SO often, in many forums, articles, and discussions, we say or hear, “It’s not Halo,” or “It is Halo.” It is obviously apparent that everyone has a different eye/definition of what Halo is to them. I wanted this to exist as a space to where you can 1) define what Halo is to you (as specific as possible), and 2) If Halo 5, at its current state, is “Halo” to you. Specify how it goes away from your view of Halo, or how it matches with your view of Halo.
The more specifics the better. (Feel free to separate your definitions for Campaign & Multiplayer)
I feel this could be good further market research for 343 when it comes to adding to the universe we all love, and making modifications to Halo 5 if deemed fit.
What Halo is to me
Campaign: When I fell in love with Halo, the first thing that sucked me in was the world. It was an immersive world that you could believe existed. The second thing was gameplay, which was very enjoyable. The game had a proper balance of ease and challenge. The sandbox/openness/variety that the game offered was another thing. The levels were almost all different and fun in their own ways. Sniping at night in one, driving a tank on icy roads on another, fighting a new enemy in the middle, it kept going and going. You wanted more. Freedom, and going about a route the way I pleased was rewarding, as well as the fun toys that existed in the sandbox to make it even more enjoyable (vehicles and weapons). I remember running into the Flood for the first time. I hit pause, scared out of my mind, and looked into the manual for information. None. Going to halo.bungie.org, I finally found information on them, and ever since then, I was completely sucked in into its detailed backstory.- Multiplayer: Once I found other people who enjoyed Halo, we played around with multiplayer. #1) It was super fun. Not only was it fun, but it was all just another play ground! Just fooling around was enjoyable. The physics, vehicles, etc. were great. Second, was once you actually started getting good at the game, you really did enjoy the competitive aspect of it. Three shots to the face never felt so good.- Overall: Halo to me is a game that offers an immersive world that is super fun to play in, offers a lot of variety for everyone, and contains a backstory worth investing into as it brings even more life into the actual game.Is Halo 5 “Halo” to me?
For me, yes, it is Halo to me.
From everything that 343 has shown on the story aspects, I’m very excited to dwell deeper into the world. Curious again at where we’ll be going. As far as multiplayer, it was FUN to me. Nothing like “oh gawd sprint” or any of that was in my head, ever. I could careless if they enable your Spartan to begin skipping around maps. As long as it makes sense, and is fun, I’m in. I really enjoyed the playground of the arena, and felt like I could play in the maps with friends for a while; thanks to the new abilities. New rocket launcher even though we’ve had a classic rocket launcher for years? Whatever! New toy for me to play with. So it’s Halo to me. As long as you can give a great explanation story wise of why we have a new one as well. (Believable immersive world).
It was also very competitive to me, and LOSING was still fun. I don’t remember being as engaged in Halo multiplayer as much since the Halo 1/2 days. I am honestly looking forward to new maps, new friends, etc.
Great post. I agree with what you are saying. I also feel Halo 5 is definitely taking us back to Halo after Halo 4’s deviation. In terms of Multiplayer, in my opinion, Halo has to have:
Fair starts. Balance in Halo is what it has always been about. No loadouts.
Weapons on the maps. There needs to be conflict over the weapons. Again, no loadouts.
Melee as a cornerstone. The absence of melee would destroy the flow of combat.
Only being able to hold two weapons at a given time.
Grenades as a cornerstone. Grenades in Halo are critical.
Without those things, the essence of Halo Multiplayer is lost in my book. People keep saying how Halo is going the way of COD, and if you are talking about Halo 4 then for sure. It was absolutely going that direction. But Halo 5 is taking us back.
Regardless of Health, player movement speed, mobility, weapon tuning, the visual style of zooming, armor abilities, etc., Halo can still be Halo as long as there are fair starts, weapons on the maps, two weapons at a time, and melee/grenades exist.
Halo 1 had health packs. So did Reach. Halo 2 and 3 had regenerating life. The jumping in Reach was different than the jumping in Halo 3. There were ladders in Halo 1 to climb and navigate the map, and Halo 2 had none. There was duel wielding in Halo 2 and 3 but not in Halo 1 or Reach. Lots of changes have happened in the games in the lifetime of the franchise, and that’s okay to me. As long as they stay true to what makes Halo, Halo.
To me, Halo was a game that combined modern-themed and sci-fi shooters. Before Halo, most games either had regular guns or futuristic energy weapons, not both. As you’ve said, Halo’s campaign was fantastic. Not only with its great story, but with a wide variety of combat, constantly pushing you into an unpredictable battlefield situation. It never got stale, it never trapped you into doing the exact same thing for too long. What I liked about Halo’s multiplayer is that you could take a few bullets before going down, unlike other shooters. It wasn’t a contest of who can spot the other first, it was about being a better shot and/or being able to outsmart your opponent. I like to move around will crouching so I don’t appear on other player’s radars, catch 'em by surprise. But even if I get spotted from afar, I can still retreat back into cover, something I can’t do in most other games. In general, to me, Halo was a game where you aren’t a common footsolider; you are an enhanced super solider more than capable of fending off against overwhelming odds, a game that wasn’t as much up to chance as other shooters I’ve played.
For me Halo is the best MP. Even Halo 4 was better than all other FPS, because in other FPS it’s always just: Who shoots first? And in Halo you have to aim and you are able to change a battle if you get shot first.
Roughly equal and fluid movement on the x and z axes.
High jump height.
Able to shoot while performing most actions.
Combat revolves around juking and strafing.
A specific art style / music style that is present in the originals but not in Halo 4 or Halo 5.
Maps are generally vertical and unique arenas, as opposed to large flat places like de_dust2.
Map design has suffered since Halo 3. Isolation is not a Halo map, Adrift is not a Halo map.
Halo has always been “different”. Earlier halo games set the benchmark for other fps games, but now halo is becoming really generic. 343 hasn’t really come up with anything new for halo 5, just changed core halo mechanics and added other game mechanics. For example smart scope which is ads. Halo has always been different with its zoom feature, but now it’s become generic ads. Also sprint. If 343 wants to keep sprint, then u should be able to keep ur gun up while sprinting i.e. u can shoot while sprinting. Halo has always been about being didifferent and being the trend setter. I’m not going to lie I’ve had fun on the beta so far, but nothing screams originality in halo 5.