I think it's definitely not the juggernaut it was on the original Xbox. Halo 3 was a fine game, but for a relatively big gap between releases it looked last gen compared to Gears, and that same fall COD4 took the multiplayer crown easily and never handed it back.
Then it was another two year wait for what was a pretty lackluster cashgrab in ODST. By the time Reach came out it didn't seem like the excitement level was there. I've only played a bit of 4 but it seems like the reception of it has been mixed to negative.
Let's go over the major events in Halo 4's run. Here's the big overview:
The First Two Weeks
In the run up to Halo 4's release, Microsoft seemed interested in getting as many people to play the game as possible. So they took the early perk unlocks from the LE and told people that everyone that played within the first two weeks would get the perk unlocks too. This sets the stage for a fairly big blow to this game, but it's not the first one.
A week into Halo 4's life span, Black Ops 2 releases. And half of Halo 4's population vanishes, never to return. November 12th - a whole six days after the game releases - is the last day Halo 4 will see more than 300k peak population. It won't take much longer - ten days after release - for Halo 4 to see the last time it goes above 200k, on November 16th.
14 Day Buy and Play
Everyone who has gotten their codes for the first two weeks either redeems them or hands them out. People that wants the perks use the code for themselves. A lot of people, including many GAFers, HBOers, and other Halo communities toss the codes to people that want them, since they're not too interested in the perk system. The population continues downward.
And then.. the Crimson Map Pack release happens. And something hilarious happens: everyone with the specializations code can download Crimson as if they have the map pack. For free. What? WHAT? Yep. Seems in their rush to get the specializations code out, Microsoft forgot that the software key that unlocked the specializations was the same one that unlocked the map packs for free download. Awwwkward. Okay, it's a fuck up though, they'll just fix it right?
Well, they did. But they did it in the worst way possible. Absolutely the WORST handling of a mistake I have seen, and destroyed absolutely any pretension in my mind (and other's minds) that 343 had any autonomy from Microsoft. So what did they do?
They goofed. We understand humans develop games, so whatever. Patch it up. In less than 24 hours, we went from 343 employees, Microsoft employees, and Xbox Support acknowledging it was a fuckup to Microsoft outright pretending it was not actually a mistake at ALL. They invented a fake program called "14 Day Buy and Play" that supposedly ran at Halo 4's release (the term didn't even exist until that day), sent it out as a press release, and Kotaku and most other gaming sites happily regurgitated it as legitimate. So not only had Microsoft fucked up, they then proceeded to tell us no, they didn't screw up, they meant to do it all along.
They then issued a patch a week later that fixed the bug and took the free Crimson map pack away from the people that redeemed it. Hrmm, for something intended, strange they had to patch the game to end the trial period.
To make it even worse, 343 could have at least poked fun at the whole thing, or acknowledged the screw up was a screw up and they were letting people play it for a bit before taking it away. Instead, they posted the 14 Day Buy and Play press release directly on their website. With a straight face.
343 lost a lot of good will on that day, with a lot of people. It definitively set the tone people treated 343 with after that.
Boltshots R Us
Halo 4 trucked along. At this point, players were getting frustrated. Big, annoying balance issues were identified, such as the DMR being overpowered and the go-to weapon for ranged kills, and the Boltshot being the CQB weapon above all others.. Content share was completely broken; you couldn't search for files nor could you initiate a download from the website. The game had menus and UI for it, but none of it worked. Along with a lack of campaign films and Forge features being dropped from Reach, this kneecapped the content creation arm of the community.
They would finally fix file search and tagging in late January, 3 months after release. These features worked day 1 in Reach.
Finally, 343 addressed the Boltshot with a title update on Feb 21, a couple of days before the Majestic map pack:
The title update + Majestic caused a minor uptick in Halo 4's population (the missing days were due to issues recording the numbers). Between the announcement of Majestic and the week after Majestic's release, Halo 4 would lose another 20,000 peak players.
Tune It Up
In late March/early April, 343 issued another title update. This title update implemented support for death indicators in game (previously relegated to a perk) and the ability for 343 to deploy weapon tuning via embedding the weapon data inside gametypes, allowing them to rebalance guns without a title update. And thus began what was a critical mistake by 343: sticking to the script and not acting like they were bleeding out players.
