How Halo Died: A Video Essay

[@ben-ben2366]

You know one thing I always hated about 343 is that they have no respect for the original halo games. I recall an interview with a 343 dev and he was responding to the criticism of halo 5s campaign. His response was literally "If you don't like it just go back to the MCC and play Halo CE then". Why do these people get jobs to create halo games if they don't even like halo...

[@BrokenCircle1]

Funny you should mention the respect thing. Just finished my script for tomorrows video and I talk about that.

[@ODSTReach1]

Simple. Microsoft needed more "newer and modern audiences." Like, what are they trying to accomplish? Push away the playerbase? Destroy the very IP that made Microsoft popular?

[@nagger8216]

@@ODSTReach1 I just love how Halo 3's population peak wasn't enough for them, and now almost nobody plays Halo anymore. It sucks, but it's what they deserve

[@ODSTReach1]

@nagger8216 Yeah, they really didn't think ahead in terms of player numbers, if only they knew what would happen to their franchise...

[@tommurphy4770]

I know this in an old comment but 343 literally went out of their way to hire people who weren’t into and didn’t like halo to develop the new games to try and attract a new audience. Which can make some kind of sense but it’s easy to see why they have no love or respect for the games and the fans when lots of them didn’t even like it themselves

[@NZealand]

I feel like crying remembering the halo 3 days when you’d meet new people in nearly every lobby with mics

[@user-ns4zm8qe9p]

Now nobody is in game chat. Every now and then but it’s just not the same. You never stay with your lobby so you don’t really get to know people

[@Highrollinhunter]

Man I've met so many friends through Halo Reach game chat

[@davidfield6223]

Custom games all night friend and forige

[@Gr00t]

I've been looking for so long for a game that has that same social aspect that the golden era of 360 Halo & CoD had. Multiplayer gaming unless you're in discord is so lonely nowadays.

[@briancox4653]

@@Gr00t I agree. The most fun I have in any game ever is working with and talking to my teammates during a close match. The social aspect, pre/post game lobbies, proximity voice, etc. It's all been removed, from all games.

[@manofthewest5395]

2:17:05 The Harbinger hating humanity and the forerunners would have made a lot more sense if Frank O'Connor didn't retcon the fact that in the original trilogy, humans *were* the forerunners.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Wow! Thanks for watching that far into the video. I appreciate it alot and yeah yourre 100% right. At this point I don't consider new Halo to be Halo. It ended at Reach for me. I won't let 343 ruin my childhood memories anymore.

[@exnzi]

Fucking based, I hate when people say they like the new bs better when even on its own, it still doesn’t make sense😂

[@TopMostFlavor]

Halo 4 through Infinite are not Halo, simple as. Not canon.

[@LeftyTheHefty]

It's always interesting to me how randomly polarizing ODST was/is. I actually really liked it back then and enjoyed it during a recent playthrough. Better yet, ODST and Reach prove that you can tell a great story in the universe without leaning on the Master Chief or retconning established lore.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yeah ODST took time to appreciate. I think I was too young at the time to properly appreciate its different tone. At the time I think I just wanted 'John Halo is a good guy he kills aliens'

[@jarredeagley1748]

Playing through odst for the first time right now, love the story though some of the dialog is a bit childish. Hella fun to see the Halo world (pre-343i Frank O'Connor disaster) through the eyes of an unaugmented soldier

[@DaveyGravyYT]

I tried for a long time to enjoy 343's halo games. and they have brought us amazing forge modes, the custom browser... but their failures are simply too much to ignore. it feels like every week they find a new way to disappoint me. really sad to watch this happen to your favorite franchise

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yeah same here, that's why I made this video. I didn't want to and honestly it was hard to make. I loved this franchise. It was everything to me at one point. 343 did add some cool things but it's like I remember a youtuber I used to watch alot Roneyboney used to say 'three steps forward, forty three steps back' and that sums it up pretty well.

[@MalditoSonhador]

My first halo was reach, I remember we were to poor to afford internet so we take the 360 to my grandma's house, I installed reach demo and played everyday, one day my grandma brought a copy of the game for us, that was one of the happiest days of my adolescence.

[@clairejohnson4633]

I liked Reach. My former boyfriend and I played the hell out Reach.

[@michaelmerritt7406]

I'm surprised people seem to have forgotten about this strange time period where 343 made mind boggling story decisions that had little more reason than to wipe away Bungie's infkuence on the story. Aside from the bizzare design changes in Halo 4, they killed The Rookie in a book by having him get unceremoniously executed in a hostage situation in order to contrive a sequences leading to Buck becoming a S-IV and had the Didact kill Spartan Team Black as if they were a bunch of red shirts in Star Trek, despite them being a badass S-II team that even got the prototype Mk. VI well before Maria-062 tested it over Earth. Hell, they initially teased The Spirit of Fire as having been taken over by the Flood before quietly walking it back and making it so that Jerome-092 kills the stowaways. But by far it was their hate-boner for Dr. Halsey. The morality of Dr. Halsey has always been in question due to her involvement in the S-II program, but it was always in the lignt of the *imminent* civil war that would've set humanity back by *centuries* had it reached its natural conclusion. But starting with Spartan Ops and going into the really shitty Escalation comics and initially into Halo 5, they wrote Dr. Halsey as being little more than Space Dr. Mengele that experimented on children for fun and makes galaxy brained partner ships with the Not-Covenant for little more reason than to show how manipulative and evil she is. I also think this is a part of the hate for Cmdr. Palmer, as she's personally tasked with killing because reasons, taking her arm off. Only ending these butcheries of the past story when the criticism got too great by putting all the responsibility on Brian Reed and sacking him - and people simply ignored the fact that everyone up to that asshole Frank O'Connor was responsible for the story direction.

[@BrokenCircle1]

All true. Thanks for watching. I didn't know about Black Team. That's a real shame there. They were cool (weren't they in Halo Evolutions?) I didn't mind then killing the rookie I actually thought the Buck storyline was pretty good but I can see why some didn't like it. The rest I totally agree on. Frank the plank needs to go. Brian Reed was arrogant though so he did need to go but I see what you are saying about how they placed all the blame in him when it should have been addressed far more toward others as well. Spartan Ops and those Halo Comics you mentioned were awful. The entire Karev Tavis trilogy is terrible. So much filler, so much Halsey hating for no reason.

[@ulty1472]

Good to call out that idiot O’Connor he is ultimately reason behind forerunner retcon and likely one of the main culprits behind Reach’s retcons. All O’Connors offered are retcons as far as I’m concerned. Love his take on I Love Bees being canon tho.

[@ΒασίληςΒλάχος-τ3κ]

ahem ahem reclaimers cough cough

[@intuitionedits2.032]

I don't hate Halo, I hate 343. They've ruined Halo beyond recognition. I grew up from the age of 5 up until now at 23 playing those games. Halo for years was the *only* M rated game I was ever allowed to play. It bonded me with my older brother. Even he nowadays doesn't seem to care how much Halo is changed. It's sad

[@BrokenCircle1]

At this point as far as I'm concerned 343 Halo isn't Halo.

[@intuitionedits2.032]

​@@BrokenCircle1agreed.

[@lionsxxden]

Ive never told anybody this, but in high school when we took the standardized tests and I was told to write an essay about a hero of mine, I wrote a three-page paper on the Master Chief. I remember saying something about how everybody fights better when he's on the battlefield, and how he wasn't the best Spartan in almost any respect, except for his determination to win and how much he cared about other

[@BrokenCircle1]

Lol. Did you get a good grade on it?

[@tomfoolery5844]

6:28 the fact that you place the decline of Halo right at the release of Cod 4 shows how much you understand this franchise. Few choose to remember the ebbs and flows of the Halo community, and how the release of other games effected the playerbase at the time. How Halo and CoD were battling for the top spot and the effect that had on Halo’s releases, notably ODST and Reach. While I love those games, I know they only splintered the fanbase further. I remember it distinctly. It’s why there was such a sharp decline in sales after Halo 4. They never reconciled the original split. Edit: also Halo 4 sucked lol

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yeah Halo 4 largely sucked but there was definitely a shift in gaming at the time. I covered it more in depth in a recent video called 'The Biggest Problem with Modern Halo' if you're interested where I basically talk about how COD lost its roots, Halo followed it because 343 wanted to follow trends and as a result both franchises stagnated and became stale alienating new and old fans alike.

[@tomfoolery5844]

@@BrokenCircle1 I’ll definitely watch! Great work man!

[@Highrollinhunter]

As a kid I played Halo Reach non stop and I remember hearing myths about Bungie employees having recon armor and the flaming helmet I miss old Halo.

[@BrokenCircle1]

So many myths about different armors. Did you ever encounter the 'crystal armor'

[@Highrollinhunter]

@@BrokenCircle1 yeah I remember that myth I also I remember the ghost of blackout

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@Highrollinhunter Well Blackout was a myth but the ghost of Lockout in Halo 2 wasn't...

