How Halo Lost Its Identity

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Halo was a franchise built upon it's solid gameplay and excellent world-building. But it's greatest success was through it's social features and building those up. Halo Infinite currently lacks most of the social features that made the franchise what it is, and we're gonna dive into why this is a problem...
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___TIME STAMPS___
Introduction - 0:00
My Sales Pitch - 3:51
Keeping Your Identity - 5:32
Misunderstanding Halo - 8:50
The Importance of Social Features - 17:39
The Challenge System is Anti-Player - 23:38
The Bottom Line - 26:35
Conclusion - 28:47
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[@TheActMan]

Download Warpath today for a thrilling sniper/battlefield experience and a realistic military strategy game!! Download it here ► bit.ly/3cPXDz1 Win big rewards for free ► brothersunite-warpath.lilith.com/?media=actman Halo was a franchise built upon it's solid gameplay and excellent world-building. But it's greatest success was through it's social features and building those up. Halo Infinite currently lacks most of the social features that made the franchise what it is, and we're gonna dive into why this is a problem...

[@Thomas_Angelo]

Hey Act Man, Would you rather have unlimited bacon but no games, or games, unlimited games but no games? Answer quickly.

[@rjbadultnamedtoe8412]

Love you videos man

[@shaquilleoatmeal2199]

Bet

[@xxx_d0youlikebiscuits_xxx811]

U like biscuits

[@believeinmatter]

@@Thomas_Angelo at least credit jschlatt if you’re going to steal from him

[@ihavetowait90daystochangem67]

Remember back in the day where people like Battlefield, CoD and Halo Fans would fight each other to argue which is the better game, now all of us just want the old games back

[@ameliaxox8788]

An unlikely union

[@believeinmatter]

@Freesmart wishful thinking

[@bobhanson1037]

Out of those I thought cod would be the first to get old. But was I wrong. Very wrong

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

@Beatrix rosé What is this about?

[@Singingnoob-3minutesdirty]

Bruh this comment changed, it used to be just COD and halo rip battlefield

[@IHE]

343 destroyed Halo, I thought it couldn’t get lower than 5, but infinite to this day still feels like a beta. Honestly pathetic for such a powerful rich company, no excuse will be good enough. No other company would treat their most important IP this way

[@Sn1p3rxLTx]

To be fair, Bungie destroyed Halo with Reach, 343 could never bring it back after that.

[@nutyyyy]

It also lost its way storywise. I mean the seeds for that were already in Halo 3. But Halo 4 and 5 just had terrible stories, all the main elements of the first three games were gone. Reach works better storywise because you have the element of despair and inevitable defeat. But the storyline after the war with the covenant was laughable. Its like it never happened at all. 343 seemed to want to make Halo into something it wasn't rather than starting again from scratch with something new. The banished as a concept honestly is one of the worse ideas they came up with. I loved the cinematics and art style of Halo Wars 2 but the idea there's this random rebel faction of the covenant that was growing in strength the entire time they were fighting humanity is insane. Its the least interesting and most goofy sounding faction in the entire series.

[@kingdomkey2262]

Can we expect an I Hate Halo Infinite video anytime soon? Would love to see analyze this game like you did with Destiny

[@saqlainhyder5412]

If Halo Infinite feels like a beta, then Battlefield 2042 definitely feels like a alpha

[@kalebkuhn9128]

@@Sn1p3rxLTx Halo Reach is a godsend compared to what 343 has done over the past ten years. Love it or hate, it's an objective improvement over quite literally anything 343 has ever done. At least you can play the damn game however you want to.

[@SgtBuck01]

Talking social features, one of the fondest Halo memories I have is from Halo 3. A friend and I were in the same party and matched to opposing teams. We decided to sabotage the match. I got behind the wheel of a Warthog, he manned the gun, and we basically kept the game at an even score, with one of us racing to get Splatter kills while the other went for turret kills. Neither team wanted to take us out as doing so would result in either side getting a teamkill. It was magical.

[@AlChestBreachFan7]

“I don’t expect any major updates to Halo Infinite until a decent way into 2023.” You really know how to pick ‘em ActMan

[@Wylie288]

Jokes on him the biggest update a halo game can ever have is in a few weeks.

