When Halo 4 was officially announced by 343 Industries at last year’s E3 I was stunned to say the least. My reaction was along the lines of “No. No no no NO NAOO. NAAAAOOOOO!!!!” Let’s just say I was quietly incensed. “Why would they do this?” I asked. Other Halo diehards had the same reaction too, jumping to phrases such as “They’re milking it”, “They’re only doing it for the money” and the classic “It’s not Halo if Bungie aren’t making it.” I’m being hypocritical though… I was one of those people in the end. I must say, the bandwagon had carried me away far, far into the distance and pretty quickly too.
Understandably; and looking back unfortunately, 343 Industries got a ton of heat in the months ahead.
Others took to it well though and also voiced their thoughts. I wasn’t one of those happy folk. Call me presumptuous or stupid for neglecting everything to do with Halo 4 if you want but the fact of the matter is is that I wasn’t the only one. Notice how I used the word “wasn’t”…
Where it all started, back in 2001.
Like millions, I was and still am a massive fan of the original Halo games. I can still remember owning the original Xbox demo for Combat Evolved and putting countless hours into the early mission ‘The Silent Cartographer’. Hearing “Let’s hit it boys!” on the beaches and strapping myself into the beast which was the Warthog was one of the defining moments of my gaming life and probably my childhood. Any young boy would get excited at that, no? I actually remember buying the full game, which I still have to this very day and always will, off one of my friends who lived on my street for something like £1. But, time flies and all of that is now more than 10 years ago.
Then Halo 2 came out 3 years after in ’04. I was more grown-up by then, things had changed* This time I remember sitting in my living room and hearing the phone ring. Of course, it’s my best friend bragging how he’s got Halo 2 and how he’s loving it after just 15 minutes. That £@!%$&*(_+^) knew how much I wanted it. Ever wanted to jump down the phone and strangle someone? Luckily for me he lived but a brisk walk away and I ordered my mother to take me there (I was 11 and needed supervising ok!) so I could experience Halo 2 in all of it’s blinding beauty. My love for Halo was undoubtedly cemented after CE but when I got my grubby little hands on it’s sequel for myself it had soon blossomed into an unbreakable bond.
*Things had obviously not changed.
Another 3 years went by and Halo 3 was soon to be released. Again, no change. Halo 3 would only go on to reaffirm my feelings towards the (now) trilogy. However, I DO remember noticing that this particular installment was definitely lacking something after around 10 hours of gameplay, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
Reach then came along in 2010 and initially I didn’t pay much attention to it, I probably had similar doubts to the ones I do now and was stuck in the same stance, as it looked… different. Un-Halo-ish. The thing that ended up swaying me to buy it, being the massive Halo fangirl that I am, was actually hearing the original Combat Evolved opening cutscene again this time noticing this ‘Reach’ thing being mentioned. By that time I had already seen enough gameplay videos and developer walkthroughs to know this game was worth a shot.
So, like most, I was infinitely critical of 343 coming along and ruining this beautiful thing. Bungie chose to end it for a reason, right?
Well, 343 chose to introduce themselves to the Halo fanbase by announcing a remake of the original Combat Evolved called Halo: CE Anniversary, supposedly celebrating the 10 year anniversary of one of the biggest game franchises in history. They even released it on exactly the same date as the original, November the 15th.
However, I think they went about this in a very odd way. I personally feel it was a test to see if they had the right things in mind for the Halo name, to see if they could live up to it. If they had gotten Anniversary horribly wrong then I can’t see them wanting to fully commit to Halo 4 like they have done. Fortunately though, they pretty much nailed Anniversary. In a sense.
Some of you might think the above are ludicrous and somewhat stupid comments to make and I suppose in some ways you could be right. But remember this, what did they have to do apart from improve the graphics and add a couple of new features (compulsory ones at that)? That’s all they really had to do with it, the original game was perfect and they knew that. That’s why I feel that it was a test. Not that big of a test but still a test. Start out reworking the basics (in this case the extreme basics like graphics) and then dive into the next game by writing their own unique storyline. People will surely follow suit, right? Well now they’re apparently looking to add another trilogy. I mean, what better way to win people/future consumers over than by testing out some new ideas in the form of UI tweaks and other small features, relatively minimally updating a hugely popular classic and then creating a new trilogy implementing the new things that got positive feedback?
To put it in a sentence, it’s just the future storyline I’m worried about. They need to be so, so careful. Yeah they’ve not had the opportunity to tell any stories but various videos posted have slightly unnerved me.
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Oh, you’re still here. You’ve made it this far so you probably agree with me I hope on at least half of what I’ve said. Now though you’ve gotta sit tight, this is where things change and take an unexpected turn.
I’m a massive Halo fan as you’ve probably guessed and I’m pretty stubborn too but that video, that video right there has actually shocked me. I knew these guy’s were putting a lot of work into this, that’s a given, but I had no idea it was anywhere near that level.
Halo 4 looks to be way, way better than I could’ve ever imagined. It’s took a special Behind the Scenes feature to sway me. I mean wut? Of all things, behind the scenes goings-on were the least of my worries but I’m glad I watched it.
Don’t get me wrong though I do have my problems with 343 and what they’re doing, especially with Cortana (I’ll give my thoughts on each characters’ chosen paths after I’ve gotten my hands on the game), but I can’t really blame them. Stories change after all and maybe this is in the right step. What they’re doing could shape the next trilogy and put it on-par, if not slightly better, than the original Halo’s. I believe they’re genuinely in this for the long-run and with the title’s best interests at heart. Financially it can’t be too bad either!
It’s strange how one video can drastically change my opinion on something like this but it has.
This post will serve as reassurance or renewed hope to you depending on what your first opinion on Halo 4 was.
Well, things work in mysterious ways I guess <- I’ve probably butchered that saying but you know what I mean.
Anyway, I’m now bursting with excitement and optimism for the coming Halo title/likely trilogy and I hope my fellow HBG’ers after reading this are too.
Halo 4 releases worldwide on November the 4th and you can guarantee I’ll be one of those who’ll be buying it. Will you?