE, I don’t mind if I can thrust around a bit while doing it. That’s one of things I didn’t like about Halo 4. I am a fan of Halo 4, but I felt it strayed too far. Halo 5 seems right up my alley.

12

> 2533274874192460;10:
> > 2533274946634226;4:
> > Halo games should feel a certain way. Many people here become upset when others claim that something doesn’t “feel (or seem) like Halo to them”. I understand why it upsets most of them too . . . they don’t think Halo games should have to fit into some sort of box; especially those whom read the novels it seems. Honestly, I can sympathize some here.
> >
> > On the other hand, game franchises cannot fundamentally change as much and as often as Halo has over the past 5-8 years (2-3 games) and it expect to sustain the type of success Halo and it’s ownership has become accustomed to over the years. This is so, simply because video games’ brand recognition has much to do with a feel that largely stems from gameplay. If that feel is not almost instantly recognized as familiar to a player, he/she might as well be playing a whole new game.
> >
> > Yes, Halo CE was different from Halo 2, and Halo 2 was different from Halo 3, but the differences between those three games’ core gameplay mechanics were not drastic enough to break players’ recognition of/familiarity with the feel of the game as a series; "feels like Halo". I hope that 343 pays close attention when players claim things do not “feel like Halo”, because things “feeling like Halo” is not only a good thing for this game franchise, they are necessary for it to continue/thrive.
> >
> > In summary, I think it’s in our best interest to be more considerate of others’ claims that something doesn’t “feel like Halo”. If that “feel” is ever lost, Halo games (at least as we know them today) might be in serious danger. (HEY!!! Here’s one of a lot of sentences you didn’t bother to read!!!) O**bviously you’re going to have some people stretching it to no end…**I’m just suggesting we try to not jump all over people when/if they say things don’t “feel like Halo”. Things need to “feel like Halo” for a vast majority of us.
>
>
> 1. I will never be considerate to anyone using “it doesn’t feel like halo” “it doesn’t seem very halo to me” and the other ones you people use to dislike anything about H5.
> 2. You guys are just as bad if not worse than the “I don’t want this in-game because it will ruin my immersion” crowd.
> 3. Not to mention you people are extremely biased, an op yesterday said that he didn’t like the trailer because he believed it was “over the top” : then when someone that opposed his opinion described something the mastef chief did in a previous game the op said that was okay because “you experienced that moment” or something like that.
>
> 4. Also going by your flawed logic Mass effect andromeda won’t be as successful as the original trilogy or gears of war 4 won’t be as successful as the original trilogy, heck mass effect 4 won’t have Shepard and is in a different galaxy and gears of war 4 looks like its set on somewhere other than serra.

1. Wow. Alright.

2. I’m not sure how that applies, and you can take a fine-toothed comb to my history of posts and see for yourself that I have never once lobbied for anything due to “my immersion” being broken. If anything, you’ll only find me arguing against.

3. Amazing how you lump myself into some group of people, whom by the way, you failed to define. However, refer to the sentence you clearly didn’t read, from my post to which you responded (hint: scroll up a little, I put it in bold for you).

4. And what logic of mine do you believe to be “flawed”? I’m curious bc what you’re saying here is not a coherent response to my post (the one you quoted and responded to).

Note: Maybe you should read what people have written prior to generalizing them, and deciding you won’t ever be considerate to them. I’m not demanding that you be considerate to me (or anybody for that matter) based on my preferences, which BTW, I never divulged in my post, but you somehow just magically know. I suggested we all be a little more considerate of posts/threads from others claiming something doesn’t “feel like Halo” to them…and I gave you quite a few good reasons why. But hey, Mass Effect this, bias that, right? Lol! Hysterical…really.

