Time for an interesting scenario

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and I want to see what you guys think about it. First off, take off your nostalgia glasses. Whether Halo 1 or 4 is your favorite game, put all of that aside and look at this from a non biased standpoint.

What if the Halo series “evolved” backwards. So instead of Bungie releasing classic Halo:CE in 2001, they released Halo 5 (still called Halo 1 of course). Then they released Halo 4 in 2004 but under the name Halo 2, Halo 3 as Halo 3 in 2007, Halo 2 as Halo 4 in 2012, and Halo 1 as Halo 5 in 2015. Instead of going from simple to more complex, Halo would’ve gone the exact opposite.

Let’s assume the industry has stayed the same. Also I’m only talking about mechanics like sprint, not campaign order. 343 still would’ve taken over the franchise after Halo 3. Let’s also assume the MCC disaster would’ve happened so people would be skeptical about Halo 5 (with the mechanics of Halo 1).

How do you think the community would’ve reacted to the changes? Would people still call 343 “343bola” because they got rid of sprint and things like Loadouts and Armor Abilities? Would people still try to boycott 343 because of the MCC? Would there still be people insisting Halo is generic and a CoD copier?

I would like to hear your thoughts.

2

To be fair, in order to get a concrete analysis, we would have had to have played the full Halo 5, not just a beta, and I’d have to know where Reach would fall on this list.

I feel as though I can assuredly say that the hate Halo 2 got would have been magnified, (you know, not sticking to Halo 5/1’s formula and being a bad game in general.) Either way you slice it, I think Halo 4 is screwed in this respect.

3

> 2535421619942348;2:
> To be fair, in order to get a concrete analysis, we would have had to have played the full Halo 5, not just a beta, and I’d have to know where Reach would fall on this list.
>
> I feel as though I can assuredly say that the hate for Halo 2 would have been magnified, (you know, not sticking to Halo 5/1’s formula and being a bad game in general.) Either way you slice it, I think Halo 4 is screwed in this respect.

I remember Halo 2 getting a lot of hate for changing much of what CE offered. Remember Halo2sucks.com?

I guess we could have someone who’s never played a Halo game before start with Halo 5 and work their way backwards.

4

Halo would be going backwards, and it would show. People would see their favourite features of the franchise that they grew to love ripped away (the opposite of what’s happening now. These days, people don’t want the new features). In all honesty, I’d say some of the older Halos were great for their time, but have aged pretty badly. 343 haters just see Halo 1-3 through rose-tinted glasses even though playing them alongside today’s shooter releases renders them lacklustre. Whatever people say, Halo has got to change to survive.

5

> 2533274832934804;4:
> Halo would be going backwards, and it would show. People would see their favourite features of the franchise that they grew to love ripped away (the opposite of what’s happening now. These days, people don’t want the new features). In all honesty, I’d say some of the older Halos were great for their time, but have aged pretty badly. 343 haters just see Halo 1-3 through rose-tinted glasses even though playing them alongside today’s shooter releases renders them lacklustre. Whatever people say, Halo has got to change to survive.

You can kindly stop with the generalizations, as I have no nostalgia and yet I dislike 343.

Now if you’ll give me a second, I need to work this out.

> I remember Halo 2 getting a lot of hate for changing much of what CE offered. Remember Halo2sucks.com?

Yep. My point is that, if Halo 5 is really the balanced arena shooter we think it’s going to be, and Halo 4 clearly wasn’t, then we may wind up with another level of hate added on top.

6

> 2535421619942348;2:
> To be fair, in order to get a concrete analysis, we would have had to have played the full Halo 5, not just a beta, and I’d have to know where Reach would fall on this list.
>
> I feel as though I can assuredly say that the hate for Halo 2 would have been magnified, (you know, not sticking to Halo 5/1’s formula and being a bad game in general.) Either way you slice it, I think Halo 4 is screwed in this respect.

Reach would still come in between Halo 4 as Halo 2 and Halo 3, and it would bridge the gap between the two.
I agree 4 would be screwed the most because a lot of things would’ve been added and removed from 5/1 to 4/2, and that probably would’ve alienated a lot of hardcore 5/1 players.

7

> 2533274832290972;6:
> > 2535421619942348;2:
> > To be fair, in order to get a concrete analysis, we would have had to have played the full Halo 5, not just a beta, and I’d have to know where Reach would fall on this list.
> >
> > I feel as though I can assuredly say that the hate for Halo 2 would have been magnified, (you know, not sticking to Halo 5/1’s formula and being a bad game in general.) Either way you slice it, I think Halo 4 is screwed in this respect.
>
>
> Reach would still come in between Halo 4 as Halo 2 and Halo 3, and it would bridge the gap between the two.
> I agree 4 would be screwed the most because a lot of things would’ve been added and removed from 5/1 to 4/2, and that probably would’ve alienated a lot of hardcore 5/1 players.

