2020 Will be a Golden Year for the Halo Franchise

Gamerheadquarters; "While the franchise has provided some releases in recent years, Halo is gearing up for a golden 2020 with the next big entry and some smaller steps along the way."

[CoNn3rB]

Judging by Halo 4 and Halo 5 I wouldn't hold my breath

[spicelicka]

Both those games were not shy in the sales department considering Xbox has the lowest user base. Judging by the 2 million Steam sales of MCC and Infinite being confirmed for PC it could very well be a golden year. Only question is whether they will do the game justice.

[CoNn3rB]

It's not the best sign when the best halo game to come out over the course of the current-gen is Halo Reach on PC which, need I remind you, is 9 years old. I don't hate 343 or Halo but Halo 4 was a good effort but failed to capture what made the previous Halo games special and Halo 5 was pure hot steaming garbage with its false advertising, dreadful campaign and gameplay ripped straight from CoD advanced warfare. I highly doubt a return to the old art style and a PC release is going to do much to improve the quality of the game. 343 is welcome to change my mind but as I said earlier, I highly doubt it.

[bluefox755]

They don't really have much else, so of course it'll do well. Sales don't necessarily translate to quality. If Xbox fans keep buying mediocre games in large number they have no incentive to change though, unfortunately.

[spicelicka]

@bluefox755

What? both are rated very positively on metacritic and shit on any modern shooter when it comes to content. The quality is only low compared to the past glory of Halo not to other games in the market. Clearly you don't play Halo because Halo 5 is widely regarded as the best one of the best multiplayer shooters, even by the critics. The issue was almost exclusively with the campaign and the direction of the story.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

@CoN’n3rB how does Halo 5 play like Call of Duty ?

[Unspoken]

Uh oh, CoD fan alert in a Halo article!

[CoNn3rB]

@spicelicka my gamer tag is CoNn3rB you can see for yourself how many hours I've clocked in on every halo game, including halo 5, just because I don't like the new ones you automatically assume I've "obviously never played halo"

@sciurus you don't have to look deep to see how very, very similar the new movement systems are to CoD advanced warfare, the thruster pack, the ground pound, the Spartan charge and so on bearing in mind advanced warfare came out in 2014 and halo 5 came out in 2015, granted it's most likely an accident that they have similar systems as game development takes time but trying to pretend the similarities aren't there is just plain stupid.

@unspoken CoD is trash which is why I don't like halo 5.

I've probably put more time into halo as a franchise than all of you 3 combined but I must be a hater because I don't blindly love the new games when they are point blank bad halo games.

[Eldyraen]

That’s like saying because Fuse was bad that SSO or Spiderman should have been bad. Although Insomniac had many, many more games under their belt before then too (which makes it that much worse as well however):

4 was solid, if not amazing, 5 was good at best—story wise, (bad to okay really, with a few good bits), but was the best multiplayer from 343 by far. Arguably some of the best in general.

Biggest question with Infinite is how it will play compared to the others, if rumors are true. Story wise, I’m pretty sure 343 learned their lesson.

[Zombieburger638]

How can you say halo 4 was amazing? The didact doesn't even die at the end, they kill him in a comic. The multi-player was hot garbage too. Give em props for the visuals but that's about all they did right. Did I mention that they make everyone treat the Chief like shit?

[Eldyraen]

I meant it was solid, but not amazing. Simply used the wrong word I guess to get that understood better.

[CaptainHenry916]

I agree. I'm doing a wait and see approach with Halo. But I am glad I can play the Halo series on my PC now and the best place to play it depending on your GPU of course. Had a blast with Halo reach

[spicelicka]

@CoNn3rB

I agree that Halo 4 and 5 failed to capture the magic of the Bungie Halo games but neither were garbage by any means. I don't know how you could possibly compare it to COD where you're basically playing a linear interactive movie and it's the same military story over and over. Halo 5 has plenty of open sandbox missions where you can approach an encounter from multiple directions, the gameplay is tactical as always where different enemies have to be taken down in different ways, unlike COD where you just pop out of cover and shoot everything the same way. There is also plenty of vehicle gameplay which COD doesn't have, boss battles which COD doesn't have, CO-OP which COD doesn't have, and being able to command your teammates which COD doesn't really have.

