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[Toki767]

I think Destiny is just seeming more like a natural evolution of Halo whereas with Halo 4, 343i just made it their goal to make a Halo game to show that they can make one. It'll be interesting to see how Halo 5 is though.

 

[antitrop]

Mortal Kombat also came back with a vengeance after Warner picked up the studio despite years upon years of grinding out games of low quality, and Tomb Raider was annual for a while before getting reinvented and selling significantly better afterwards.

Great examples, actually. I don't think Halo is "dying", but I would agree that it's on the steep decline.

I really do think a lot of Halo/Bungie fans will be all over Destiny, but there's no rule saying you can't buy both games...

 

[Herne]

Microsoft will keep dragging that skeleton for long after the flesh has been stripped from the bones. There's no way they're going to let a cash cow like that just die.

 

[ThatsMytrunks]

I absolutely loved Halo 4's campaign, although it was incomprehensible if you hadn't read all of the books.

The Multiplayer, however, was not Halo. It was so far removed from the level playing field multiplayer fun that Halo's always been for me.

I will continue to buy everything Halo, and I don't see it as being "part of the problem". I'm optimistic that every piece of Halo lore will have something of value in it. I just hope they find a way to balance the CoD-esque Halo 4 action with a little more of the everyone's equal Halo 1-3 multiplayer.

I'd be happy with a Halo 3 PC port that people can mod, though. I'd be good with that forever.

 

[MR BLACKMAGIK]

I don't see Destiny as the next greatest thing, but I agree that Halo is dying. I've slowly been losing interest since Halo 2 and I pretty much don't care at this point.

 

[daedalius]

halo is dad

 

[GlassCity]

I wish I could agree with the 'change too little' argument, but changing very little has been what CoD does every fucking year for a decade and they seem to be doing just fine. I kinda wish they had at least TRIED to change very little from Halo 3 to Halo Reach. I honestly think a big part of the decline is that they changed so much going from 3 to Reach that they lost a ton of fans, and those fans have since never come back.

At the risk of starting a Halo vs CoD thing... Please don't guys, I'm only saying the following for the sake of conjecture. I like both titles well enough, I just prefer Halo to CoD. At any rate, here goes:

I think a big part of the disparity between Halo and CoD is the instant gratification in CoD. There is much less of a skill gap in a game like CoD where it's basically 'he who shoots first wins' most of the time. The kill times are so damn fast that even a bad player can take down a good player a lot of the time if they get the first shot fired. There's traditionally been a great deal more reaction time in Halo, meaning a very skilled player might take a sucker punch from a less skilled player, but they will react and out-gun them a lot of the time. That mechanic is very off putting for a lot of folks, hence why I believe CoD is more popular. My wife for instance cannot ever get a single kill in Halo multiplayer (at least she couldn't in Halo 3 or vanilla Reach) unless she got lucky with a grenade throw or something. But if she picks up the controller in CoD she can usually get a few kills in a match. Sure she still goes way negative, but 3 and 10 is much more gratifying for her than 0 and 15...

I can't say i disagree to be honest.

Not to take away from what you said, but i think the reason why cod gets away with just adding new perks and stuff to every game is in your post. The game offers instant gratification, something halo has never had. To be good at halo, you have to practice, everything matters when facing a skilled opponent, strafing, constant aim, map knowledge ect. Those things matter in cod too, but when you can drag your cursor over a person and get a kill, it's just not the same.

Those things are the main reasons why i believe titanfall has a better chance of stealing some of the online cod crowd over halo. The kill times are similar, easy to get mechs, feels similar to cod. Halo will always be what it is unless they do something drastic. The 4 or 5 shot br, dmr kills, the 1 shot sniper kills ONLY for headshots etc. Halo just requires more skill to play, and after spending time with cod, i'm not sure most will like the game after getting insta kills for years.

 

[Kalamari]

Saleswise, it is very alive and well. I suspect MS to pump a lot of resources into marketing, so it will probably sell just as well, if not better than, Halo 4. Storywise and gameplaywise, I don't see it ever coming close to the original trilogy Hardcore fans are yearning for a more bare bones multiplayer, one thing I don't see happening with the next iteration.

