Phase
, GET ITT!
To 343,
Around 2001 I played a lot of arena fps on pc, mainly quake, cs, and tribes. Man those fucking games are amazing. But then this game Halo came out. I saw some gameplay and thought, huh that looks pretty neat. Little did I know what was in store for me. The endless splitscreen matches my friends and I would play throughout the nights years after release. Sidewinder, Damnation, Wizard, Prisoner, Chiron, Hang Em High. I can still walk through every one of these maps in my head with a perfect visual memory of weapon locations and funny deaths during the countless matches played.
The Halo explosion was something surreal. It took ahold of everybody I knew. People that didn't even play games were asking what Halo was all about. The build up increased to an orgasm's peak with the release of Halo 2. Xbox Live + Halo 2 was everything Halo CE was but better and for the first time, online Halo was here. The pregame lobbies, the post game lobbies. Fucking hilarious. People talking shit and getting put in their place going -13 with a breadstick 8 minutes later. Ascension, Lockout, Midship, Ivory Tower, Burial Mounds, Relic, Turf, Zanzibar. The maps were creative, fun, balanced. Button combos separated the men from the boys. Leveling was such a rush in H2. Seeing the progress bar online you could see how close you were to that next level. I put so many hours in Halo 2 I should have a fucking degree in it.
Then, and I mean how can they do it again. Bungie released Halo 3 to the biggest mainstream build up I could've imagined. Everyone knew what Halo was at this point, even if they were the little old lady who sits on her porch all day by the corner store. And they delivered! Another bomb game with thousands of hours invested. Sandtrap, Guardian, The Pit, Cold Storage, Avalanche, Narrows, Construct, Ghost Town. They really outdid themselves again with the maps in H3. Leveling drew me in again. How many new accounts did you make just to level up to 50 again? I can't even remember how many I made. Just for the thrill of it.
Here's where this story takes a not so exciting turn. Reach was released. I initially enjoyed it as many did. Invasion was creative and a great game mode. The maps were pretty good. But the flow of the game felt like it had changed. Despite that feeling, I continued to play because I was having fun. It still felt like Halo to me. But arena was weird. I wanted 1-50. Where was the leveling? Why would I want to play seasons in ranked? Why did the DMR have random bullet deviation? Why was I now focusing on things like this instead of just having fun? Somehow they made fundamental changes that had a big enough impact that I started to notice my enjoyment level decrease. I played less and less Halo but still got on a few times a week to play with friends. Despite its flaws it was still fun.
In 2012 Bungie gave Halo to 343. I was pretty excited. They said all the right things. Despite some of their decisions with Reach I backed them 100%. This was Halo. Halo Reach was a prequel. I couldn't wait to see what they had in store for Halo 4, the true sequel to Halo 3. I preordered Halo 4 and was pumped for its release. Visually it looked awesome. I didn't want to spoil anything so I kept myself in the dark until release. The day I picked up the game and put it in was the day I regretted the purchase. I didn't play the campaign. I went straight to mp. When I joined my first game and had to select a loadout I almost threw up. What was this garbage? Sprint? Damn this map is ugly. Shit, It didn't even sound like Halo... I grew to love arena fps even before Halo, and Halo was the console embodiment of what I loved - with its own flavor. This was not Halo. I sold the game within the week.
I followed Halo with video and in forums throughout H4's life, and held hope for H5 to fix what had been done. They stated time and time again they were listening to their fans and to be ready for what they had in store. The Halo feeling was coming back. Long story short, that didn't happen. 343 in its infinite wisdom decided to continue "their vision" of Halo which underwhelmed me yet again. After playing some matches of H5 at a friends house I knew I didn't care for it. Sounds were weird and mechanical again. The announcer sounded dumb somehow. More sprint? Where's the BR? I was frustrated again, as many were. The Halo they knew and loved was snubbed again for "advanced movement mechanics."
Why I still had a sliver of hope left in me that Halo Infinite would be anything other than mediocre I do not know. Maybe the love of what Halo was still boiled beneath the surface. Maybe the trailer that elicited Halo 3 vibrations into my soul blinded me. But I'm blinded no more. The gameplay today confirmed to me that there is no chance for Halo as it was. There probably was never a chance. 343 successfully put to bed my interest in one of the most important and influential gaming franchises in my life. And after today, Halo is nothing but beautiful memories of what once was.
Fuck, why am I doing this to myself? I'm going back to the meme thread.