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[Banjo64]

That 87 is a great score. Better then halo 5 and on par with halo 4.

Ok, it was just that initially you said it scored better than all of their previous efforts.

Infinite scored better then all there halo games

 

[Sosokrates]

Ok, it was just that initially you said it scored better than all of their previous efforts.

I thought it did. But even it didn't at least they improved upon halo 5.

 

[Apocryphon]

*snip*

And while some people might think it's cool thing to do to deny that Halo 4 is literally one of the best games ever made, to hardcore Halo fans, especially fans of the novels like myself, it's quite easily one of the strongest games in the entire franchise. A beginning to end beast of a game.

You need to play more games if you think Halo 4, which has a Metacritic user score of 7.1.. the 2nd lowest of all the Halo games after Guardians.. is literally one of the best games ever made.

And I'm the troll? GTFO

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

You're demonstrating an incredible degree of obliviousness about the game development process. You think simply because Halo 5 launched in 2015 that it means 343i were somehow in full scale production for Halo Infinite the entire 5 years leading up to 2020? First of all 5 years before the pandemic makes no sense. The 5th year is 2020, which is when the pandemic hit early in the year around March/April. 4 years of work prior to the year 2020, but zero evidence that all 4 were full scale Halo Infinite production. I'm certain each of those years involved heavy planning, proto-typing and pre-production work, true, but none of that implies full scale production yet.

But to put your bizarre pandemic and lockdown comments into perspective, I'll just use Rocksteady as an example, another studio whose last major game, Arkham Knight, was launched in 2015, just like Halo 5. Rocksteady's next big game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, isn't releasing till 2023. That's an even longer period of time than it took 343i to make Halo Infinite, which needs to also include a fully dedicated multiplayer component, that we now know is a free to play live service title. Suicide Squad new IP? Sure, new kind of gameplay compared to their past games, but Rocksteady was already intimately familiar with open world games. Halo Infinite's open world structure was a new challenge for 343i, and it similarly included vastly more new gameplay features than what had ever been in a past Halo.

Not only was 343i building a new game engine, the slipspace engine, they weren't just making the same old Halo Campaign like in years past. They were building a spiritual reboot to the Halo franchise, not too different from the way Sony Santa Monica Studio needed a whole 5 years to successfully reboot God of War and release it in 2018 (no pandemic and with no need for a full multiplayer, live service component).

So how exactly is 343i getting shit for doing all of this in just 6 years where the 5th year was 2020 when most of the country and world was locked down by a global pandemic for like 9 months out the year, forcing many to adjust to work at home situations, which literally meant many just stopped working altogether for months?

1 - rebooting Halo on a new engine
2 - across 4 different consoles (5 if you consider the slight differences between the original Xbox One and Xbox One S)
3 - simultaneously launching for PC at the exact same time as the console launch (a first for the Halo franchise)
4 - while having to also launch a dedicated live service multiplayer, which also must cater to casuals as well as a dedicated pro gaming scene.
5 - while also supporting creative assembly on the development and release of Halo Wars 2 in 2017.. (yes, really) the game that's pretty much the intro/backstory for the main antagonist and enemy faction you fight in Halo Infinite.
6 - while also simultaneously still supporting Halo: The Master Chief Collection with 8 seasons of amazing content and updates beginning Dec 2019 and ending Oct, 2021. Where only one season was longer than 2-4 months.
7 - they also did something else Dec of 2019 - they launched Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC.

If anything, looking at this list, 343i deserves the utmost fucking respect. So the first gameplay reveal of Infinite wasn't universally well received, though the potential was clear. Big deal. And to meet their new deadline after the delay they had to focus on the highest priorities to launch the best possible game day one, and they succeeded. Who cares if they had to delay specific features until they were ready and slow down a bit to take their time working on getting up to speed with new content? In the interim they issued much needed updates and fixes to their underlying game's foundation, which they have done without fail every single month since Halo Infinite's release with the exception of May. Care to take a look at all the other games that needed to be delayed? And very few had the kind of pressure and responsibility Halo Infinite had to Xbox Series X|S launch and to push Game Pass subs, both of which Halo Infinite helped with tremendously.

I see this studio as far less a case of bad studio management (though they have made mistakes, who hasn't), and more of an example of Matt Booty and Phil not adequately checking in properly on their most famous and most successful first party videogame franchise to ensure it was where it needed to be BEFORE that first gameplay reveal. The delay should have been announced well before that point. 343i was put in a bad position, and that is more to do with Xbox leadership as a whole. 343i has been busting their ass impressively across a multitude of game related responsibilities since 2015.