As cheesy as it sounds, perhaps the franchise itself isn't dying, but maybe the spirit that made the original trilogy so great is.

 

[HiredN00bs]

It's dying, and it's Microsoft that's killing it.

 

[Raonak]

Halo definitely isn't the big jauggernaut brand it used to be. CoD mostly supplanted it as the main FPS.

 

[FyreWulff]

It was once the biggest event in gaming.

Now it's just really, really popular.

It's a downgrade, but it's downgraded to a position most other game series would kill to be at.

It's not even really popular at the moment. Their GOTY edition didn't even move the needle on the online population, and DLC required lists often have less than 100 people playing.

Then this happened

You should go look up how many of their big Halo 4 hires have left at this point, as well.

 

[Mass Effect]

"Dying" in the sense that the franchise has long reached its peak and will continue to decline in sales with each entry? I'd say yeah, probably. But if you mean Halo 5 might bomb, then no. It will still be a popular franchise, just not what it used to be.

H4 sold over 8 million copies so no I don't think its dead.

Do you have proof of this? I have seen no evidence that 4 reached anywhere near those numbers. Last I heard was 4 million.

 

[LycanXIII]

Initial sales? Nope.
Lifespan of the MP? Yep.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I don't think Halo is dying. You have an upcoming television show which will suck and a possible upcoming movie which may or may not stink. There's visual encyclopedias that are still being released and a Xbox One and tablet game.

However, there has an absents of side games so there's been a seeming void in between Halo 4 and the upcoming Halo 5. Halo isn't going anywhere unless Halo 5 ends up a real disappointment.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Unless we get ODST 2 the games are already dead to me.
I would give the tv series or movies a shot though.

Stop

Spoiler

killing off all the interesting characters, we were down to just Cortana and they screw that up.

I could not possibly care any less about Master Chief as a character.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

It's not even really popular at the moment. Their GOTY edition didn't even move the needle on the online population, and DLC required lists often have less than 100 people playing.

Then this happened

I seriously don't think you can put Spartan Assault on that list. It started out as a shitty touchscreen phone game. It was never meant to be on par with games like Halo 3/4. Hell it wasn't even intended to be on par with ODST or Halo Wars. It was a PHONE GAME FFS.

I know I sound like a Halo apologist here, but I just seriously think there needs to be a line drawn when comparing metacritic scores between console-only games and games that are ported to consoles after starting out as shitty phone titles like Angry Birds and Spartan Assault, lol.

If you look at the metacritic scores of the core titles (CE, H2, H3, Reach, H4), it's a steady decline but not a nosedive cliff-jump that the inclusion of Spartan Assault would imply.

I can't say i disagree to be honest.

Not to take away from what you said, but i think the reason why cod gets away with just adding new perks and stuff to every game is in your post. The game offers instant gratification, something halo has never had. To be good at halo, you have to practice, everything matters when facing a skilled opponent, strafing, constant aim, map knowledge ect. Those things matter in cod too, but when you can drag your cursor over a person and get a kill, it's just not the same.

Those things are the main reasons why i believe titanfall has a better chance of stealing some of the online cod crowd over halo. The kill times are similar, easy to get mechs, feels similar to cod. Halo will always be what it is unless they do something drastic. The 4 or 5 shot br, dmr kills, the 1 shot sniper kills ONLY for headshots etc. Halo just requires more skill to play, and after spending time with cod, i'm not sure most will like the game after getting insta kills for years.

Oh I know that's kinda what I was getting at. I believe CoD's popularity lies in its instant gratification. The younger generation of core gamers, and to a lesser extent most casual gamers, want games they can pick up and play for 20 minutes to 2 hours and not have to learn a ton of ins and outs of things in order to be rewarded. I think that's a big reason why phone games are so popular, because of that instant gratification/quick fix.

You really don't see many games that stretch beyond that these days. There's aren't many games with steep skill curves, and the ones that have a steep curve are generally 'niche' titles or low-selling ones that cater to a very specific and dedicated fanbase. I wouldn't be at all disappointed if Halo went back to what made it great, but in doing so had to go to lower production values in order to maintain profitability, because then they could cater to that dedicated fan base and stop trying to appeal to the great unwashed masses at large.

