343:
We all remember the first time we played a Halo campaign co-operatively.
Once upon a time, two cryo tubes opened aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn and you escaped onto the surface of Alpha Halo together, accidentally meleeing your partner in the back as the level began (just me, huh).
Giving the Covenant back their bomb was a team effort; your road to Recon was a path forged together through the unfinished structures of Installation 08 and the cityscape of New Mombasa. You did not fall on Reach—nor to the esoteric shores of Requiem—alone, and the Mjolnir-armored boots of the legendary Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris were filled with those of your friends.
Microsoft's live service shooter seems to finally be on the up and up.
I mean, the game is finally at a very good place gameplay-wise.
Shame they did not launch it in this state.
Yeah, I got into it again on PC just recently, and it's far better than it used to be. There is ONE thing that infuriates me though, and it's fully directed at Microsoft in particular. The fact that they can't accommodate split-screen on PC's simply because there is no way to sign into more than a single Microsoft account on Windows OS. Even though you can have multiple controllers connected at the same time. So, it's 100% an issue of Microsoft just not caring enough to do anything about it.
Pretty much every GaaS launches like that though, what sets the best apart from the rest is the devs ability to listen and improve and 343 has done that in spades which is why it's having such a boom.
Nope, a solid GaaS kicks off strong and keeps improving through updates, all while the devs actually hear what the players are saying and 343 really dropped the ball on that launch.
Indeed.
Thanks to 343i and XGS continued support, Halo Infinite has been definitely getting better and better over the past years.
343i is definitely the best Xbox studio to be ahead of Halo games and the actual results is nothing but proof that all you need is the right people in the right places. The last shake up definitely is doing wonders for that game.
Hopefully their upcoming Halo will be even better!
@Vits
I would love to hear any examples of that because the most successful GaaS games follow this pattern like Fortnite, Apex, Halo, COD, No Mans Sky, FF14, Destiny, GTA:O, Fallout 76, Sea of Thieves etc.
Sure.
Genshin Impact, World of Warcraft, Dota 2, Crossfire, Path of Exile, Honor of Kings, Free Fire, League Of Legends, Honkai: Star Rail, Overwatch 1. You know, games that are actually monsters of revenue in their respective categories.
But I'm sure you find a reason for those not counting. And only the ones that fit your narrative to do.
@sparky77,
I don't think you should include Apex in your list, that game was good from the get go, unless you're counting Titanfall 1 & 2 for some weird reason.
The new 343 listens to fans. The old 343 (before Microsoft cleaned house) laughed and dismissed fan complaints about bugs with their software.
Glad MS FINALLY gave this studio a kick in the ass.
It was aways at a good experience gameplay wise, I never see anyone that played the game say it was bad, all criticism was based on the slow addition of content and no forge.
It is dated and basic gameplay.
I get nostalgic, but something should improve over a decade.
Gameplay was already excellent. It needed more content at launch and now it has it.
They briefly pass Density 2 after an update and this is a celebration for them? This has briefly happened in the past after updates as well.
Give it a few weeks for the update bump to wear off.
And of course Destiny 2 has a new update of it's own in the works.
You can really feel the desperation from Microsoft going into the holidays, all the usual sites are writing these types of articles over and over trying to see if they can get something to stick.
"More players than a 6year old dead game..congratulations."
Well, Sony paid 3.7 Billion to acquire that "old dead game" and its studio.
So they definitely need all that investment to pay out, and Destiny is nothing but Bungie´s biggest (and only) successful IP.
“We all remember the first time we played a Halo campaign co-operatively.”
Yes we all remember how Halo launched with campaign co-op before 343i took over the franchise.
Now the game is a fragmented mess.
It’s a sad day when campaign co op in a Halo game is made out to be some sort of celebration. Just shows how far gaming as a whole has fallen…
All the Halo hype over the last few years, and this is the state the franchise is in...
Bang average game that has had multiple delays to lack of content, and a TV series that is worse than most could of imagined.