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[irrotational]

I think this highlights the lack of pomp these characters deserved in their introduction in 5.

"So yeah, Chief is back with Blue team...." was effectively all it got.

Interesting - I assumed I had missed some intra-game lore (e.g. book or tv series or something) that explained why they weren't dead, where they'd been and how they got back with the chief.

I'm almost sure that in the book, Chief has to watch while they are still on Reach and it gets glassed. It was 15 years ago that I read the book though!

EDIT - just dived into Halopedia....it's a lot of info! Blue team was originally John, Samuel (dies pre-Halo), Fred, Linda and Kelly. By the end of the 1st book, Linda is in a cryo-tube, and definitely Fred, possibly Kelly, is down on Reach which gets glassed.

 

[nekkid]

Interesting - I assumed I had missed some intra-game lore (e.g. book or tv series or something) that explained why they weren't dead, where they'd been and how they got back with the chief.

I'm almost sure that in the book, Chief has to watch while they are still on Reach and it gets glassed. It was 15 years ago that I read the book though!

Yeah it needed at least some exposition in the game. Some of it had been touched on - the Halo 4 intro sequence, for example, but nothing about how close-knit they were, and how much of a big deal it was that they were back together.

 

[JoeLT]

The title screen of CE:A was the epitome of everything wrong with the refreshed art of that game. Overly-complex Halo detail (is meant to be simple, monolithic and imposing) and for some reason the space scape needs over-exaggerated purples and blues instead of the lonely darkness of the original.

The other thing that bothers me is that we never got Blur cut scenes for CE:A. That would have been great.

Yep, I'm honestly still holding onto a slither of hope that they might decide to bring MCC to PC and with it add Halo Reach and touch up the remaster of CE and add Blur cutscenes. I know it'll never happen though haha.

Also I seem to remember the remaster screwed around a fair bit with the original score of CE. It still sounded like Halo but I feel it didn't need to be meddled with as much as it was. The remastered music in Halo 2 remastered was a bit hit and miss, some of it was great and others ruined some of the music.

 

[irrotational]

Yeah it needed at least some exposition in the game. Some of it had been touched on - the Halo 4 intro sequence, for example, but nothing about how close-knit they were, and how much of a big deal it was that they were back together.

Yep I agree! I just looked up one of their stories - it's very very convoluted to get from pre Halo CE to appearing in Halo 5...I don't think any of them were in Halo 4!?

https://www.halopedia.org/Kelly-087

From a game point of view I guess people would only have seen them in Reach...but i really can't remember that game at all.

 

[Fahzgoolin]

I love these threads that criticise Halo but don't read like "343i are just cluelezz am i rite".

But they are clueless.

The remastered music in Halo 2 remastered was a bit hit and miss, some of it was great and others ruined some of the music.

Not to mention that if you played with the original score it was wayyyy too quiet.

 

[nekkid]

Yep I agree! I just looked up one of their stories - it's very very convoluted to get from pre Halo CE to appearing in Halo 5...I don't think any of them were in Halo 4!?

https://www.halopedia.org/Kelly-087

From a game point of view I guess people would only have seen them in Reach...but i really can't remember that game at all.

To be fair, Bungie were guilty of similar failures to address the significance of certain events:

I LOVE the Reach campaign, but it pisses me off how nobody seems to be particularly surprised or concerned that the Covenant have found the largest human settlement outside of Earth.

 

[ResidentDante]

Speaking of Halo 4, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, but I do recognize the most common complaints too.

It does however have the best life advice of all time in videogaming though:

 

[iswasdoes]

Great post.

I liked 4 a lot more than 5 personally, and am surprised about the hate its getting, Maybe I need to revisit, as I played the whole thing coop on legendary with my halo buddy which made it more enjoyable. Might feel different as a single player.

This thread makes me want a new halo like old halo. Dont make me buy a scorpio for it guys, stick it on PC!

 

[Chip N Chance]

Last September i replayed all of the Halo games much like you did OP. Though i was an old Halo fan from the past and i had played them so many times leading up to it, it had been awhile (years). It really is a magical series, and even though i fell off of the wagon around the time before Halo 4 came out, it still is one of my favorite gaming past times for sure. Im one of the rare few who actually thinks that the Halo Collection was a great game lol.

Im surprised by your list of favorite Halo's, with Reach being that high. Not that i dissagree, its just an unpopular opinion. It is nice to see though that Halo 3 still rates high with someone after all these years, even though they didnt play it during the zeitgeist/hype.

 

[Colbert]

I'm actually the other way around. Anyhow, they're both solid games in singleplayer playthroughs and have some fantastic CGI cinematics to help build a solid story.

Both Halo Wars can be played on the Xbox One too, the boosted resolution in HW1 looks fantastic on XB1.

As always with all games a matter of taste I guess. Or just how Halo Wars stays in my memory.

 

[nekkid]

As always with all games a matter of taste I guess. Or just how Halo Wars stays in my memory.

