Before you attack me for asking this question, let me state that I am a HUGE Halo fan (you can tell by my gamertag), and I want nothing more than for Halo to be successful. But lately, I’ve started having doubts about whether Halo will continue to thrive. I was thinking about the next generation of gaming, and what each game has to offer. There’s Titanfall with its parkour and mech battles, and Battlefield with its 64 player battles and destructible environments. Halo has taken kind of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the games are still fun. Any “innovation” hasn’t really been received well (Infinity). As much as I try, I just can’t shake the feeling that Halo multiplayer will become irrelevant without some significant (and good) innovation. I’d really appreciate some reassurance that Halo is still as strong as ever.
For me it’s already been irrelevant, maybe other games will cause Halo to topple further down in multiplayer, however it’s nice to know the whole series won’t become irrelevant, it’s got the story with a strong following
> For me it’s already been irrelevant, maybe other games will cause Halo to topple further down in multiplayer, however it’s nice to know the whole series won’t become irrelevant, it’s got the story with a strong following
The thing is, I’m not so sure Halo could survive without multiplayer. I know there’s a strong Campaign/Firefight/SPOPS following, but I think the main draw is multiplayer. I hate to say this, but even though those other modes are fun, they aren’t fun enough to sustain Halo by themselves.
> > For me it’s already been irrelevant, maybe other games will cause Halo to topple further down in multiplayer, however it’s nice to know the whole series won’t become irrelevant, it’s got the story with a strong following
>
> The thing is, I’m not so sure Halo could survive without multiplayer. I know there’s a strong Campaign/Firefight/SPOPS following, but I think the main draw is multiplayer. I hate to say this, but even though those other modes are fun, they aren’t fun enough to sustain Halo by themselves.
If multiplayer was removed there could be more content for SpOps and Firefight, the Campaign could be longer, etc
> > > For me it’s already been irrelevant, maybe other games will cause Halo to topple further down in multiplayer, however it’s nice to know the whole series won’t become irrelevant, it’s got the story with a strong following
> >
> > The thing is, I’m not so sure Halo could survive without multiplayer. I know there’s a strong Campaign/Firefight/SPOPS following, but I think the main draw is multiplayer. I hate to say this, but even though those other modes are fun, they aren’t fun enough to sustain Halo by themselves.
>
> If multiplayer was removed there could be more content for SpOps and Firefight, the Campaign could be longer, etc
Good point. I hope it never comes to that though. I needs me some multiplayer.
> > > > For me it’s already been irrelevant, maybe other games will cause Halo to topple further down in multiplayer, however it’s nice to know the whole series won’t become irrelevant, it’s got the story with a strong following
> > >
> > > The thing is, I’m not so sure Halo could survive without multiplayer. I know there’s a strong Campaign/Firefight/SPOPS following, but I think the main draw is multiplayer. I hate to say this, but even though those other modes are fun, they aren’t fun enough to sustain Halo by themselves.
> >
> > If multiplayer was removed there could be more content for SpOps and Firefight, the Campaign could be longer, etc
>
> Good point. I hope it never comes to that though. I needs me some multiplayer.
By all means, multiplayer should stay, Halo as a series wouldn’t disappear if multiplayer did
> Halo has taken kind of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the games are still fun. Any “innovation” hasn’t really been received well
The “aint broke don’t fix it” approach? Let’s take a look at it…
Halo CE: fairly unique product on the market. hugely successful
Halo 2: vehicle boarding, destructible vehicles, duel wielding, playing as elites, interactive maps, melee weapons, and significant retooling of the weapon sandbox. XBOX LIVE! hugely successful
Halo 3: equipment, new grenades, theater, and FORGE! hugely successful.
So from November 2001 to September 2010 the game changed pretty massively. Playing Halo 3 is a significantly different experience from Halo CE, but at the same time the formula for success didn’t change. All three games FELT like they belonged with each other.
Halo Reach: removed ranking system, bloom, forge improved many times over, and possibly the biggest change to the franchise to date… armor abilities. Poorly received by the franchise’s lofty standards but still maintained a successful population
Halo 4: loadouts, promethean vision, default sprint, map ordinance, random ordinance, personal ordinance, perks, removal of custom game options?, instant respawn, and kill cams. Massive drop off in popularity… franchise killer?
For the first nine years of the franchise, things changed comparatively little but were hardly stagnant. You saw incredible population retention and player loyalty.
In the last three years each game has significantly changed from the previous. In Halo Reach’s case it wasn’t so much the number of changes so much as how much they deviated from the original formula. In Halo 4’s case it was an almost complete rewriting of what defines the game. The population drop off has been immediate and severe.