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

This video was so well put together. You deserve more views on this. Great work dude. Honestly I am trying my best to work on a halo 4 mod to fix halo 4 and make it a true sequel to halo 3. But I am waiting for 343 to release the mod tools and steam workshop support already. But yeah, The halo franchise wont be succeeding under 343's current management. They refuse to listen to fans about there concerns or wants. They keep removing legacy features that nobody wants removed. Its like they are still trying to turn halo into some generic MCU Esports franchise Without realizing halo can succeed by expanding on what it already does well, big battles, Social features, Amazing campaigns. 343 will never learn despite the many years. It took them 10 years to get the damn art style correct. It will take 50 at this point for them to actually correct course for there next one hit wonder. The part I agree with you the most on is the fake corporate wokeness from 343. So annoying we lost spartan booty for both males and females errrr.... I mean Light armor and Heavy armor now since your biological gender existing is now offensive for some reason and now Cortana has to put clothes on like she is under Shira law. the removal of social features to please sensitive people who can't take trash talk and censoring of older games like ODST. Its just so annoying to see so many things be changed to be lesser just to please Microsoft's EGS score. 343 likes to preach about how inclusive and safe they are yet all the work place reviews for them say otherwise. Its all just fake. Its so annoying. Halo can succeed. But it will never under 343s and Microsoft incompetent management. They don't care about making halo games, They just want to make a buck quickly and move on to the next game.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you so much for watching. I literally worked on this video for over a month, I forgot to mention the removal of Male and Female but yes that annoys me too, there was just so much to put into this video. I have wanted to make a video like this since H4 came out. Good luck on your mod and let me know when it drops, I'd be interested in making a video on it.

[@TSK_Silver]

most of the woke stuff is just pandering, they don't see you as a human they see you as money, and if people are upset about something like police lights, then they are losing money, not players

[@matthewrayburn9417]

Ii

[@ulty1472]

Had up until you went all anti-sjw im against the whole faux progressivisms thing too but some of your points are just stupid. And frankly there are far more important things that ruined Halo than police lights or cortana having armor. Now in regards to 343 itself yeah its big issue and shows a major hypocrisy

[@clairejohnson4633]

Fun Fact: Reach and ODST were "obligation" games, meaning that Bungie had no intent of making them to begin with. The only reason they were built was due to Bungie's contract with Microsoft that they had to make so many games and those games were made to meet that obligation. ODST was supposed to be a DLC originally but Bungie decided to make it into a "full" game to help boost their way out of the contract. While Reach was far from perfect, I did enjoy it for the most part. I loved the sense of hopelessness that washed over you as you watched your team get picked off and watching innocent people die and Reach burn, while you die in turn. I have to say the sense of desperation was palpable and watching the the "Oh shit" moment really sunk in hoe terrible this war was. I wasn't a fan of some of the gameplay. Multiplayer wasn't too bad (I kinda liked it) and firefight was ok at best (wish it had a Flood firefight mode). There were cut corners but honestly, I could go back and play it and be satisfied with it. A heartbreaking end to an era, a fond farewell.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Well for obligation games they were damn good but yeah ODST should have just been a DLC/expansion. Thanks for watching.

[@sgtboom7]

I feel the need to slightly correct the thing about ODST being marketed as a "full game" by Bungie to get out of the contract since I too thought the same thing. While it is true that ODST was used as part of their contractual obligation to make more games. It was never Bungie's intention to market it as a full game or to even price it as such, that was done purely on Microsoft's end because of their top management wanting some more money out of it. Marty O'Donnel (who was involved in the meetings with Microsoft) said as much in another KZbin video in the comment section: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqvMXopufbp4epo This is the full statement: "The Story Behind Halo 3 ODST In July of 2007 we had finally negotiated our way out of Microsoft. I was one of two leaders at Bungie who did the deal directly with Shane Kim (head of MGS). It was supposed to have been simple. We give them Halo 3, and they give us Bungie. It turned out they wanted us to make more Halo so we agreed to make Halo 4 (which became Reach) and we would help with the Peter Jackson Halo game. Not the Peter Jackson Halo movie - the game. There was a clause in the deal memo which said that if Peter Jackson failed to make the game, we would be released from that obligation. Somehow that clause got deleted. MS came back to us and said we had to make another game. We negotiated to make a Halo 3 campaign expansion, using a small team and finish it in one year. We were concerned about taking resources away from Reach which was already in development. MS agreed and we pulled in Paul Bertone and Joe Staten (who had been working with Peter Jackson) to jump on this project. Our plan was to under promise and over deliver. Release the game in the Spring for $29.99 and call it an expansion. Then people would love it because they would get so much more than expected. Don Mattrick came in (replacing Shane Kim) and started playing hardball with Bungie. Our plan to announce the campaign expansion at E3 (anyone remember the countdown clock?) was cancelled at the last minute www.engadget.com/2008-07-15-e308-bungie-net-revealed-countdown-cancelled.html Then it turned out the top management at MGS decided that the holiday 2009 season had no major titles for Xbox and delayed the release of ODST and also upped the price to $60. They marketed ODST as a full game - not an expansion. Because our negotiated deal had some profit sharing built in, Bungie probably made more money. However, many of us on the team felt like we had been double crossed and felt bad about misleading our fans."

[@Drives31forhalo]

My favorite thing is how both the ending cut scene on Halo CE and the end level cut scene on Halo 3's The Continent have a broken audio trigger that doesn't stop the level BGM for the cut scene. Two super iconic cut scenes with super obvious issues. I started halo with halo 2 when I was a kid & it pretty much single handedly defined what I like to this day. Halo 3 & reach got me through some really bad times in high school with it's awesome community & how it somehow just made it easy to make friends online. I only played halo 4's campaign once when it came out, and dropped the multiplayer within two weeks. never bought halo 5. bought MCC for PC as soon as they released it & while it has tons of issues, I do like that I can play my old favorites again. I was really hopeful that halo infinite would be a turning point. I liked the art style, gameplay was fun, but nothing could have prepared me for the story. the campaign was pretty much just a slog & I really didn't want to revisit it after I finished it. It definitely wasn't worth $60 I remember when halo was _the_ game to play. I enjoyed each game made by Bungie, they weren't perfect, but I considered them good games at the end of the day. I've _never_ enjoyed a 343 game the same way I enjoyed a Bungie game. They can't even replicated the pre-game & post-game lobby magic that Bungie made for the games, it's honestly impressive how _bad_ 343 is as a studio. I also liked Halo Wars back in the day & remember having a ton of fun with my online friends. I just wish the studio that made that game didn't get screwed over so hard because I honestly think they really tried to do halo right.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for watching. I agree totally on Halo Wars. Ensemble was a great studio that really respected the source material they were working with. Now with the big 3 over at 343 gone maybe things will get better. I doubt it but we can always hope. Well actually I've been hoping for a decade. Oh well. Also with the lobbies yeah 100% 343 UIs and menus are just trash. I don't get what's so hard about making a working UI. I mean for MCC why didn't they just use the old UI with a few tweaks? Why did they have to change everything. Even the loading screens are inferior. I miss the old days of Halo 3 where it would like draw the ring as the game loaded, or Halo 2 when it had the logo that would light up in blue slowly...what do we get now? A tiny loading bar and a picture...sad.

[@pyr0hunter22]

2 is the goat I also started with it

[@matthewjackson9953]

Halo 2 is neglected because it is a monument to all 343’s sins.

[@prodtr3v]

The fact that this video needs to go on for 2 hours is crazy! So much has gone wrong with this franchise.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Believe me I wanted to make it shorter. And to think I almost made this a year ago now and NOTHING has improved. Things have literally gotten worse.

[@Phillibetrus]

Honestly I gave up after Halo 4 and laughing at the state of Halo now more than anything. Still play through the Bungie games on occasion (through MCC now just because of convenience) and still have a great love for this series. Biggest differences I had were with ODST and Reach which I loved right out of the gate where it took you some time to warm up to. Also I cannot stand all the changes that the Forerunner saga made to the lore. While I think that they are ok books if taken separately from the games they are incompatible with the OT with the biggest contention being that Humans were Forerunner. If you are going to complain that the game Reach changed stuff from the books why would you completely overlook what the Forerunner saga changed?

[@jarredeagley1748]

What I found most astounding about Halo Infinite is the vehicle destruction, they just go "poof!" And vanish in a puff of smoke without any personality or even really much in the way of debris. Also the dropships behave very strangely.

[@raypolaris3381]

As I watched and listened, I could feel the genuine heart and soul you poured into this video. The balance you struck between reminiscing through nostalgic, childhood memories, and conducting a measured disassembly of both Bungie-era Halo, and 343i-era Halo was thoughtfully, and tactfully done. I'm grateful you didn't shy from rightfully criticizing Microsoft's horrendous mismanagement of the Halo IP, as well as their, and 343i's toxic, woke, corporate culture. Too many people these days are afraid to call a duck, a 'duck' when it comes to corporations' creatively vapid wokeness that is infesting all the things we loved, so I appreciate you sticking your neck out for the sake of keeping the record straight. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed, and has earned you a new subscriber. I wish the best for you moving forward.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I spent so much time on this video. To date it is the longest I ever produced. I never spent so much time on a video. My only regret is that I made it before I got a decent mic and I think some background music would have been good at times. It disgusts me what's happened with Halo. It really is a shame. The amount if greed, laziness, and we'll you watched the video so you know how I feel. Again thanks for watching.

[@raypolaris3381]

You're very welcome. I watched the whole video in one sitting, and even though it's a long video, it never felt as if it dragged on too long at any one point. Your pacing is really good, so keep it up!