I preferred HW to HW2. Forge was cool, and Anders looked better, but more importantly I preferred the structure of the levels and the set pieces.

But the latter is still great.

 

[chalkitdown1]

What I'm most surprised about having read all the replies is the apparent mixed reaction to Halo Reach. I always assumed it was one of the greater received games. Were people down on it when it originally came out as well or is it more of a GTAIV situation?

 

[Shil Pencer]

Stunned by the Halo 4 campaign hate.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

Stunned by the Halo 4 campaign hate.

In terms of gameplay, it's campaign is by far the biggest black sheep in the series, so it's not at all that surprising for me

 

[nekkid]

Stunned by the Halo 4 campaign hate.

It plays well, has fun set pieces, and the Prometheans aren't terrible when you know how to attack them. The Prometheans in 5 were so much worse.

It just deserved a better finale.

 

[Lurk]

Halo 3 multiplayer was the best for me.

I loved Halo 2 but I was too much of a squeaker to git gud, so by the time 3 came I was amazing at it.

MLG 50 bruhhhh

 

[EvB]

Halo 3 multiplayer was the best for me.

I loved Halo 2 but I was too much of a squeaker to git gud, so by the time 3 came I was amazing at it.

MLG 50 bruhhhh

I bet there was some smurfing involved

 

[ClosingADoor]

Speaking of Halo 4, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, but I do recognize the most common complaints too.

It does however have the best life advice of all time in videogaming though:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDCAxYOWAAEUjSD.jpg

Callback to Halo 2 though there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AieHTPaFzM

But I really liked the interaction between Cortana and Master Chief in Halo 4. Worst thing about Halo 5 was that they did away with all that.

 

[nekkid]

Callback to Halo 2 though there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AieHTPaFzM

But I really liked the interaction between Cortana and Master Chief in Halo 4. Worst thing about Halo 5 was that they did away with all that.

I always thought they should and would bring Cortana back. But I assumed it would be in 6 or right at the end of 5 to give the Chief the chance to miss her.

But nope.

 

[Narpas Sword0]

Great write up, thanks

 

[Jack The Nipper]

Halo 4s visuals aren't good,overly contrasted and poor art style.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

What I'm most surprised about having read all the replies is the apparent mixed reaction to Halo Reach. I always assumed it was one of the greater received games. Were people down on it when it originally came out as well or is it more of a GTAIV situation?

You'll get a range of opinions on all the Halo games from the community, there's no real ranking consensus TBH. I loved Reach too BTW.

 

[shawnbuddy]

Hey, in the context of these threads does LttP mean "Late to the Party" or "Link to the Past?" Cause I like the second one better.

 

[Bootador83]

1 and 4 are the only 2 with remotely good campaigns.

 

[Bulby]

I also loved the way it didn't hold your hand. It would give you an objective and you are left to figure out where to go and how to do it. No waypoint on screen telling you where to go, no annoying Cortana screaming in your ear telling you to hurry up. You're just left to get on with it. I will admit it did sometimes take me FOREVER to find things but I prefer it this way than being led by the hand.

This is the most important aspect missing from all Halos since CE in my opinion.

 

[nekkid]

This is the most important aspect missing from all Halos since CE in my opinion.

But there's always been waypoints.

 

[Jack The Nipper]

1 and 4 are the only 2 with remotely good campaigns.

I do find it impressive people see good in 4. It's a bad game, while 5 is a bad halo but not exactly a bad game.

4 is one of the more bland and annoying games, sort of like red faction 2. The original not last gen.

 

[Vince DiCola]

Halo Reach is one of my favorite FPS and multiplayer games of all time. Had years of genuine fun with Reach.

Reach is the game that got my girlfriend in to FPS games, we had a lot of fun with it and played a fair bit of 4 together, liked it quite a bit too.

But these days we are all about that Destiny life, Halo 5 didn't do much for us sadly.

 

[nekkid]

I do find it impressive people see good in 4. It's a bad game, while 5 is a bad halo but not exactly a bad game.

4 is one of the more bland and annoying games, sort of like red faction 2. The original not last gen.

Halo 4 is not a bad campaign. That's just revisionism.

 

[HTupolev]

Not to mention that if you played with the original score it was wayyyy too quiet.

I'm curious how much of that is a real issue with the port. I've tried plugging my OG Xbox into my TV and toggling back and forth between H2A, and the original sounds pretty subdued in that context as well.

I think there may be two other things at work:
1-Halo's 1 and 2 were expected to be played on televisions with speakers that are boomy and often tinny, and I think that the audio in both games was tuned with this in mind. They've always sounded a bit weird and flat to me on modern TV speakers.
2-H2A's audio is constantly and excessively bangy and bombastic, so much that playing it gives me headaches. When Halo 2's original audio is placed next to it, it's inevitably going to sound "weak" in the comparison, even if it sounds perfectly good in its own right.

It would be interesting to see a good comparison of the sound output between versions of the original game.

Speaking of Halo 4, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit, but I do recognize the most common complaints too.