Would Halo 5 and/or CE have online multiplayer?

8

> 2535421619942348;5:
> > 2533274832934804;4:
> > Halo would be going backwards, and it would show. People would see their favourite features of the franchise that they grew to love ripped away (the opposite of what’s happening now. These days, people don’t want the new features). In all honesty, I’d say some of the older Halos were great for their time, but have aged pretty badly. 343 haters just see Halo 1-3 through rose-tinted glasses even though playing them alongside today’s shooter releases renders them lacklustre. Whatever people say, Halo has got to change to survive.
>
>
> You can kindly stop with the generalizations, as I have no nostalgia and yet I dislike 343.
>
> Now if you’ll give me a second, I need to work this out.
>
>
>
> > I remember Halo 2 getting a lot of hate for changing much of what CE offered. Remember Halo2sucks.com?
>
>
> Yep. My point is that, if Halo 5 is really the balanced arena shooter we think it’s going to be, and Halo 4 clearly wasn’t, then we may wind up with another level of hate added on top.

I know. I was agreeing with you there. Like “oh yeah, I forgot people used to hate Halo 2”.

9

> 2535421619942348;5:
> > 2533274832934804;4:
> > Halo would be going backwards, and it would show. People would see their favourite features of the franchise that they grew to love ripped away (the opposite of what’s happening now. These days, people don’t want the new features). In all honesty, I’d say some of the older Halos were great for their time, but have aged pretty badly. 343 haters just see Halo 1-3 through rose-tinted glasses even though playing them alongside today’s shooter releases renders them lacklustre. Whatever people say, Halo has got to change to survive.
>
>
> You can kindly stop with the generalizations, as I have no nostalgia and yet I dislike 343.
>
> Now if you’ll give me a second, I need to work this out.
>
>
>
> > I remember Halo 2 getting a lot of hate for changing much of what CE offered. Remember Halo2sucks.com?
>
>
> Yep. My point is that, if Halo 5 is really the balanced arena shooter we think it’s going to be, and Halo 4 clearly wasn’t, then we may wind up with another level of hate added on top.

Yea there would definitely be hate from 5/1 to 4/2 because of the move away from arena gameplay. There would also be hate from 4/2 to 3/3 because it went back to arena gameplay.

10

> 2533274832290972;9:
> > 2535421619942348;5:
> > > 2533274832934804;4:
> > > Halo would be going backwards, and it would show. People would see their favourite features of the franchise that they grew to love ripped away (the opposite of what’s happening now. These days, people don’t want the new features). In all honesty, I’d say some of the older Halos were great for their time, but have aged pretty badly. 343 haters just see Halo 1-3 through rose-tinted glasses even though playing them alongside today’s shooter releases renders them lacklustre. Whatever people say, Halo has got to change to survive.
> >
> >
> > You can kindly stop with the generalizations, as I have no nostalgia and yet I dislike 343.
> >
> > Now if you’ll give me a second, I need to work this out.
> >
> >
> >
> > > I remember Halo 2 getting a lot of hate for changing much of what CE offered. Remember Halo2sucks.com?
> >
> >
> > Yep. My point is that, if Halo 5 is really the balanced arena shooter we think it’s going to be, and Halo 4 clearly wasn’t, then we may wind up with another level of hate added on top.
>
>
> Yea there would definitely be hate from 5/1 to 4/2 because of the move away from arena gameplay. There would also be hate from 4/2 to 3/3 because it went back to arena gameplay.

I think what we’ve learned here is that either way, haters gonna hate.

11

> 2535421619942348;7:
> > 2533274832290972;6:
> > > 2535421619942348;2:
> > > To be fair, in order to get a concrete analysis, we would have had to have played the full Halo 5, not just a beta, and I’d have to know where Reach would fall on this list.
> > >
> > > I feel as though I can assuredly say that the hate for Halo 2 would have been magnified, (you know, not sticking to Halo 5/1’s formula and being a bad game in general.) Either way you slice it, I think Halo 4 is screwed in this respect.
> >
> >
> > Reach would still come in between Halo 4 as Halo 2 and Halo 3, and it would bridge the gap between the two.
> > I agree 4 would be screwed the most because a lot of things would’ve been added and removed from 5/1 to 4/2, and that probably would’ve alienated a lot of hardcore 5/1 players.
>
>
> Would Halo 5 and/or CE have online multiplayer?

I’d go with no. The only thing that would’ve changed between my scenario and real life are gameplay mechanics.

