So we have heard 343 say time and time again “It’s still Halo, but…” or “We’re working within with makes Halo Halo, but making everything bigger and better” (paraphrasing). While this is all fine and dandy to hear, I haven’t seen many things that even remotely resemble Halo-esque concepts. But I base this on my opinion of what true Halo is (my opinion resembles the opinion of the majority of the community, so naturally I find the changes they’re making and absolute disgrace to the franchise), and so I’m very curious as to how 343 defines Halo. So far I can gather that their idea of what Halo is could be a blend of everything that makes Crysis, CoD, Battlefield or Gears of War what they are. But not Halo. So, 343, what is your definition of Halo? What are these constraints that you speak of that makes Halo 4 a true Halo game?
But before I get flamed on this forum, I should explain what i think makes Halo Halo. To start it off, I think that the feel of that glorious soundtrack by Marty O’Donnell in the original trilogy is an absolute MUST for Halo. It should also be a good time to say that I am not opposed to expansion on the core of the Halo experience. I just think that nearly everything 343 has announced has been straying from that. So, while I am not opposed to changing the soundtrack, I do think it needs to have the same basic structure and sound, as well as least the original Halo theme for it to feel like a true Halo game. It just feels weird playing a halo game without it. I was not impressed with the Reach soundtrack, nor was I impressed with the song in the H4 reveal. Next, I think these are pretty obvious and 343 did get this right, Master Chief. The game needs to have Master Chief. Next, I think that AA’s and such (including sprint) ruin the game in an irreversible and unnecessary way. I could go on for a long time about how sprint ruins that game in most aspects. I also think every starting on a level playing field in multiplayer is a Halo trademark. We saw changing this fail in Reach, and now 343 is doing it as well, for some strange reason. Also, I think that power weapon spawns on timers in a set spot is a MUST for Halo. These power positions encourage map control, teamwork and strategy to master and to use the weapons effectively. Just look at MLG. Now I could go on for a long time, but it’s 2:00 in the morning and frankly i’m too tired to keep going. So 343, to you what makes Halo? And please feel free to correct me on any mistakes i’ve made and please share your opinion because I may have some things horribly wrong and not realized it. So please, constructive criticism.
Also on a side note, to those people who say “well you don’t have to worry about the changes because they’ll have a classic playlist.”. If a developer has to put in a “classic” playlists, that’s bad game design because it means a chunk of your fan base is unhappy with the work/changes you have done. And it’s not fun in the slightest to be restricted to only a few playlists.