[@lolllama1504]

@@Wylie288 yeah, you huff that copium man, huff it real good :)

[@Indie-gu6zj]

@@Wylie288it’s not really the “biggest update ever” since halo 3 released with forge on day one

[@inactivemetal7463]

So who was right doc or act man. Hahaha. 🤡

[@SweetMeatTM]

@@daegnaxqelil2733 you are the 1% thinking that way. how can you honestly justify that lol

[@StoneMountain64]

For a game that was so hyped, they didn’t even deliver what halo IS on launch let alone adding new things. Could have been so much more for infinite

[@grantthiele6607]

A verified post with no replies? I'll fix that

[@storyteller2285]

I’m a bit sad that since the Series S is my first Xbox I’m only now hopping on the Halo Bandwagon with MCC and it’s also the time where the franchise is at a complete downturn. I finished Halo 3, about to start 4 and I partially want to stop now knowing this is where we start to fall off. Also I’m literally decades late on understanding the multiplayer meta lol so my ass gets wiped at every attempt

[@hiruyabebaw807]

I thought everyone liked infinite im so confused

[@funkyfresh1013]

@@hiruyabebaw807 honeymoon phase is over

[@Dave_Chrome]

ETA 5 minutes to bedtime boys!

[@ShowtimeKaos]

I recall an interview with Marty O'Donnell (I believe the one between him and a few Halo KZbinrs), where he discussed wanting to add things in Halo 3 like Theater and Forge, but he got pushback from Microsoft execs. They didn't see how those features would immediately increase profits, and Marty had to argue that they would foster a loyal community of players that would return day after day and bring friends who might not have otherwise wanted to play. Marty was 100% right. Modern Halo feels like what happens when the execs get 0 pushback from people with a vision like Marty, you just get a sterile game without the community. Every feature that made Halo 2, 3 and Reach "community" games is either neglected or completely absent in Infinite.

[@shanez1215]

Exactly, and what irritates me the most is people talking about how advanced and complex game development apparently is now compared to before. And that's apparently why they can't add features. But what's the point of that complexity if you create a game that I would rather play MCC over? Sidenote: on the multiplayer side, what does Infinite have that COULDN'T be done on a 360? Cause Reach did the vast majority of it. Sidenote sidenote: I personally have worked with Megaloscript in Halo Reach and Halo 4, as the community reverse engineered it. I don't see anything in the Xbox One/Series that would make the megalo script more complex to write than before. An experienced dev could get Infection made in a couple weeks at most without even needing to patch the game. They'd only need a patch for the "fluff" like announcer voices, medals, etc. Unless they borked some things in the engine that the megalo functions call like team changing.

[@SoulTransient]

Cant even make your own gamemodes. You have curate their prebuilt modes. Halo 2 had WAY better gamemode settings.

[@timbrakefield8313]

Execs ask for feedback because they think it fosters a team dynamic, NOT because they intend to act on it.... Making games costs too much money, its over... guys, the money men and bean counters will ruin everything. Everything will be to avoid controversy and maximize profit, not to make the best games possible. Majority of really good games that people love will come from indy devs not AAA studios. AAA can push the tech, and give the little guys better tools, but they will not progress gaming as a whole just the tech behind it.

[@nagger8216]

Don't forget the game is lonely enough to begin with, then you have an entire six month long season dedicated to nothing but playing by yourself in FFA

[@AlexK-sk4qb]

I guess this is just the natural course of IPs given enough time. Stingy execs want to cut maintenance costs and overly ambitious devs try to make a completely different game.

[@dankgankster4100]

People never know they're experiencing a golden age until they eventually find themselves reminiscing about when things didn't suck. I miss when these franchises were at their best: Battlefield 3, MW2, Halo 3, Forza 4 I want to go back

[@Giantsfanlewis]

Legit all games were better back then. Even sports games suck now. Worse than just cou and pasting

[@mickethegoblin7167]

Sports games were always bad

[@GoofyPoptart]

​@@GiantsfanlewisEven Need for Speed used to be better.

[@btsnake]

"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them"

[@Puppy_Puppington]

I don’t know about you guys, but I knew I was in the golden age. I knew nothing gold can stay. So I really really went into it. Held on as long as I could. Everything in life was perfect.