I believe I read something in another thread about how 'every game does not have to sell millions of copies to be successful'. It talked about companies shoe-horning multiplayer modes, horde mode, etc into their games and changing the formula from the original title into some grotesque mockery of the series' former glory in order to "appeal to a broader audience" and "widen their scope". This is basically double talk for chasing bigger profits rather than making a really great game based on the formula that made a series great, and its disappointing.

 

[Ghazi]

I think Destiny is just seeming more like a natural evolution of Halo whereas with Halo 4, 343i just made it their goal to make a Halo game to show that they can make one. It'll be interesting to see how Halo 5 is though.

They didn't make a Halo game, they proved they could copy CoD, however.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Yes it is losing steam due to Halo 4 being bad in terms of Halo standards. Destiny wont take over any fps since it does nothing new though and it isnt like Halo so i dont get the comparison.

 

[Tagyhag]

It's not even really popular at the moment. Their GOTY edition didn't even move the needle on the online population, and DLC required lists often have less than 100 people playing.

Then this happened

You should go look up how many of their big Halo 4 hires have left at this point, as well.

Using Spartan Asssault is like saying Final Fantasy is dying because of All the Bravest.

 

[sn00zer]

Dying isnt the right word at all....but there is something to be said when a Halo 5 trailer is released and people just sort of nod their heads instead of jumping out of their seats

EDIT: Would love to se Insomniac game become the next Halo/Gears

 

[LAMBO]

It's dead, but it moves, it is a zombie now. It was the TRIBES killer when it was a PC/Mac game but MS bought it to let console gamers know that FPS games are fun (and it was the single best move a console manufacturer ever made). It was a really impressive large scale online FPS game until MS bought it. It changed, removed the online, never killed TRIBES, but introduced console gamers to FPS with it's auto-aim. They could finally play a fps game with their controller because the game played itself for them. The game then introduced console to online FPS with HALO 2 and now all console games are FPS. Now the story has been driven into the ground, the online gameplay isn't as good as it's Predecessors, and some other studio is making the games because the studio that made HALO what it is knows that HALO is no longer what it was.

What a shame, i really wanted the TRIBES killer, as TRIBES was the best online FPS ever made. The good news is that I can still play today, that game released in 1998 that I played since it's beta, when beta meant beta. When being a beta tester meant they mailed you three retail copies of the game when it released, instead of making you preorder a game to be allowed to beta test.

 

[antitrop]

Yes it is losing steam due to Halo 4 being bad in terms of Halo standards. Destiny wont take over any fps since it does nothing new though and it isnt like Halo so i dont get the comparison.

Have we really seen enough from Destiny to make the claim that it "doesn't do anything new"? Game is still like 8 months out and has anyone actually played it, yet?

 

[Blueblur1]

The very lackluster Halo 4 and its huge multiplayer player population drop off could be considered to be an indicator that the franchise's popularity is waning. As more and more new shooters debut, its going to be harder and harder for the franchise to stay relevant. And seeing that 343i still has some catching up [to Bungie] to do, I really doubt they'll put out anything but another sequel with a flashy campaign and a shallow multiplayer mode. Unless things change at the studio and they're allowed more time to build their games (and with more features), Halo's not going to continue to be the innovating franchise it once was. And that is depressing.

 

[FyreWulff]

I seriously don't think you can put Spartan Assault on that list. It started out as a shitty touchscreen phone game. It was never meant to be on par with games like Halo 3/4. Hell it wasn't even intended to be on par with ODST or Halo Wars. It was a PHONE GAME FFS.

I know I sound like a Halo apologist here, but I just seriously think there needs to be a line drawn when comparing metacritic scores between console-only games and games that are ported to consoles after starting out as shitty phone titles like Angry Birds and Spartan Assault, lol.

Yeah, uh, we need to not be giving Microsoft excuses on game quality just because of the platform it came out on. It was a full featured game, promoted as something worth buying hardware over.

For the record, it came out on Windows 8 and Windows Phone at the same time, so it's technically a PC game first. The Xbox One version even dropped the mobile style controls and is pretty much top-down Halo.

Note that I included Halo Wars in that graph as well. It was a spinoff in a completely different genre and given a low budget. Still managed to be a great game.