The culprit in my mind is definitely NOT stagnation but instead the fact that the franchise has lost its identity. Instead of focusing on being Halo, a very successful strategy, the franchise has attempted to “keep up with the Joneses.” It has lost its identity and is suffering as a result.
Halo may fade into the night, but I reject that it was always a lost cause or that NOT doing enough is the cause.
If they cut it out for a bigger, better Campaign, I don’t think I would care.
343 made a big mistake for halo 4 multiplayer at launch day but now is great to play.
That doesn’t mean halo 5 multiplayer is going to be worst than halo 4. Not even a chance guys.
343 probably is going to ask halo pro’s advice in order to make matchmaking reliable to everyone.
Halo 2 pioneered the online multiplayer shooter. If it wasn’t for that game, Battlefield, Call of Duty, Gears of War, and all of them would not have been all that enjoyable. Halo multiplayer should stay no matter what.
Halo still has many attributes that puts it ahead of many of the games on the market.
One. Gun duels/ the fire fight. FPSs are all about the gun play. They are first person shooters after all. But in keeping with realism most shooters have extremely fast kill times. Meaning the whole focus of the game is squished into 0.1 second little encounters. Point and kill. Typically developers ramp up the pace of the game to compensate to make things more interesting. But Halo. Halo has shields. Providing a platform for mid gun fight tactics. Ducking in and out of cover, staffing. Halo has all sorts of intricacies that can make combat more interesting. Headshot bonuses, weapon/grenade/melee combo kills, descoping, jumping, crouching and unlike many shooters, a fast movement speed when aiming. Gun fight in Halo can almost feel like mini boss battles. And if someone is good, it is extremely noticeable, making it very satisfying to take them down.
Teamwork is a bigger factor in Halo than most current shooters. There is a real tangible benefit of combining fire with team mates because the kill time differences really can change the course of a battle.
The Halo universe also provides a platform for unique weapons and tech. Most shooters are usually grounded by having to use existing military tech in their game or tech that fells like something a near future military would have. The result a very limited arsenal with many weapons that barely feel any different from each other. Halo can have weapons like the Plasma pistol and light rifle and tech like active camouflage, teleportation in the game and it makes sense. leading to all kinds of tactical gameplay.
Vehicles are integrated into Halo in a much more free flowing and balanced way than any other game I can think of. We have vehicle boarding, exposed drivers, vehicle flipping, emps, sticky grenades and all manner of anti vehicle weapons and tech. And the vehicles themselves are very intuitive to use but can also be very unique in design and most of all, fun to use, and when done right, fun to fight against.
Halo has Secondary objectives in games as simple as slayer, adding a tactical layer and game structure that most games don’t have. We have power weapons, Vehicles, ammo resupplies, health packs, power ups, power positions, counter positions. Things to keep people thinking, moving and on their toes. It leads to much deeper tactical gameplay that adds longevity to the game and just plain makes it more fun. And in regards to the weapons, Halos arena style allows for weapons to provide significant advantages but in a way that has counters and is balanced. Meaning not all weapons have to be squished into the same tier so that they don’t become game breaking. Halo’s weapon system does not have this problem.
Then there are the gametypes. Could you imagine a game like Ricochet existing in most other games. Nuff said.
Vertical gun play. Halo does this so so well. We have a large jump height allowing for significant vertical movement. Halo maps allow for much greater vertical combat interacting than most modern games. And it goes much deeper than someone shooting from a roof or a window of a building. we have gun duels occurring on the vertical plain, we have players dropping down and assassinating other players, we have gun fights that occur around grav lifts. We have weapons that at their most effective when used from the higher ground. We have power position metagames. Verticality plays a significant role in gameplay.
And that’s just the multiplayer and I by no means covered everything. Then we have forge, custom games… file sharing. All areas we can be expanded upon and enhanced. I think Halo is a great platform for innovation and can with guidance become ‘relevant’ again. Gimmicks however are not always the answer. Innovation in Halo however should play to Halo strengths. I don’t think Halo should just play catch up, I think it should evolve in its own direction irrespective of everyone else.
> Before you attack me for asking this question, let me state that I am a HUGE Halo fan (you can tell by my gamertag), and I want nothing more than for Halo to be successful. But lately, I’ve started having doubts about whether Halo will continue to thrive. I was thinking about the next generation of gaming, and what each game has to offer. There’s Titanfall with its parkour and mech battles, and Battlefield with its 64 player battles and destructible environments. <mark>Halo has taken kind of a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach,</mark> which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the games are still fun. Any “innovation” hasn’t really been received well (Infinity). As much as I try, I just can’t shake the feeling that Halo multiplayer will become irrelevant without some significant (and good) innovation. I’d really appreciate some reassurance that Halo is still as strong as ever.