[@Pumalate77]

Dude when I finally played a game in Infinite, loved my teammates and had a great time, and then we all decided to party up, I was stoked. It was to my absolute fucking horror I couldn't at all find how to befriend them and play again. I maybe played 2 hours after that and uninstalled. I can't even believe 343 is this stupid. My favorite most legendary fun gaming franchise of all time, just DEAD. Imagine failing this hard. Incredible incompetence.

[@somethingcraft3148]

what? how is that even possible?

[@JustSomeWeirdo]

@@somethingcraft3148 exactly, they made such a terrible game.

[@guardsmen2945]

Same, was playing infinite during the dead period about 1-2 months after launch and after waiting eons, I got into a 16 player big team battle map with 3 other people, only 4 people including myself. But since I waited so long I thought F it and play a 2v2 CTF on it anyway only to have a pretty fun time trying to figure out how to capture the flag while defending ours. Eventually I signalled to my team mate (no voice options) to get on my wasp and carry him to and from their base to ours while gunning anyone down if we saw them. Truly a halo 3 esc way to win a game. Then the game ended before I could talk or add them as friends and that was it, I didn't touch the game for a month and then uninstalled it because I was clearing space and haven't seen a reason to touch it again. Honestly having more fun playing PC MCC instead rn than that half baked cash grab. Even seeing the "dlc campaign" on half price on steam still looks way too over price to be worth it let alone the reviews for it too. Every new game has less and less in every way possible and yet these companies think it's working. Smh

[@JustSomeWeirdo]

@@daegnaxqelil2733 343 shill

[@daegnaxqelil2733]

@@JustSomeWeirdo bungie boot licker

[@rarerelent]

I like how act man always finds a way to talk about halo every so often. You know he cares

[@YMT916]

and he should because it is pathetic what they have become. unfortunately, they do not give a shit

[@rarerelent]

@@YMT916 its hard not to agree

[@TheActMan]

I'll never stop being a fan hahaha

[@dinzyd5332]

it scratches an itch i forgot i had

[@MrCabooseb17]

underrated comment

[@seankkg]

"Halo will never die, it's just missing in action." I never realized how perfectly that fits the series itself.

[@applesoda2030]

Missing in action Forever apparently.

[@BigGleemRecords]

We will get another good halo game in the year 3022

[@ncr1strecon528]

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

[@Byepolor]

@@applesoda2030 MCC is a fair replacement.

[@eftheusempire]

Halo is dead. We need to accept it

[@nickyb7571]

God damn man that quote from the creator hit me like a truck... Seriously sitting here thinking "Well I dunno Act Man... what IS the reason Halo was so popular? What was the identity?" And as soon as the creator dropped that... holy shit. That took me back to a row home in a small town with 3 floors and 4 consoles and 16 high schoolers set up having an absolute BLAST. 343 dropped the ball for sure but I don't think I realized till now just how far they dropped it.

[@SkySweeperSyn]

I remember going over to my cousins house one weekend when we were little and we played through the Halo Combat Evolved campaign for the first time. We were blown away by everything, the weekend went by so fast and we didn't even finish it - I begged to go over the next weekend again to finish it with him. that was the closest I'd been with my cousin and would love to have that experience again. But Halo just... wants me to be a drone at my computer not talking not even really playing, just buying items in the shop and staying logged in.

[@patrickhamos2987]

These are the kind of memories that keep us on games forever bc it was so great. But, those times are over. The only thing we can do about it is destroy the people responsible for taking it from us. Anyone involved in making it and anyone who profited from it. Violence really is the only answer, and it must spread like fire over allllll the corporations which blanket the land. Violence, and not just limited to the individuals involved but to their homes and families as well. Otherwise, they will continue to abuse, and squat on top of any place where people are enjoying themselves.

[@phoenixinvictus9880]

@@patrickhamos2987Sir, this is a Wendy's.

[@emiloguechoons9030]

@@patrickhamos2987 Ok psycho.

[@ShaftCommander]

Complaining about Halo whilst describing memories of the first installments campaign, and then the latest’s multiplayer. Totally sound logic.

[@SkySweeperSyn]

@@ShaftCommander It's almost like they did some things right... but not everything. But that just makes the parts that AREN'T right stand out more, hence the criticism.