No, you're not reading that wrong. It took 343 two months to actually deploy a weapon tune update from the moment it became possible, when the original point of the update was that they could make changes instantly. They would lose 20,000 people in this time period. What did they spend it doing? Hyping up a Community day where they flew out people from the community so they could 'reveal' the weapon tune update on a big, advertised stream. Even though the update was in gametypes and could be shared with the community immediately, we had to wait for MS's marketing department to get their rocks off before we could feel like 343 was actually trying to salvage the sandbox. In a sensible world, the weapon updates would have been thrown in a beta playlist and updated weekly, with the community day just being a nice thing to celebrate the final version. 343 seemed to be intentionally ignoring their dire situation and did not act like they needed to address huge problems immediately. Because..
Stability Perk
The weapon tune update actually did legitimately address a lot of issues with the game. Halo 4's weapon tune update actually stopped the bleeding, and stabilized Halo 4's population.
A whole six months after the game came out. Six months of people showing 343 what was wrong with the game, that they could have all identified within the first two months. Unfortunately, 343 never seemed willing to deviate from their marketing and support script. People were walking out the door as 343 said "Trust Us", and didn't come back.
Soon after this, 343 would release the Bullseye Map Pack, which was 2 maps. One was a remake of The Pit from Halo 3! Yay! The population didn't get boosted at all. It also introduced armor that could be bought with Real Money Only and they dug in even more on perks, after backlash from the community over them. Then promised those perks would become available to everyone else, which still hasn't happened.
The Game of the Year Edition, which released at a reduced price point and includes all of the game's DLC, came out somewhere in the chart. See if you can find it.
It's in the second population valley from the left
Some points I didn't have a good way to write up or didn't care to:
* Halo 4 lasted a whole two entire months in the Top 3 of the Xbox Live activity chart. Halo 3 didn't fall out of the Top 3 until Halo Reach released - 3 years after it's release. Halo Reach didn't fall out of the Top 3 until 343's title update for the game after they took over the game, 12 months after release.
* Roughly a year after release, Halo 3 had a 1.1 million peak population day. Reach had a 900,000 peak population day after the same amount of time. Halo 4 clocks in at 20,000 peak for it's annual checkup.
* 343 attempted to require the Majestic DLC for Team Slayer. The DLC requirement took the playlist from the top 2 in population to almost the bottom. They removed the DLC requirement afterwards and removed the DLC requirements from their weekly playlists after the first weekly playlist struggled to maintain over 150 players in it. Keep in mind the Majestic map pack was included in the map pass...
I imagine a lot of people have a lot to say about Halo 4, I'll follow up later with my breakdown of gameplay and breakdown of campaign. Thought I'd start the thread off with an overall recap. The storm approaches.
it'll be a new halo on next gen and at 60fps, plus the tv show by a legendary director. IMO it could be a rebirth. this winter you will have TF, COD, BF, Halo, Destiny only on one console platform.
Just my opinion, but the most damage done to the halo series was done with ODST and Reach. I'm not saying they are bad games, but they took the wind out of sails of the series after the ending with Halo 3.
Pretty much every Halo fan who isn't a total newcomer to the series is eyeing Destiny right now, and there is consensus in the gaming press that Destiny will take over as the genre-defining FPS that Halo once was.
Also we haven't seen anything out of the competitive side of Destiny have we? I know it's going to be there but I can't really jump on board of acting like it's going to be great when they did make Halo Reach and its multiplayer had armor lock.
Halo died when Crysis did the power armor super soldier thing better with gun customization in the SP and when COD managed to stumble upon the formula to turn their MP into gaming crack. Aside from the setting and aesthetic, there's not much keeping people interested in Halo now that the story side is going full retard.
With the caveat that the multiplayer isn't completely dead to me yet(It got close), this. The campaign of 4 made it very clear I don't want to see master chief continue being a flawless action hero.
Now that Halo 4 has come and gone, it's probably safe to begin looking at the effect it has had on reviving what was pretty much Microsoft's best franchise. All eyes were on 343i as they took over the reigns from Bungie, and while I personally consider Halo 4 a success, considering the size of shoes it has to fill, I can't say the same about the state of the Halo franchise.
Pretty much every Halo fan who isn't a total newcomer to the series is eyeing Destiny right now, and there is consensus in the gaming press that Destiny will take over as the genre-defining FPS that Halo once was.
This has spawned countless discussions on the Halo forum, and every time people get defensive and take it personal. I understand why, because to many Halo is associated with buying an Xbox and getting into gaming generally (yes, kids who got Halo when it came out are in their 20s now). I do think 343i is awesome. I think they did a really great job with Halo 4. But sadly, I also believe that the most boring parts of Destiny will still be more fun than the best parts of Halo 5. I just can't muster any enthusiasm for a sequel to Halo 4, given that Destiny is on the horizon now.