[@Arc3752]

@@BrokenCircle1 I feel like the Halo games are giving us one final life lesson. That it's important to learn when to let go. Microsoft couldn't let go of their best exclusive and cost them time, reputation and money. John (Spartan 177) couldn't let go of Cortana and with each new game his character has deteriorated. It's time for us to let go of the hype, let go of the hate and let go of Halo.

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@Arc3752 *sigh* at this point I'm inclined to almost agree with you. I heard news earlier that EA is making another C&C game...but the catch...its another F*ucking mobile game nobody asked for. We haven't had a proper game in that franchise for well over 10 years and all they give us is a mobile game they will milk? At this point though I wasn't even surprised. I just kind of accept its time to let go of the dream a new C&C that is decent will ever be made and well perhaps its the same with Halo. I'm taking a week off uploading this week just because I am so fed up.

[@Arc3752]

@@BrokenCircle1It sounds like you're getting burnt out. Can I offer one more bit of insight? You've been covering 343 industries like they are a company that matters, but they aren't, they are a collective of trolls. So just remember 3 things. 1. Trolls will always get worse the more attention you give them. 2. 343 can't destroy our memories of those past experiences that made Halo legendary. 3. What trolls hate more than anything else is losing their spotlight. Our hate only strengthens them, so why not take away their what they feed on? Pick your favorite Halo ending and let that be where the journey of Mast Chief ends. Let's stop asking when "Will Halo ever get better" or "How much worse can Halo get?" and instead look for the next Halo.

[@naughtywizard]

It would be hilarious if a new company starts with halo 4 again, completely disregarding 343’s existence.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I would LOVE that.

[@Suprasavage]

I would do it if i had the franchise. Completely denying the existence of H4, H5 and HI and remaking the MCC without H4 plus a proper remaster of the classic games!

[@Swaous]

​@Suprasavage Anything past H4 I consider as just 343 fanfiction or chiefs cryogenic nightmares but H4 campaign had a decent narrative but the game over all kinda stinks imo

[@Swaous]

A decent narrative ignoring the retconned stuff

[@heroicdairy]

In all honesty it’d be necessary 4-6 directly contradict all the Bungie era games in multiple ways. 4-6 are as much a silver timeline as the show with all its contradictions to the original games and older books

[@xyeeVEVO]

my biggest problem with this video is the fact he swapped the CE pistol for a plasma pistol at 1:32

[@BrokenCircle1]

Hahahaha. I just like to play with the whole weapon sandbox. I really like the plasma guns in CE.

[@Fuzduf]

Hey man, I’ve had this video on my watch later list for awhile, but I just now got around to watching it, and I have to say you did an excellent job with the script writing! I’ll be looking forward to any more of these types of video essays!

[@BrokenCircle1]

Well I wont have a video essay this long ever again (though then again never say never) but I will certainly do shorter ones as time goes on. This was one of the earlier videos I scripted and it was sadly done before I got a better mic. My biggest regret is not buying the better mic before making this. Still one of my proudest videos. I have been tossing around the idea of doing a part 2 including newer information since this one was done nearly two years ago now. Also wanted to be a bit more concise as watching it back these days I think I rambled a bit too much at times on personal opinion rather than objective fact but then again that also gives the video its charm so I don't know. Anyways thanks for watching. It means alot that somebody watched this. It took me over a month to make. I stayed up till 8 or 9am finishing it up one night.

[@Fuzduf]

@@BrokenCircle1​​⁠thanks for the response! But hell yeah do what you enjoy most for sure. I’m a fan now :)

[@Moose_97]

I remember completing Halo 3 for the first time and being upset because I didn't want it to end, it didn't help with me thinking it was the last Halo game XD

[@TaiidanOnslaught]

Portal to the Ark on earth was completely correct because forerunners were Humans before the huge retcons that 343 instituted. Just had to say.

[@BrokenCircle1]

That's a good point, I forgot about that. Thanks for watching!

[@novadelsol8127]

Well put together video essay. It's sad that the only "enjoyment" I get out of halo now a days is by watching others "complain" about its state. I got invested into the mega construx in hopes of making a awesome diagram with the figures, but those products are just as messed up as the main games. Again, this was well written and put together and I learned a lot from it. I hope someday Halo will be good again, I just don't know when that day will ever come if it even does haha.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks so much for watching. This video was the product of over a months work nonstop. I stayed up till 7am or so to finish it lol. Yeah the megaconstructs quality is seriously lacking and they got super expensive. Sad to see what Halo has become nowadays. Oh well what are ya gonna do I guess.

[@novadelsol8127]

@Broken Circle Win the lotto and buy the Halo IP for way too much then use the remaining lotto money to make one new Halo which is basically a Reach to Inifinite with everything from all the Halo media, the good only, and package it. I imagine a few billion dollars should do it haha. Better than what most people who win the lotto use the money for.

[@leandrompradof]

Incredible video, it is crazy how halo influenced people growing up around the world. I'm younger and only discovered Halo when i was around 7 and Halo 3 came out. Lived in Portugal at the time, then i moved to Brazil, Halo was not such a big hit locally, Call of Duty was more known. The franchise changed completely how I viewed science fiction, music and even motivated me to pursue an aerospace engineering degree. It hurts, psychologically, to see the actual state of Halo. Literal building blocks of youth being thrown away by corporate incompetence. Is it too much emotion to look back at the past like this? I don't think so, it is necessary, just like in this video.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for watching!

[@Gyrfalcon-312]

In a way, I'm grateful to 343 Ind. Their epic failure with managing the Halo franchise, has inspired however many thousand fans to step up and become KZbinrs to articulate their beef with the firm's games. Many of the resulting have been great, this one included.

[@graye2799]

7:40 Halo 3 and Reach was competing with Cod MW, MW2, and Black ops at their prime and was neck and neck with them. People werent tired of 3.

[@cdyjv118]

3 still had plenty of life left when Reach released.

[@christianoutlaw]

I was starting to make a comment and held off. That worked out because it gave me the chance to pull it up on my computer where I can type it better. And that also got me to the hotel I'm staying at for work. I didn't have it confirmed, but I was able to get my favorite room number. It is fairly appropriate that I'm making this comment from room 117. I'm old enough that Goldeneye was my intro to the FPS. I enjoyed it a lot, even entered a tournament at my school. But I can't say I got that into it. Halo CE was something different. I can't count the number of times I played through the campaign and that was the first time I was really into multiplayer. Many a college night was spent in the a constant battle royal with friends and people from the same floor. Halo 3 might well have been one of the best things about 2007 and that was a year that included me getting into and starting pharmacy school. So my love for the franchise runs deep. And that's why I am a little bit sad about this, but I have to agree with your statement towards the end. Maybe it would be best if it were to go away, maybe not permanently. But at least until both 343 and Microsoft have released it from their greasy clutches. Maybe once the public consciousness of it fades somewhat, it'll go from being a marquis franchise and we can go back to what made it great, a unique story and an excellent game. I think it captured the same lightning that Star Wars managed to do in its own right, an appropriate analogy since both have suffered the same fate. Sadly I think your analogy is right on the nose. They're going to make leather shoes from its hide, fancy trinkets from its bones, pry out its fillings, feed what they can't use to the jackals (be it the African or the Covenant variety), and move on to the next big thing and not miss a beat. But the excellent story and the hero we needed in the Chief will at least endure in our hearts ... unforgotten.

[@BrokenCircle1]

@christianoutlaw Thank you very much for watching. Yeah. It's sad to see the state Halo is in today. Just last Friday I made a video to along about how I just don't even wanna talk about this franchise anymore because of all the nonsense. I'll still cover mods and any real major news but it is just so much constant dissapointment.

[@intuitionedits2.032]

Thanks for reminding me Halo 5 disabled shield recharge while sprinting. I HATED that. It was so dumb and it felt so arbitrary. I'm a competitive Halo at heart and Halo 5 broke all patience I have for multiplayer in shooters.

[@but1z]

@@intuitionedits2.032 you’re an idiot at heart if you even wasted time playing halo 5

[@jaybinks871]

I found your channel today from the sidebar, after my recent anti-343 vids. This was a great video essay. Thanks for giving me something to listen to during work. Subbed.

[@mauz791]

Flawless video. It included a few gripes you had about the Bungie games, showing they weren't infallible gods, but rather passionate people who made incredible games and could make a few mistakes. But damn, so glad you dogpiled 343. The incompetence shown by Frank O'Conner in the games story and continuity makes me want to pull my hair out. The humans are forerunner, Bungie could not have made it more explicit. My first game was Reach, and it was amazing. Playing it with my older brother, watching the both of us struggle killing the brute captains was awesome (one time we ran out of ammo, and spammed him plasma pistol shots when he was running us down, a core memory of mine). It was wonderful how the music inspired you to literally change your life in high school. The themes when the full scale armada shows up, or when Cortana was given to Noble 6, it looped in my head for so long. Love Reach. I played 4 and 5, and thought they were good, but once I played all the Bungie games, my mind was blown. How could one top the story? A race worshipping their gods while simultaneously exterminating them. Impeccable. Then the beauty of those classic one liners was unmatched ("I am a monument, to all your sins"). All of Bungie's careful writing thrown out the window when Bonnie Ross and Microsoft elected Frankie to spread his incompetence, and actually run the company. Still dumbfounded by that. And then destroying the sprint argument? Amazing. Sprinting dilutes the map, distracting from the Halo pyramid of combat (Guns, grenades, positioning). All to appeal to the new fans. It's unbelievable how terribly Microdoft and 343 fucked this up, it was a golden goose, and the only reasonthe Xbox exists. It's terrible corporate fumbling, and you can compare it to other companies. Look at FromSoft, how Sony hated Demon Souls, and from stuck to their guns. Now Elden Ring has 20 million or more sales. Milking the cash cow is far less fun for the cow and consumers than to reap its rewards after letting it flourish, and fit into its own niche. The hopelessness is completely warranted too, as Big Boss said, "343 is now three (failures) for three". The art and music in Infinite was great, which sucks because its band aids. God I hate being hopeless but this is the only rational option left, other than being a pathetic corpo shill.