[@matthewjalovick]

I’m 32. I grew up with Halo and participated in LAN parties at my dad’s college. We would setup projector screens with 4 Xboxes and play til 4am. You NAILED what makes Halo so engaging. Having it as a social party game instead of a sweaty shooter made it nonstop fun… so fucking fun. It deeply hurts that everyone who makes it seems to have forgotten that :/

[@botezsimp5808]

Aw.. the good old days when games actually implemented LAN play. No lag! Can't beat that. Wish more games had LAN compatibility. I live with my brother, we both have ps4's. But I have yet to play a game that has any LAN mode. Even the Diablo 2 remaster that had it originally..doesnt??! So friggen dumb.. Dying Light 2?? Nope.. Rocket League?? Literally zero I games I know of.(if their is LAN play its not built into the games UI anyways)

[@Caseylawton]

Correct. I'm 31 couldn't agree more. What 343 needs to understand is "fun first" if you design a halo game to be a sweaty shooter you lose the fun element. But if you just design it to be fun. You can always make a competitive mode for the people that want that.

[@matthewjalovick]

@@Caseylawton exactly. It’s why I almost exclusively played Big Team Battle in prior Halos. Because almost nothing is as fun for me as zipping over a big map in a warthog while my gunner just shreds people… and then I always honk until I pick up a passenger who promptly gets murdered :) before if my gunner and I got along well we’d simply party up and keep going. Now? No one even uses a mic. It’s why I’ve mostly transitioned to single player games. Because it seems no one actually prioritizes having a fun social community.

[@jamesmoulliet5615]

Wayyyy to sweaty today…

[@Caseylawton]

@@matthewjalovick hell yeah man. BTB is where it's at. I also loved one side assault which 343 seems to hate for some reason. I loved sneaking that bomb into Zanzibar

[@jakex593]

For some reason, 343 can't grasp the idea that they have one of the most iconic video game IP's in the world, yet they decide to chase trends and strip Halo from it's true identity, it almost feels like they don't think Halo can make a stance on it's own without "modernizing" or opening to a "broader audience", it really is heartbreaking, but not surprising.

[@rainyvideos3684]

Because the marketing people now how to sell bad ideas and avoid responsibility when they fail.

[@unscinfinity3337]

the thing is they got the hard part right the fucking gameplay that they messed up with 4 and just dropped the ball on social features which is the easiest thing to do

[@talandar5773]

Honestly this is our society in a nutshell: taking names that held value and nosediving them into the dumpster

[@dopejoel]

Seriously. They already had the broadest audience lol wtf 343

[@joeytheboy69]

Holy shit this is so true

[@tonistrezoski949]

it was sad watching this video as a halo veteran, it truly has lost its identity and everything that made it fun went with it

[@szw1337]

Listening to Marty describe the party nature of Halo and I can certainly attest to that. Back in 01/02 my friends and I regularly played split screen or even made extensive LAN networks at my house, with people bringing goddamn TVs over and sitting in different areas of the house to make it work. It was bloody fantastic, and then transitioning onto proper PvP online for 2 & 3, it still retained that party element, especially when you split screened with your friend at the same time. Man those were the days. It was great.

[@saboosh1013]

a decade later and all 343i has proven is that they’re incompetent when it comes to delivering a complete Halo game made for Halo fans.

[@utisti4976]

343i is the most incompetent developer I have ever seen in the industry, I swear. :/

[@revan5293]

Yup. We gotta give halo to someone else.

[@iGante]

Dude not just for the fans but also casual players, believe me I have a lot of friends who used to play Infinite but moved on not long after launch

[@rithvikmuthyalapati9754]

@@utisti4976 EA: hello

[@Deliveredmean42]

@@rithvikmuthyalapati9754 Developers, not publishers. They are their own leagues of incompetence.

[@Killerturtle14]

Honestly, the argument of the challenges being "Anti-Player" is spot on. I always get frustrated doing challenges in order to level up. I have more fun just playing the game.

[@bichnguyen-uc4ys]

ok

[@sekiro3074]

You don't like doing chores in a video game that should be centered around an enjoyable experience and Should be Pro-Gamer. You just don't understand current day video games. This is exactly what Live Service gayming is all about. Just because these tasks are an annoying hassle for you.. that doesn't mean some young kid that's got nothing but time doesn't love completing these tasks for that innocuous colour pattern or armour piece. You're just wrong. You shouldn't even voice the faults you have with the Halo experience, because they don't even matter. I love the game and that's that. --- Actually someone after reading your comment.. --- (My comment was sarcasm, if English isn't your first language)

[@Killerturtle14]

@@sekiro3074 Had me in the first half, ngl.

