Halo Infinite: 10 Ways To Save The Franchise
There's still time.
The Halo franchise is in a weird place. After the poor fan reception to Halo 5: Guardians, it seems developer 343 Industries have went back to the drawing board= with the latest entry into the series, Halo: Infinite. And it's a good thing that they have.
Halo 5, although far from terrible, failed to capture what made the franchise so special. A short campaign and intrusive armor abilities made the game not feel like what came before. Let's not even talk about the marketing.
343 have an opportunity with Infinite to really reinvigorate the franchise, injecting it with new life so Halo can return to what we all know it can be. By understanding the franchise's roots, 343 can bring fans of classic and new Halo together, expending the series like never before. They just need to not repeat their previous mistakes.
In this article, we're not just going to be bashing Halo 5, as easy as it is.
Halo needs to evolve, it can't remain antiquated forever. It's how it evolves that's important. Halo 5 was clearly the wrong direction, so let's talk about the right one.
10. A Full And Content-Rich Launch
The 343-era Halo games have not exactly had the steadiest launches. It all started with the Master Chief Collection, a game that should have been both a celebration of the past and a bright light into 343's next-gen future with Halo.
What we got, while packed with content from all the games, was fundamentally broken. It was impossible to get into games, and when you were lucky enough to, it was buggier than a wasp's nest.
Halo 5 didn't exactly come packed with a great launch either. While it certainly wasn't as buggy as the MCC, it was completely barren in terms of content. The game was missing playlists, split-screen, and classic modes such as Forge. It was baffling.
So many of Halo's essential modes were gutted, and in their place was a shallow husk.
For Infinite, 343 can't repeat these fatal mistakes. On launch it cannot be impossible to get into online games. If 343 want people to keep playing the game, they have to give them a solid first impression.
Essential features can't be missing. All the modes have to be in the game from launch, not as DLC at a later date.