[@Callfromabove7]

This video was well done, it is highly informative and the duration tells me all I needed to know. It is rather nice getting some insight to others' opinions regarding Halo's radical change of development Halo 4-onwards. I personally say Halo 3 to maybe ODST was certainly the franchises' peak. I liked Halo: Reach well enough, but some fans did not gravitate to the campaign as well as the armor abilites, especially the one that shall not be named in terms of its multiplayer. I say the campaign, though not as intriguing as Halo 2 and 3, I found to have nice philosophical and aesthetic details present across its story. Halo 3 is my personal favorite and it is quite a shame that 343 Industries haven't necessarily innovated, (and instead downgraded in some areas) with the Halo formula. We have fallen so low that the basics such as Co-op, Forge, Infection, Firefight, Theater (the latter being a glitchy inaccessible mess) all of which have become nearly expected in the Halo games, Halo 3 onwards are either not apart of the game, promised to come after launch, or not all. It is because of their approach to the narrative and how their Halo games lacked a sense of longevity and replayability (with Halo 4 and Halo Infinite being especially apparent) I have only stuck to replaying the Halo trilogy titles. MCC is essentially is the Halo franchise on life support.

[@coolman229]

So this is how Halo died. Not with a bang. But a whimper.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Sadly.

[@nagger8216]

Not really, Halo ended with Reach, but people remember how grave robbers dug up its corpse to parade it around for profit more than its actual, graceful death.

[@BrokenCircle1]

That too. At this point I think it's best to just consider 343 Halo what it is. A crappy knock off that another company got the licensing rights to. @@nagger8216

[@bolognabong]

The beginning story strikes home so hard. Not just specifically Halo, but being a kid and seeing cover art or an advertisement and dreaming about what that game could be like.

[@TSK_Silver]

long awaited video, gonna sit down and watch this with some pizza

[@BrokenCircle1]

I love pizza. I hope you enjoy both the video and the food. This took forever to make.

[@TSK_Silver]

@@BrokenCircle1 well so far you nailed halo 4, i beat it on legendary and i was no joke bored to actual tears, it was the worst halo experience i have ever had

[@AssapimasterShinikoza]

@@TSK_Silver play spartan ops on legendary solo

[@TSK_Silver]

@@AssapimasterShinikoza is it worth it

[@AssapimasterShinikoza]

@@TSK_Silver No you’ll hate it and it will make you think Halo 4 is a masterpiece in comparison specifically gameplay wise

[@CrashPK77]

This was a transformative video. I was unaware of the depths of 343i and Microsoft's truly abhorrent greed and disrespect for our community. I knew they were greedy, but holy shit. I never trusted Frank O'Connor or Kiki Wolfkill, or any of them...and i desperately wanted to, so my favorite IP would survive. You're right, it was a kind of Stockholm syndrome. But...yeah...I have to be done with Halo. They're not getting any more of my money, ever. I'll still play everything up through Reach, via MCC, just for nostalgia sake. No more MP for me, and no more spending. #Boycott343i

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave a comment. Yeah I rarely play nowadays and never play multiplayer. I just mess with mods sometimes.

[@Black_Dragon_Studios]

halo 4, it was actually the first halo titled i played, I've only really been a halo fan since 2016, i was only 10 at the time, my sister and i were hanging out at our aunt and uncle's house, when he pulled out the Xbox, and booted up halo 4. i thought it was so cool, it was really the first shooter i had ever played. (my mom wasn't very big of video games, and it didn't help that my dad loved them) but i didn't really PLAY halo 4, or follow its story, back then it was just brainless fun shooting up robots and aliens. when we got home i begged my dad to get halo. so for Christmas we got an Xbox one and halo: the master chief collection. From there my dad had me play halo CE and follow the story, (he was also a mild halo fan and played CE back on 2001) and from there I fell in love with this series, I went on to play halo 2, 3, replayed 4, and read a few of the books, like operation first strike, fall of reach, the forerunner trilogy, and ghost of onyx. then i played through halo reach and loved it, and it actually wasn't until recently that i played ODST, and started to play more of the multiplayer, (honestly when i hear people talking bad about the multiplayer system for mcc back in 2016-2017 it doesn't make sense, then again i played mostly campaign so i probably don't remember it very well,) from there i decided to download halo 5 from the game pass and check it out. (about four years ago) I saw the preview in halo 2's anniversary cut scene, and my exact thoughts were, (HOLY CRAP THE ARBITER IS BACK THIS IS GONNA BE AWESOME) or somewhere along those lines. and i was sorely mistaken, and disappointed, we barely saw any of chief, or arby, (i was happy to see the blue team had finally made it into a game however.) and for me there were A LOT of plot holes that were filled in halo four spartan ops, (witch i literally played and finished like a week ago) over all halo 5 was terrible, i thought that bringing cortana back was stupid, (i really liked Chief and Cortana's relation ship story, and her sacrifice in the end, "she said that to me once.....about being a machine." that whole thing,) and that 343 really messed up writing there, (honestly i think they just took inspiration from the cortana letters back in 1998 and decided to write a half ass story based on it) and this comment is already too long so, i thought infinite was OK, cut scenes looked like crap and story was cringe, sandbox? more like dumpster fire. Multiplayer slowly improving, still hoping 343 turns its crap around or gives halo to another studio,

[@KampzOnXbox]

Crazy to think the newer fans who started with h4, even you guys were conned by 343. You didn't get a continuation of halo 4 with halo 5, you got some completely new bullshit. Feels bad.

[@but1z]

MCC simply did not work on release, not broken, did not function.

[@cybergames3436]

Imagine if the 10mil per episode went towards a CGI animated series in the style of the clone wars, portraying the large battles of the HCW in arcs. Maybe following omega team or any spartan II team, showing the stiff personalities they have at the wars opening, develop as people as they interact with marines and humanity as whole. Build stakes as the covenant adapts to spartans and counters them, then unveil MKV armor, have the spartans whoop the covenant who, piledrive reach on response as they believed it would solve the problem of the spartans (which it did as like the spartan IIs I think got to below twenty members after the battle) which is why id personally go for omega or black team, spartan teams we know were not at reach, maybe change perspective to follow a spartan like Linda 058, cutting to black when she gets shot in the head, then re-release the halo books with fresh covers to see how well you sold halo to viewers. Then return to the II team we were following and get their reaction, the desperate final battles of the war, then the elites disappear, the brutes take their place and make the advantage Mjolnir's new shields offered worthless as the spartans now get tossed like ragdolls by brutes. Then just, end the war. No heroic last battle, maybe have the spartans we follow so broken down and exhausted they barely notice the wars over until they fight elites again, only to realise they fought their allies. Halo wars portrays a version of halo we just don't see anymore, each step forward the UNSC took was five steps pushed back. The franchise is that now. Halo 4 was an attempt to appeal to the players lost to call of duty, costing chunks of the series original player base. Halo 5 was my first halo multiplayer, I played halo 3 then CEA, ODST (my sisters personal favourite) and 4 first and honestly halo 5s multiplayer appealed to me as a introduction, but around 2020 I saw every flaw I didn't see, and well I stuck to warzone firefight. Infinite was a returnish to form, faced by a train wreck of a game engine, trend chasing open world campaign that cost us proper missions due to its devtime. A FTP model costing us returning armours THAT 343 JUST HAD TO REMAKE THE ASSETS OF WITH MORE POLYGONS. A mark V armour core that could have had the halo 3 and fall of reach comic helmets put on it to make up for the lack of VI armour to the general playerbase, and an absolutely gutted sandbox with good abilities but barely any weapons with new ones cobbled together with gimmicks some weapons had taken away for infinite. And as an Xbox one player even more pain and suffering performance wise that forced me to adopt a defensive playstyle and over crouching to try and ambush people on better devices. And well, now's a better time to play infinite as ever as at least the challenges are just play/win match now with the weekly being a thing specific from what I've experienced. The opening of halo wars wasn't just creative assembly crying out for help, it was a prophecy of what was to come.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Well thank you for watching and commenting. I feel your frustration for sure and agree 100% on the TV show. I did like Halo Wars quite alot and yeah Infinite reeks of laziness to me but sadly that's just 343s business model it seems to milk the most out of the fanbase while doing the least amount of work. There is little to no actual passion for creating games with them.