Games are built more often nowadays utilizing multiple studios and development partners. Even a current Sony First Party studio that assisted with God of War 2018 and now God of War: Ragnarok were also heavily involved in the development of Halo Infinite, Valkyrie Entertainment. https://www.vg247.com/sony-acquires-valkyrie-entertainment Sony acquired the studio last year. Even a minor disruption at different stages along the development chain, much less a global work disruption such as a damn pandemic right in the middle of full production involving multiple teams and partners (who often are also attending to separate contracts for different games), are not so simply snapped back into place in a fashion that can keep specific games - or specific features for games - on schedule for their originally expected launch.

I don't claim to be some expert on game development either, but I work in a field where we are heavily involved in supporting lots of game development studios as just one part of our many responsibilities, so that at least gives me a better respect for what the overall process entails and helps me know enough to realize you just have no clue at all.

God of War was announced 2016 and launched 2018 - 2 years later - studio's prior game released 2013.
Halo Infinite was announced 2018 and launched 2021 - 3 years later - studio's prior game released 2015, co-developed Halo Wars 2 2017, supported Halo: MCC with 8 seasons of content beginning Dec 2019 while launching Halo MCC on PC
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League announced 2020 - planned release in 2023.

When you take a step back it becomes crystal clear all the negativity over 343i is exaggerated bs. There simply aren't many studios out there that have had to wear as many hats as 343i has while assisting with development of another major release like Halo Wars 2, while also still supporting on a rapid turn around seasonal basis Halo MCC across both PC and Xbox consoles, in addition to launching MCC on PC while at the same time building a rebooted Halo campaign with an ambitious multiplayer right alongside it on a brand new game engine.

When you factor in how ambitious forge is looking to be then it becomes even more dumb to throw dirt on 343i as some average studio. They're one of the best studios in the business judging them by their production results, the critical reception of their games, how complex their games often are, their demonstrated versatility, and the fact they didn't take the easy way out, but just pushed ambition even further.


TLDR VERSION: 343i gave us Halo Infinite 6 years after Halo 5 while fully developing and supporting Halo MCC still at the height of production (8 seasons), launching MCC on PC, helping creative assembly co-develop Halo Wars 2. Other top tier studios have eerily similar production time for their big projects, but without all the moving pieces that 343i has to cater to such as a professional gaming scene, dedicated multiplayer that caters to both casual and pro, a live service game etc. 343i didn't make the same Halo, they rebooted Halo adding tons of new gameplay and features.

Nothing but nonsense. I did read the whole thing btw, and you're entire post hinges around something you keep denying that's a fact.

The game was already on course to be gold before the pandemic started and you refuse to acknowledge this, they gave updates periodically on the games progress and outside of some news about some workers working remotely iirc, during the first serious months of the pandemic, they came in May and june implying that Halo is ready to be launched along side the Series X|S, in fact, there was talk about them maybe going full next gen because of the pandemic, and they said the Xbox One version was still coming out at the time as it was already in late stage. They then reaffirmed twice, and a third time in July near and iirc, in the show case (so 4) that the game was gearing up for it's release in time for the holidays, and that 2020 showcase is what 343i though was a good job, and what they were going to put out in November.

The pandemic has nothing to do with the fact that before it even started they already had over, OVER 5 years of development done, and they were ready despite the pandemic, and the only reason why their was a year delays, is because of backlash toward the gameplay and graphics of what was shown, which was followed by denial of a delay, 343i being on defense, then stopping, followed by a delay announcement with more than one excuse iirc, and then a change of messaging about how they wanted something to be "proud of" and that got them an EXTRA year, when the pandemic severity was already dying down and then in 2021, gone in most areas, making it more than 6 years in development.

Stop acting like they never needed more time, and that the pandemic somehow made them lose 90% of progress that was already locked in like magic, and then ignore they had an extra year. it's nonsense, complete nonsense.

You also have continuously shown you don't get what happened with MCC, which was being dealt with by if not mistaken 5 studios not just 343, They led with incompetence which caused the game taking years to fix, but you're going hyperbolic on how many resources they were using and how much that impacted Infinite which was far along and expected to be launched in 2020 until the backlash at the show.