[@neow6289]

@@sekiro3074 Usually negative comments aren't always calm like this so I had guessed it was satire lmao

[@Hlodovehr]

It frustrates me even more that the challenge system 343 put in the master chief collection is actually pretty solid, not amazing but it works and you don't have to play in super niche ways to accomplish them, you just play the game

[@ampledonuts3417]

Its really hard for me to describe all the problems I have had with Halo since Halo 4 without going into a directionless rant, but you seem to find a way to echo all of my thoughts on the franchise in an incredibly clear and concise way. Its actually incredibly cathartic. Even if 343i and Microsoft don't listen now, I really would appreciate it if you continue to make these videos on Halo in hopes that they one day may listen. Here's to hoping that forge might breathe some life back into the game. Even if it does, it still might not be enough.

[@MrGuitarjmw]

I have so much memories of a friend and I split screen co-op playing the campaign and getting excited for the "dunebuggy" (warthog) when ever it showed up and spending time trying to get it into all the places we were not supposed to.

[@mateostokes8784]

Like ramming the Warthog into a doorway then using sticky grenades to get it out (unsuccessfully lol)

[@RC32Smiths01]

The Bungie Era of Halo seems like a parallel universe from where we are now with the franchise. That point in time feels like something we can never see again with MODERN gaming, but I am hopeful.

[@gogousa6661]

343 is dog water

[@deriznohappehquite]

@Kiryu_Kazuma Yeah, I think there are a lot of really, truly, awesome games on the borderline of AA and AAA.

[@RC32Smiths01]

@Kiryu_Kazuma Oh yeah for sure! There are plenty of amazing studios and games being made! The more corporate and business decisions are what really stand out to the public eye in making gaming a less and less fun medium of entertainment, unfortunately. I doubt things like that will go away anytime soon, sadly.

[@mathewstafford7943]

I feel we will never see anything like we did with the old games ever again. Similar to how other things have evolved. We no longer travel predominantly by carriage anymore and have cars now, for example. I think the *feeling* we had back then can be achieved again, but it will be in a completely new format.

[@michaelterry6576]

@@gogousa6661 Bungie isn't great anymore. Destiny was absolute trash and Destiny 2 is slightly better. I don't think Bungie could even make a good Halo game anymore. Considering the gunplay in Destiny feels more like fall of duty than halo.

[@Devon.with.an.i]

My favorite memory of Halo: I think was 10-12? My friend and I stayed up all night playing Halo 3. We were pretty tired, but we just beat the final mission in Halo 3 and the cutscene plays. A very serious action scene as Arbiter and Chief make it out by the skin of their teeth. Earth won, the UNSC won, the human race won. A funeral for all of the fallen soldiers and for master chief is held. My cat on the other side of the room meows and audibly diarrheas on the floor. As 10 year olds do, my friend and I busted out laughing. Such a serious and somber cutscene ruined by a cat with an upset stomach. My favorite memory with my childhood friend It’s just real sad to see the game that got me into gaming consoles and got me into online gaming begging to be put down

[@Shaka1660]

I'm 25 and this made me bust out laughing, that's hilarious

[@Pedro_The_Neco]

LMAO

[@ls200076]

Omegalol

[@emjay604]

1st game I ever played was Halo CE on the original Xbox at my dads friends house. Fell in love immediately and made friends cause of it too.

[@graysonfilms4112]

pov you’re watching this after they canceled co op and made halo an exclusively competitive shooter

[@zyriuz2]

Halo was great in the sense it revolutionized online gaming with archievments that unlocked armor ans back then having a flaming skull and Hayabusa meant something beyond the extra cosmetics, now it's just means you're spoiled, halo 3 especially the armor was a medal of honor it meant you did something in the game that is impressive.

[@RoanokeGaming]

the fact I couldn't just play slayer which is the mode I wanted, killed the game for me. I don't want to play oddball or CTF, I shouldn't just be playing through a grab bag of random modes. 343 is one of the most incompetent companies I have seen in quite a while.

[@Sugar_Ovaltine]

love your videos man

[@goosemachina316]

Hey Roanoke! Love your vids man!

[@Tomn8er]

"Incompetent" is the best way to describe them. Even when they make improvements to something, it always seems to be two steps forward, one step back.