 

[Skeff]

It's definitely a franchise in mindshare/relevance decline, but I don't think it's anywhere near damaged enough to the point that releasing a notably high quality game wouldn't shoot it way back up.

I think the key is to not play it super safe and evolve the franchise in a way that's both new and resonates with people instead of just in a way that makes it look more like other popular games even if those ideas don't mesh naturally with what Halo is.

I agree with this and considering that they have the TV series in the works, a game due out this year and there is apparently a feature length movie in the works, I think it's a vitally important tie for the franchise and the quality of these 3 will be critical to the Halo franchise regaining it's mindshare or becoming a tired franchise people aren't really into anymore.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Halo 4 grossed US$220 million on its launch day and $300 million in its opening week. Yep, dead as a doornail.

For perspective, Halo 3 was $170 million on launch day.

It was good while it lasted....

It grossed that much because people didn't know it was going to suck. notice the sales dropped tremendously afterwards and only 10k play i 1 year layer when even Reach had 100-200k people still playing 1 year later.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

Do people remember the hype and anticipation for Halo 3? That was a hell of a reason to own a 360.

Halo 3s hype felt as big as MGS4s. Maybe bigger. The idea of Halo 5 isn't even remotely exciting to me right now.

 

[Ol No Bones]

As a huge fan of the Halo games Halo 4 left a really bad taste in my mouth (figuratively speaking). Mostly because I miss a proper ranking system and arena shooter multiplayer. Halo was different than all the modern shooter stuff yet it went in the COD direction no doubt. I haven't liked the story in a halo game since Halo CE so that didn't matter as much. I miss the competitiveness of older halo games. Destiny doesn't look that promising to me but I will certainly wait for impressions.

 

[Toki767]

Do people remember the hype and anticipation for Halo 3? That was a hell of a reason to own a 360.

Halo 3s hype felt as big as MGS4s. Maybe bigger. The idea of Halo 5 isn't even remotely exciting to me right now.

Man, the Halo 3 hype was an event in itself it seemed. I still remember it. The whole "Finish the Fight" campaign was great.

Halo 4 just kind of came out.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

Yeah, uh, we need to not be giving Microsoft excuses on game quality just because of the platform it came out on. It was a full featured game, promoted as something worth buying hardware over.

For the record, it came out on Windows 8 and Windows Phone at the same time, so it's technically a PC game first. The Xbox One version even dropped the mobile style controls and is pretty much top-down Halo.

Note that I included Halo Wars in that graph as well. It was a spinoff in a completely different genre and given a low budget. Still managed to be a great game.

Please show me where they promoted Halo: SA as a reason to buy an Xbox One over. I don't recall seeing that.

And for the record if you check my post history you'll see that I've been EXTREMELY cynical about MS and the XB1 from the get-go. In fact probably the only reason I currently have one is because they gave it to me for free. So I'm not being an apologist for them or for the Halo series. I'm just saying that trying to compare metacritic scores of an a la carte phone game/app game like SA to core games like Halo 3/4 is very disingenuous.

Using Spartan Asssault is like saying Final Fantasy is dying because of All the Bravest.

What he said... although I do think Final Fantasy has been on the decline for a long, long time. ;p

 

[Jarnet87]

I wish.

 

[Nirolak]

Great examples, actually. I don't think Halo is "dying", but I would agree that it's on the steep decline.

I really do think a lot of Halo/Bungie fans will be all over Destiny, but there's no rule saying you can't buy both games...

Right, I think that's pretty much the question every FPS game that wants to grow has to ask.

"The biggest FPS games on the market are [remove the franchise you work on if applicable] Call of Duty, Battlefield, Borderlands, Far Cry, and Halo, with Destiny and TitanFall launching in with major marketing support. Most of these are either annual or come out every two years. Why is my game still relevant in this market, and if it's not, what do I need to do to make it so? It's very unlikely that just stealing some ideas from my competitors will fix things as they have first mover advantage and aren't small enough that I can take their ideas while they have visibility."

Inherently as the newest entrants, Destiny and TitanFall have the newest seeming ideas. That said, the other series are all well capitalized, and with the exception of Halo, four of them managed to get massive sales increases last generation by mixing up the formula (or in Borderlands' case, being a new IP that was basically FPS Diablo).