It does however have the best life advice of all time in videogaming though:

That's the Halo 2 line.

In Halo 4, she says "don't make a girl a promise you can't keep."

 

[Crossing Eden]

Reach's campaign was a huge missed opportunity because the cast was never characterized beyond their archetypes so when they died it was less an emotional shock and more "Wow they're killing the whole cast." type deal. The camera work in the cutscenes for the most part was also incredibly awkward in Reach with the whole trying to imitate a handheld camera approach they took, and the awkwardly animated first person shots. Great atmosphere tho and they made great adjustments to make gameplay feel more grounded and visceral. Those MP maps being campaign spaces tho hurt both.

 

[Sephzilla]

Fuck the final sequence, though. What better way to finish this seminal FPS than with a driving section in a terribly controlling vehicle through tiny tunnels where you're constantly getting caught on geometry at every turn and being flipped over by the slightest fucking bump on the floor. Just an awful way to end the game. Apparently people like this part! I don't get it, it was up there with the worst of the game for me.

Halo CE's ending is glorious

Halo CE > Halo 3 = ODST > Halo 2 > Halo 4 > Halo Reach > Halo 5

The title screen of CE:A was the epitome of everything wrong with the refreshed art of that game. Overly-complex Halo detail (is meant to be simple, monolithic and imposing) and for some reason the space scape needs over-exaggerated purples and blues instead of the lonely darkness of the original.

The other thing that bothers me is that we never got Blur cut scenes for CE:A. That would have been great.

Put me down as someone who hates the CE:A art style. Ugh, I vastly prefer Halo 1's smooth and simple art style.

 

[Fatmanp]

As much as I despised the multiplayer in Reach the single player just beats the original for me top best in the series. My favourite multiplayer is Halo 2 by a long long way.

 

[Sabercrusader]

Really glad you finally played through and enjoyed most of them. It's truly a great series and is incredibly influential to the video game industry I think.

Halo 3 will always be my favorite, at least for multiplayer, though I would probably say Reach is my favorite Halo campaign. 4 and 5 just aren't the same to me. I want them to be good. In fact, 5 at least felt like 343 listened to a lot of what people complained about with 4, but I still absolutely hate how you're basically required to read the novels if you want shit explained because they really don't do shit to tell you about it in game.

Like Blue Team is full of Spartan II's that grew up with Chief and were all close friends. Throughout the entire series it's presumed that they're most likely dead but then all of a sudden they're back? With no explanation at all? Shit would've been a huge moment in the Bungie games but in 343 it's assumed you read all the novels.

I don't hate 343 or think they're a bad developer, I just wish they did things differently.

 

[ResidentDante]

Callback to Halo 2 though there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AieHTPaFzM

But I really liked the interaction between Cortana and Master Chief in Halo 4. Worst thing about Halo 5 was that they did away with all that.

Oh, my mind had slipped that one!

But yeah, the Halo 4 version seems more heartfelt and sad, probably making me remember it more.

Totally agree, the relationship between MC and Cortana is really well done i Halo 4. It really moved me in a game that I wouldn't think I would be moved that way.

That's the Halo 2 line.

In Halo 4, she says "don't make a girl a promise you can't keep."

Yup! My mistake!

 

[Double Donut]

Halo 4 did nothing wrong

Spoiler

on the campaign side

.

 

[nekkid]

Halo 4 did nothing wrong

Spoiler

on the campaign side

.

I think it depended on what if the MP you played, as well. I stuck almost exclusively to BTB and still really enjoyed it.

 

[ResidentDante]

I think it depended on what if the MP you played, as well. I stuck almost exclusively to BTB and still really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed "Big Team Infinity Slayer"; larger maps with some vehicles, but not going completely large scale like Warzone in Halo 5.

 

[Double Donut]

I think it depended on what if the MP you played, as well. I stuck almost exclusively to BTB and still really enjoyed it.

I actually quite enjoyed Halo 4 multiplayer all around, despite that post. But I know that it's objectively not what most Halo fans want in a Halo multiplayer. Hell, I got max rank.

BTB is actually where I spent most of my time, too. DMR was the biggest negative about it though. Halo 4 DMR was waaaay too good. Could perfectly hit anything across the map. DMR alone completely neutered the Valhalla remake.

 

[nekkid]

I really enjoyed "Big Team Infinity Slayer"; larger maps with some vehicles, but not going completely large scale like Warzone in Halo 5.

I actually quite enjoyed Halo 4 multiplayer all around, despite that post. But I know that it's objectively not what most Halo fans want in a Halo multiplayer. Hell, I got max rank.

BTB is actually where I spent most of my time, too. DMR was the biggest negative about it though. Halo 4 DMR was waaaay too good. Could perfectly hit anything across the map. DMR alone completely neutered the Valhalla remake.

Yeah, I feel like I'm going mad when I hear people complain about 4's MP (until they fixed it), but I reckon me sticking to that mode insulated me from that stuff.