[@randomkid8007]

Bro do more Dead Space vids pls🙏

[@annoyed-intern]

@@Tomn8er It's not incompetence, it's more like egomania. I was watching some of the videos of them behind the scenes about the changes like Player collision, red reticle, weapon choices, glitches,... and they actively chose against the community because they think they know better. It just irked me. I mean sure, you are the dev, why not.. but when you have consistent feedback about something, just .. do it.

[@SplendidCoffee0]

One thing that could help is just making sure the game is pure fun before it’s released, like the old Bungie days, but that would make too much sense.

[@bonzerrexaltaccount3662]

yeah it’s kinda sad tbh

[@tropitropitropo]

In 343's own words, you're expecting too much from them. I'm not kidding, Unyshek really said we're expecting too much from them on Twitter. What even is 343 anymore?

[@creeeamy7133]

Fun isn't in their vocabulary, the entire sandbox is balanced around being as sweaty as possible.

[@blastingsound]

They're too focused on creating a 2 second "fun" loop which just equates to hyper sweaty competitive game over all ... like cod..

[@indicahybrid974]

@@tropitropitropo were they even anything to begin with? can't even keep up a ten year promise if they were to make one

[@KrazyLambProductions]

The Act Man always gets me right in the feels when it comes to halo. I miss it man, i miss it soooooo much.

[@UndeadSoul47]

Soooo many good memories on Halo 3 and Reach with the boys, especially custom games. I've never had a game recapture that feeling of you and a few friends setting up a custom game lobby with a bunch of random people you recently played with. Not to mention the lobbies where EVERYONE would have a mic, it would be complete chaos but in the best way possible. I still get a warm feeling inside thinking back on it lol.

[@sangheilicommander1056]

Speaking of good memories. My favorite memory is.... When I was playing reach. Some dude was on voice chat. One person voted for bone yard. He then said "oh no please not bone yard" everyone in lobby including myself all voted bone yard IMMEDIATELY. It was the funniest synced troll I had ever seen. After everyone voted he's like "fuck you guys..." it was fantastic. I almost started crying I was laughing so hard

[@PcCAvioN]

Nothing more fun than a full 8v8 pregame lobby talking smack in matchmaking!

[@killer25014]

I have too many favorite memories when it comes to Reach, but one that always sticks out to me was when I made two good friends (and unfortunately/fortunately, still continue to talk to one of them to this day) by absolutely destroying them in SWAT. They were on the enemy team on our first go. Did the usual post-game shit talk, switched out for another session to search for more players. Somehow, through the algorithm or by pure luck, we ended up on the same team in a different lobby. Spent many hours afterwards just having a good old blast. With that classic 360 commentary, of course. It was completely random, and I think that's what makes the whole affair special. God forbid you find people with the mic on these days.

[@SuperDecimator]

Guy should've said "Yes! Vote for Boneyard!" And gotten his way when the lobby votes against it

[@DeadBaron]

Today someone like that would report everyone for hate speech and an algorithm would ban them without being able to appeal to a human

[@EmergencyChannel]

I got banned from Apex Legends by writing "That's gay" in the text chat. Modern gamers would shrivel up and die if they heard MW2 or Halo 3 pre-game lobby chat. I learned every slur I know from those early Xbox Live lobbies and it was hilarious, black guys calling me a f*aggot cracker because I shit on him.

[@chaisesmith2259]

I'll never forget the Halo feature that allowed you to see if you were in another player's screenshots. One of my favorite features in any video game ever!

[@donn4life]

Never used it, but that's such a good idea!

[@dashy1009]

Oh I remember now, good times😎

[@RossMitchellsProfile]

The social features of old halo games were nuts. You could see heat maps of where people died in games online and all sorts. You could go full obsessive compulsive with stats too.

[@jacobotueme3084]

Totally agree, my best years of gaming were playing HALO 3 with my friends on a sofa, drinking beer, eating pizza and saying rude things to each other,,, everything after a long day of work, it was our therapy, we left tired but happy, all of us mature men with responsibilities, families, we played Halo and had fun like children, happy times.

