If Halo 2 Anniversary is just Halo 4 DLC, and Halo 5 has ADS, this series is over.
If this were to happen, which I have a hard time believing that both of these will concurrently, the series still won't be "dead." It's going to take a helluva lot more than ADS and Halo 4 DLC to kill this franchise. Microsoft's got too much invested into it with the new TV series and added media, and that's not even mentioning the already-guaranteed Halo 6. Saying that something is going to "kill" the franchise is such a trivial, cliché statement.
Let's say that both of your statements are true; ADS is a highlighted feature of Halo 5, and the rumored Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer resembles Halo CEA and Reach's relationship. Is that desirable? No way in hell, especially to us "hardcore" Halo fans. But with those two additions, do you think that no one is going to buy the games, and it's poor sales and poor online population numbers are going to absolutely demolish the franchise, killing it to a point where Microsoft cancels Halo 6 and never picks up the franchise again? Let's be realistic.
Look at franchises like Resident Evil - sure, it's a completely different game, but it can be compared to Halo when it comes to radical changes in the series, both good and bad in the player's eyes. Resident Evil 4 is praised as one of the best games of all time, whereas RE5 is regarded as one of the worst. A lot of things changed between the two games, game mechanics, plot, etc., however Resident Evil games still get pumped out, and (shocker) some of the more recent ones aren't half-bad and are well-received. Granted, Resident Evil wasn't necessarily an appropriate or good example, however it's a testament that it takes A LOT to potentially "kill" a multi-million dollar franchise.
Halo's one of those franchises where people are going to buy it just because it says "Halo" on the cover, regardless of what's on the inside. I like to shit on Halo as much as the next guy, and I agree that the last recent installments had its fair share of lackluster qualities. However, even if Halo 5 had ADS confirmed, I'm still going to buy it as moronic as that sounds. Because it's Halo. And I have a feeling that's the mentality of a lot of people.
It's going to take a lot - and I mean A LOT - of shit to completely kill the Halo franchise. That phrase gets thrown around here abundantly, and it has since the time of Halo 3 and Reach's release. "Game's dead," "Franchise is dead," "Halo's done," all have been said repeatedly over the years. It's a really, really... erroneous statement, and one that no one who says it can back it up with any relevant information. But here we are, with at least another near half-decade of guaranteed Halo to come.
This might be an outsiders point of view, but here's how I've approached all of Halo's changes over the years: wait until the game comes out, and you play it yourself, before forming a concrete opinion. I wasn't thrilled with Reach's armor abilities, nor Halo 4's changes, however I give the benefit of the doubt and played the game before settling on whether or not the changes made the game better or worse. Who knows, maybe ADS in Halo 5 will make the game better? I'm not saying it will or won't, but I agree it won't be like traditional Halo. But we'll just have to
wait and see.
I'm not saying you're right or wrong. Regardless, I'll hold my judgement before I proclaim such definitive statements as "A + B = series over, for sure."