You have got to be -Yoinking!- kidding me.
Apart from that, I agree that Halo needs to start innovating or it will continue to die a painful death.
Nothing genuinely new and exciting has happened since 2007, and that’s far too long.
Two things need to happen for Halo to have a successful future when it comes to multiplayer (neither of which are true for Halo 4):
- Halo 5 MUST actually innovate and move forward with genuinely new features.
- The core gameplay MUST actually be consistent with what Halo originally was.
If one of these things suffer, Halo will suffer.
The thing halo has always had going for it is variety. The guns are so different from each other. The vehicles are different. They should capitalize on this and add larger firefights (it’ll be 2014 when this comes out – why cant we be doing at least 16 v 16 matches!?) to fill up their big maps. I would also like to see the maps become more interactive, destructible, etc. It’s not critical, but its a fun touch.
> Halo still has many attributes that puts it ahead of many of the games on the market.
>
> One. Gun duels/ the fire fight. FPSs are all about the gun play. They are first person shooters after all. But in keeping with realism most shooters have extremely fast kill times. Meaning the whole focus of the game is squished into 0.1 second little encounters. Point and kill. Typically developers ramp up the pace of the game to compensate to make things more interesting. But Halo. Halo has shields. Providing a platform for mid gun fight tactics. Ducking in and out of cover, staffing. Halo has all sorts of intricacies that can make combat more interesting. Headshot bonuses, weapon/grenade/melee combo kills, descoping, jumping, crouching and unlike many shooters, a fast movement speed when aiming. Gun fight in Halo can almost feel like mini boss battles. And if someone is good, it is extremely noticeable, making it very satisfying to take them down.
>
> Teamwork is a bigger factor in Halo than most current shooters. There is a real tangible benefit of combining fire with team mates because the kill time differences really can change the course of a battle.
>
> The Halo universe also provides a platform for unique weapons and tech. Most shooters are usually grounded by having to use existing military tech in their game or tech that fells like something a near future military would have. The result a very limited arsenal with many weapons that barely feel any different from each other. Halo can have weapons like the Plasma pistol and light rifle and tech like active camouflage, teleportation in the game and it makes sense. leading to all kinds of tactical gameplay.
>
> Vehicles are integrated into Halo in a much more free flowing and balanced way than any other game I can think of. We have vehicle boarding, exposed drivers, vehicle flipping, emps, sticky grenades and all manner of anti vehicle weapons and tech. And the vehicles themselves are very intuitive to use but can also be very unique in design and most of all, fun to use, and when done right, fun to fight against.
>
> Halo has Secondary objectives in games as simple as slayer, adding a tactical layer and game structure that most games don’t have. We have power weapons, Vehicles, ammo resupplies, health packs, power ups, power positions, counter positions. Things to keep people thinking, moving and on their toes. It leads to much deeper tactical gameplay that adds longevity to the game and just plain makes it more fun. And in regards to the weapons, Halos arena style allows for weapons to provide significant advantages but in a way that has counters and is balanced. Meaning not all weapons have to be squished into the same tier so that they don’t become game breaking. Halo’s weapon system does not have this problem.
>
> Then there are the gametypes. Could you imagine a game like Ricochet existing in most other games. Nuff said.
>
> Vertical gun play. Halo does this so so well. We have a large jump height allowing for significant vertical movement. Halo maps allow for much greater vertical combat interacting than most modern games. And it goes much deeper than someone shooting from a roof or a window of a building. we have gun duels occurring on the vertical plain, we have players dropping down and assassinating other players, we have gun fights that occur around grav lifts. We have weapons that at their most effective when used from the higher ground. We have power position metagames. Verticality plays a significant role in gameplay.
>
> And that’s just the multiplayer and I by no means covered everything. Then we have forge, custom games… file sharing. All areas we can be expanded upon and enhanced. I think Halo is a great platform for innovation and can with guidance become ‘relevant’ again. Gimmicks however are not always the answer. Innovation in Halo however should play to Halo strengths. I don’t think Halo should just play catch up, I think it should evolve in its own direction irrespective of everyone else.
Man… you make everything sound so badass when put into that perspective.
it needs to be more similar to halo 2 and 3 to be successful.
no armor abilities.
Pretty soon I think the whole series will start to become pretty irrelevant. Halo is in a decline, and the fact that PS4 will likely dominate the One, then Halo 5 will only sell less. Plus games like Titanfall, Battlefield and sadly even CoD will all become very big on the One, so once Halo Xbox One comes out everyone will be busy with those games.