And I think this year is gonna be 343's last chance to prove themselves. I am excited to see what they can cook up this time around now that their studio is established and they are working with next gen hardware.
I'd say it's certainly trending downward, but dying is maybe a bit of an overstatement.
Halo 4 sold a shitload of copies, but look at the general fan consensus for that game; it's not good. And it's not one of those things where you can point to that and say it's anecdotal because you can just look at what the player count for that game has been since launch. It's low; the last XBL activity chart I could find from MN back in November of last year has it at #13, with FOUR different Call of Duty games beating it, and MW2 as the 5th COD game only being 2 slots behind it. Then you have the infamous slide of MC in the wheelchair where the goal was to make Halo accessible, Waypoint being total garbage, etc. And that's not even getting into the nitty gritty of why a lot of people don't care for the actual Halo 4 game itself.
Spartan Ops was kind of a bust and poorly received; I've heard the second half of the first season was an improvement, but since they broke the season in half with a delay I doubt a lot of folks stuck around for that. And given that Season Two never materialized the feedback they got probably wasn't good.
Then you've got Spartan Assault which was a Windows Phone game (wat) with no controller support (wat) which only just last month hit console...on Xbox One. And it was also poorly received critically as well and it has microtransaction bullshit, and on top of that the 360 version isn't out yet either.
So as a Halo fan the last year or so hasn't treated anyone that well; there are people that like Halo 4 and more power to you, but clearly they've got their work cut out for them here. I'd love it if Halo 5 is amazing; they clearly have a ton of cool and talented people over there, but everything about Halo 4, how they handled it, and everything since has completely and utterly destroyed any love I had for the franchise. They're going to have to do a goddamn amazing job for Halo 5 to get most of the people I know back on board, and if they are launching anywhere in the timeframe of Destiny (which I'm sure will have all kinds of marketing to the effect of "from the creators of Halo") they're really going to have their work cut out for them. Not an enviable position.
It's not like that. I like both games, but it's because those games were not Halo 4, and that there was a 5 year gap in between 3 and 4 that the interest is just not there. 343 is a fine developer, but they're not bungie.
Well stop playing, it's quite simple. Why force yourself.
Halo5 will no doubt sell a ton of copies on hype alone, that doesn't mean it isn't dying. Popularity has certainly declined quite a bit after the mess that was 4. Online numbers were hilariously low just mere months after release. I won't get started on the mp problems but it was my least played Halo. I played 2 and 3 for years after release and so did many many more. I'm done with Halo unless 343i shows that they brought back the Halo feel of competitive mp. Halo use to be ever so addicting for years but with the start of Reach and the downfall of easy handicapped mp of H4, killed what Halo was to me.
The Cortana story in Halo 4 was offensively bad, though the game was a technical marvel.
The multiplayer aping aspects of CoD was a mistake.
We'll see if 343i can do something unique with H5, that's their big chance to prove themselves, but they earned my skepticism with H4.
Otherwise, Halo is dead in the same way that CoD is dead - Destiny and Titanfall are likely to usurp them because the majority of the people that made those franchises great in the first place are now working on new games.
Based on sales halo 4 did well, but that's it. Multiplayer was an expansion of the worst of reach, the population decline shows how well received it was. Hopefully 5 can return to what made halo halo.
I don't get all the hate for Halo 4. I played maybe 30-40% of it as it was a Gamefly rental but I felt the mechanics were fine.
In the grand scope of the Haloverse, was it really that bad? I think I beat most Halos since OG Xbox. I'm not a fan of the lore (in fact I don't really know it). But games were enjoyable to me.
Now that Halo 4 has come and gone, it's probably safe to begin looking at the effect it has had on reviving what was pretty much Microsoft's best franchise. All eyes were on 343i as they took over the reigns from Bungie, and while I personally consider Halo 4 a success, considering the size of shoes it has to fill, I can't say the same about the state of the Halo franchise.
Pretty much every Halo fan who isn't a total newcomer to the series is eyeing Destiny right now, and there is consensus in the gaming press that Destiny will take over as the genre-defining FPS that Halo once was.
This has spawned countless discussions on the Halo forum, and every time people get defensive and take it personal. I understand why, because to many Halo is associated with buying an Xbox and getting into gaming generally (yes, kids who got Halo when it came out are in their 20s now). I do think 343i is awesome. I think they did a really great job with Halo 4. But sadly, I also believe that the most boring parts of Destiny will still be more fun than the best parts of Halo 5. I just can't muster any enthusiasm for a sequel to Halo 4, given that Destiny is on the horizon now.