 

[Coreda]

Found it.

Stole the OP post to help the lazies lol.

A great read, thanks for posting.

 

[FyreWulff]

Please show me where they promoted Halo: SA as a reason to buy an Xbox One over. I don't recall seeing that.

The fact that they're holding back the 360 version to try and entice people to buy a a 500$ console instead to play it.

FYI, Spartan Assault 360 had a release date of "January 2014".. we're a week to go and still no news on when the 360 version will be available.

 

[slapnuts]

I think Halo 5 is going to be HUGE....I also really liked Halo 4 single player a lot for what ever reason...I know other past Halo's were better in overall story,etc but i really enjoyed Halo 4's atmosphere and style ..oh and those visuals ..man Halo 4 was sexy as hell!

I just have a feeling Halo 5 will be HUGE if they can iron out the multiplayer, story,etc ...we alrready know this studio has mad graphic talent.

Oh by the way...I do think Halo franchise has lost some fans but after 4 or 5 games from the shooter genre...of course there are going to be some loss of interest but most of the hardcore fan base is there . We are not talking about Nintendo franchises here...look at Uncharted, COD, AC,etc ...it's hard to keep things interesting after so many games when it comes to shooters it seems..I could be wrong of course...i keep my opinions open and i am all ears to other opinions but this is just how i personally feel. The halo franchise as a whole is still worthy of continuing on but there is no doubt its suffering from some fatigue.

EDIT. One other reason why Halo 5 i feel will be HUGE is because of the new hardware to help with expanding gameplay elements and visuals

 

[Sobriquet]

It was a full featured game, promoted as something worth buying hardware over.

wat

 

[zainetor]

Do people remember the hype and anticipation for Halo 3? That was a hell of a reason to own a 360.

Halo 3s hype felt as big as MGS4s. Maybe bigger. The idea of Halo 5 isn't even remotely exciting to me right now.

it's the same for a lot of big franchises right now.

Mgs5 hype is nowhere near 4 level's
ghosts hype was nonexistent compared to mw2 prerelease hype.

 

[antitrop]

it's the same for a lot of big franchises right now.

Mgs5 hype is nowhere near 4 level's
ghosts hype was nonexistent compared to mw2 prerelease hype.

Ghosts had anti-hype, right from the boring reveal where everyone just made fun of the dog. Still sold like crazy, but I think we'll see a sharp decline with CoD 2014. Black Ops II was good, so people went ahead with Ghosts in good faith, only to be burned.

 

[killer rin]

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.

Well, to be fair. This is Bungie's first non-Halo game in a long time, hence the extra hype in that regard. Secondly, we know wayyyy more about Destiny than Halo at this point in time. What is there to talk about when it comes to Halo right now other than we know that an unnamed game is coming out maybe sometime this year and that we have a television show which we know even less about maybe coming out next year.

Once E3 comes around and 343i gets to talking about Halo, then you will see people begin talking about the next Halo.

It's certainly a far less flexible IP compared to Call of Duty.

You're pretty much locked into an FPS with aliens. Their non-FPS off-shoots have landed with a flat thud.

Call of Duty has a LOT of freedom (WW2, modern, future, Zombies, space, dinosaurs, whatever), although Activision has yet to release any of these non-FPS CoD games they've supposedly have been working on for years.

Not exactly, You can have a game about fighting the Human Insurrection. Its in the canon.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

The fact that they're holding back the 360 version to try and entice people to buy a a 500$ console instead to play it.

FYI, Spartan Assault 360 had a release date of "January 2014".. we're a week to go and still no news on when the 360 version will be available.

Not having released it on the 360 yet and "promoted as something worth buying hardware over" are two entirely different things.

Nobody is buying an XB1 to play SA. They're buying it to play DR3, Ryse, Forza, BF4, CoD, Fifa, etc. Like I said, show me an actual promotion, promotional material, etc that PROMOTES Halo:SA as a reason to buy an XB1, becase I seriously don't think such a thing exists.

It is far more likely that they prioritized porting it to the XB1 first because they have more incentive to keep games pumping out on that system to avoid dry spells. Once that work was complete, they began porting it to the 360 (hence the delay). They probably had the same team working on both ports, and they couldn't finish both at the same time, so they prioritized the XB1 version. Makes complete sense to me.

