How this came out to me. "Exploring a deep and interesting universe and trying to create an engaging narrative with interesting characters is nice and all, but it's all about getting that cash money."
Microsoft: We Lost Our Way With Recent Halo Games
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
Hey, look, it's Microsoft continuing to not give a shit about gamers! Who knew!
No, Reach and ODST failed because Halo isn't going anywhere. It's stagnating, like Mario.
No, Reach and ODST failed because Halo isn't going anywhere. It's stagnating, like Mario.
I liked Halo 3 because of the super soldier-like game play.
I liked ODST because it was a break from Halo, while still having that Halo feel.
I hated Reach.
I liked ODST because it was a break from Halo, while still having that Halo feel.
I hated Reach.
This has got to be Microsoft just trying to get people interested in Halo 4 and the upcoming CE remake. The reception, from what I saw, seemed pretty lukewarm. They're trying to pull a Domino's Pizza here.
What I mean by that is that they're attempting what Domino's did with their ads from a year or so ago. They basically centered their ads around admitting that their past pizza sucked, but that it's much better now. Risky move, but it worked for them.
Microsoft is hitting a problem here in that Reach and ODST didn't actually suck. In other words, they're shooting at the wrong target. What might benefit them is to say that they've learned from ODST and Reach and plan to adapt that into the main Chief-oriented story.
What I mean by that is that they're attempting what Domino's did with their ads from a year or so ago. They basically centered their ads around admitting that their past pizza sucked, but that it's much better now. Risky move, but it worked for them.
Microsoft is hitting a problem here in that Reach and ODST didn't actually suck. In other words, they're shooting at the wrong target. What might benefit them is to say that they've learned from ODST and Reach and plan to adapt that into the main Chief-oriented story.
Then it's the game's narrative mechanics that don't work. Tons of games make great narrative without the use of long cutscenes, even if it's just using dialogue during gameplay, something that could have made Halo better given that Master Chief was unrealistically silent during gameplay while everyone else was giving commands to him, which if it proved something, only proves that Master Chief has no leadership skills.Korten12 said:But then look at it like this: Let's say they wanted to flesh them out more in game. Well Halo shows most of its story (not all) through cutscenes. So that would mean they probably would have needed to make cutscenes longer and then people would complain about the length of cutscenes.Valenza said:
The books are NEEDED, you can't show everything in games. In Fall of Reach, there were many times that there would be no combat and just talking. They can't show that in game without people like I said complaining about length of cutscenes or would complain about lack of action.
I'm calling it now: Halo 4 will be an ugly, muddled, cookie-cutter mess of a game with none of the charm that made millions of gamers such as myself willing to play a series of games ripping off other, sometimes better, science fiction.
Microsoft will step in too often and tell the new studio what fans want and force their own misguided market research into the game.
343 Industries will make a tame, safe game more interested in giving shoutouts to fans than adding anything to the series, and will fear reprisal from said fans too much to make any interesting or challenging gameplay.
Halo 4 will also sell hideously well, and Microsoft will continue to milk the series until we all start to hate that little green man so much, we wonder why we ever liked this series.
Any takers?
Microsoft will step in too often and tell the new studio what fans want and force their own misguided market research into the game.
343 Industries will make a tame, safe game more interested in giving shoutouts to fans than adding anything to the series, and will fear reprisal from said fans too much to make any interesting or challenging gameplay.
Halo 4 will also sell hideously well, and Microsoft will continue to milk the series until we all start to hate that little green man so much, we wonder why we ever liked this series.
Any takers?
This worries me, the stories in ODST and Reach were a lot more interesting to me than the Master Chief stuff, particularly compared with Halo 3. Saying that those 2 games were them "losing their way" is almost blasphemous. Gameplay-wise, the games were almost exactly the same and, whilst I'm happy to see more of Master Chief, they'd better not think that bringing him back will "fix" a franchise where it was never broken.
