Should Halo be rebooted at this point?

[wwm0nkey]

EDIT: Seems to be like reports of 343i campaign story team being winded down isn't fully true, added new poll options to reflect this and updated some of the thread to reflect this.

My personal critiques with current Halo story are usually as follows:
Starting with Halo 4 we kept on hitting a cycle of "New Thing > Game Ends > Drop New Thing > Repeat"
-Halo 4, introduced the Didact and forerunners and enemies, Master Chief is a chosen space man who's luck was all part of a master plan by the Liberian or some shit, Didact is then stuck in comic and book land forever.
-Halo 5, Cortana is now the bad guy and made a lot of AI have an uprising, this is immediately ended off screen.
-Halo Wars 2, "Ummmmmm ACTUALLY the covenant were fighting two wars at once"
-Halo Infinite, The Banished are here, oh but now here are things called The Endless, also we killed the SP team so no expansions planned.


The story kept on changing direction and over reacting to feedback when it came to the story (I don't imagine this was ideal for the story team), I also don't think Infinite was bad, but the universe seems a bit messy at the moment. Too many concepts introduced and just dropped to me that will be a bit hard to reconnect together (I would love to be proven wrong though)

I personally would like to see if they go down a reboot route, a reboot of 1 - 3 adding in /some/ of the EU stuff like Blue team from the get go and expanding upon things, also maybe just combine Halo 2 and 3, or turn First Strike into a game so Halo 2 has some more fluff.

Curious as to how others feel about the subject honestly as Halo won't be dropped, but something is clearly going to need to happen with it.

 

[Rosebud]

A reboot would take 10 years to be released complete, so just try to save Infinite

 

[Arc]

Infinite was the (soft) reboot.

 

[wwm0nkey]

A reboot would take 10 years to be released complete, so just try to save Infinite

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Story is done for that, it's just on MP support now

 

[Van Bur3n]

We gotta reboot the reboot.

 

[Dangerman1337]

I think rebooting means basically never giving this version of the Chief etc a proper closure. The problem is Halo is in a purgatory where it wants to be half foot a traditional Halo game but also half foot of new trends like Infinite being based around Hero-ish Abilities (Grapple hook taken from Apex Legends). Along with messy development with short attention spans.

 

[Sordid Plebeian]

I think CE has a ton of potential for a RE4R style remake. It's pretty barebones compared to modern games, and so much more can be done with the characters, story, and world. Plus, Halo's last decade has not been able to establish a solid direction for the series, so might as well go back to what works.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Infinite was the (soft) reboot.

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I am talking HARD reboot

 

[Killer]

Time to bury it

 

[carlsojo]

Requel time baby

 

[Shopolic]

Halo: Combat REvolved.

 

[Patitoloco]

Absolutely.

The Halo lore has been an absolute trainwreck since, well, 343.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Halo will be a multiplayer exclusive IP for at least the next ten years so the story will be irrelevant.

 

[It’s Time To Go]

They need to sort out the overly messy lore, so yes definitely.

 

[Katbobo]

with how... intense... the halo fanbase seems to be, i can't imagine any non-bungie studio announcing a halo 1-3 reboot and it going over well.

 

[Grips]

Halo CE remake the same level as RE2R and continue from that.

Only issue is that might completely kill the HCS.

 

[Rndom Grenadez]

Nah. The bones for everything are there. Fun campaign, just needs more variety in environments. Fun MP, just needs more content.

Both of these are capable of being remedied. People always want to shit on Halo, but the gunplay and sandbox is second to none.

 

[AAION]

Reboot as a tactics game with a GSG like meta layer and multi planet scope

 

[blamite]

or should be okay for a series, even a popular one, to just end. Trying to drag it on forever just gets you into the situation Halo is in now. We don't need any more. I've had a lot of dug with 343's games over the years but honestly I think the series should've gone out on top after Reach.

 

[Soap]

or should be okay for a series, even a popular one, to just end. Trying to drag it on forever just gets you into the situation Halo is in now. We don't need any more. I've had a lot of dug with 343's games over the years but honestly I think the series should've gone out on top after Reach.

Click to shrink...

The thing is that no game really plays like Halo so while I agree a franchise should be allowed to conclude, I also don't want the last major arena shooter to vanish.

 

[vixolus]

No. A hard reboot makes zero sense. Just carry on and actually commit to the foundation Infinite brought.

 

[Bear]

I love Halo, it's one of my all time favorite series. They need to give it a rest for a while. Let it sit for 5 years.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Reboot what, the gunplay mechanics? The visuals? Make it 3rd person?

 

[Jawmuncher]

I love Halo, it's one of my all time favorite series. They need to give it a rest for a while. Let it sit for 5 years.

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I mean all things considered that'll probably be what happens mainline SP wise.
There doesn't exactly seem to be a rush to do a follow-up and we know the SP team were let go for Infinite.

 

[Dust]

I suspect not even MS knows what to do with Halo at this point.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I don't even know what you COULD do with a Halo reboot, to be honest. Like what are they gonna do, retell Combat Reborn's story all over again with new voice actors?

 

[Saladin]

Saddens me to say it but time to put it to sleep

 

[wwm0nkey]

Nah. The bones for everything are there. Fun campaign, just needs more variety in environments. Fun MP, just needs more content.

Both of these are capable of being remedied. People always want to shit on Halo, but the gunplay and sandbox is second to none.

Click to shrink...

I am talking about story, the lore is a full blown mess at this point even if you are a Halo fan.

 

[BassForever]

As a Halo 4 apologist who even liked what Halo 5 set up, at this point they should just do a full reboot. Whatever they decide to do 343 needs to fully commit to their idea for the story and stop responding to the fans who complain online and trying to pivot with each new entry.

