Remember when Halo felt mysterious and ancient? I’ve noticed that the recent Halo’s have become very bland sci-fi and it only occurred to me today that we have lost that sense of exploration and the unknown.
One moment that always stands out to me was in Halo CE the first time you land on the Halo ring you drive though these massive metal tunnels that at the time blew my mind. I still get that sense of exploration even today when I play it. I loved that sense of scale and the idea that while you where mankind’s super soldier you were still a tiny spec in this massive world built by beings from long ago.
I feel as if 343 have mostly abandoned this theme and in the few areas where they keep it in Halo 5 they ruin it by having 3 other Spartans around at all times. I wish some missions would have been solo at times. The other thing that bugs me is how 343 sort of ruined the mysterious nature of the forerunners in Halo 4 and threw the prometheans into the mix which honestly feel like the most generic enemies ever and even more so in Halo 5.
So far it seems like everything about Halo that felt somewhat unique and special is being turned into generic Sci fi content.
Well, you’re not wrong.
I disagree with your comment on other Spartans though, co-op campaign is important to have. However I do agree that you should also be given the option to fly solo.
> 2533274862524681;3:
> Well, you’re not wrong.
> I disagree with your comment on other Spartans though, co-op campaign is important to have. However I do agree that you should also be given the option to fly solo.
I don’t dislike having them about but they not have a least a solo mission? In Co op you could always do what halo 2 and 3 did by adding another player in when someone joins?
The ancient vibe got lost when Reach came out, Reach was the start of sprint, armor lock, jetpack and all these things. Everything forerunner Halo CE, 2 and 3 Style got lost when Reach came out. I knew that when Reach came out, the classic Halo games would stay as legendary games with the best campaigns in the gaming history
Really I thought halo CE was the only game that gave that “exploration” feel, everything else was just war. You find the ring in CE, learn about the covenant, the flood, the rings capabilities, and the floods intentions. H2 you fought throughout a city and with arbiter you start a civil war in the covenant, h3 you continue said war and end it. I could argue h4 also had a tad bit of an exploration feel to it as well as we journeyed across a shield world. Halo has never really been a game that gives me that vibe of exploration, especially when it’s pretty much a corridor game.
Its when 343 was like “Oh crap the fans will just call this game a re-skin of Halo reach, better add forerunners that you can fight to make it seem different”
> 2621068175991823;9:
> Its when 343 was like “Oh crap the fans will just call this game a re-skin of Halo reach, better add forerunners that you can fight to make it seem different”
That’s exactly what Halo 4 was though, a lot of stuff in the game (especially the ghost/banshee, same model but different texture; go look at them up close for yourself) is pretty much just a reskin with extra stuff thrown in.
> 2533274862524681;10:
> > 2621068175991823;9:
> > Its when 343 was like “Oh crap the fans will just call this game a re-skin of Halo reach, better add forerunners that you can fight to make it seem different”
>
>
> That’s exactly what Halo 4 was though, a lot of stuff in the game (especially the ghost/banshee, same model but different texture; go look at them up close for yourself) is pretty much just a reskin with extra stuff thrown in.
That’s how all halo games have been tho, the only significant difference was between hCE and h2, and then h3 and reach. H3 was a reskin of h2 but with a few new things here and there as well. H5 is a reskin of h4 but a few new things here and there.
> 2533274923562209;11:
> > 2533274862524681;10:
> > > 2621068175991823;9:
> > > Its when 343 was like “Oh crap the fans will just call this game a re-skin of Halo reach, better add forerunners that you can fight to make it seem different”
> >
> >
> > That’s exactly what Halo 4 was though, a lot of stuff in the game (especially the ghost/banshee, same model but different texture; go look at them up close for yourself) is pretty much just a reskin with extra stuff thrown in.
>
>
> That’s how all halo games have been tho, the only significant difference was between hCE and h2, and then h3 and reach. H3 was a reskin of h2 but with a few new things here and there as well. H5 is a reskin of h4 but a few new things here and there.
Generally that’s what sequels are… if a game changes to the point that it no longer resembles what it originally was is it really the same series?
> 2533274803562826;12:
> > 2533274923562209;11:
> > > 2533274862524681;10:
> > > > 2621068175991823;9:
> > > > Its when 343 was like “Oh crap the fans will just call this game a re-skin of Halo reach, better add forerunners that you can fight to make it seem different”
> > >
> > >
> > > That’s exactly what Halo 4 was though, a lot of stuff in the game (especially the ghost/banshee, same model but different texture; go look at them up close for yourself) is pretty much just a reskin with extra stuff thrown in.