Blaming Matt Booty and Phil for not checking in on 343i is also a baffling statement, check in on what exactly? Again, the game that was shown before the backlash was what 343i though was good to showcase, and what would be released in 2020. They were disconnected from the fans so to them it seemed fine, so until the anger poured in 343i was reporting in progress, and what reason would Phil or Matt have to doubt the progress especially when they were on schedule for a 2020 release at the July showing? I'm sure Phil and Matt were just as confused about the showcase as gamers were which is why once 343i stopped defending the showcase (likely by forced recommendation by Phil or Matt) there were changes at 343i pretty much immediately to get the game fixed up, which eventually led to Staten coming in and other changes.

Also, Halo Infinite didn't launch with the Series X|S so how could it have helped with it's launch? Did 343i reverse time? You're post is just all over the place. There's also no proof it did that much for Gamepass subs, but there is some evidence Forza likely did.

The hype was so muted that we didn't even get sales number for the game like Halo 5, which at least did over 5 million in 2 or 3 months. Instead we got a statement that halo Infinite was the biggest launch in the series history, and then when confronted, their criteria for that was revealed to be that 20 million people played it at a peak of a certain short time period, which means nothing because the MP was free to play, and it was not guarantee when looked under scrutiny all those were unique.

Meanwhile, the game with more content coming in, with more excitement, better ratings, mindshare, and that came out near the same time as Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, got 15 million real users in 2 months. Which grew more and more to the point it's getting close to 30, and the player retention is 100x greater and the player base isn't in horrendous decline.

Halo, a major franchise that was known for it's amazing SP and additive MP campaigns, is losing to a racing game that wasn't. outside graphics, that radically different than the previous entry. I mean damn.

 

[Apocryphon]

I don't understand 343 apologists..

Like.. we know you adore Halo.. lots of us do.. but surely you would have been happier with better Halo games than they've given us? Do any of you really think 343's games are more enjoyable than the Bungie developed games?

 

[Deputy Moonman]

You need to play more games if you think Halo 4, which has a Metacritic user score of 7.1.. the 2nd lowest of all the Halo games after Guardians.. is literally one of the best games ever made.

And I'm the troll? GTFO

Believe it or not, a lot of people really like Halo 4. It's not my favorite Halo but I liked it far better than Halo Reach and more than Halo 3. The campaign is definitely up there for me. The graphics are underrated and 4 is one of the better looking games on the 360. I loved the foundation of Halo 4. The graphics, mechanics, fluid game-play, movement, sand box feel, and the weapons were responsive and accurate. What I didn't like was the bloat put into the game. 343 brought all the garbage abilities from Reach and put them into Halo 4. They put in tactical packages and support upgrades, which I don't think improved the game one bit. They added promethean vision which is asinine and cheap in a Halo game. It's a bunch of small additions which marred an otherwise great game. There's random ordnance which gave players getting off to a hot start an even bigger advantage. But the multiplayer maps were by and large pretty good, and it really did just feel super smooth to play.

 

[Apocryphon]

Believe it or not, a lot of people really like Halo 4. It's not my favorite Halo but I liked it far better than Halo Reach and more than Halo 3. The campaign is definitely up there for me. The graphics are underrated and 4 is one of the better looking games on the 360. I loved the foundation of Halo 4. The graphics, mechanics, fluid game-play, movement, sand box feel, and the weapons were responsive and accurate. What I didn't like was the bloat put into the game. 343 brought all the garbage abilities from Reach and put them into Halo 4. They put in tactical packages and support upgrades, which I don't think improved the game one bit. They added promethean vision which is asinine and cheap in a Halo game. It's a bunch of small additions which marred an otherwise great game. There's random ordnance which gave players getting off to a hot start an even bigger advantage. But the multiplayer maps were by and large pretty good, and it really did just feel super smooth to play.

There is nothing wrong with 343's games from a technical sense outside of the issues with MCC. The issues people have with them are mainly with the campaign design and major detractions in the multiplayer. Now I don't hate the multiplayer in any of their games. I think Infinites is mechanically excellent and 5's provided a really strong foundation for Infinite to build on. The issue I have with their games is the approach to storytelling, the utterly boring campaigns and the handling of Prometheans in general. Fighting Promethean enemies was dull and uninspired. The Promethean weapons were dull and some of the environments were legitimately awful. Guardians was dull throughout and the new human characters they introduced ended up being forgetful and inconsequential. I don't understand how somebody could like 343s games over Halo 3. Reach? Yeah maybe, though I like it for what it is, but Halo 3? Nah. The first 3 games are incredible.

 

[Ozzie666]

I just keeping thinking back to the debut of Halo Infinite. You had a terrible trailer and demonstration. The real problem is, how did Microsoft allow that game to be shown at all and potentially release the same year before the delay. It's like they didn't know the true poor state of the game, never saw it, trusted 343 entirely or didn't care. I'm not sure which is worse. Same thing happened with FFXIV online 1.0. The game was developed in a vacuum and Square management just trusted it was fine - spoiler, it wasn't.