12

> 2533274832290972;9:
> > 2535421619942348;5:
> > > 2533274832934804;4:
> > > Halo would be going backwards, and it would show. People would see their favourite features of the franchise that they grew to love ripped away (the opposite of what’s happening now. These days, people don’t want the new features). In all honesty, I’d say some of the older Halos were great for their time, but have aged pretty badly. 343 haters just see Halo 1-3 through rose-tinted glasses even though playing them alongside today’s shooter releases renders them lacklustre. Whatever people say, Halo has got to change to survive.
> >
> >
> > You can kindly stop with the generalizations, as I have no nostalgia and yet I dislike 343.
> >
> > Now if you’ll give me a second, I need to work this out.
> >
> >
> >
> > > I remember Halo 2 getting a lot of hate for changing much of what CE offered. Remember Halo2sucks.com?
> >
> >
> > Yep. My point is that, if Halo 5 is really the balanced arena shooter we think it’s going to be, and Halo 4 clearly wasn’t, then we may wind up with another level of hate added on top.
>
>
> Yea there would definitely be hate from 5/1 to 4/2 because of the move away from arena gameplay. There would also be hate from 4/2 to 3/3 because it went back to arena gameplay.

Would they though? Does anyone want the clusterfudge of Reach and 4 back? I mean, if anything, 3, 2 and CE might be given some props for being similar to 5 in their build, even if they get docked for simplicity.

13

Alright. Allow me to give my thoughts:

Now assuming the game flowed like:

(Halo CE = Halo 5) → (Halo 2 = Halo 4) → (Halo 3 = Halo: Reach) → (Halo: Reach = Halo 3) → [343 take over] → ( Halo 4 = Halo 2) → [MCC, including 5, 4, Reach and 2, with remastered Halo 4 that no one would want, apparently] → (Halo 5 = Halo CE)

Halo CE/5 – Favorable reviews. Generally considered by Halo fans to be one of the best. Seen as a little weird by the rest of the gaming community.

Halo 2/4 – Adequate reviews. Given props for first game with online multiplayer. Generally considered pretty crap by the community as gameplay is so different from CE. Spawns some players that will like it out of nostalgia, though.

Halo 3/Reach – Good reviews. Given props for not being as sucky as 2. Players who liked 2 may dislike 3 out of nostalgia. Others may see it as a step in the right direction.

Halo Reach/3 – Good reviews. Given props for extremely balanced gameplay, better than Reach or 4. Disliked for the lack of AAs. Liked for the tight gameplay and reliance on strafing and map control, a la CE. Disliked by the 2 crowd, has 3 crowd split. Tolerated by the Halo CE crowd. Brings many new players in because of its uniqueness compared to other games in 2010. These players are mostly seen as noobs, but some are veterans of other games drawn to Halo’s weirdness.

343 TAKES OVER

Halo 4/2 – Very few bugbears can be directly contributed to 343 at this phase, simply because actual Halo 2 and actual Halo 3 are more similar than actual Reach and actual 4. It might get called out for not changing enough, or throw the 2 crowd into a fit of rage because it’s the perpetuation of everything they dislike, despite being at odds with both the CE and 3 crowds. CE crowd tolerates it. 3 crowd likes it. Reach crowd loves it. Good reviews. 343 generally in good standing with the community, scept’ the Halo 2 players. But few actually liked Halo 2. Biggest complaint: Basically Reach.

MCC debacle – Makes the 2 crowd even angrier because it’s the anniversary of their game. Annoys the rest of the games’ fanbases, not only because the game is broken, but because few of them actually liked Halo 2. However, because a portion of Reach’s sizable fanbase enjoyed Halo 4, 343’s mess ups are somewhat exaggerated by the Halo 2 crowd and the Halo 2 crowd only.

Halo 5/CE – Favorable reviews. CE fans enjoy the faster pace and low kill times and Reach and 4 fans love the tight gameplay and fun arena slaying, though the low kill times do put them off a bit. However, Reach and 4 are seen as a build-up to 5, rather than as 5 redeeming a studio. Old players are still a little miffed by the lack of movement options, though.

I honestly think the mechanics speak for themselves. I know people are probably going to disagree, and I have to say, this isn’t really subjective. But we’re talking about hypothetical situations in pretty specific scenario. It’s really -Yoinking- hard for me to be subjective.

14

People would still hate 343 simply because they are 343i. I personally am on neutral terms with them. The MCC was a failure but i am willing to consider that 343 can’t be entirely to blame for that. No matter how 343 would have done things they would be hated. If they kept the multiplayer the same Halo would eventually fail because it would become a game were each pvp experience would be the same and Halo would fall. Soon enough 343 would be hated for not keeping Halo alive. So either way hate is coming 343’s way. So i support the Halo 5 multiplayer because its fun and a nice multiplayer change.