> >
> >
> > That’s how all halo games have been tho, the only significant difference was between hCE and h2, and then h3 and reach. H3 was a reskin of h2 but with a few new things here and there as well. H5 is a reskin of h4 but a few new things here and there.
>
>
> Generally that’s what sequels are… if a game changes to the point that it no longer resembles what it originally was is it really the same series?
This quote. This right here. Though you could argue that Halo 2 and CE are quite vastly different in terms of mechanics and gameplay.
I agree that the sense of wonder and exploration is not there, and that is in large part due to the level design. The overall scope seems to be drastically reduced, even when you compare H4 to H5, let alone the original trilogy and Reach. The story makes you believe it is, but then you see how linear (and fast) the levels are in the game, especially the later stages of the game, and I’m just left disappointed. Story wise is really another story. Bringing Blue Team back SHOULD have gone so much better if you could actually experience MC finding them. Osiris (minus Buck) is completely unnecessary to further the storyline. They could have pulled off the squad based story so much better had they only focused on ONE team. TL;DR, not enough Blue Team, way too much Osiris.
To the OP’s point, 343i’s art team and I guess their creative vision was trying to tow that fine line between ancient and superior/advanced (because the Forerunners are both) and with this new engine in H5 they failed miserably. There was an organic feel to the Forerunner installations in the original trilogy. That didn’t make it to the new one, although H4 had spurts of that sense. Genesis is the overarching exception to the rule here, and even Kamchatka in the very first mission kind of achieved it too, although you can’t really tell given the huge amount of Covie bodies and wreckage littering the areas you trudge through. But map design to me has really taken too many steps back far as overall aesthetic. And don’t get me started on the lack of detail in forged maps. It makes me yearn for Forge World from Reach.
> 2703500133476818;14:
> I agree that the sense of wonder and exploration is not there, and that is in large part due to the level design. The overall scope seems to be drastically reduced, even when you compare H4 to H5, let alone the original trilogy and Reach. The story makes you believe it is, but then you see how linear (and fast) the levels are in the game, especially the later stages of the game, and I’m just left disappointed. Story wise is really another story. Bringing Blue Team back SHOULD have gone so much better if you could actually experience MC finding them. Osiris (minus Buck) is completely unnecessary to further the storyline. They could have pulled off the squad based story so much better had they only focused on ONE team. TL;DR, not enough Blue Team, way too much Osiris.
>
> To the OP’s point, 343i’s art team and I guess their creative vision was trying to tow that fine line between ancient and superior/advanced (because the Forerunners are both) and with this new engine in H5 they failed miserably. There was an organic feel to the Forerunner installations in the original trilogy. That didn’t make it to the new one, although H4 had spurts of that sense. Genesis is the overarching exception to the rule here, and even Kamchatka in the very first mission kind of achieved it too, although you can’t really tell given the huge amount of Covie bodies and wreckage littering the areas you trudge through. But map design to me has really taken too many steps back far as overall aesthetic. And don’t get me started on the lack of detail in forged maps. It makes me yearn for Forge World from Reach.
So how is buck relevant if Osiris isn’t? Cuz liking buck more isn’t enough lol.
> 2533274803562826;12:
> > 2533274923562209;11:
> > > 2533274862524681;10:
> > > > 2621068175991823;9:
> > > > Its when 343 was like “Oh crap the fans will just call this game a re-skin of Halo reach, better add forerunners that you can fight to make it seem different”
> > >
> > >
> > > That’s exactly what Halo 4 was though, a lot of stuff in the game (especially the ghost/banshee, same model but different texture; go look at them up close for yourself) is pretty much just a reskin with extra stuff thrown in.
> >
> >
> > That’s how all halo games have been tho, the only significant difference was between hCE and h2, and then h3 and reach. H3 was a reskin of h2 but with a few new things here and there as well. H5 is a reskin of h4 but a few new things here and there.
>
>
> Generally that’s what sequels are… if a game changes to the point that it no longer resembles what it originally was is it really the same series?
That’s my point tho, also halo hasn’t lost any resemblance from my perspective, you could see some of the original halo CE guys say halo died after h2-present happened tho.
> 2533274923562209;8:
> Really I thought halo CE was the only game that gave that “exploration” feel, everything else was just war. You find the ring in CE, learn about the covenant, the flood, the rings capabilities, and the floods intentions. H2 you fought throughout a city and with arbiter you start a civil war in the covenant, h3 you continue said war and end it. I could argue h4 also had a tad bit of an exploration feel to it as well as we journeyed across a shield world. Halo has never really been a game that gives me that vibe of exploration, especially when it’s pretty much a corridor game.