[@cybergames3436]

Getting into halo around the time of halo 5 hit like a truck, halo 5s "Hunt the truth" trailer got me into the series, seeing it on a billboard, but halo 3 sold me on the franchise, spending years on a aging Xbox 360 content to just, wait for infinite then upgrade. My dad after I constantly refused to upgrade consoles just did it anyways for Christmas, got all the halo games on the Xbox one when MCC started getting its PC releases, and finally played my scratched to death copy of reach on the Xbox one. Halo wars was game I picked up last year, and after infinites first few months utterly ruined my love for halo, it got me back in, I watched the act mans review and I just used it as a jumping off point to properly look into what went wrong with halo. Seeing the views of people who have been into halo before I was even born has helped me get a better picture of it, and you pretty much summed up why I avoid parts of 343 titles.@@BrokenCircle1

[@gearheadboss7028]

I don't get how this video doesn't have more views than it does 😳

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for that. Probably because I made it 2 years ago with a crappy mic, I only had I think 500 subs or so then as well.

[@rmw9420]

really glad i watch your whole video. i could tell how much passion an thought you put into it. you should be proud. keep up the good work

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for watching and the kind words. More will be on the way soonish.

[@WorthyOfMordor]

Excellent video. You did a great job covering the history of the franchise and how they ended up where they are today. It's baffling to see how Microsoft has treated the series that built the Xbox brand. Halo is the reason I asked my parents for an Xbox back in the day. Some of my best gaming memories are from playing Halo over the years. I tried Infinite but the lack of maps, bad performance, and cartoony graphics pushed me away. I don't know what can even be done at this point to fix things. What could future Halo games do that could fix the story or draw players back?

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for watching and yeah I feel your pain. Sadly much of what is left of the Halo community has been pacified and conditioned to accept the garbage quality 343 puts out.

[@mspat8332]

The part on Call of Duty is so true and is something no one talk about, or people are just denying it, but CoD was the real "Halo killer", it was massive and you could feel Halo started to look "lame" in the eyes of the entire gaming community, everyone went to play CoD 4 rather than Halo 3. Obviously 343 finished the job, but Halo really started dying when CoD 4 and MW 2 came out.

[@BrokenCircle1]

@mspat8332 I don't think Halo died with that at all. I think it definitley started there for sure but less so died and more so lost alot of its appeal.

[@landoncampbell3180]

You know I started playing halo with reach and the order after was definitely not chronologically played for me it was spuratic but before 4 I did play of them in order to get a good understanding of the story and you know halo and star wars have always been my two favorite sci-fi stories of all time I grew up on halo. Halo was my childhood while I came late into the series I was born in 2003 and my parents were strict when I was little so I had to wait. But it was worth it because me my brother and our friend played all of them and beat halo reach to the point we lost count probably somewhere in three digits we once beat it in just a night. We played it so much if you ask my brother he could tell you all of noble teams designated numbers I can list the missions in order our friend could probably tell you the entire soundtrack and we all pretty much remember 90 percent if not more of the voice lines in that game. On my own I played the others time and time again. With this video you've made I agree and it hurts as a halo fan that hurts. It's literally like watching someone you know and care about do drugs or drink become an addict and then you try to help but they don't want you there to be an actual friend they want you around so you can just give them more money to get high or drunk. This game literally gave me friends when I had none. Halo has and will always hold a dear place in my heart. But I won't pretend anymore that it can be redeemed it can't. It's dead halo is dead and gone won't be back to where it was sure it's still here but it's a hollow husk. I'm not even gonna say it would be okay if bungie kept it because of what they have done with destiny. To actually say those words Halo is dead. It's like I've been in denial for a long time about it I knew they were going down hill and honestly it made me angry I didn't want lose this staple in my life. I still don't but the truth is what it is it the truth doesn't care. It shouldn't care halo will always be so nostalgic for me but I think it's time I walked away from halo and that well that hurts there is no more that can be done or said so I'm done.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I feel this comment 1000%. Fuck 343. And thanks for watching.

[@forte1174]

Thanks for the video, kept me entertained all day at work ! Great content btw I'ma check your other vids out. And I agree the only thing relates to halo I'ma buy re the books 📚

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm gonna be honest with you up until about two or three months ago alot of my content is all over the place. I've been putting in more effort recently trying to get this show on the road.

[@ETTemplar]

Thats a triple A video dude! awesome!

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you! I spent alot of time on it.

[@AFarCryAway]

I find it very interesting how our upbringings with Halo are so similar, but our opinions differ on the individual games so much. I loved ODST and ADORED Reach. Maybe I was just more into the concepts of making Halo a more "grounded"/"tactical" series. I also found that making my own Spartan in Reach gave me even more attachments to the plot.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I love ODST and Reach today but I think at the time it was just too different from the original 3 for me.

[@NotKelloggsCornflakes]

Have to disagree on, what I believe is a crucial aspect of classic Halo. Team damage should always be in every Halo game. Though annoying to deal with trolling, the fact that you can harm your team mates in a battle forces the average player to have to THINK especially in objective game modes like CTF or Bomb. Lack of team damage encourages grenade/rocket spam and undisciplined aim/positioning. If a theoretical competent developer of a Halo game added missing features like join in progress and ability to forgive a betrayal while also increased the penalty for being kicked for betraying, I do think it would cut down on a lot of mindless habits and trolling. I hate that, in a fight with an enemy, despite that I am winning our 1v1 because I ambushed him while he is out of position from his team, and position myself so that he obscures his own teams view of me, but because his more aware teammates can spam grenades his direction and shoot his back knowing some bullets will make it past to hit me, I die.

[@azzythechristianfurry]

1:33:11 To add to your point, I played Invasion once and the ENTIRE enemy team+ some of my team were AFK.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yes AFK/bots have been a major problem since MCC launched especially on PC

[@morganlindsay8872]

First video ive ever watched on your channel. Very good video too.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for watching. My modern ones are a bit better quality this was made nearly two years ago.

[@MyMediaChops]

I am so glad I watched this to the end because 2:12:06 was hilarious and sad at the same time. Overall awesome job with the video.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had to go and check what you were referencing since I made this video over a year ago now. Yeah I was honestly losing it a little bit making this one. Halo is done and every time I hear any news about it nowadays I just shake my head. It is really sad what it's become. It's funny watching the Halo Wars footage I used in that part reminded me of a better time when Halo was awesome. Nowadays modern Halo games feel like nostalgia bait cashgrab at best or just straight up disrespect and corporate greed at worse. Thanks for watching. I appreciate it.

[@GoldieH3]

The Boltshotty on Halo 4 still gives me nightmares, especially before they patched the reload glitch where you could just charge fire it to your heart's content.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Halo 4s entire weapon sandbox makes me think it was designed by people who never played a video game against other players.

[@zeroattentiongaming820]

I just got MCC on PC after not playing Halo since 3. Have to agree about Reach's visuals, I'm shocked a 360 game looks that good. Sure I'm playing it on a much more powerful platform but there's very little difference I can see between the max settings and the console equivalent settings. I remember 3 looking great for the time but Reach is on another level entirely

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yes Reach looked great so did 3. There was a massive downgrading in visuals that seems to get worse with every game with 343 for some reason.

[@Xenophon122088]

Excellent video throughout. RIP Halo.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you for the compliment and kind words!

[@Xenophon122088]

​@@BrokenCircle1 You bet! And thank you for a well thought out video, and for calling out 343 and Microsoft for their disrespect and predatory market practices against the fans.

[@olymbiabirda7131]

Halo isn't dead its just missing in action

[@Prodigy_717]

Nah it's dead bro😔

[@olymbiabirda7131]

You know as long as there are people who still play and care about the old games it will never die

[@TarsonTalon]

I never could get into Halo 4's Forge, despite being a mapper, because every time I saved and quit, ALL THE PIECES WOULD MOVE EVER SO SLIGHTLY EVERY TIME I BOOTED IT BACK UP!

[@steverambo4692]

I don’t mean this as an insult but it’s so weird seeing an og halo fan and not someone that was primarily bought up on reach making a video on this topic

[@BrokenCircle1]

Why is it weird?

[@steverambo4692]

@@BrokenCircle1 maybe weirds the wrong word but most halo content on KZbin is produced by people that came up with halo reach and look back on it very fondly and often avoid admitting that that’s when halo started changing

[@batezioman7448]

True, most of the community is compromised of Reach Kids

[@bluesunset-5]

Reach was a good game. Bloom to me made sense cuz they were earlier Spartans ie potentially not built like masterchief to where kick just wasn’t real. A real gun has kick. Didn’t bother me. It was mostly people upset they couldn’t spray and pray. I thought it was a good touch. And again made sense cuz of the time. Maybe no kick was literally an affect of chiefs strength. Either way didn’t break the game. Story wasn’t dry either. Halo 3 and reach were the only halos that made me cry. But I loved all of bungies work. And odst was a masterpiece to me. If you look at it as a side project it’s perfection. I get it’s not what everyone wanted. But I always thought the odsts were one of the best parts of halo. It was also very dark and gritty… something 343 would not know how to do. So outside of your hot take on reach and odst this was a great video. I exclusively blame 343. Bungie did well. Especially when you consider how good 2 and 3 were. If you thought halo 3 was a 10/10 reach would have to be a 8 or 9 so it’s not like it dropped the ball or anything. To me I still think reach was 10 or 9 at the least.

