We apply a critical eye to the available info, and craft a picture of what players can look forward to in 343 Industries’ highly anticipated Halo sequel.
In Halo 4, 5, and Infinite, Master Chief became a more nuanced, human character.
In spite of the Halo series’ struggles, 343 deserves praise for adding nuance and characterisation to the ever-beating heart of Halo - The Master Chief. Playing through Infinite, it's abundantly clear that the events of the current and previous trilogies have irrevocably changed the iconic hero. He’s no longer the ‘blank slate’ that was previously presented by Bungie. He’s a fatigued, damaged and fallible protagonist, and one who is meandering through currents of grief, while reveling in his newfound agency. Giving the Chief a compelling and meaningful voice was no small feat, and 343 should be proud of that victory.
This article completely misses part of the appeal of the original iteration of character in the original game trilogy. It was the Chief and Cortana vs an entire alien collective. The blank slate Bungie displayed in their games was genius, he was an mysterious hero a wide audience could identify with because he wasn't as clearly defined as most characters.
The books added a lot of lore and backstory but most Halo players just want a fun game with exposition that doesn't get in the way of gameplay, it's why the Cortana level in Halo 3 was derided.
Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty.
The 343i Master Chief has is based on the books. However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion.
It’s a law of nature that eventually, every long-running game franchise will have a particular entry that gets dinged for straying too far from what made it so fun in the first place. Your Super Mario Sunshine, your Dragon Age II, Assassin’s Creed III, and so on. Whether or not that opinion changes more favorably over time, the initial specter of negativity will forever hover it. Microsoft’s Halo is no exception, except that negative specter hasn’t hovered over one particular game, but one whole studio.
Halo 4 released 10 years ago today, and its disappointing reception was just an omen of things to come with 343 Industries at the helm.
Halo 4 and infinite have a 87 on metacritic and five a 84🤣. 343i need contents and everything else will play it self out.
Halo 4-6 are like the Star Wars sequel trilogy
They all just seem like a brand new games with small connections to the last one but no solid arc connecting them, you’re just told stuff that happened off screen in between the games and nothing makes sense
It’s like they didn’t plan a new trilogy out
I'm getting a good gaming laptop soon and i'm finally going to play through the Halo franchise again plus Infinite but i never played Halo 4 before .. can anyone tell me how's the campaign in comparison to the games before it and compared to Halo 5 ?
cant wait for more details as they emerge. I have a feeling the forerunner are the creators of MC and like it says in the article. He is a reclaimer but what is he trying to reclaim and what new kinds of enemies will he encounter?
From the trailer, that planet reminds me of unicron trying to gobble up the falling ship. Once inside, there could be anything and everything he will face.
I am most curious about the musical score. The orchestra ensemble for the previous games was what set the tone to be very dramatic at times. Music is key and hopefully this new trilogy will expand on that and bring new musical compositions to the table while staying true to the dramatic effect.
i will be buying live again when this comes out no doubt!
This was a very thorough write-up. I've tried to remain cautiously optimistic, but it's hard. I'm just so excited from both Halo: Anniversary and Halo 4.
Can't wait for more info, though I doubt that'll be any time soon.
I love halo it's by far the best FPS universe.I still play halo 3 and I used to play halo 2(it's now offline :( )
More powerful space animals to kill with overhauled gameplay, game mechanics, more mature story telling and insight of the the beginning of the master race of space animals. Better graphics . Exotic environments, better weapons, better features, better online features and darker atmosphere in general. Fast action packed and mind blowing. More shocking than Halo combat evolved in presentation.
The more advanced/exotic and older space animals will bring unreal AI and fury. The *Flood* Beasts will be hell with other space animals that live in that part of the universe.