Let's not discuss the blind Halo fans who thought the debut was amazing until reality set in a few hours later. It's clear there is some disconnect between upper management and the studios, not just at Microsoft. Microsoft might be the real problem (Crackdown 3). Their oversight seems too hands off? or they have no idea about _good_ games.

 

[Halo is Back]

343i has developed some of the best Halo games in the entire franchise. That's not a wild claim, but a simple fact. Call it just my view, don't really care who agrees, but I'm a big Halo fan that knows this universe and understands when a game is doing both the universe and its characters justice.

Maybe you should learn what the word fact means.

 

[II_JumPeR_I]

Nothing but nonsense. I did read the whole thing btw, and you're entire post hinges around something you keep denying that's a fact.

The game was already on course to be gold before the pandemic started and you refuse to acknowledge this, they gave updates periodically on the games progress and outside of some news about some workers working remotely iirc, during the first serious months of the pandemic, they came in May and june implying that Halo is ready to be launched along side the Series X|S, in fact, there was talk about them maybe going full next gen because of the pandemic, and they said the Xbox One version was still coming out at the time as it was already in late stage. They then reaffirmed twice, and a third time in July near and iirc, in the show case (so 4) that the game was gearing up for it's release in time for the holidays, and that 2020 showcase is what 343i though was a good job, and what they were going to put out in November.

The pandemic has nothing to do with the fact that before it even started they already had over, OVER 5 years of development done, and they were ready despite the pandemic, and the only reason why their was a year delays, is because of backlash toward the gameplay and graphics of what was shown, which was followed by denial of a delay, 343i being on defense, then stopping, followed by a delay announcement with more than one excuse iirc, and then a change of messaging about how they wanted something to be "proud of" and that got them an EXTRA year, when the pandemic severity was already dying down and then in 2021, gone in most areas, making it more than 6 years in development.

Stop acting like they never needed more time, and that the pandemic somehow made them lose 90% of progress that was already locked in like magic, and then ignore they had an extra year. it's nonsense, complete nonsense.

You also have continuously shown you don't get what happened with MCC, which was being dealt with by if not mistaken 5 studios not just 343, They led with incompetence which caused the game taking years to fix, but you're going hyperbolic on how many resources they were using and how much that impacted Infinite which was far along and expected to be launched in 2020 until the backlash at the show.

Blaming Matt Booty and Phil for not checking in on 343i is also a baffling statement, check in on what exactly? Again, the game that was shown before the backlash was what 343i though was good to showcase, and what would be released in 2020. They were disconnected from the fans so to them it seemed fine, so until the anger poured in 343i was reporting in progress, and what reason would Phil or Matt have to doubt the progress especially when they were on schedule for a 2020 release at the July showing? I'm sure Phil and Matt were just as confused about the showcase as gamers were which is why once 343i stopped defending the showcase (likely by forced recommendation by Phil or Matt) there were changes at 343i pretty much immediately to get the game fixed up, which eventually led to Staten coming in and other changes.

Also, Halo Infinite didn't launch with the Series X|S so how could it have helped with it's launch? Did 343i reverse time? You're post is just all over the place. There's also no proof it did that much for Gamepass subs, but there is some evidence Forza likely did.

The hype was so muted that we didn't even get sales number for the game like Halo 5, which at least did over 5 million in 2 or 3 months. Instead we got a statement that halo Infinite was the biggest launch in the series history, and then when confronted, their criteria for that was revealed to be that 20 million people played it at a peak of a certain short time period, which means nothing because the MP was free to play, and it was not guarantee when looked under scrutiny all those were unique.

Meanwhile, the game with more content coming in, with more excitement, better ratings, mindshare, and that came out near the same time as Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, got 15 million real users in 2 months. Which grew more and more to the point it's getting close to 30, and the player retention is 100x greater and the player base isn't in horrendous decline.

Halo, a major franchise that was known for it's amazing SP and additive MP campaigns, is losing to a racing game that wasn't. outside graphics, that radically different than the previous entry. I mean damn.

Dont bother with Senj. 343i is the best Studio, Microsoft has according to him lol

 

[azertydu91]

I don't know if it has already been said but 343 is now burgerless , so is it a nothing-burger now?

 

[Hobbygaming]

343i hasn't shipped a single bad or okay game their entire time on Halo.

