If the Xbox One version was dropped entirely, if all the models and lighting were massively improved, and if currently static objects like the trees and grass were made dynamic, this would *still* be a boring Halo game.
The weapons lack decent material differences and lighting, yes, but as gamers, we can see that there is fuck all difference between firing one gun from another. Even the turret seems to have the same effect. Think all the way back to Quake, and Unreal Tournament, and how significantly different each weapon felt, and acted. We can all see there’s literally none of that here.
Back to gfx; Microsoft did not understand / appreciate that people want graphical wonderment as we move forward. Either that, or they were too scared to tell 343i this looks like a scratched dick. Now that they’re aware, I would wager that 343i’s current team are being assessed as unable to create that experience. I’m not sure what they can do from here. Push out just the free multiplayer game, and farm the single player out to a different studio that creates from the ground up on Unreal 5?
This is so much more than a mess. This is a debacle that will end 343i (probably for the best) and force Microsoft to heavily undercut Sony on everything, and bundle a year of free game pass just to be competitive.
Gamers win in the end, but Jesus, this couldn’t be much worse.