HasHaloReached the End of the Ring?

There comes a meter in every long - running enfranchisement ’s sprightliness where a question start to suppurate in fans and non - fans ’ idea : should thisstill be going ? Look atSonic , theMCU , DCEU , and numberless others for instance . At a sure point , unremarkably followed by a number of high - visibility dud , the give-and-take keeps growing and growing until … well , until you’reHalo , I guess .

Bungie’sHalo2released for the original Xbox November 9 , 2004 . A ten later , on November 11 , 2014 , 343 Industries put outHalo : The Master Chief Collection , a remaster of the then - four mainline entries that contained a remaking of the 2nd plot as its main selling point . IfHalo 3was the original blockbuster game as we know it today , a luck of that is thanks to the legwork done by its predecessor . In what ’s commonplace nowadays , Microsoft upgrade the game as a big cultural event you justhadto be a part of . Then - executivePeter Moorefamously revealed the game ’s release with a tattoo on his arm at E3 2004 and the alternate realness gameI Love Beestargeted the net bunch , while trailer play in movie theaters ( the first game to do so ) . Even tilt bands likeBreaking BenjaminandHoobastankcontributing “ exalt - by ” songs to the game ’s soundtrack were part of a hard endeavor to run into non - players over the school principal that this was a secret plan worth pay attending to .

And itwasworth paying attention to : within the first 24-hour interval of its waiver , Halo 2sold 2.4 million copies and made $ 125 million in revenue , becoming the biggest amusement release in chronicle . Critics call it a corking sequel in nearly every way , and its multiplayer was the most - played statute title on Xbox Live for most two whole years until the originalGears of Warlaunched on the Xbox 360 . A tidy supplying of post - launch DLC and the 360 being rearwards compatible hold it become for a loooooooong time , to the point that Microsoft repeatedly pushed back the date it was going to keep out down its server . Master Chief Collection , while not without its fault , did its independent line of work in bringingHalo 2to a fresh console genesis — and ensured on a playability level thatHalowouldn’t be forgotten .

Halo 2 Anniversary

© Bungie

Since 343 took full stewardship of the series , things have n’t entirely move to plan . In 2015,Halo 5 : Guardianssaw a mixed reaction — much of it directed toward its effort and narrative — that eventually leave in 2021’sHalo Infinite . That plot had a lot to comport on its back ; along with celebrating the enfranchisement ’s twentieth day of remembrance , it had a gravelly first screening and a reportedly troubled ontogenesis that later ensue in several fundamental team appendage leaving 343 . It also had to clean upGuardians’narrative ribbon and prepare the franchise for its next saga , and it did n’t really do that . Hearts and minds were won withInfinite’sfree - to - drama multiplayer , but whatever original ambitions the studio had forInfinitewere substantially scaled back . aggregate with a middling TV show and a diminished extend universe , it ’s grown clear in the preceding few class thatHalois disarray . Some of it ’s ego - impose , some may stem from Microsoft ’s own uncertainty about what it wants from ( or to do ) with Xbox overall , but it ’s been hard to dismiss the elephant in the room .

In October , 343 changed its name toHalo Studiosand disclose several newHalogame projects were being made with Epic Games ’ Unreal Engine . Its Unreal - made conceptsall take the air the Spartan manner of walking and look the part , but they also show how limited the series ’ visual playbook has become now . ( Guardianstried to mix things up , but the biz ’s exploit to growHaloweren’t all met positively.)Halo’smultiplayer is still aces and the most systematically good affair about the series ; most of its on-going issuing surround its story . In some ways , Halo 2is where this all started , given how controversial its military campaign terminate up being with the surprise reveal of two supporter — players also take on the role of the Arbiter , a disgraced Covenant warrior tax with hunt down dissenters voiced byKeith “ The Man ” David — and controversial cliffhanger ending .

But times have change , and the franchise landscape is so different that cliffhangers finger more grave than ever . These day , a serial publication could well cut off whatever ’s deem expendable if it ’s not an instantly beloved smash instead of open it time to maturate into itself . This has been theHalo’sbiggest issue after Bungie moved on to other venture , and it ’s put the serial ’ undivided - player junket in a state of arrested development . It ’s just not healthy for a series that ’s been pulled around in so many directions so many fourth dimension to attempt and keep going , specially one that endlessly talks a big game and then stumbles when it comes to narrative payoff . Infinitewasn’t bad by any means , but it may have burned up whatever remnant good will and nostalgia from the original games that the series had .

Halo2

© Bungie/Xbox

None of this is to say that Microsoft just should meleeHaloin the back of the brain and bury it;Dragon Age : The Veilguardhas shown that any series can make a rejoinder . Triple - A games are being afford less sentence these daytime to make a real lawsuit for themselves pre and post - launch , and it would suck forHaloto be for good declared MIA . But if Xbox is serious about keeping the franchise around and not wholly ditching it forCall of Duty , the serial might take to take some proper time off so Halo Studios can determine both what it wantsHaloto be and how to substantially get there .

Want more io9 tidings ? Check out when to require the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on film and telecasting , and everything you need to know about the next ofDoctor Who .

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