Infinite’s co op, in story and firefight, is full of chaos. Wut. I’ve not played HD2 yet, and I’m sure it’s a lot of fun, but this smacks of that weird gaming/pop culture need: thing A is popular, thing B is a punching bag, ergo A needs to shit on B. They can’t both have their place.
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I don’t think there was too much of a focus on competitive Halo as Infinite shipped simply incomplete as a Halo game. Hence you had huge groups of returning Halo 3/Reach fans disappointed that what they loved the most about those games was simply missing from Infinite.
My wishlist for the next Halo game:
- based on Slipspace Engine still, so that it has all of the current feature set on day 1 + more
- expanded and revised sandbox
- great progression system(s) to make people stick around
- import the current customization system from Infinite, including all pieces, add playable and customizable Elites and add Banished weapons customization
- even more powerful Forge, higher budget, ability to add voice lines and music
- ability for Forge creators to monetize their content like they can in Minecraft/Roblox/Fortnite
- new interesting mode to serve as a marketing gimmick
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I wish this was the case but I don’t think it is.
People were going to drop this game no matter what in my opinion.
A. The game is just simply not as fun as the other multiplayer games on the market.
B. Arena shooters inherently gives you a low ceiling in today’s landscape.
C. They failed to get the PC players on board.
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Infinite launched content starved and with deep technical flaws, 343i was very slow to address its problems. I do strongly believe that if it launched in the state it was in June 2023 (season 4 launch) it would have had significantly better player retention.
Infinite was a top 5 game on Xbox Live for over 3 months and only started losing players when it became apparent that neither technical fixes nor new content were coming. If 343 had the capability to respond to player feedback and provide new content at the time, they could have built some rapport with the audience I feel.
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6 Husky raid maps coming in March, nice
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I’m more so speaking to the PC side of things. The whole F2P push and making it a separate app was specifically for PC in the hopes that it can be a massive hit on it.
The game peaked during early access on Steam on day 1 and didn’t even beat it when the game officially launched with the Campaign 2 weeks later. That’s not a content issue, that’s a weak word of mouth issue.
While I agree that the game being content rich on day 1 would obviously be a positive, I just don’t believe it would somehow change the outcome on the lack of success that it’s had on PC.
The harsh reality of it is that, most of the people complaining about Halo Infinite were never really going to play the game on a consistent or even occasional basis.
True. Like you said it’s an arena shooter which I think heavily limits it. I think a more open world structure that allows more freedom of movement with a game design that focuses on quick play would be nice.
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I fundamentally disagree, Infinite’s problems were a failure of execution, not a sign that Halo is fundamentally outdated. Infinite was supposed to be classic Halo brought to the modern era and it failed to provide that on many levels:
- netcode - the incredibly important part of an online shooter - was atrocious (and even now 27 months barely tolerable after many bandaids, and hopefully they bring the new netcode to competitive modes soon)
- map design - Halo was known for its incredibly creative maps, arena maps at launch were all variations of the Pit, without unique, assymetrical designs like eg. High Ground. Maps shipped in the last 12 months have been much more adventurous and exciting.
- few modes - self-explanatory
- no Forge - yes when it eventually shipped it was more robust than ever, but people with creative spark aren’t interested in going back to a declining game to serve a very niche audience at that point
IDK, I just do not think Halo can’t be successful anymore, Counterstrike is still successful after more than 2 decades, Minecraft is still going on etc. etc. Good multiplayer games stay successful if they serve their audience well.
The problem with Halo is that Halo 4 literally turned its back to its audience in a failed attempt to chase COD players, Halo 5 tried new things but again too different from the core series and missing features at launch. Infinite’s gameplay is much closer to Halo 3 with rather small tweaks, but it was barely strung together and it became apparent very very soon.
That’s why I’d love for the next Halo to be Super Halo Infinite - import all of the features and improvements added since Infinite’s launch, add an engaging progression system, a new mode to attract newcomers and you could have a potential return to form for the franchise.
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I respect your optimistic view point but yeah, we just fundamentally disagree on this.