 

[Dangerman1337]

I don't even know what you COULD do with a Halo reboot, to be honest. Like what are they gonna do, retell Combat Reborn's story all over again with new voice actors?

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That's my issue; you reboot it and do what? Just retell the OG trilogy? Do something new? What?

 

[wwm0nkey]

I don't even know what you COULD do with a Halo reboot, to be honest. Like what are they gonna do, retell Combat Reborn's story all over again with new voice actors?

Click to shrink...

Pre-343i, Halo had a good amount of EU that could be added to the game. But if we can have the RE-Remakes pretty much do the same things with slight changes, I think Halo can too

 

[Scottoest]

Infinite was the (soft) reboot.

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Eh, it was an extremely soft reboot. All they really "rebooted" was ditching the storyline with the Prometheans and stuff. And they didn't retcon it or anything; they just refocused the story and time jumped a bit past it.

I'd be fine with them taking some time and doing a more comprehensive reboot at this point of what Halo is - especially if they're moving to a new engine/toolset anyways. The MCC is there for people who just want to play what Halo "was" for the rest of eternity, and it's well supported.

 

[Capt Sensib1e]

I've never liked the aesthetics of Halo, the plastic Mattel toy looking armor, especially when compared to other great sci-fi IPs, that's one thing that definitely seems to need improvement. Having said that Halo was a cultural phenom so what do I know.

 

[writhingcorpse897]

For sure.

 

[barbarash22]

Maybe it's best to focus on the good gameplay and try to do something on a smaller scale to get things right without too much pressure.

Something like ODST?
Please no remake.
There's so much that can be done, just use a proper character different to master chief.

But overall I don't really care anymore.
Better to make no games than shitty ones.

 

[thejpfin]

I think they should make direct spiritual successor to Halo 3. New halo that has Halo 3's gameplay and level design.

 

[SilentEagle]

Abandon Halo. Maybe a new game 20 years later.

 

[Zeal543]

How many times has halo been rebooted now? Twice?

 

[wwm0nkey]

How many times has halo been rebooted now? Twice?

Click to shrink...

It has gotten a singular soft reboot with Infinite, but it still has the baggage of carrying over all the story from the 343i era stuff.

 

[Solid SOAP]

We need sad dad Halo asap

 

[ragolliangatan]

Wasn't Infinite meant to be a reboot?

 

[Forsaken82]

At this point it's better to just build the universe into something else. Maybe revisit Halo Wars or try their hands at a Space Exploration game in the vein of Elite: Dangerous.

I think Infinite has proven that the core mechanics of Halo feel dated alienating the casual mainstream audience looking for something more like CoD while also not being fresh and new enough for the core audience to invest their time in.

 

[N1corex]

I love Halo, it's one of my all time favorite series. They need to give it a rest for a while. Let it sit for 5 years.

Click to shrink...

the main series did rest for 6 years and we got infinite.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Was talking about this earlier and overall it's a pretty open-ended question.

Halo is still a big IP. You think Xbox, you still think "Halo".
The big issue stems from "Will a reboot magically fix all the issues the series has at the moment?". As said in the OP they've effectively started and dropped numerous ideas under 343 and this would then be the 4th time they've done so if we got a reboot. So while it can be seen as one such solution, I don't think it fixes the overall narrative issues the series currently has.

The story being a "mess" steams a lot from how a lot of it has been presented. The OG Halo series had a lot to chew on but your mainstream consumer always had the jist on most of the stuff going on. While starting with Halo 4 and going into Infinite, 343 really expected their players would do their homework when that's not the case.

Unlike say God of War that dropped Kratos well into his time in a new Mythos and we all learned about that together, Halo under 343 always felt like you were missing a book or something else rather than being on the same page of "Oh, this is new and there are supposed to be some mysteries".

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Overall, at this point I think sticking with Halo Infinite is the best bet. They just need to get an actual idea of where they want to go and actually commit instead of constantly bending to fans. Sometimes you just have to do things they might not know they'll like within reason.

Halo should be a Sandbox style FPS where you're rewarded for thinking outside the box in SP. From there, you should have a simple story that those who are hardcore can dig into more. With that said the story should still be branching out more even if Chief is still the main character. Let us actually interact with other Spartans again, let's play around with the idea that some Elites are on our side now. Even when things go back to basics, it should feel like the series as a whole has progressed.

Despite the faults of Halo 5, some of those good ideas were there in building up the world, so it was as shame to see Infinite regress a bit too much in that department.

 

[NDA-Man]

Honestly, I'd say, keep the storyline on Ice for the foreseeable future. Maybe tell your little narrative events in MP, but I dunno. Maybe it's time to just retire the campaigns and keep it as an arena shooter? Given they've laid off the SP team, that might be the plan now--Infinite had a longer-than-usual dev time, got an extra year for polish, and still came in hot in both aspects... but more people play Halo for the MP than the story, I think.

 

[Capt Sensib1e]

Brutes also need improvement, I feel bad killing Craig and his friends. An alien adversary that is more sinister like Starship Trooper bugs, Alien/Starcraft xenomorphs, or your Spartan's only source of healing is causing pain to orc boyz like an Ultramarine etc.,

 

[Pancracio17]

Dunno how id get the fans trust back after dropping 2 storylines in a row. Id continue Infinite.

 

[Moose]

I would like RE style remakes of 1-ODST then go from there.

 

[JigglesBunny]

Full reboot or kill it. Never thought I would suggest either of those but after Infinite, yeah, the goose is cooked.

 

[vixolus]

They start by getting good will back by announcing Halo 3 Anniversary Edition tbh