Not everyone expected that the Halo series would live on into the 2020s, especially when in 2013, Bungie released Halo Reach, which was to be its final Halo game. Since then, 343 Studios has produced a number of Halo games that have had mixed reception. While fans have praised the visuals and some of the new gameplay concepts from the much-loved franchise, many have been displeased with the overall direction that the series has gone in.
While both Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite performed well in sales and user base, reaction was quite mixed. Even Halo 4 seemed to have a more unanimous consensus, and a fairly positive one at that. While Halo 5 and Infinite both tried to move the series forward in different ways and had interesting ideas, neither game truly felt good enough, getting various things right and wrong. Even with future updates for Halo Infinite in the pipeline, as well as new titles which could see a new Halo companion character added, it can be argued that a lot of damage has been done to the franchise already.
Storyline: How Is Halo's Story Moving Forward?
Storyline is a big aspect of the Halo franchise. While the combat mechanics and visuals were impressive for its time when Halo: Combat Evolved released, what captivated fans the most was the rich and immersive storyline. With the player tasked with preventing a technological device from wiping out all life in the universe, the collection of high-stakes, well-paced missions were bingeable and all added up to an impressive overall story. Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo Reach repeated this, but since Bungie's exit, the storyline has been one of the most controversial aspects to the fan base. When it comes to ranking the Halo stories, 343's titles always seem to fall lower.
Halo 4's storyline had the tall order of introducing a new villain, reintroducing the Master Chief, and generally moving the franchise on from the Bungie saga. The consensus was that the game achieved this, with the return of a couple Forerunners and a new universe-threatening plot established. It came as a surprise, then, that when Halo 5: Guardians released, it essentially threw all the previous game's world building away. Instead, it focused on a plot about Cortana's descent into madness and the feud between Master Chief and UNSC John Locke. Halo Infinite released and again threw away everything from the previous game, instead building up the Banished, a group of ex-Covenant Brutes and Grunts who refuse to abide the treaty with the UNSC. It also features a Cortana clone, rendering much of Halo 5: Guardians pointless from a narrative standpoint.
The storyline throughout Halo's last three games has flipped around too much and been disconnected from each other. This led to a more fragmented feel to the trilogy compared to the original, ans while Halo Infinite had a compact story that felt familiar but progressive, it was fighting a losing battle the minute it brushed over Halo 5: Guardian's conclusion off-screen. Both Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite fell short in the storyline department and ultimately got it wrong. It's a shame to see, especially considering how earlier Halo titles had some of the most iconic story campaigns in gaming.
Mechanics: Is Halo Innovative Enough?
Halo has always been praised for its solid FPS mechanics. While a lot of fans enjoy the familiar mechanics from the original Halo games, one positive to come out of 343's era of the franchise is how it has continually experimented with new mechanics while polishing and refining old ones. The armor abilities in Halo Reach, which was introduced by Bungie, proved to be quite popular. They made the game's pacing a little quicker and more akin to the super-popular Call of Duty series. Halo 5: Guardians continued the armor abilities trend to great effect. Even though the Halo games became harder in co-op mode, many groups of friends have spent their youth grinding the Halo campaigns together; the impressive mechanics are a big reason behind that.
While a lot of fans were unhappy with Halo 5's campaign, the multiplayer was praised for its faster gameplay and versatility in mechanics. The polished mechanics allowed Halo 5 to lead a successful couple years in eSports, with many tournaments on the global stage. Halo Infinite simplified the mechanics again, taking away some armor abilities and dodge/roll mechanics in the previous game. Instead, it has the familiar Halo mechanics, a sprint ability, and a fun grappling hook mechanic. Both Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite got the mechanics of the series right.
Visuals: Did Guardians And Infinite Look Pretty Enough?
Though the mechanics, characters, and storylines are the main drivers behind the franchise's popularity, Halo fans also care about the visuals of each game. This makes perffect sense since Halo offers the opportunity for many beautiful sights due to its sci-fi setting, which Bungie took onboard throughout all of its Halo titles. Since the 343 era, game design technology and graphics have only improved, and so too have the visuals in the series. And it wasn't as if the earlier titles weren't impressive visually, with Halo's debut title being an Xbox game with graphics that have aged the best.
Halo's visuals have been much crisper and built out since Halo 4, with both Guardians and Infinite having stunning backdrops and ultra-realistic looking characters. Cutscenes in particular show off the impressive graphics which helps to immerse the player more. The more lifelike the characters look, the more drawn to them the player is, and both games succeed on this front.
Characterization: How Good Are The Characters?
Halo's characters have always been popular. While there could always have been more expansion/development for characters, they were generally distinct and fleshed out. Halo 4 introduced a number of great characters, particularly the Didact and Thomas Laskey. Since Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite both moved the storyline on to different areas, they focused on different characters with little overlap between them.
The characterization has suffered as a result, with characters feeling much less fleshed-out and developed than they did in the early games from the series. The treatment of Cortana, who was once tied to one of the smartest Xbox stories, has been dross and convoluted, ruining one of the most iconic characters from the franchise for many. Ultimately, though the recent games have been innovative from a gameplay perspective and visually stunning, the stories they tell have been a noticeable step in the wrong direction.
Halo Infinite is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox One Series X/S.