 

[Zathalus]

For what it is worth, I really enjoyed Halo Infinite. Simply because I just play the single player, it was a great open world shooter. But the way they have been handling the multiplayer seems to be a dumpster fire, so I feel for those heavily invested in that.

 

[oldergamer]

https://www.windowscentral.com/gami...leadership-team-is-leaving-xbox-and-microsoft


With Peter Hintz replacing Bonnie immediately as the new studio head, and several other positions were changed at the same time, the fact we now have more people leaving not only shows that the reason given by Bonnie for leaving Microsoft and 343i is likely false and is a cover for Phil and possibly Matt Booty under influence from Phil giving them the boot, but we are also seeing pre 343i gaming developers in leadership positions.

But this shows promise, 343i has had it's executives and top staff positions changes or altered in just the last week. I assume there will be some lower position changes, whether or not there will be news reports on that remains to be seen, but what I'm seeing is a possible positive outcome. With everything changed up it may be possible that the 343i name and halo can be turned around.

While it's not guarantee, I think it's clear the old leadership and their choices have not been effective the last 11 years, and this change was needed.

You are drawing conclusions based on nothing. People leaving a company after being there for 5 6 7 or more years is nothing unexpected at any dev studio.

 

[Moonjt9]

So Bonnie is lying about her family emergency according to you? Oh boy.

The silliest part is this whole thing is that when 343i is producing better content solely as a result of them just having more time to do so people will act as if a small handful of people leaving is why, like all of it wasn't well into motion months and years in advance. The body of work 343i is about to showcase beginning with the Winter Update this November and come end of calendar year 2023 will all be work that was well underway. Not much will change on their campaign side either. I'm certain those plans are already locked in. The difference the pressure for launch time has been removed. 343i simply were under pressure to make launch and needed more time, but they were also too important to Series X|S launch and Game Pass to just be delayed any further past 2021. Even then they delivered an unbelievable campaign and mp package.

After all, it's not like they won multiple GOTY awards or the game was a critical hit or anything. 343i hasn't shipped a single bad or okay game their entire time on Halo. Every game made with them as the primary development studio was a great game. They've also improved Halo's gameplay drastically with each and every iteration. Halo Infinite is no different. It's just significantly more ambitious in its gameplay ideas than all the others.

This is on “I don’t know how much you know about Japanese culture” level

 

[SLB1904]

When the boss leaves some heads tend to follow

 

[lostinblue]

Title reads like saying that a Veteran since Shadow of the Hedgehog, with highlights on his belt like Sonic 2006 is leaving Sega.

Is this a bad thing? Is Halo 4 good now? Or just less bad than what came after?

This is a nothingburger of news.

 

[Assaulty]

The studio needs a complete shakeup, so the current events are very welcome to me as a big (non delusional, huehuehue) Halo fan. The only thing 343I have accomplished is running one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time into the ground with baffling decision after baffling decision.

To me, Halo: Infinite is their biggest fumble yet, just because of the fact that we had everything going for us. COD and BF were VERY lacklustre while we had positive press and the advantage of having basically a reboot after 2 lackluster releases.

The campaign is the best Halo campaign since Halo 3 to me, but like everything 343, it could've been sooo much more. The campaign is barren and very straight forward, but Halo's gameplay lends itself to open world so wel that the gameplay alone carried the game to multiple GOTY-awards. Imagine what the campaign could've been with a more fleshed out world. Actual sidequests. Functioning co-op day 1. It's bare minimum as per usual.

The multiplayer is just a whole bunch of nothing. Halo has always been great, because there are so many different communities within a singular product. Big team battle players, SWAT kids, slayer kids, social kids, Griffball players, infection players, action sack/fiesta, forgers that made the most amazing things. But at the moment, I'm noticing a trend where 80% of those communities don't have their preferred modes available, and if they do, it's very lackluster.

I personally play competitive Halo. I'll never win any price money, but in the grand scheme of things am probably in the top 5-10% of players in the ranked playlists. I know the comp community, and NOBODY is satisfied with this product. There's desync, terrible team balancing, bad PC optimisation, next to no new content and the team at 343 barely does any balancing updates. It really feels like they don't care. This directly shows in the amount of teams signing up to online tournaments. I compete in the EU and the first couple of months we regularly had 120+ teams sign up to competitions. Currently, we were lucky to break 30.

More casual players in the meantime think that, just because the HCS team organizes LANS, comp players are beeing catered to, even tho they really aren't. That's because social players are also receiving absolutely nothing but the odd even where you have to grind some boring playlist for some goofy cosmetics.