> it needs to be more similar to halo 2 and 3 to be successful.
>
> no armor abilities.
At this point, that would kill the custom community. AA’s can stay, as long as we have some gametypes with no AA’s, and Jetpack, AC, and PV stay in customs.
> Pretty soon I think the whole series will start to become pretty irrelevant. Halo is in a decline, and the fact that PS4 will likely dominate the One, then Halo 5 will only sell less. Plus games like Titanfall, Battlefield and sadly even CoD will all become very big on the One, so once Halo Xbox One comes out everyone will be busy with those games.
A huge chunk of people play for the lore and campaign. It may never go back to it’s former glory, but it will always be their.
> Halo still has many attributes that puts it ahead of many of the games on the market.
>
> One. Gun duels/ the fire fight. FPSs are all about the gun play. They are first person shooters after all. But in keeping with realism most shooters have extremely fast kill times. Meaning the whole focus of the game is squished into 0.1 second little encounters. Point and kill. Typically developers ramp up the pace of the game to compensate to make things more interesting. But Halo. Halo has shields. Providing a platform for mid gun fight tactics. Ducking in and out of cover, staffing. Halo has all sorts of intricacies that can make combat more interesting. Headshot bonuses, weapon/grenade/melee combo kills, descoping, jumping, crouching and unlike many shooters, a fast movement speed when aiming. Gun fight in Halo can almost feel like mini boss battles. And if someone is good, it is extremely noticeable, making it very satisfying to take them down.
>
> Teamwork is a bigger factor in Halo than most current shooters. There is a real tangible benefit of combining fire with team mates because the kill time differences really can change the course of a battle.
>
> The Halo universe also provides a platform for unique weapons and tech. Most shooters are usually grounded by having to use existing military tech in their game or tech that fells like something a near future military would have. The result a very limited arsenal with many weapons that barely feel any different from each other. Halo can have weapons like the Plasma pistol and light rifle and tech like active camouflage, teleportation in the game and it makes sense. leading to all kinds of tactical gameplay.
>
> Vehicles are integrated into Halo in a much more free flowing and balanced way than any other game I can think of. We have vehicle boarding, exposed drivers, vehicle flipping, emps, sticky grenades and all manner of anti vehicle weapons and tech. And the vehicles themselves are very intuitive to use but can also be very unique in design and most of all, fun to use, and when done right, fun to fight against.
>
> Halo has Secondary objectives in games as simple as slayer, adding a tactical layer and game structure that most games don’t have. We have power weapons, Vehicles, ammo resupplies, health packs, power ups, power positions, counter positions. Things to keep people thinking, moving and on their toes. It leads to much deeper tactical gameplay that adds longevity to the game and just plain makes it more fun. And in regards to the weapons, Halos arena style allows for weapons to provide significant advantages but in a way that has counters and is balanced. Meaning not all weapons have to be squished into the same tier so that they don’t become game breaking. Halo’s weapon system does not have this problem.
>
> Then there are the gametypes. Could you imagine a game like Ricochet existing in most other games. Nuff said.
>
> Vertical gun play. Halo does this so so well. We have a large jump height allowing for significant vertical movement. Halo maps allow for much greater vertical combat interacting than most modern games. And it goes much deeper than someone shooting from a roof or a window of a building. we have gun duels occurring on the vertical plain, we have players dropping down and assassinating other players, we have gun fights that occur around grav lifts. We have weapons that at their most effective when used from the higher ground. We have power position metagames. Verticality plays a significant role in gameplay.
>
> And that’s just the multiplayer and I by no means covered everything. Then we have forge, custom games… file sharing. All areas we can be expanded upon and enhanced. I think Halo is a great platform for innovation and can with guidance become ‘relevant’ again. Gimmicks however are not always the answer. Innovation in Halo however should play to Halo strengths. I don’t think Halo should just play catch up, I think it should evolve in its own direction irrespective of everyone else.
This is what I needed to see. Faith restored!
> > Pretty soon I think the whole series will start to become pretty irrelevant. Halo is in a decline, and the fact that PS4 will likely dominate the One, then Halo 5 will only sell less. Plus games like Titanfall, Battlefield and sadly even CoD will all become very big on the One, so once Halo Xbox One comes out everyone will be busy with those games.
>
> A huge chunk of people play for the lore and campaign. It may never go back to it’s former glory, but it will always be their.
I know, I’m one of those people, but Halo is declining, and eventually I don’t think will be a major series that lots of play and talk about it, but it will always be there and i’m sure it will always be pretty popular.