Microsoft is clearly thinking backwards on this. If you keep having MC has the main guy in the games then each game is only gonna feel that much similar to each and every other Halo game in existence which lowers the reasoning behind buying any new ones, why waste more money on teh same game with potentially one new gun or slightly improved multiplayer(which for them just means more game modes. I still find the Halo multiplayer a joke for it's lack of needed skill, and general fanbase of screaming, messiah-complex 12-15 year olds.) I find the entire franchise overhyped, generic, boring, and some other similar stff but Reach had the most interesting campaign because it actually had some changes like a new set of characters (thought you were still a silent person so you could have been a goldfish for all it would have mattered), new gameplay elements like the space fighting which puts Bungie in a good place to maybe get the license to the SW: Battlefront license and make #3 now that they're done with Halo, and an interesting story. Just my two cents.
I agree. He had just enough character to stop the player being him, but not enough to make the player care about him. I preferred the Rookie and N6 in every buggering way. Halo only got good after ODST, I don't know what Microsoft are on, but they're wrong.Upbeat Zombie said:
Oh, because we can't get enough of a personality less unnamed space marine. The doom marine, at least had the quality of being badass and the marine was supposed to be YOU. Master Chief just is a empty character. Viewing the war from a different view point is somewhat like able i guess.
"Trying something new was a mistake."-MGS Head.
Oh dear lord. We are in for some deep hurting, aren't we?
Oh dear lord. We are in for some deep hurting, aren't we?
Not enough meme. Too much grammar and spelling. No cookie for you. Red flag.Scarecrow 8 said:
On-topic: Personally, the biggest mistake they ever made was giving Master Chief a voice. Not just because it demystifies what little of the character was iconic to that part of the playerbase that thought of him in such a way, but because nothing he has said in-game has ever been worthwhile. So now, you have a disembodied generic voice spewing disembodied generic lines, and that is how people identify him. I haven't played the Half-Life series, but people who brought up Gordon Freeman's silence forget to bring up another important thing--his face. It's easier to fill the blanks in for a silent character when you can define them based on their appearance, not the lack thereof. The same thing for Chell, who doesn't interact with anything but her companion cube and whatever program is currently running the facility at that particular point in her game. Yet the fans project much stronger characterizations onto them, especially because the characters playing off of them aren't speaking of them based on reputation, but on actions in the here and now, thus validating them as characters even though they're silent. No required external reading, either. It's kind of how Link became iconic. Characters treated him like a character, not a symbol, and the fans filled in the blanks.
So, the real problem isn't just that they're refocusing on Master Chief who they refuse to treat as a projection in the same way DNF refused to treat the Duke as a parody, but that they're refocusing on Master Chief and ALL of their missteps with his portrayal as the character. And this time, it's with what's left of Bungie plus a lot more Microsoft.
*Has not played a Halo game since 2, and that was enough for me. Also, Arbiter is an example of how to do a voiced character without too many lines, but from what I'm reading in this thread it seems Halo 2 was the last time they let you play as him?*
Does that mean I will not be able to play as a marine?
For Christ sake you think the problem is no MC? Maybe for the six year old fans but we want something new, the games are fun sure but they are starting to feel like Halo one with a new dress. Something unique, hell, maybe just stripping us of out bad ass nes status will help. We have had the regular super soldier because you do not want to break the mold. I want to actually feel fear from the Covenant and have to use tactics, I do not want to take plasma to the face and sprint into a group of elites to walk out with no scratches.
For Christ sake you think the problem is no MC? Maybe for the six year old fans but we want something new, the games are fun sure but they are starting to feel like Halo one with a new dress. Something unique, hell, maybe just stripping us of out bad ass nes status will help. We have had the regular super soldier because you do not want to break the mold. I want to actually feel fear from the Covenant and have to use tactics, I do not want to take plasma to the face and sprint into a group of elites to walk out with no scratches.