The campaign wasn't as good as past games but easily better than most other FPS games that aren't single-player only. What i mean by that is you can't find another FPS with so much multiplayer content and also have a great single player campaign.

I have my doubts as well and was very critical of Halo 5's campaign, but I don't agree with the extent you're taking it.

[rainslacker]

I doubt Halo will ever get back to the point it was at with the release of 2 and 3. Those were generation defining games. Newer ones just seem like sequels getting luke warm receptions. They'll sell well, but a golden year? I wonder if this author was around for Halo 2. It was the game that pretty much catapulted the 360 to fame along with Gears of War.

I doubt Halo of 2020 will have the same effect. There is just too much baggage with Xbox nowadays.

[AuraAbjure]

Halo 4 was and is flawless except the frame rate tanks in split-screen mode.

[Parasyte]

Too early to say since we know absolutely nothing about the game

[skycaptin5]

Didn't even bother reading the article description, now that's just lazy

[hanko14]

i thought it already is since reach came on mcc and pc.

[hamburgerhill]

They need to scrap this odd ball saga, and return to the original vibe of Halo 1, 2. The latest trilogy should have been called Halo another dimension or even Buck Roger's. I doubt it but hopefully the next entry brings it all back together.

[Eldyraen]

I’m hoping Infinite sort of closes the 4-5 arch and then we get back to Covenant and Flood again.

Halo Wars 2 had the best halo arch this entire generation. Build on it more than 5 imo,

[Dovergamer]

Halo 4 and Halo 5 throws off any possible enthusiasm on the series and future games.

In order for this to work 343 and the old members of Bungie must take a look of what was so great with the series. For example Halo 3 was the epitome of what Halo should be. It was intense, a mature product and a leap in the right direction. Microsoft has all the money in the world and a heavy hardware in the XBOX series X to accommodate a good Halo game.

Halo is a franchise that got botched in Halo 4 and Halo 5. Collaboration needs to be well thought and carve on what all the fans where looking for. What is that? Drive almost all the vehicles in the game. Have an expansive world and focus on the campaign story game. Halo 3 brought in an interesting four crew campaign cooperative game. Why not bring this here but a larger scale adding all types of vehicles?

Halo can evolve but it needs to evolve by not copying other games like Call of Duty advanced Warfare. Many of us are positive that the series may redeem itself but 343 needs help from other minds and of course the creators of the original material. Develop more on the Covenant material. Develop the Covenant more and establish a good script with the Chief and his story.

[Automatic79]

I loved Halo 4 and 5. However, I know there is a community who felt indifferent. Doesn't mean both games weren't quality as nd fun to play. I think we are in for a treat with Halo Infinite.

[Tross]

Ha! Call me if it even comes close to matching the golden years of the first three titles.

[AuraAbjure]

If you feel like explaining what you didn't like about Reach and H4 I'm curious.

[isarai]

I hope it can come back to its former glory, just kinda lost something special after 3. Loved playing all of these split-screen with my best friend

[AuraAbjure]

Loved Reach - Halo 4. Racked up about 130 thousand legit online matchmade multiplayer kills over the past 18 years. If they happen to screw up 6 like they did 5 it's whatever- I've had my fun.

[whitbyfox]

Metacritic;

PS4: The Last of Us Remastered - 95.
Switch: Zelda Breath of the Wild/Super Mario Odyssey - 97.

PS3: Uncharted 2 - 96.
Wii: Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 - 97.

PS2: Metal Gear Solid 2 - 96.
Gamecube: Metroid Prime - 97.

Playstation: Gran Turismo - 96.
N64: Zelda Ocarina of Time- 99.

Let’s see it if can live up to Nintendo standards. I’m guessing not.