[@jarredeagley1748]

Wish I could've experienced the golden days of Halo 3 through XBox Live, but instead my childhood was spent on Halo Custom Edition which was an absolute blast

[@BrokenCircle1]

Hey Custom Edition was cool as hell. I played alot of that throughout my teens.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Hey Custom Edition was cool as hell. I played alot of that throughout my teens.

[@spaghettiboi5976]

I think the reason that the banished don't like humans is because they created Cortana and she blew up their home world

[@Slender_Man_186]

But that only happened after Halo Wars 2, and Cortana is waging a war against humanity, so that still makes no sense.

[@CoffeeCrowgasm]

Yo this video rocked very well done sir!

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks that means alot. Glad you enjoyed.

[@BartyBud]

"If you like this video Bungie will give you recon armor" literally every hair on my body stood up, that unlocked a core memory for me lol

[@BrokenCircle1]

That was the idea.

[@SADmemer.]

I was born to late to even enjoy halo reach. I play LAN parties almost every other week to enjoy halo 3 with my friends.

[@Reinboa]

A quick thing about Halo 3 ODST and Halo Reach, Bungie was under a contract with Microsoft so they had to make those games. They we're already done with Halo by Halo 3 and tried to make do with how much time they had. A lot of resources were put to Reach so ODST didn't receive much attention. And in turn both games ended up what they were being with their contract. It's why they teased Destiny all the way back in 2009 in ODST.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I love both games. Yeah I had heard that. Thanks for watching!

[@Reinboa]

@@BrokenCircle1 whole video was great. Got yourself a subscriber as well. Hope to see what else you do soon.

[@DMH1999]

I never had an Xbox and was not able to play the games until about 2019~2020 and only because MCC came to steam. Before I would just watch the YT videos and I remember really wanting to play the games. When I was finally able to play I was ecstatic. I could not wait for the MCC to finish installing so I could experience what I had watched and heard my friends talk about for so long. I remember thinking "I AM PLAYING A HALO GAME!!" I loved the games, especially the first 3, and could not wait to see what would happen next. But, after a while the poor optimisation and overall clunkiness of the game really started to tick me off. I could not understand how 10+ year old games were running so poorly. Then more weirdness with customization updates and the lack of caring on 343's part really started to tick me off. I wanted to play Halo, but half the time it wouldn't really work properly and then I learned that the game had been in this state for years and was actually worse at the start. I honestly thought it would not have been worse, until I looked up older videos on the MCC, and was shocked at how apathetic 343 was, and is about fixing the game. Lighting issues that were there at launch are only now being fixed. It is insane. Then the Halo Infinite hype train for me died. I got scared about the release of the game and when Infinite was delayed a year I figured my worst fears were true and I have not bothered to look up anything Halo: Infinite related since the game came out. 343 does not care about halo. They never have. Like, take H4 for example. When I first played it I thought it was okay, but something was bothering me that I could not understand, then I realised this: Halo 4, if it was the only halo game and could not rely on the popularity of the older games, it would have failed/only gained a small following. 343 takes the other games and their fans for granted and just shoves out mediocrity because they know it will make people think of what was. It is not their "new ideas" that sells Halo. People buy halo for what it was. All their (343) games sofar have been the most generic sci-fi stories ever with a loooot of artificial drama and no emotional or moral substance. 343 needs to stop making anything new, focus on rebuilding the games and their trust with the fans. or we need a new publisher who knows what they are doing to curb stop 343 and rebuild the trust with the fans.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Well said, I agree with you 100%. Like you said 343 basically makes money off of nostalgia for something they didn't create. Thanks for taking the time to watch.

[@DMH1999]

@@BrokenCircle1 Thanks for making the video, man. I found the whole thing well thought out and well spoken. One of the best dissections of the sad decline of Halo I have seen.

[@mikemandeville4680]

Halo 4. I see that there is already a comment saying they gave a 343 game a go; and I am the same. I was hopeful in the beginning, but eventually got the thought "if this is just meh to why was this even made: how are the other two game gonna be any better than this?"

[@BrokenCircle1]

They aren't. Like I said at the end of the section I think Halo 4 is the best game 343 made. And that's sad.

[@chrislaezur730]

Funny, as a kid I hated the BR as a precision weapon and found myself basically a God with the DMR the second I tried SWAT in Reach. I don’t mind the bloom. I didn’t like the game not following the book as a kid but I just ultimately decided to think of it as not strictly canon and still a real cool expansion of the interactive Universe. I didn’t really see Chief not being in it as a negative, the ad material was pretty clear. 😭 I liked the NOBLE characters. In my opinion, the Golden Age started with Combat Evolved and ended years after Reach came out. As controversial, experimental and divisive as it may have been, Reach was still a great game, very fun, very cool. It wasn’t until the release of Halo 4 that the player numbers of 3 and Reach tanked and then never recovered. Even as Halo 4’s one numbers rapidly tanked within months of release. Very sad.

[@chrislaezur730]

God has spurned me and I am on mobile so I can’t edit; *Halo 4’s own numbers.*

[@lionsxxden]

Is broken circle a reference to the Halo book about the elite - prophet war?

[@BrokenCircle1]

Funny enough it is and it isn't. It's complicated. I just told that story on the channel discord. It's long. I really need to start putting links for that in my descriptions.

[@TarsonTalon]

I was confused as a kid as to why Halo was rated M...until I got to THAT level...

[@Incog-e1z]

As the head of a tiny studio making a Halo style shooter, I can only hope that my company will fill the hole that so many Halo fans have.

[@orzen_the_orzo933]

I really like The Master Chief Collection especially since it's on Game pass now. I enjoy playing through the games by myself or with my Dad or my brother and sometimes playing online, too. But recently, they broke the game and every time I try to play a match or a level, the game eventually crashes and resets my whole Xbox One. This never used to be a problem; back when the game was 117 GB or less, the game worked perfectly; but ever since they started updating the game again after Infinite released, it started crashing. I will say that I'm using an original Xbox One and not an S or X or whatever came after the one in 2013 and Halo 2 Anniversary lags on it, but everything else used to work perfectly. If this is happening to anybody else, I'd like to know if there's anything I can do about it because I don't want to uninstall the game because I really enjoy playing it.

[@serganteddy5]

I finally got to enjoy Halo 3 at the start of 2014 before I played Halo 4. I really liked going back to Halo 3 better, and I was enjoying myself with the skull hunting from the story campaign, too.

[@SHADOWFRENZY92]

I had no idea they removed Dominion from matchmaking. If I had stuck around that long I definitely would have dropped it then since it is basically the only thing I like in 4.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yeah Dominion and Regicide both. Awful decisions and that's one of the worst things about early 343 games. They had some cool ideas but were executed in the worst way possible.

[@intuitionedits2.032]

I thought I was crazy when playing Halo 2 multiplayer on pc the other day and my shots were *not* connecting even though I could clearly see them hitting

[@davidantinori4778]

Very nice video, I enjoyed it a lot! I really liked midship though and so did a lot of my friends. It wasn't an exceptional map, but one that felt well balanced and was a lot of fun because it had so many ways that you could get around using crouch jumps. IMO, they should always carry over ALL the maps from the previous games. Even if they're not in matchmaking and only usable for custom gsmes. But hey, it's not everyone's cup of tea. Your audio quality isn't that great. If you can, I would recommend investing into a better microphone. Apart from that you did a great job and keep up the good work!

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for that. Yeah I know some people like midship, to each their own. It would be cool if they could bring in all the old maps. As for the audio quality you are referring to this and other older videos yes? I got a better mic since then and it is much better. My two biggest regrets with this video are 1. the horrible mic quality and 2. I should have put music in the background.

[@davidantinori4778]

@@BrokenCircle1 Thanks for the reply. Yes, considering mic quality, I referred to this older video. I just watched another one and it was much better! And don't mind the missing music. I actually didn't notice that there wasn't any as I was so concentrated to listening to what you said.

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@davidantinori4778 No problem, when KZbin actually notifies me of comments I always try to reply if they are constructive or positive like this. I appreciate that you and people like you take the time to watch what I make and leave feedback.

[@victorreznov2822]

im pissed that 343 never added an file browser for MCC, i mean come on make it easier for people to find player made maps and game modes

[@BrokenCircle1]

There is a sort of file browser but its extremely clunky

[@ricardobornman1698]

Like many companies in the industry, they have become completely disconnected from their target audience, not to mention the updating of the franchise for a more "modern audience".😡 It's like the character of Michael Keaton said in the disastrous Robocop reboot: "People don't know what they want until you give it to them". That kind of sales attitude has caused the downfall of many a beloved franchise because of corporate greed. I feel the next big gaming crash has started and the cancellation of E3 is the sign of that. All this nice gaming hardware but the software is complete garbage. Put a turd in some nice packaging and we will make you pay your soul for it over and over again. 🤔

[@arisumego]

I'm just so happy I checked out before halo 4 came out. I guess I was a really cynical kid, I remember reading the "we hired people who hated halo" quote going around from idiot O'Connor and already knowing it was over.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks for watching.

[@keyboardstalker4784]

I didn’t see any of the interviews leading up to the game. I just booted up the campaign when it first came out and remember it being some of the most boring shit I’d ever played.

