Imo Halo 5 was one of the very best PvP shooters of last gen. I think Infinite carries enough of the Halo 5 dna, but yeah absolutely 343 could have just evolved Halo 5’s gameplay into less Halo-y waters to create a new IP. Instead they pulled H5 in the other direction to give us Infinite (which has great gameplay too).
I guess I just fail to see how a new retelling or a new game will change the crowd. A great game is a great game and that’s what will bring in a large swath of people. Infinite is a soft reboot of the franchise and while it did sell well it’s multi-player element is what left a bad taste in people’s mouths. At least from my understanding. It had the best launch of any halo game.
Apparently all halo games aggregate sold something like 81 million copies. If we only count physical games (1-6, reach, odst, anniversary 1 and 2, halo wars 1 and 2, and master chief collection.) that’s 13 games needing to sell an average 6.23 million in lifetime sales. Infinite is sitting at something like 5 million before digital.
The series is doing well maybe not the numbers that require to fund a massive studio. But it still sells and a good game will. We just need a new great game reboot or other wise.
I think a retelling for a new modern audience not the old. I do agree a great game is a great game but, in this day, and age Halo 1-3 is just not relevant for a new generation. After infinite came out very few people actually went and played Master chief collection, so the early success did not correlate or affect those remasters not even the TV series had an impact on the games. Take a look at The Witcher series, the riot games and even The Last of us how a fresh take has brought in new audience. Halo could use a reset or refresh that addresses all its short comings. The series is now over 20 years which is quite old, a lot of the generation around at its start have started families very few teens even know or consider halo today. Infinite has not helped ushered in the modern generation and is mostly relevant to the same old core. Newer games have just like I said been more of the same. A restart built on a modern foundation I think will go a long way.
Personally I don’t think Halo is ever gonna be the big deal it once was, and it’s not anything 343 has done (well, they maybe haven’t helped) - the industry has just changed. It’s why I think it’s good Xbox isn’t going to be so reliant on ONE franchise with all these acquisitions - Halo can just be Halo and if that isn’t some huge industry shaking event that is fine. Should they reboot the games to draw in a younger audience? Ehh, maybe not.
But if they were to utilise outsourcing to remake Halo 1 to a modern standard, expand the story a bit, mayhe rework the structure into a semi-open world that improves upon the format of Infinite - I wouldn’t be mad.
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A lot of people really seem to ignore this when it comes to Halo
If Halo Infinite launched perfectly with way more maps, stability, forge, coop etc it still wouldn’t be getting anywhere near the numbers other top shooters are getting
This isn’t 2007 where there’s 2 or 3 big shooters on the market and endless other options
The Halo that people want/expect is never going to be the phenomenon it used to be, kids back then played Halo, kids today play Fortnite, Cod/Warzone and Battle Royales
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I’ll agree to disagree. As I think getting halo to a new peak at this point is a failed venture. I don’t really think a new retelling or a new sequel game will get it there. There is baggage with the franchise. Personally either option is fine more halo for me. But I don’t think chasing a new peak or new trend should be the focus. As with the “halo killers” of old trying to be number one again gets you no where. Doing your own thing gives you a chance.
Agreed. It’s my reason for saying it could use a reboot. The Halo of today was built back in 2001 for that generation that have now grown up with it. they can keep going with Halo as it is but it will just keep fading and once ABK comes in the focus will be there. There’s been tons of forge maps and they haven’t ignited any spark. If not a reboot, then what. Microsoft will not keep pumping money into Halo forever, they have already shown through restructuring they want Halo to compete and be an equal money maker. who knows they may even give the IP to the COD studios to reignite it.
Maybe launch it with their next console but actually release on time this time around? Would leave 343 with several years to be working on a new reboot of the game and they can keep supporting the multiplayer aspect for now and make sure it keeps going with the next game as well!
They should let others work on the Halo franchise, make that Mass Effect Halo or something. That would be relevant af. The Halo universe is too rich and great to be stuck as two minute cutscenes in a MP game.
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Agreed. I saw people placing hopes that Forge would solve the issues in terms of relevancy but that was never going to be the case.