 

[levyjl1988]

It still can come around this gen. But then again this generation needs dinosaurs and vampire games.

 

[Ol No Bones]

People are just having sequel fatigue these days.

 

[RdN]

You're at least 4 years late to the party.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Nope, not even close. I thought Halo 4 was the best game in the entire franchise. I only play campaign.

I think it had the best combination of weapons (I've never found myself enjoying a set of weapons more than I did switching between the various arsenal of weapons, along with some of my favorites, the promethean light rifle, scattershot, and the incineration cannon), the most fun overall enemies to fight (The promethean knights with their watchers genuinely bring something new and fresh feeling to halo sandbox combat, and I enjoyed it a lot), the gameplay has never felt better, hit detection is finally where I wanted it to be, the sound design is awesome (armor, weapons have real pop to them), the story and character development I felt was the best I've seen from the series. I feel Halo 4, as far as pacing is concerned, is the best paced Halo campaign of them all. The chief has never looked more badass, but they also managed to dig deeper into his character and what made him human without ruining his character. In that sense it really felt more like the nylund books than any of the other games that came before it. It's also the Halo title that finally delivered on the promise that was made with Cortana's character in the build up to Halo 3. The art was also the best I've personally ever seen from the series, and, most important of all since the game came to the 360, I actually found the environments in Halo 4 a lot more impressively designed and believable, in the sense that it was easy to imagine them serving a real, functional purpose, and not just feeling like a random playtest area.

The production values and presentation were just fantastic. Halo has always been a good franchise. No, a great franchise, but I really did feel even after the much improved Halo Reach, which was quite a step up over Halo 3 I thought in a number of ways, that Halo as a franchise was slowly losing its appeal, and just didn't feel like it was getting enough of blockbuster treatment you would expect of Microsoft's biggest franchise. I think Halo, even while not straying too drastically from the tried and true formula, brought some much needed life back to the franchise, so, really, I've never anticipated any Halo game more than I'm now anticipating the followup to Halo 4, which I hope is as good as Halo 4 was. Everybody is putting out this impression that it's unanimous that 343i somehow screwed up, and I can't really say for the MP since I'm not an MP guy, but they sure as hell delivered one incredible campaign experience. 343i, in my opinion, honestly proved that they have what it takes to handle the Halo franchise with Halo 4.

No more Corrinne and no more Kenneth Scott as art director, however, does have me more than a little bit nervous, but I hope it doesn't impact the game too much. Either way, I couldn't disagree more with the hate on Halo 4. It was a fantastic fucking game.

I rank the halo titles as follows.

Halo 4
Halo CE
Halo 2
Halo Reach
Halo 3

Never bought ODST. Felt it was a quick cash in release, and I still to this day can't bring myself to support it.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

Not dead and I'll prob keep buying them but I haven't really enjoyed the series since Halo 3 and that was 6 years ago. Halo 4 was such a disappointment.

 

[Twilight Gap]

The Halo games are in a state of limbo after the fanbase has grown tired of the compounding mediocrity of each successive installment. It wasn't as bad a problem in the original trilogy as it has been with the games afterwards, which is due in part to the advent of CoD 4. In an attempt to capitalize on its success with similar features, Halo has effectively dug its own grave and alienated its core fanbase. Communities have died and every other fan is either apathetic or cautiously waiting to see what happens next.

As for Halo as a whole, the books continue to be written, new merchandise continues to be stocked, and a TV series is in the works. The IP is going to be around for quite a while and it's still going to make money on name alone through the end of this generation. Whether the games can stand the test of time as far as quality goes is entirely dependent on how 343 responds to over a decade's worth of Halo feedback. Will they revitalize the core gameplay and introduce unique features to compliment and evolve Halo, or will they continue down the path of "mainstream accessibility" and settle for hybrid Halo?