13

> 2533274883669557;11:
> > 2533274946634226;8:
> > > 2533274883669557;7:
> > > I think each game should have its own “feeling”. And I mean that in terms of gameplay and atmosphere. Halo is a massive universe. Sure, there should be consistencies in terms of character, story, and continuity, but I think if you start recycling too many themes and following one good formula forever, then it’s a bit lazy. A franchise that’s been around this long shouldn’t be a one-trick-pony.
> > >
> > > Atmosphere can be done right, too: for instance, in Halo 3, where you find the final terminal; it’s in the area that was one of the pulse generators that you needed to overload in CE. That was cute. It was a nice nod to the first game. But what was a better nod to the first game? The first two missions of Halo 4. Though, admittedly, it was a bit heavy handed on the parallels, but waking up from cryo sleep aboard a UNSC ship being boarded by the Covenant only to crash on a mysterious Forerunner Installation? It was done well enough that it took me a couple of play-throughs to catch on. It was still its own event and its own story, but the nod to the first game was there the whole time. Halo 4 was the first time I got Combat Evolved “feels” from another Halo game. Though, I’m not sure if “subtle nod” is worse or better than “basically borrowing” but the affect was greater on me, personally.
> > >
> > > Gameplay is a different story and I won’t get into that. We can boil that one down to “there’s sprint, and there shouldn’t be because it wasn’t in the first three”. Personally, that doesn’t make Reach, Halo 4, or Halo 5 feel less like Halo. But I know it does for others.
> >
> >
> > I don’t really disagree with you as far as story mode goes. The bolded paragraph is all I’m responding to here. . .
> >
> > I think you’re underestimating how important familiar “feeling” gameplay is to a long-running series like Halo. I don’t have the numbers to say this for sure, but I’d be willing to bet that most people who purchase a Halo game (or any game for that matter) ultimately will never latch onto the storyline; especially not enough to go back and play out the previous games.
> >
> > Reason I bring that up is because I think you’re own interest in Halo’s vast universe and riches of story is somewhat blinding you from seeing how the overall majority of any particular Halo game audience will perceive what they are experiencing. It all starts with gameplay, and how that gameplay feels. The best way to retain a video game series’ audience is to keep your foundational gameplay formula as similar as possible, because that makes each game familiar to the player.
> >
> > People rip on CoD (sorry to use this as an example, but it fits the bill here) for keeping most of the same gameplay mechanics, but that’s not where or why CoD deserves criticism at all…CoD deserves heavy criticism for literally pumping out the same animations on the same exact engine over two different generations of consoles. The fact that they keep their gameplay the same might very well be the only reason the series is still going as strong as it is today.
> >
> > 343 is trying to make their game more familiar to the average players by adapting the most popular/common mechanics and control schemes from other big-named fps games on the market. Maybe that will work just as well as it would if they just stuck with what HCE-H3 established. I honestly can’t claim to know, and I feel confident that nobody really knows for sure. If it were up to me, I’d have taken Halo 5’s gameplay back to Halo 2 and 3, bumped base movement speeds up, probably agreed to add in thrusters, and gone from there…
> >
> > The story modes can always be rather drastically different from one each other, and I don’t think many people would argue that. As long as iconic weapons and familiar/recognizable characters (namely Master Chief) are kept mostly all the same and in the games, then the story can venture off into new territory. What doesn’t need to be reinvented each time out is the fundamental gameplay. IMO, that should remain mostly the same throughout, because it’s essentially the engine driving the game an if it’s not familiar and recognizable from each installment to the next (and the story is guaranteed to be quite different), then each game ought to just be it’s own unique, new self (in other words Halo: _____ and not Halo 1/2/3/4/5/6/etc.).
>
>
> I know, that’s why I said I wasn’t into that. There are new mechanics (example I gave being sprint) and some are okay with it, and some are not. I just said for me, clicking a button and moving faster doesn’t make it less of a Halo game. For others, it does. So … I wasn’t looking to start a debate on that matter.
>
> My point with “feeling Halo” was with atmosphere since that was what the OP was focusing on. I do think he overlooked that when most people talk about it not feeling like Halo, they’re referring to modern FPS elements being implemented. So I mentioned that.
>
> Personally, for gameplay, as long as there is gun, grenade, & melee at its core where it’s always been, and balance, I don’t mind if they add equipment or duel wielding or thrusting or sprinting, as long as that core is still there. That’s what makes it feel like Halo for me in terms of gameplay. If I can take someone down in the same manner that I could in CE, I don’t mind if I can thrust around a bit while doing it. That’s one of things I didn’t like about Halo 4. I am a fan of Halo 4, but I felt it strayed too far. Halo 5 seems right up my alley.

No, I didn’t think you were trying to start a debate. I guess I’m just having a hard time understanding how you can say gameplay isn’t your thing when the gameplay is quite literally…the game. Really, I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m just thinking how much different…say, Battlefield feels to me as compared to…say, Titanfall…just based on the differences of the games’ gameplay/mechanics. Lastly, I guess I just don’t get why the presence of gun/melee/grenade is essentially you’re only prerequisite, basically because I’m really struggling to think of any FPS that does not include all three of these.

14

A cutscene is a cutscene, gameplay will determine whether it plays like Halo. Personally, having played every Halo, minus Wars, and trying out the beta, I think Halo 5 feels a lot like a Halo that I would enjoy playing.

15

> 2533275050532363;9:
> Yeah Bungie was going to make Halo 4 but they knew they’d have to tell a whole new trilogy…or saga or whatever. So they made Halo Reach instead. Halo 4-5 are in a whole new chapter and I am exited for this new chapter
> The new wraith look, for 10 years you think the covenant would have the same gear? No, better. The universe is evolving. You cannot look at this like another game, get involved in the timeline and story.