There’s so many reasons why Halo will never be “top dog” anymore but a lot of people don’t fully understand why so we just blame it on the lack of “content” that the game has. It goes way deeper than that.
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While I’d be happy to see Halo explore a wider range of genres and gameplay types for spin off titles - I think so far as the core gameplay goes the Halo fanbase just wants it to feel like Halo. I don’t necessarily think there is a way they can change it to appeal to a newer, wider audience while retaining what the core fanbase likes. I mean, look how much debate and discussion there’s been over Halo just having a sprint option, and how frustrated people got when Halo Reach/4 pushed multiplayer into a more Call of Duty styled experience.
It’s like I was saying above, Halo can certainly do better than it’s doing now but I don’t think Halo CAN reach that same level of success any more, not without not being Halo. But I think with so much content under Xbox it doesn’t really matter. Why make Halo into Call of Duty or Doom or any of these other games when they already have Call of Duty and Doom under the same banner (or will shortly). Halo doesn’t need to be those things, and Microsoft don’t need it to be their tentpole franchise anymore. I think there’s room for Halo to just be Halo.
It’s a lack of content and a progression system.
Look at MW2 and how season 2 was kind of a drought, so people left and then will come back for season 3 because of the new maps and modes they announced. Simple as that.
Halo Infinite is a great game but we already should have got 2-3 new weapons, new gadgets, 10+ well polished brand new maps, new modes on rotation… AND a progression system !! There’s no progression system beside the BP and we know it’s coming and we’ll all start at 0… so for most people it’s pointless to play the game right now.
I actually really enjoy the Halo battle pass as for me, as a father of 2 with very little time, I find it very easy to reach lvl 100 and earn everything.
But I agree with you, they need to do a bit more to entice more people, especially the Pc crowd, to stay.
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The progression system is definitely a big factor in the lack of appeal for Infinite, I play Infinite almost every day and enjoy it a lot but the progression system is just…bad, to put it lightly
It’s certainly better than it was at the start but it’s far, far behind games that came out 15 years ago
Other games figured out long ago that players should be getting rewarded for everything, every kill, every assist, every medal they earn while in infinite it’s, play a game, win a game and be MVP, it’s so dull and unengaging
Then there’s the lack of long term rewards, where is simple stuff like “Get 500 kills with X weapon to unlock X skin”, things that you’re constantly working on in the long term so that even if you’ve completed a BP your play is still working towards something
We are in a different age now and the idea of playing purely for the love of the game is long gone, especially when the competition is letting you have Kamehameha battles with Goku, Superman and Doomguy
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Their plans for the progression system has to be really good and rewarding, because they are taking their damn time to implement it. It was the first thing they should have worked on and added into the game.
I just want to see my rank and medals and work on it. Hopefully it’s retroactive but probably not.
At least the BP is okay. They can keep it that way forever, it’s close to perfection now, even better than most other games’ BP.
Couldnt agree more, what extra strange about this is other shooters have perfected this model.
You just needed to copy their homework here.
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The core fanbase is pretty small today. Also, I don’t know that one can say 343 has ever really made a Halo that appealed to the bungie halo fans. To me it’s potential and not the idea of trying to appease to one set of fan base. For example if you look at Sonic you can tell the games don’t do the character justice simply cos the potential is not realized. I also don’t see how rebooting threatens the gameplay or feel if anything it will be an evolution. I don’t know how far Halo can go but I would like to think it could do considerably much better. I do think it matters, if we are looking by subsidiaries Bethesda will have Doom, XGS Halo and ABK with COD. Also, if COD is to go on 2- or 3-year cycles there will be a need for another juggernaut to fill the place each year it’s missing. True Halo doesn’t need to become COD neither did anyone mention it becoming one. Fortnite didn’t become COD or PUBG, but it did use them to mold its own unique style.
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Yeah… this is something that have annoyed me throughout both about the live service part and the progression system. This is not the first game in existance to have these things…
They have countless examples of both what works and what doesn’t, what people like and don’t. Yet… I get the impression development on those parts have taken place in a bunker with no outside contact for the last 15 or so years by people not familiar with the concepts.