[@cressylogic3283]

You hit the nail right on the head with these points! Really hope they have a team that takes this sort of feedback in, because I’m truly worried for the franchise at the minute. Yes we’re getting forge which I think will be brilliant, but we’re 100% missing a lot more social aspects that need addressing. You listed them all to be honest. Let’s hope they follow your guidance 😎

[@1st_Amendment_Is_My_Right]

Old school Halo had it down with the “30 seconds of Fun” concept. Whether you were playing campaign or multiplayer. You have that 30 seconds of planning, searching, hiding, sneaking, engaging, retreating, re-engaging, winning or losing and repeating over and over. On simple map designs that had easy navigation and simple effective covert when in the open. Not the overly complex maps that must be memorized to give you a advantage. That have crappy vehicle navigation. Halo today? Just doesn’t feel the same.

[@wilhelmburned]

Bad vehicle navigation? I wonder which map you're referring to... Fragmentation, right?

[@franlopezfelix9357]

@@wilhelmburned All of them lmao, all the roads are too tiny for an scorpion, no open spaces

[@alexanderrobins7497]

Now that you mention it, the map flow/control feels far less methodical than it did in Halo 3. Bungie’s maps generally had very unique layouts and play styles, but now everything feels “meh” wherever you are.

[@skye-0592]

That hurt seeing Act Man lose touch with a friend he made in game. An occurrence too common nowadays with Infinite. Gaming used to almost be entirely about that. Forging friendships with like minded people just trying to have fun like you. Really hope 343 gets it right soon and gives the Halo community the experience we’ve longed for since the days of Reach and Halo 3.

[@Lordslothable]

Reach was best

[@KM____________]

Hold your breath

[@ginosko_]

It hurts seeing act man not know the difference between its and it's

[@OgSauce23]

After all the friends be made and talked with, to this day I only talk to 3 now and yes they’re the og ones

[@mountaindew3201]

Halo Infinite is dead. With the firing of its OG director back in 2019 I had no hopes for this game. The trailer was almost a scam but sadly this game is just as bad as Halo 5, but hey it’s free. Well that don’t cut it for me and most Halo fans.

[@SgtBuck01]

Every so often I get this insatiable itch to run through Halo 1, 2, and 3 again like re-reading an old series of classic books. I almost have the campaigns of the first three games memorized level by level. I played Infinite's campaign. I liked Infinite's campaign. I have had zero desire to replay Infinite's campaign.

[@Deadsea_1993]

I didn't even finish it making it the first Halo from Halo 3 forward that I didn't complete on Legendary solo. I could even stomach Halo 5 barely. Infinite was the make or break for me. I'm done with Halo going forward unless 343 is replaced. I'll stick with MCC instead. I did not want an open world Halo game bro, sorry.

[@garret918]

This video made me realize I had forgotten all the fun moments of playing Halo together with my friends in front of the same TV, something hardly anyone does nowadays. We kept coming back to Halo every time we hung out exactly because it was so much fun, and it was just plug and play. I never quite saw Halo for what it was, but now that it's shown to me, it all makes so much sense now... Where did it all go wrong, not just for Halo, but for entertainment in general? What caused this?

[@tux75]

I’ve never seen a company fumble and fail so much and so consistently at creating and developing a proper video game. It’s honestly saddening to see one of my favorite franchises continuously in the dirt like this

[@colepeltier8472]

I know right... Its hard to believe its not intentionally being dragged through the mud at this point.

[@alexanderrobins7497]

If they were making a new IP instead of riding the coattails of Bungie’s success, 343i might have a better reputation for not bastardizing a beloved franchise or having such high expectations. On the flip side, any other developer who failed this badly on multiple occasions would have been taken out back and shot along side with the IP. The only way to save Halo is to let it go on hiatus, erase almost everything made after 2011, then let a competent AND PASSIONATE team take over with full creative control.

[@nicol4578]

@@alexanderrobins7497 I sometimes wonder if they are in some way, somehow successful. Otherwise, I just don't understand how they are still in charge.

[@littlebigcommentaries9833]

Bonnie Ross should not have a job anymore. No one else could fail this much this consistently and still be allowed to continue that failure. She's been in the industry a long time. Time for this dinosaur to go extinct.

[@damsen978]

I prefer the suffering of waiting for Half-Life 3 and it being great than being disappointed again and again with every entry like 343i's Halo.