Personally, I don't think Halo can afford to release another mediocre game. With new shooters being introduced this year (both new IPs from Halo's rival studio and former studio), Halo now more than ever will need to be its own thing. Part of the reason the games got so big was because it used to innovate within the genre. I'd rather see 343 play Halo 5 safe and then hit it out of the park with 6, but as long as they can steer the games back on track, I think Halo will be just fine. The game doesn't need to be top dog anymore; it'll have to compete with both the current generation of shooter players and the brand new one on the way. So long as it stays loyal to its core fans (the ones who attend tournaments and log thousands of games year after year), the game will maintain enough relevancy.

 

[Killer]

It's dead, Jim.

 

[Ol No Bones]

Nope, not even close. I thought Halo 4 was the best game in the entire franchise. I only play campaign.

I think it had the best combination of weapons (I've never found myself enjoying a set of weapons more than I did switching between the various arsenal of weapons, along with some of my favorites, the promethean light rifle, scattershot, and the incineration cannon), the most fun overall enemies to fight (The promethean knights with their watchers genuinely bring something new and fresh feeling to halo sandbox combat, and I enjoyed it a lot), the gameplay has never felt better, hit detection is finally where I wanted it to be, the sound design is awesome (armor, weapons have real pop to them), the story and character development I felt was the best I've seen from the series. I feel Halo 4, as far as pacing is concerned, is the best paced Halo campaign of them all. The chief has never looked more badass, but they also managed to dig deeper into his character and what made him human without ruining his character. In that sense it really felt more like the nylund books than any of the other games that came before it. It's also the Halo title that finally delivered on the promise that was made with Cortana's character in the build up to Halo 3. The art was also the best I've personally ever seen from the series, and, most important of all since the game came to the 360, I actually found the environments in Halo 4 a lot more impressively designed and believable, in the sense that it was easy to imagine them serving a real, functional purpose, and not just feeling like a random playtest area.

The production values and presentation were just fantastic. Halo has always been a good franchise. No, a great franchise, but I really did feel even after the much improved Halo Reach, which was quite a step up over Halo 3 I thought in a number of ways, that Halo as a franchise was slowly losing its appeal, and just didn't feel like it was getting enough of blockbuster treatment you would expect of Microsoft's biggest franchise. I think Halo, even while not straying too drastically from the tried and true formula, brought some much needed life back to the franchise, so, really, I've never anticipated any Halo game more than I'm now anticipating the followup to Halo 4, which I hope is as good as Halo 4 was. Everybody is putting out this impression that it's unanimous that 343i somehow screwed up, and I can't really say for the MP since I'm not an MP guy, but they sure as hell delivered one incredible campaign experience. 343i, in my opinion, honestly proved that they have what it takes to handle the Halo franchise with Halo 4.

No more Corrinne and no more Kenneth Scott as art director, however, does have me more than a little bit nervous, but I hope it doesn't impact the game too much. Either way, I couldn't disagree more with the hate on Halo 4. It was a fantastic fucking game.

Most Halo fans completely disagree with you. I don't think halo 4 deserves hate especially in the campaign but I sure as hell hope the devs focus on other halo games like CE and reach for the campaign and CE,2 and 3 for multiplayer. Halo 4 was not a great start.

 

[lifeexpectancy]

Well, to be fair. This is Bungie's first non-Halo game in a long time, hence the extra hype in that regard. Secondly, we know wayyyy more about Destiny than Halo at this point in time. What is there to talk about when it comes to Halo right now other than we know that an unnamed game is coming out maybe sometime this year and that we have a television show which we know even less about maybe coming out next year.

Once E3 comes around and 343i gets to talking about Halo, then you will see people begin talking about the next Halo.

I honestly think they'd be better off releasing Halo 5 in 2015, not alongside Destiny this year, since like someone else said Destiny might pull away some fans who might have otherwise wanted a next-gen Halo. That way they wouldn't be competing with Destiny and perhaps Titanfall... not to mention the almost guaranteed next installment of CoD sometime this fall.

 

[Ol No Bones]

I honestly think they'd be better off releasing Halo 5 in 2015, not alongside Destiny this year, since like someone else said Destiny might pull away some fans who might have otherwise wanted a next-gen Halo. That way they wouldn't be competing with Destiny and perhaps Titanfall... not to mention the almost guaranteed next installment of CoD sometime this fall.

I don't think halo is in much competition with destiny as it is with the next COD and BF games. Destiny seems very different than a competitive shooter.