TLDR: Nobody is beeing satisfied with Halo: Infinite as it stands. They are not updating the game, they are not providing meaningful new content and the player population shows (we are at sub 2k on steam most of the time). Even tho the base gameplay is pretty rad, the maps are okay-ish and the game was off to a great start. It's such a frustrating situation to be in as a Halo fan. We were so close.

 

[oldergamer]

Oh yeah - 100% she’s been forced, firmly guided, advised (however you want to frame it) to walk away before they pull the trigger. 100%. She’s been allowed to save face. Happens all the time.

The statement she made is pure word salad:

I am letting you know I will be leaving 343 and attending to a family medical issue.

So she’s not leaving because she has to attend to a family medical issue, she is leaving and will be attending to a family medical issue.

If anyone is in denial about this then they’re probably NEET.

Tell us you dont over analyze without over analyzing

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

You are drawing conclusions based on nothing. People leaving a company after being there for 5 6 7 or more years is nothing unexpected at any dev studio.

Based on events that have all happened right next to each other within the span of near immediately.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

The studio needs a complete shakeup, so the current events are very welcome to me as a big (non delusional, huehuehue) Halo fan. The only thing 343I have accomplished is running one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time into the ground with baffling decision after baffling decision.

To me, Halo: Infinite is their biggest fumble yet, just because of the fact that we had everything going for us. COD and BF were VERY lacklustre while we had positive press and the advantage of having basically a reboot after 2 lackluster releases.

The campaign is the best Halo campaign since Halo 3 to me, but like everything 343, it could've been sooo much more. The campaign is barren and very straight forward, but Halo's gameplay lends itself to open world so wel that the gameplay alone carried the game to multiple GOTY-awards. Imagine what the campaign could've been with a more fleshed out world. Actual sidequests. Functioning co-op day 1. It's bare minimum as per usual.

The multiplayer is just a whole bunch of nothing. Halo has always been great, because there are so many different communities within a singular product. Big team battle players, SWAT kids, slayer kids, social kids, Griffball players, infection players, action sack/fiesta, forgers that made the most amazing things. But at the moment, I'm noticing a trend where 80% of those communities don't have their preferred modes available, and if they do, it's very lackluster.

I personally play competitive Halo. I'll never win any price money, but in the grand scheme of things am probably in the top 5-10% of players in the ranked playlists. I know the comp community, and NOBODY is satisfied with this product. There's desync, terrible team balancing, bad PC optimisation, next to no new content and the team at 343 barely does any balancing updates. It really feels like they don't care. This directly shows in the amount of teams signing up to online tournaments. I compete in the EU and the first couple of months we regularly had 120+ teams sign up to competitions. Currently, we were lucky to break 30.

More casual players in the meantime think that, just because the HCS team organizes LANS, comp players are beeing catered to, even tho they really aren't. That's because social players are also receiving absolutely nothing but the odd even where you have to grind some boring playlist for some goofy cosmetics.

TLDR: Nobody is beeing satisfied with Halo: Infinite as it stands. They are not updating the game, they are not providing meaningful new content and the player population shows (we are at sub 2k on steam most of the time). Even tho the base gameplay is pretty rad, the maps are okay-ish and the game was off to a great start. It's such a frustrating situation to be in as a Halo fan. We were so close.

Yep, what could have been from the game itself and experience to market timing and sustained audience long term. Well said mate.

Why they keep beating their heads against PvP when Halo 5 warzone and firefight were quite popular is beyond me. The same goes for missing PvE modes and campaign content post launch. Half the audience already don't play multiplayer. 343 should have captured and had an immediate launch roadmap for minor content events every week/month and major story increments every 3 months.

Post game content similar to Destiny 2 and shared coop experiences stand on their own. Halo Infinite could have really been a massive new main experience with PvE. One that attracts players beyond multiplayer, effectively doubling your playerbase. It also frees up so much creatively e.g. overpowered weapons or vehicles or non-competitive things like mini space battles or Spartan booster frame etc.

What of something special for forge like editing such PvE content to create missions or firefight type sandboxes.

 

[In Cold Blood]

Good. Keep the culling going.

 

[adamsapple]

For what it is worth, I really enjoyed Halo Infinite. Simply because I just play the single player, it was a great open world shooter. But the way they have been handling the multiplayer seems to be a dumpster fire, so I feel for those heavily invested in that.

Same. I've never been much of a online player so I can't relate to long-term halo MP fans, but as a single player campaign, it was pretty good.