[@ben-ben2366]

Great video mate, got yourself a sub 👍

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thank you!

[@pyrofloki]

I will never forgive 343 for what they're did to the Bungie lore

[@SunnyMitten]

Trump once said the infamous "Everything woke, turns to 💩.", after that police nameplate scenario, I quit halo altogether, and when I went back in 2023 this year... HE WAS RIGHT, GAME STILL SUCKS LOL 🤣

[@herebedragon]

tf happened to cortana's face.. girl needs a bag for that

[@intuitionedits2.032]

"The sensitivity feels inconsistent." That's one of the reasons I stuck with Modern Warfare 2019. Modern CoD has terrible gameplay but the controls feel insanely smooth and I don't understand why 343 doesn't borrow that. Especially on controller

[@ericmoses8281]

343 did NOT kill Cortana for plot. They killed her for being attractive.

[@intuitionedits2.032]

"It's free to play"... is such a horrible excuse to justify the horrendous monetization system. It's also the same system Activision has been using with Warzone and the *SAME* system battle royales use to justify mtxs. And it is so disgustingly manipulative. And 343/Activision wonder why players hate their modern games and would rather play games like Halo 2, Halo 3, Cod 4, World at War, BO1, MW2-09, MW3, BO2, BO3, etc. Because we're sick of the bs. Free to play is also often used an excuse to ship the games with minimal effort put in so that when the devs/publishers get criticized they can turn around to the playerbase and say: "Well it's in beta right now! You can't expect us to launch *all* the content in a *beta*! Just be patient. The game will launch with more content in a few months!" Which is exactly what 343 did with Infinite. And seeing all the praise it's getting *now* infuriates me because people are falling for the same trick 343 has pulled since *HALO 4*! I will give 343 a pass for Halo 4 because that was their first game they developed alone outside of Bungie, but after Halo 4, they knew better. They knew exactly what they were doing when marketing Halo 5 the way they did. It's inexcusable. And Halo Infinite had *SIX YEARS* and we're supposed to feel pity for 343? I wish the 343 fanbase would look at Halos 5 and 6 and the failure of MCC at launch as well as other games and see the pattern of manipulation 343 has woven throughout the years. Unfortunately, you're right. There's absolutely nothing we can do. And with Microsoft aquiring Activision recently, things are only gonna get worse for Halo. The only Halos I'll ever play again are the Bungie Halos on MCC, both with and without mods. Side note: I have yet to see a "free to play" game ship without some sort of caveat or catch. Absolutely none of the "free to play" games are ever that. It's just a clever manipulative tactic to get people to download microtransaction simulators lol

[@BrokenCircle1]

The worst part is the fact that nobody wanted Infinite to be free to play. Nobody. That was a decision they made purely to exploit the playerbase. I love how this community went from hating Halo Reach to being OK with monetized colors...

[@intuitionedits2.032]

​​@@BrokenCircle1​ Halo Reach will always be that weird experimental game but it was my first real online experience with Halo and the first Halo I got good at. I have never understood the hate for it. It's not a perfect game and after playing with sprint for so long, I do see how why people absolutely loathe it. I kinda wish Reach didn't have it. That's why I mainly stick to Halo 2 on MCC nowadays even though I have anger issues and am absolutely terrible at Halo 2. I miss that classic experience Also, sorry for the comment spam 😂

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@intuitionedits2.032 I don't mind. Comments help push the video out so make as many as you like and thanks for taking the time to watch my video!

[@intuitionedits2.032]

@BrokenCircle1 it felt nice knowing I'm not the only one extremely frustrated with the way Halo is going and has been going. I feel at times I'm the only one who sees what Halo's become and despises it. On Twitter I see so much praise over decisions 343 should have made at the start of Infinite and I'm like "seriously? They don't deserve praise for this. Just months ago you were complaining and this is all it takes for you to praise them?"

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@intuitionedits2.032 That's because 343 literally hires people to tell them how to psychologically manipulate their customers. That and unfortunately alot of gamers especially modern ones are very weak minded individuals.

[@soundclock2939]

Ive just been playing ElDewrito as of recent, its just fun old school Halo with people actually chatting in game. And its free

[@BrokenCircle1]

I hop on there from time to time though I do dislike the lack of regular populated servers. Like most of the time its just modded minigames. Granted the mods are really cool but I just wanna play Halo 3 not gears or ratchet and clank or whatever.

[@ryanthiele5970]

I just started playing mcc for the first time and it’s only for the campaigns. I played all the halo games as a kid and up until 5 and infinite admittedly I never finished the campaigns for the latter. Matter of factly I don’t think I ever finished the second level of 5. I love the lore and the story, but in all honesty if 343 and Microsoft can’t listen to the players in the next halo I think it’ll be the final nail in the coffin.

[@reffa2858]

I love Halo Reach. Mostly because of the great deal of customization and community features it added. I also really like its story campaign. But I can absolutely see why someone would hate halo reach because of its armor abilities and how it retconned parts of the Fall of Reach book. Also what you did at 2:14:33 was messed up! 😂

[@BrokenCircle1]

I don't hate Reach at all I can just see its flaws especially back in 2010. Still a fantastic game.

[@OmegaF77]

Frank O'Connor single-handedly brought Halo down. He screwed up the lore (he changed the fact that Forerunners were ancient humans and instead made them a separate race, making the rest of the lore make no sense like humanity being "reclaimers"). He also bungled up the Didact and Librarian terminals in Halo 3, which he wrote. He also wrote the story for Reach, which is why something felt off and I'm willing to bet that Joe Staten had to rewrite/edit that stuff.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I cannot find any information saying that Frank the Plank wrote the story for Reach. I had heard at one point he tried to claim he did but there is to my knowledge no evidence of him doing much there. The terminals were a cool idea I hate to admit but I wish someone else wrote them as his writing sucks. I think it was alot of things and people. Though Frank was alot to do with it especially in the early days.

[@ulty1472]

@@BrokenCircle1wouldnt be shocked if Frank had a big role in writing Reach

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@ulty1472 Apparently he had taken credit for it at one point. I had heard that somewhere. I think I saw you left another comment, I will reply to that when I can. I have to go to work soon.

[@ulty1472]

@@BrokenCircle1 i found out he took credit through C3 Sabertooth’s video about the Forerunners it was near the end of it where he showed a screenshot of Frank on twitter saying he wrote most of Reach’s story

[@sargeman]

Yea, till August of 2021 the rest of the story missions completed achievements popped up even though I finished it when mcc was still new. I’ve finished it ce on normal and heroic but it wasn’t popping up until August of 21. Even though reach came out on mcc not to long ago

[@SunTzu176]

You know, Ill say if always found it so odd, that I as a Halo fan since CE, I mean Im talking original xbox, duke controllers, CE packaged with the box. Got it from Sams Club. I read the books, loved Halo. When Halo Reach came out? It was, and continues to be, my favorite Halo game. I think maybe its because I never really cared too much about multiplayer, because I honestly couldnt give a crap about armor lock and MLG players crying. Reach was peak story, peak graphics, peak design. Everything looked and played amazing. I never had an issue with say certain weapons not being in, because well it made sense to me. UNSC army, isnt going to be using the same thing as the UNSC marine corp, same reason why I never had a problem with the MA5B existing only in H1, makes sense to me, their mission was to board a covie ship and capture a prophet. A fully automatic, 60 round capacity lead spewing fire hose of a weapon totally makes sense for shipboarding actions.

[@BrokenCircle1]

Yeah I like when MLG fanboys cry lol I did miss the weapons but I see where you're coming from.

[@SunTzu176]

@Broken Circle ha don't get me wrong. I'd love for them to be in. I'm a kitchen sink kind of guy. But I figure it was like I said. To differentiate the Army from the Marines and to show different weapons off. I will say the Halo Reach Mythic mod is fantastic if you want to see what reach is like with every weapon from all the games. That mods got everything, BR, SMG, two different LMGs, two different shotguns, the commando from infinite, and a few that were only shown in the books like the MA5K that the 3s used in ghost of onyx. Same for covenant weapons. Really neat mod. Also yeah honestly fuck pro players and mlg try hards. They get catered to by game devs to the detriment of regular normal players and multi-player ends up a mess because it's built from the ground up for the top 10% of players. Not everything needs to be SWAT on Lockout 24/7 not everything needs to be balanced. Just make it fun. Competitive play should have never been halos focus. It was an arena shooter first and foremost that focused on map control and the whole killstreak call downs ruined the flow of the multi-player and turned it into a different genre entirely.

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@SunTzu176 Mythic mods are amazing. Yes agree 100%

[@Krehnadian]

1 year later I don't think MTXs are in MCC thankfully

[@tactialpain1196]

hey i have a question how did you record on your xbox to send to your computer

[@BrokenCircle1]

Uhm I didn't...I recorded all this on PC

[@tactialpain1196]

@@BrokenCircle1 Oh okay sorry.

[@BrokenCircle1]

@@tactialpain1196 No worries :)

[@forte1174]

I liked odst 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@BrokenCircle1]

Me too, I personally love ODST. I say that later in the video. I just meant the general consensus in 09 was ODST was disliked for alot of reasons by the majority of the community.

[@bestmasterbilly6173]

good video!