Right, I understand. Look, I don’t care if the vehicles and guns change in appearance slightly, or if new ones are added into the mix. Evolving does not mean changing drastically!

Evolve: develop gradually, especially from a simple to a more complex form.
synonyms:
develop, progress, advance; More
(with reference to an organism or biological feature) develop over successive generations, especially as a result of natural selection.

The Universe is not evolving! If the universe was evolving, then every title following Halo 3 (in the timeline/story which you suggest I get involved in) would be gradually building upon Halo 3’s gameplay design. If Halo was “evolving” then the 1-50 ranking system would’ve never left Halo. If Halo’s gameplay was “evolving” then the BR wouldn’t suddenly be limited by range. The story might be “evolving”, but I’m not talking about the story. As I’ve said multiple times in almost every single post I’ve made in this thread, the story should be changing and different…otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a story. I get that. The gameplay, however, has not evolved. It totally mutated twice between 2007 and 2012, and is slightly mutating again here in 2015.

I understand you’re passionate about the story, but the story has absolutely nothing to do with my love and interest for this game franchise. I’ve tried to get into the story, I can’t. I don’t like the story/I’m just not interested. What I’m discussing is the gameplay, and the gameplay is the only reason I’ve owned and played the hell out of almost all of these games. I’m not the only one like this. I’m willing to bet that most people who buy any Halo game, never actually get into the story. The casual gamer is the average player, and the casual gamer is not a die hard Halo story fan (or any game’s story). They buy, pick up, play, put down…unless something hooks them. The story is long and deep, and while I don’t care for it, I can appreciate it’s scope. I’m guessing it’s pretty intimidating to the first-timer. If Halo is evolving, then it better find a way to get people caught up and interested in a story in just a few sittings…because that’s all you have. Peoples’ attention spans are very short to what they don’t already know.

16

If you don’t like it don’t buy it, simple

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> 2533274841426089;16:
> If you don’t like it don’t buy it, simple

Indeed. Still, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck royally to not have a new Halo coming soon for which you’re excited about (if you’re one of those who don’t like & won’t buy). Trust me : )