 

[Graciaus]

343 should be removed from Halo. They haven't produced a single good game and completely ruined Halo.

 

[lovetalkgames]

Microsoft’s fault for ever trying to recreate the magic of early Bungie. Any team assembled to handle that enormous task would’ve failed.

 

[Azurro]

David Burger left. He is being replaced by Miguel Taco, who is known in the industry for being very versatile.

 

[Harlock]

Still a lot of dead weight in the ship.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Can Frankie leave next please?

 

[Banjo64]

Still a lot of dead weight in the ship.

Prime soyboi

 

[Corndog]

Believe it or not, a lot of people really like Halo 4. It's not my favorite Halo but I liked it far better than Halo Reach and more than Halo 3. The campaign is definitely up there for me. The graphics are underrated and 4 is one of the better looking games on the 360. I loved the foundation of Halo 4. The graphics, mechanics, fluid game-play, movement, sand box feel, and the weapons were responsive and accurate. What I didn't like was the bloat put into the game. 343 brought all the garbage abilities from Reach and put them into Halo 4. They put in tactical packages and support upgrades, which I don't think improved the game one bit. They added promethean vision which is asinine and cheap in a Halo game. It's a bunch of small additions which marred an otherwise great game. There's random ordnance which gave players getting off to a hot start an even bigger advantage. But the multiplayer maps were by and large pretty good, and it really did just feel super smooth to play.

I liked halo 4 except for some of the enemies. It was certainly better than 5.

 

[kiphalfton]

So Bonnie is lying about her family emergency according to you? Oh boy.

The silliest part is this whole thing is that when 343i is producing better content solely as a result of them just having more time to do so people will act as if a small handful of people leaving is why, like all of it wasn't well into motion months and years in advance. The body of work 343i is about to showcase beginning with the Winter Update this November and come end of calendar year 2023 will all be work that was well underway. Not much will change on their campaign side either. I'm certain those plans are already locked in. The difference the pressure for launch time has been removed. 343i simply were under pressure to make launch and needed more time, but they were also too important to Series X|S launch and Game Pass to just be delayed any further past 2021. Even then they delivered an unbelievable campaign and mp package.

After all, it's not like they won multiple GOTY awards or the game was a critical hit or anything. 343i hasn't shipped a single bad or okay game their entire time on Halo. Every game made with them as the primary development studio was a great game. They've also improved Halo's gameplay drastically with each and every iteration. Halo Infinite is no different. It's just significantly more ambitious in its gameplay ideas than all the others.

Shill harder

 

[Hendrick's]

 

[93xfan]

The MP saved it. But yes, the campaign was trash

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Shill harder

Right. Anybody who doesn't agree with the mob is a shill.

Haven't heard that one before. You should reference my tag next for extra points.

 

[Hobbygaming]

The MP saved it. But yes, the campaign was trash

I'm not even a multiplayer guy but I tested Halo 5's multiplayer using my cell phone's connection lol it was actually really fun

But yeah the campaign is probably the very worst I've ever experienced

 

[Stuart360]

It took Phil and co too long to get to this point but atleast they are finally doing something about 343.
I still liked halo Infinite, but 343 are just too damn slow with everything they do. They needed a kick up the backside and hopefully this is it.

 

[II_JumPeR_I]

The MP saved it. But yes, the campaign was trash

Mp was terrible aswell

 

[ahtlas7]

…guess Eddie was leaving too. Ouch! What happened?

 

[EverydayBeast]

Halo is still treated like holy water in shooter circles.

 

[Negotiator101]

…guess Eddie was leaving too. Ouch! What happened?

That guy was a bearer of bad news it was depressing reading his hot takes.

 

[Fuz]

Halo is still treated like holy water in shooter circles.

the circle.

 

[anothertech]

In the thread today there was a circus . Senjutsusage did tricks on the high wire, Eddie Griffin tried to give away a baby that looked like a cat, there was a Bonnie impersonator and a Burger impersonator. I laughed and I cried.

Bravo 343i. Bravo

 

[lostinblue]

…guess Eddie was leaving too. Ouch! What happened?

I'm not unbiased because I was involved and was probably one of the few that reported the behaviour but believe it was because he was unwilling to discuss a topic he created. He was unable to deal with all and any criticism even if not directed at him, disparaging into breakages of useless debatable data (at best) and ending or starting with borderline insults that showed complete lack of respect for the other users.

But that's my take, I don't have inside knowledge so it might have been something else.


343 Industries... I don't know what can be done to salvage Halo universe, it just seems like it has run it's course.

 

[kiphalfton]

Right. Anybody who doesn't agree with the mob is a shill.