[@BrokenCircle1]

Thanks. I spent alot of time on it. Sadly with the current state of the franchise it's probably gonna be among the last of my Halo videos at least pertaining to any new news or whatever. I may cover mods and stuff because those are still cool but I am beyond fed up with 343 and the corporate shills who enable them.

[@bestmasterbilly6173]

@@BrokenCircle1 I dont blame you, we been getting abused by 343 for over a decade, its almost comical how bad they are

[@HiveQu33n]

1:39 I hope its sending all possible metadata about keystroke/controller inputs to anticheat systems

[@BrokenCircle1]

What do you mean by that?

[@HiveQu33n]

@@BrokenCircle1 I mean I hope that the amount of data it's sending is helping to at least combat cheaters. That would be the smart thing to do, but it's 343 so probably it's just their inefficient code running back and forth.

[@Shedled]

Been playing since Halo 2, I remember all the nights I stayed up to play halo 3 customs with my my friends in grade 7 or the days I were to play countless hours of halo reach. It went downhill when 4 came out, ever since then 343 still has not made an amazing halo game. Another thing to add, Halo is just dead and nothing will bring it back imo. It's just time to let it rest and I don't see it ever reaching numbers back in h3 ever again. Gaming has changed and halo did not evolve fast enough, it's just not fitting with modern gaming. Cod was able to keep up but halo was late to the race years ago. Just so weird 343 and Xbox acts like nothing is wrong and the Halo IP is strong and healthy, but imo it's on its last breath. Rip Halo

[@BrokenCircle1]

100% agree with you. Alot of it is the remaining fanbase has that same 'the franchise is doing fine' attitude. Alot of places I shared this video had very negative reactions to the very idea that Halo was dead. I guess the truth hurts.

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

I think halo can work. It just needs a company that understands what halo is and how to make it work in a modern gaming environment. Infinite did amazing for the first few months. But then 343 screws it up like always.

[@shockedhorizon5308]

Watched the video in full, and I felt like giving my own experience with Halo. It's kind of an odd tale compared to the usual sappy childhood story, but Halo means a lot to me regardless. This is gonna be like the longest comment I've ever written so strap in and get a snack. I don't remember when exactly I first played Halo, though I know it was sometime during late 2021 or early 2022, maybe 2020 or even 2019 (definitely very very recent compared to most of the fans). I played it because a friend of mine convinced me to get MCC on pc to play a game or two of Halo Reach, though knowing who it was it seems very out of character now. I was still kind of new to FPS at the time, having personally avoided FPS games due to the whole "games cause violence" bullshit that was most prevalent in the 2000s and early 2010s, so when I found that I was really enjoying Doom 2016 (probably my first singleplayer FPS) I decided I was going to be sticking to "retro" FPS and thought that Modern FPS was a bunch of nonsensical game design meant to make gameplay less fun. I played Halo Reach with the guy, had more or less fun, but was frustrated at all the "strange gimmicks" - sprint (with slow base movement speed), weapon bloom, reloading, ETC. Something about it was appealing enough to play the campaign, though that must've mostly been because I'd always heard it was the "best Halo campaign ever." I played through it on normal, had fun with the gameplay, wrapped up the story, and decided It was just... Really mediocre. I had only bought Reach, and not the whole collection, so I put the game down, and sometime later that same friend got me into Destiny 2. I thought it sucked at first - for the same reasons I didn't like Reach at the time, those modern FPS conventions - but sometime around the release of Beyond Light, in the face of HALF THE GAME BEING REMOVED, I found myself frankly in love with Destiny 2, a passion I still proudly carry to this day. Finding I liked Destiny so much, and hearing the occasional mention of Halo from general internet osmosis, I decided to finally buy the entire collection sometime and played it all in order, with Halo CE first. I liked it more than Reach, but didn't have any strong opinions about it. It was fun, and the story was okay (if not forgettable, even with the Flood reveal), and the music didn't capture my imagination at the time, and the artstyle was cool, and the aliens were funny, but I just didn't think it was all that much to write home about. And then I played Halo 2. Something about the cinematics, the story, the dialogue... From the first opening cutscene, I was hooked, though at the time I don't think I could've really told you why. I practically binged Halo 2, and while I at first thought the gameplay still wasn't special, by this point it had been growing on me. I practically couldn't put it down until the end. I immediately went on to play Halo 3, but by now I was already a full on Halo fan. Halo 3 only cemented this further, with it (and Halo 2) now standing as one of my favorite games of all time. By this point, I was fully immersed. I played ODST, loved it. Played 4, didn't really like it, and didn't care to think about it (besides the Prometheans. They're god-awfully designed gameplay wise, but I like them design-wise. Even if they make no sense.). I went to the internet, going to feed my new Halo hyperfixation, and found plenty of great videos about the story, about the lore, people sharing good memories of the original trilogy, all that fun stuff. I think at some point some point I picked up on the general dislike for 343, which I believe was due to the then upcoming launch of Halo Infinite. At the time I did some digging, and found a great video about what is probably Halo's biggest lore controversy: whether or not Humans were Forerunners. Perhaps obviously after watching that video (as well as many observations I've made replaying Halo CE, 2, and 3), I'm on the side of "Humans are literal Forerunners," but that's not the point. The point was, this video made me realize that 343 was doing a lot more than just mishandling the gameplay and artstyle. From here I decided I'd stick with exclusively playing the Bungie games, even going as far as to purchase physical copies of Halo 2 and 3. I found I enjoyed watching videos of long time Halo fans rag on about how bad 343's games are, namely the video "Halo 4 Is Worse Than You Remember," mostly because I as an aspiring game dev hope to someday recapture what made Bungie's trilogy so special, but also because it helped paint a picture of what Halo was like when I was a kid, having spent the largest amount of my time on the Xbox360 playing Minecraft and Terraria at the time. Anyway, having seen this video, your video, arguably the most passionate and genuine one I've seen yet, I figured I'd leave my own little piece of personal Halo history. I didn't grow up with it like everyone else, sure, but I love it all the same. Thanks for reading all this if you did lmao, it sure is a wall of text but I just felt like bein' sappy was appropriate for the vid. Here's to hoping that some day someone will step up to carry the trust spirit of Halo once more. and also to hoping they fucking fix MCC Halo 3's goddamn hitreg

[@BrokenCircle1]

Read your comment in full. Don't worry about it being a wall of text it wasn't. The seperation of paragraphs is nice. Interesting story for sure and thank you for the kind words. Yeah Halo isn't what it used to be. Really that's an understatement Halo is a joke now. I will make more videos discussing the current state of people claiming 'Halo is back' every five minutes at some point in the future. Minecraft 360 edition was amazing by the way. I just earlier played a world I've had going since 2013...I transferred it to bedrock edition now so I can play it on PC. Terraria is cool too. Ever try Starbound? You might like it. I certainly do. I am so passionate about Halo for many reasons really (sorry if I'm all over the place here its 1am and I can't sleep but tired and typing thjs on my phone). Halo was my everything when I had nothing. Went through alot of rough things but Halo kept me sane for many years. Seeing 343 do what they do to it makes me angry. Seeing alot of the current 'fans' defend what they do makes me even angrier. There really is no excuse for it either, the worst part is 343 is so arrogant and they constantly make it cleae they hate their audience. Did a video on that too a while ago. Well anyways I better get to sleep soon or try to. Have a good night. Thanks for watching.

[@shockedhorizon5308]

@@BrokenCircle1Yeah, sleep's good. I played Starbound and didn't like it. I really wish I could recover my old terraria and MC worlds but sadly my original Xbox360 is long gone now. I can honestly understand that whole sentiment of feeling like everyone's just going nuts over nothing - I regularly play Destiny 2, the "its over" to "We're so fucking back" to "it's over" pipeline is INSANELY real - but I think that while Halo is dead and dying and pretty much a nothing franchise now, I think what made Halo great lives on in everybody who loved the series. I like to think that some day some new (probably indie) franchise/title is going to come in and provide pretty much everything the old halo games had. Sure, I doubt it'll be as widespread and popular, even if it was made by microsoft themselves (which it wont be), but in this hypothetical, the fact it would even exist to win over some of Halo's old fans is a pretty big comfort. At least to me.

[@Phillibetrus]

I think the worst part of what 343i have done is hide what was in the Bungie games. Between terminals they added to CEA and any video or google search showing you their "Forerunners" will automatically cause new fans to gloss over the hints that I found so obvious or even the big reveal. It makes it very difficult for new fans even those who pay close attention to experience the big reveal the way I did, the way it was meant to be when it was written.

[@sofaking1627]

I STRONGLY disagree with your take on the Forerunner Saga books. Greg Bear is a great writer but they absolutely retconned everything and I find the new lore really freaking lame. They drowned Halo's awesome Military Scifi lore in Science Fantasy toilet water. Spot on everywhere else though, The part you mentioned about that piece of paper with Chief on it and daydreaming about what the game must be like... hits home.

[@BrokenCircle1]

I liked the Forerunner trilogy for the most part as individual stories but NOT as Halo stories if that makes sense.

[@sofaking1627]

Makes sense to me, totally agreed. @@BrokenCircle1

[@Jahsandrea1]

I think it started with Halo Reach. Bungie changed Halo so much with Reach’s Multiplayer, n 343 tripled down