Pretty sure that Halo will never be what it use to be. It will sell a ton no doubt but the online numbers will drop off fairly quick after a few months just like the last 2. No matter how good the next game is, or the one after that, i think people have just moved on. We've seen the universe, fought the same enemies, drove the same vehicles, used the same weapons in multiplayer.
I think the ONLY way they could make Halo feel fresh and new again is to completely overhaul the game. New weapons, characters, enemies, new "themed" world, ect ect. Part of what makes people tired of Halo so quickly is that we've seen all of the things it's doing before. What Halo went through, is what Call of duty is going through now. It's just to much of the same. That's why i feel for developers when making changes, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Looking forward to the next halo and i hope most of what i said above is false.
One of my favourite series. Reach + CE are probs the best of the bunch but their producers shouldn't have tried to chase the CoD market with it with so many iterations.
Microsoft should have just kept it at a solid, dispersed series that released once in a blue moon, like the home console Zelda games. Over-saturation of the same IP has killed it i think.
It is a shame. Destiny looks great though as a successor.
Guess it depends on who you talk to. I've been a fan since the original and I love all of them. Halo 4 needed some more variety in enemy design but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Can't wait for Halo 5.
Dying? If you mean MP online population than yes. Halo 4 pretty much single handedly killed it at launch.
If you mean the overall franchise than no. Hell no it's not. There's so much the franchise is bringing out with new media that it isn't dead, dad, or dying.
343 needs to step up with better quality reading material than the comics and kilo-five series they've made so far. Here's wishful thinking that Halo Tv really turns out well.
I think it's safe to say Halo 4 was a bit of a miss with the community - that one epic thread proved that - but I don't think they'll will give up on the game after one fail. It'll still sell gangbusters - but if this one somehow fails to disappoint again, then I can definitely see a case where it will 'die'.
If you're going by multiplayer numbers, then it's as good as dead. If you're going by sales, then it's healthy.
343 needs to make the next great console arena FPS. There are so few games like that anymore, especially on consoles. Halo once held that crown and it can hold it again.
Well stop playing, it's quite simple. Why force yourself.
Halo5 will no doubt sell a ton of copies on hype alone, that doesn't mean it isn't dying. Popularity has certainly declined quite a bit after the mess that was 4. Online numbers were hilariously low just mere months after release. I won't get started on the mp problems but it was my least played Halo. I played 2 and 3 for years after release and so did many many more. I'm done with Halo unless 343i shows that they brought back the Halo feel of competitive mp. Halo use to be ever so addicting for years but with the start of Reach and the downfall of easy handicapped mp of H4, killed what Halo was to me.
It has begun and will continue to face diminishing returns. That is the reality which faces almost every long-standing franchise in games, especially so for one that has regressed in quality. Regardless of how good or bad Halo 5 is, I have no doubt it will be the poorest selling mainline Halo game since CE. The install base is the lowest it has ever been, and so is interest in the franchise. (post CE, mind you)
That said, a Halo game that sells "poorly" compared to its predecessors will still easily pull 5 or 6 million. 343 can probably turn it around, but they need to do mad work with their upcoming games and TV series. Halo 4 and Spartan Assault, however, do not bode well.
It sold a lot, but got relatively negative reception from fans regarding its multiplayer and its online is practically a ghost town in comparison to previous Halos.
I really hope Halo 5 makes a comeback and has the much more simple multiplayer that Halo 2 and 3 had, but I have no idea if that's a possibility.
personally, I Don't think it's dead, but it sure is less popular than 2007, but that's just normal.
No series stay at the same level of popularity forever.
If they don't milk it too much, it still can do pretty well.
Guess it depends on who you talk to. I've been a fan since the original and I love all of them. Halo 4 needed some more variety in enemy design but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. Can't wait for Halo 5.
Yeah, while, post-Halo 3, all of the Halo games have had some particularly lackluster elements in different places, I still have enjoyed them all and it looks like there is no significant decrease in their successes to really say it's dying. It's also easy to confound the rise of CoD, the influence of COD on Halo and similar directions Halo has taken with the reasons why Halo might be on rocky ground ATM.
If I eventually get an X1, Halo 5 will be my first purchase.
I played Halo Reach and it was your run of the mill shooter for me, then I played Halo 4 and it was basically the same game. I've never understood the appeal for the series.
