Richard Bailey Jr. of The Koalition writes:
When the Xbox One launched roughly two years ago, Microsoft’s all-in-one console did so without a brand new Halo game to generate interest and increase hardware sales. Notable exclusives like Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 went on to strengthen the brand’s holiday 2014 lineup, while Halo: The Master Chief Collection suffered a wide array of technical issues and made fans weary of the franchise’s future.
With the long-awaited retail release of Halo 5: Guardians, 343 Industries and Microsoft are aiming to erase the past and create one of the best Halo games ever made. Here are a few of my thoughts on the campaign and why this entry may or may not appeal to diehard fans of the series.
In Halo 4, 5, and Infinite, Master Chief became a more nuanced, human character.
In spite of the Halo series’ struggles, 343 deserves praise for adding nuance and characterisation to the ever-beating heart of Halo - The Master Chief. Playing through Infinite, it's abundantly clear that the events of the current and previous trilogies have irrevocably changed the iconic hero. He’s no longer the ‘blank slate’ that was previously presented by Bungie. He’s a fatigued, damaged and fallible protagonist, and one who is meandering through currents of grief, while reveling in his newfound agency. Giving the Chief a compelling and meaningful voice was no small feat, and 343 should be proud of that victory.
This article completely misses part of the appeal of the original iteration of character in the original game trilogy. It was the Chief and Cortana vs an entire alien collective. The blank slate Bungie displayed in their games was genius, he was an mysterious hero a wide audience could identify with because he wasn't as clearly defined as most characters.
The books added a lot of lore and backstory but most Halo players just want a fun game with exposition that doesn't get in the way of gameplay, it's why the Cortana level in Halo 3 was derided.
Not every character has to be a damaged soyboy, a soldier has to suck it up and do his duty.
The 343i Master Chief has is based on the books. However, in Halo 4-Infinite, the Master Chief overtime become. gradually becomes more willing to show some emotion.
Daily Video Game writes: "GameStop is running a new pre-owned game sale on over 1000 pre-owned games that offers four pre-owned ($9.99 or less) games for $20 across multiple gaming platforms right now, including PS3 and Xbox 360!"
Given the nature of backwards compatibility on new systems, this is a great sale in case you missed out on some gems from last gen.
Most of the games on Xbox are on game pass. The Switch games in this sale are trash c'mon farming simulator that's laughable. The PS4 games should be cheaper. I can't wait for the GameStop going out of business liquidation sale.
These sales, while potentially great, really struggle to be valuable given you can't easily parse what games are in stock. You can't just say "only show what is online & what are in my nearby stores". Probably 60-75% of these games in these massive lists are out of stock for shipping, and out of stock locally. It makes it a chore to find anything you'd want, much less 4 of them, much less enough if you wanted to get to a free shipping tier. It's a bummer.
NoobFeed Editor Joshua Burt writes - There are many games in the famous Halo Franchise that are stellar titles and need to be revered. And some that do not. These games stand out from the crowd and deluge of colossal Halo titles. Games that made Halo great. We do need to iron out what qualifies the game for this list. They have to be in the Halo franchise… Obviously.
Halo 3 at the top is correct the only thing id change is swap infinite and halo ce around.
I need to cop an Xbox for this
Strictly from a story standpoint, I'd have to say the fact that Master Chief isn't utilized more is very disappointing. A first person shooter fan who is new to the series probably won't mind it, but I def expect Master Chief fans to be annoyed by this.
With the great sales, I was considering grabbing this and a console. I'll wait a bit.
Sounds like a game that can be skipped. Looks like 343 didn't exactly deliver.
Hopefully the rumours of this coming to PC are true