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> 2533274946634226;13:
> > 2533274883669557;11:
> > > 2533274946634226;8:
> > > > 2533274883669557;7:
> > > > I think each game should have its own “feeling”. And I mean that in terms of gameplay and atmosphere. Halo is a massive universe. Sure, there should be consistencies in terms of character, story, and continuity, but I think if you start recycling too many themes and following one good formula forever, then it’s a bit lazy. A franchise that’s been around this long shouldn’t be a one-trick-pony.
> > > >
> > > > Atmosphere can be done right, too: for instance, in Halo 3, where you find the final terminal; it’s in the area that was one of the pulse generators that you needed to overload in CE. That was cute. It was a nice nod to the first game. But what was a better nod to the first game? The first two missions of Halo 4. Though, admittedly, it was a bit heavy handed on the parallels, but waking up from cryo sleep aboard a UNSC ship being boarded by the Covenant only to crash on a mysterious Forerunner Installation? It was done well enough that it took me a couple of play-throughs to catch on. It was still its own event and its own story, but the nod to the first game was there the whole time. Halo 4 was the first time I got Combat Evolved “feels” from another Halo game. Though, I’m not sure if “subtle nod” is worse or better than “basically borrowing” but the affect was greater on me, personally.
> > > >
> > > > Gameplay is a different story and I won’t get into that. We can boil that one down to “there’s sprint, and there shouldn’t be because it wasn’t in the first three”. Personally, that doesn’t make Reach, Halo 4, or Halo 5 feel less like Halo. But I know it does for others.
> > >
> > >
> > > I don’t really disagree with you as far as story mode goes. The bolded paragraph is all I’m responding to here. . .
> > >
> > > I think you’re underestimating how important familiar “feeling” gameplay is to a long-running series like Halo. I don’t have the numbers to say this for sure, but I’d be willing to bet that most people who purchase a Halo game (or any game for that matter) ultimately will never latch onto the storyline; especially not enough to go back and play out the previous games.
> > >
> > > Reason I bring that up is because I think you’re own interest in Halo’s vast universe and riches of story is somewhat blinding you from seeing how the overall majority of any particular Halo game audience will perceive what they are experiencing. It all starts with gameplay, and how that gameplay feels. The best way to retain a video game series’ audience is to keep your foundational gameplay formula as similar as possible, because that makes each game familiar to the player.
> > >
> > > People rip on CoD (sorry to use this as an example, but it fits the bill here) for keeping most of the same gameplay mechanics, but that’s not where or why CoD deserves criticism at all…CoD deserves heavy criticism for literally pumping out the same animations on the same exact engine over two different generations of consoles. The fact that they keep their gameplay the same might very well be the only reason the series is still going as strong as it is today.
> > >
> > > 343 is trying to make their game more familiar to the average players by adapting the most popular/common mechanics and control schemes from other big-named fps games on the market. Maybe that will work just as well as it would if they just stuck with what HCE-H3 established. I honestly can’t claim to know, and I feel confident that nobody really knows for sure. If it were up to me, I’d have taken Halo 5’s gameplay back to Halo 2 and 3, bumped base movement speeds up, probably agreed to add in thrusters, and gone from there…
> > >
> > > The story modes can always be rather drastically different from one each other, and I don’t think many people would argue that. As long as iconic weapons and familiar/recognizable characters (namely Master Chief) are kept mostly all the same and in the games, then the story can venture off into new territory. What doesn’t need to be reinvented each time out is the fundamental gameplay. IMO, that should remain mostly the same throughout, because it’s essentially the engine driving the game an if it’s not familiar and recognizable from each installment to the next (and the story is guaranteed to be quite different), then each game ought to just be it’s own unique, new self (in other words Halo: _____ and not Halo 1/2/3/4/5/6/etc.).
> >
> >
> > I know, that’s why I said I wasn’t into that. There are new mechanics (example I gave being sprint) and some are okay with it, and some are not. I just said for me, clicking a button and moving faster doesn’t make it less of a Halo game. For others, it does. So … I wasn’t looking to start a debate on that matter.
> >
> > My point with “feeling Halo” was with atmosphere since that was what the OP was focusing on. I do think he overlooked that when most people talk about it not feeling like Halo, they’re referring to modern FPS elements being implemented. So I mentioned that.
> >
> > Personally, for gameplay, as long as there is gun, grenade, & melee at its core where it’s always been, and balance, I don’t mind if they add equipment or duel wielding or thrusting or sprinting, as long as that core is still there. That’s what makes it feel like Halo for me in terms of gameplay. If I can take someone down in the same manner that I could in CE, I don’t mind if I can thrust around a bit while doing it. That’s one of things I didn’t like about Halo 4. I am a fan of Halo 4, but I felt it strayed too far. Halo 5 seems right up my alley.
>
>
> No, I didn’t think you were trying to start a debate. I guess I’m just having a hard time understanding how you can say gameplay isn’t your thing when the gameplay is quite literally…the game. Really, I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m just thinking how much different…say, Battlefield feels to me as compared to…say, Titanfall…just based on the differences of the games’ gameplay/mechanics. Lastly, I guess I just don’t get why the presence of gun/melee/grenade is essentially you’re only prerequisite, basically because I’m really struggling to think of any FPS that does not include all three of these.

It the golden triangle? Hotkey melee and grenades? Invented by Halo? It was the only FPS in 2001 to have that. A separate button for all three of those thing. That’s what the combat system was based around. Every game since then that’s had its own melee and grenade button has borrowed that from Halo. Before, you had to select your melee weapon or chose grenades from your weapons.

I never said gameplay isn’t my thing. Gameplay is very much my thing. I wasn’t talking about gameplay because the OP wasn’t talking about gameplay. He was talking about atmosphere. So I was talking about atmosphere. I mentioned that I felt he was missing the point of what a lot of people were saying when they said it didn’t “feel” like Halo. They meant gameplay. Not atmosphere. That’s all.

19

Basically, “It doesn’t feel like Halo” means “It doesn’t feel like Halo 2”. Why else do you think everyone loves Halo 3: the 360 version of Halo 2?

20

Reach, 4, and 5 just don’t have the spark the first 3 did. I played the first 3 for hours every single day growing up, and I still play them just about every day on the MCC. I hardly touched Reach until they added that team classic playlist with the needler rifle, no armor abilities, and forged h1 and h2 remakes, and then when they took that away i stopped playing until they added halo 1 anniversary. Then Halo 4 i only consistently played the first month or 2 it came out and then with the Halo 5 beta i only played it for like 3 or 4 hours and didnt even want to touch it again.

Don’t get me wrong there was stuff i hated in the original trilogy too. I hated duel wielding in Halo 2/3 because it was pointless, and I hated equipment in Halo 3, but they weren’t that bad so I just dealt with it. The armor abilities in Reach completely broke gameplay IMO. My 2 biggest pet peeves were being in a fire fight and someone armor locking, or someone flying over the wall shooting at u with the jet pack. I would probably say that my main issue with Halo 4 were ordinance and loadouts, but mainly that i really didn’t like 90% of the maps in the game. it seemed like everytime a new map pack came out it was mostly big maps.

I am very excited for Halo 5’s campaign but i see myself playing the multiplayer for a max of 3 months and going back to the MCC.