To the Halo Community.
First, I want to give you a very brief history of my halo experience so you know where I come from. I want to point out that I am an avid fan of the Halo series. By avid, I mean I’ve played all of the games, all the way through at least 10 times (Halo 1 more around 30x)… have spent at least 10 hours a week (sometimes more, sometimes less) every week over the last 10 years playing either campaign or multiplayer, and have participated in the midnight releases of all Halo games since Halo 2. I host at least 2 Halo LAN parties with 16 people yearly and have even hosted Halo tourneys. I’ve read a couple of the books, researched the background story on all the major characters, and would fair pretty well in any halo trivia thrown my way. Now that we have established that I am a strong fan and not a super-diehard-hard core-fanatic, either because I’ve not read all of the books, 5 times, own all of the merchandise and figures, have an autographed xbox, etc… it is at least apparent I put stock into these games and this universe. Needless to say, I like Halo a lot.
The one thing I don’t do is get mad at the creators of the game when they announce new features or plans for a game. What I don’t do is whine because it’s different from the last iteration and that Bungie/343 are ‘ruining the franchise’. What I don’t do is tell people ‘I’m not buying this game now’ and run out and buy it anyway when it comes out… and this is why.
Halo 2 was not the same as Halo 1. We know this. New features like dual wielding, vehicle boarding, lock-on rocket launchers, online matchmaking were awesome. I loved the new game. After a year or so, I started missing Halo 1, although I never really quit playing its campaign, I never really got back into Halo CE custom games (but I freakin’ loved Halo’s custom games!!!)I reminisced about the maps and how much I missed system linking. But how can I complain? Halo 2 is a different game with better graphics, to copy Halo 1 exactly would have been a waste of time. Why bother? Halo CE still exists. One can still buy it. It’s not like it disappeared from existence when Halo 2 came around.
Halo 3 was not the same as Halo 2. New features such as online 4 player coop, 3rd person views for rocket pods and detachable turrets, better graphics, return of the assault rifle, and that super awesome addition called Forge. After a year or so of playing Halo 3, I began missing certain aspects of Halo 2, and still missed Halo CE. I missed the maps from both. I’d load up the games every once in awhile just to re-experience some of the multiplayer maps again, play the campaigns with my best bud and love every minute of it. Although I miss these 2 games, I couldn’t retrograde and go back all the way. Why would I expect Bungie to make a carbon copy of either Halo 1 or 2? What a waste of time that would be. Also, they still exist. Can still be purchased. If I truly didn’t like a newer game, I wouldn’t buy it, or I’d sell it back, or keep it and play it for what it is… a new game with different features, and keep the older games anyway. I choose to be happy.
Halo Reach was not the same as Halo 3. New features such as armor abilities, and the ability to control what your Spartan looks like from head to toe, gender selection; new modes like firefight and invasion; an even more beefed up FORGE!!!– are the reasons we look forward to and buy new games anyway, right? I mean, if I wanted the same game, wouldn’t I have just been happy to only play Halo 2 ad infinitum? I missed Halo 3 multiplayer some. Missed Halo 2 still. Still love Halo CE, But I can’t go back, not completely.
Why am I pointing this out? Because, as a person who is not a cry baby, or an idiot, or a fake ‘fan’, I will not lambaste the creators of a game for making them different. There are literally millions of people, individual gamers, who love the series as a whole or love certain aspects of it. You are not me, and I am not you. Games are made differently and new features are added because times change. There is no way for Bungie, or 343 for that matter, to make a game that appeals to every single one of us… or is there? Hang with me for a bit and let me flesh this out some more.