Haven't heard that one before. You should reference my tag next for extra points.

You know that isn't helping your credibility...

 

[SenjutsuSage]

And despite your point two stellar games that have not only taken off like rockets but sustained as well. It's a far more reasonable comparison e.g. perception between TF2 and MCC. Infinite campaign as well received as TF2 or Jedi FO? Infinite multiplayer as well received as Apex Legends?

Jedi Fallen Order is the campaign equivalent, thought it was pretty clear. Also has to appease a hardcore vs casual crowd vs mass appeal while ensure a larger world remains persistent too.

I'm quite well aware of where Apex Legends was 1, 2 or 3 years post launch. I'd be a happy Halo fan if Infinite received as many wins over losses for the same 3 year period. This first year post launch for Infinite isn't anywhere near the first year of Apex Legends. Years 2 and 3 have some high bars to hit if 343 want to be held in the same live service esteem as Respawn.

Jedi: Fallen Order is an entirely separate game from Apex Legends, so it's not the same as a project consisting of both campaign and multiplayer package in one package that must release together. And Respawn didn't build any of those games in the middle of a global pandemic. And, yes, the record suggests Halo Infinite's campaign wasn't just received as well as Jedi: FO, but that it was MUCH better received.

Now, I'm personally not someone who likes to put too much weight on review averages, and I don't agree with Jedi: Fallen Order's lower score here (even Guardians of the Galaxy got 80 and that's amazing), but I'm just showing this to make a point. And, yes, Halo Infinite's campaign was absolutely as well received as Titanfall 2's campaign also.

This is why I think a lot of people aren't even living in reality when they try to downplay how good Halo Infinite is. Halo Infinite's campaign scored this good while missing co-op, and the "but my biomes" crowd doesn't stop the game from still being easily one of the best playing and most fun FPS campaigns ever released. The game is top to bottom incredible. There are people who think Halo Infinite's campaign doesn't play amazing and isn't fun as hell? Say what you want about the diversity on the Halo, but how about the diversity in the combat approaches and situations, or all the cool options at player's disposal with the awesome AI? Threat sensor, grapple, drop shield, the environmental and terrain layouts all made it by far the best playing FPS in the Halo franchise. Easily the most unique boss fights in the franchise also. More ways to pick how you engage. How could it not be one of the best Halo games with those facts being true?

Infinite Multiplayer was absolutely also as received as well as Apex Legends on the core gameplay and fun factor of it. In fact, Halo Infinite MP to me feels far better to play than Apex Legends. Halo is just not packing as many crazy powers and abilities, which makes more limited for some based on its more traditional roots. Apex Legends has Halo Infinite clearly beat on speed of content releases, and that's okay. It's not a crime. 343i clearly wasn't in a position to deliver their content as quickly as they wanted and fans would have liked, and so they need to do better there, and I see no reason why they can't. This is the same team that delivered on Halo MCC.

Anyway, taking a break from engaging on these Halo threads because obviously I don't agree with many of you, and many of you obviously don't agree with the significant majority of major reviewers that said Halo Infinite is an incredible GOTY level game and one of the best Halo titles made. It damn near got 90+_across the board amongst most major reviewers. Hell, it's personally a 92-93 for me, easy. Only dropping a few points for me not seeing what happened with Infinity, not getting more Atriox and no Blue Team or Fireteam Osiris meetup in any form. Basically, my points docked were for it not giving me even more fan service than I already got.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

You know that isn't helping your credibility...

I got it for loving the Halo TV Show lol. I actually like the tag personally. It was clever, funny, and whichever mod gave it to me, I say well played.

 

[01011001]

even Guardians of the Galaxy got 80 and that's amazing

lol 80? that game is a solid 50... 60 at best

 

[Jigsaah]

If it's broke, please fix it.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

lol 80? that game is a solid 50... 60 at best

You and I appreciate games very differently then. I put a premium on fun, a great story that pulls me into a universe, great dialogue, and Guardians of the Galaxy has that in spades, especially on the dialogue and story front.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

disparaging into breakages of useless debatable data (at best) and ending or starting with borderline insults that showed complete lack of respect for the other users.

Dishonest guy comes in a different thread spreading misinfo (there was not DATA discussion in that thread) while pretending other users weren't being insulting or striking down opinions from the start, but of course people can read the thread from the beginning and see through you're nonsense (they already did in another thread) using Resetera tactics on banned users by spreading misinfo on them quickly, interesting. Not exactly good for the optics though.