I wish it was as simple as what you’re saying but I don’t believe that to be the case. Even if the game launched today in its current state, I don’t think the ceiling or floor changes for this game in terms of popularity.
Comparing it to Minecraft, CSGO, COD, etc etc of the worlds is very unfair to Halo. Those games are extreme outliers. Halo isn’t that and will never be that as long as the core multiplayer remains how it is. Halo doesn’t need to be as big as those juggernaut franchises to be deemed a success, that’s an unfair goal for the IP.
…the majority of arena maps are asymmetrical.
would be a really fun vehicle to see in the new art style… same with the mantis in all honesty
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Also a pretty epic boss battle with one really angry Grunt.
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Halo used to be in that tier of games. Halo 3 was #1 game on XBL in 2007, 2008 and 2009 - meaning it was holding its own against COD even after that franchise exploded with Modern Warfare. Halo Reach was almost as popular, it came with some controversial decisions but for the most part still a traditional Halo with heaps of content.
Then came 343 with 2 non-Halo Halo games and then a decade later one that shipped content/feature starved and semi-broken at launch, even if it’s a decent attempt at playing like the classic games. Halo got dragged through the mud the way those other mainstay franchises didn’t get to suffer. If Valve around around 2010 had the most brilliant idea of making Counterstrike appeal to COD players, the game would be dead as well.
But I don’t believe Halo’s core gameplay got obsolete or superceded by modern games. It might be too late and impossible to bring the series back to its former popularity tho, perhaps Infinite was the only shot 343 had at restoring the franchise and they blew it.
The point is Halo is just a different kind of shooter that from a multiplayer standpoint doesn’t vibe with the masses it’s not about appealing to COD players or not. The game has it is even fully featured would not have gained the traction these other games have. What Halo was back then is not what’s blowing up anymore halo is still good but if they are looking for those huge player numbers they will have to rethink the multiplayer. For one I think they need big open maps and then an event that works inside the Halo Universe.
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That was the old days where the amount of real competition vying for your time on consoles could be counted on one hand.
That isn’t the case anymore. The old staples of Battlefield, Gears and Halo all just can’t really compete with the titans of today. It doesn’t matter how amazing Halo is, if it’s the same arena shooter design, it’ll never reach the impact of Halo 3 again. It doesn’t mean the formula is obsolete, it just means that it’s not the default multiplayer option for Xbox fans anymore.
Yes 343 didn’t really help at all in terms of growing the IP but I’d wager that Xbox obliterating half its marketshare during the X1 era was just as destructive.
I understand that a lot of older Halo fans like to look back fondly on when Halo was on top of the world but Halo 3 didn’t have to compete with not just one COD, but 2 in Warzone, GTA5, Fortnite, PUBG, Apex, R6, OW, etc etc of the worlds.
As soon as COD started being real competition, Halo started to lose their way, ONE franchise did that. Now there’s several other juggernaut’s on par with COD.
It’s just a different landscape now.
I’m not buying it. In Counterstrike you run around small arenas and the game is more popular than ever.
Conversely, if the modern day 3D Marios were of Super Mario Sunshine quality at most, people would be saying how it’s a dead genre and people don’t want to play platformers anymore.
A great Halo would sell and retain its players. Infinite is the closest we’ve got to a great Halo, but still really far away.
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COD surpassed Halo, but it didn’t cause the contraction of Halo. Halo 4, which came out 5 years after COD4, was still the second best selling game in 2012 in the US across all platforms. The fanbase was massive after Reach, it was H4 and the subsequent mishandling of the franchise that “killed” Halo.
Disagree. Halo Reach sold great because of the good will of Halo 3 on top of being marketed as Bungie’s last game but even then, the cracks were there. I remember the discussion at the time, people were absolutely divided on the multiplayer changes. The player retention rate on Reach was abysmal compared to Halo 3. Sprint, armour abilities, and the horrible bloom mechanics all but obliterated the competitive scene.
The revisionist history that Bungie fans like to portray that Reach was somehow looked at as fondly as Halo 3 was is just utterly wrong in my opinion. The crack in the fandom started with Halo Reach, not Halo 4.