[@PossumReviews]

It's "we need to make all of the money or none of it" mentality. A publisher sees what's popular, then they try to capitalize on it by changing their established franchises into something they're not, thinking this will attract a wider audience. What it really does is it risks alienating their old audience in an attempt to appeal to a new one, which it might not. This is what happened to Dead Space. The first game was straight horror, and horror fans loved it. But then EA decided to gamble Dead Space's popularity by cranking up the action shooter elements in the sequels, resulting in a game which was sort of half horror/half action shooter. And that's exactly what it was. It was _half_ horror, and _half_ action shooter, making it _half_ as appealing to fans of either genre. Thus, it lost its old audience and failed to attract a new one. Now what was the lesson EA took from this? That they shouldn't try to add mass appeal to niche franchises? That they shouldn't change what works in favor of what's trendy? No, they decided that people just didn't want Dead Space games anymore, and killed off the franchise entirely. All because they couldn't make _all_ the money.

[@citavalo]

tldr

[@piccoloatburgerking]

@@citavalo This is too long for you? Bruh.

[@skullhyena5014]

Didn't expect to see you here Possum, good take tho.

[@r.e.z9428]

@@piccoloatburgerking Doesn't even surprise me anymore.

[@Chris-vs6ll]

@@piccoloatburgerking too long for a like from the channel creator, he speaks for the channel creator, the channel creator is sensitive, they have a highly curated persona and they can not be seen to take time to digest opinions because criticisms, good ones are usually not two words, or, something in agreement with what is in the video, which is going to be a paragraph or less, get with the program, you watch this channel, you were not just born, stop pretending you do not know what is going on here Also, you know you are protecting the channel creator by protecting people watching from feeling like the creator does not want them to speak, you know they do not, so you are going to support someone when they do not get their attention, stop being so fake and just call it what it is because if you will not I will You got 11 likes, for saying hardly anything of consequence, this channel is full of losers like you, he want to give the guy trouble let him, he has 200k followers, just let him, do not be a loser babysitting on people being so fake

[@SincerelyHaniko]

Love the little image that was slid into the video of the elite armor choice. Appreciate it, I'm skeptical but I do believe the franchise can steer back into its roots we all loved it for. I don't want to feel compelled to focus on challenges or run certain weapons just because the game is headstrong on pulling me into that direction. I miss playing firefight and some regular pvp where me and some friends would just talk some trash to each other and get competitive with each other until the match is over and we have fun fond memories of the game that compels us to come back to the game to make more even after years of it being out. i.e; games like Left 4 Dead, Halo classics, the Souls series, etc. We still come back to these games and it's still a blast to play! On a separate note, great video Act Man.

[@luxferreomega3843]

Act Man was pretty spot on about 343 misunderstanding Halo and its social aspects.. I remember clearly back in March 2011 when my cousin introduced me to Halo. I was young and barely into high school when he booted up his Xbox 360 and told me to play Halo Reach in a splitscreen game with him. We were mostly RTS gamers on PC and having been able to play with him on a splitscreen co-op in a shooter game was extremely fun for us. We spent days and days playing 1v1 on splitscreen and making our own Forge maps, at most we spent close to 1,000 hours on Reach alone until 2013 when we finally got Halo 4.

[@spagheddie1673]

When reach came to mcc, me and a couple of buddies did a full legendary runthrough coop, grabbing all the datapads. Almost a decade onwards, coop brought us all together and created new memories. The proof is plain to see

[@nuevomex8734]

Is is possible to play custom firefight matchs with friends ??

[@Murf_Workshop]

well then 343 must be as blind and stubborn and my grandmother....(*sigh)

[@S.O.N.E]

Video games as we knew them are over, choose a remaster you like or the next battle pass game as service AAA moneygrab title

[@abasicgameenjoyer5798]

@@nuevomex8734 yes it is

[@endless_limes]

343 should listen to spagheddi more often. Spagheddi supremacy

[@KevaLeva24]

The very first things I noticed when playing Halo Infinite was after a match, there was no postgame lobby, no ability to squad up, and no map voting. You just get dumped to the playlist search screen. I honestly could not believe it. One of my favorite parts of past Halo titles was finding random people who you just happen to play well with for some reason. Like your play styles compliment each other, and then you're able to keep playing together and communicate with them. That's literally impossible now. Edit: One of the best memories I have playing Halo, was in Halo 3. I got matched with Elias Soriano, lead singer of the band Nonpoint. Really cool dude to chat with. We partied up after a really good first match. He didn't reveal who he was at first, but when talking about what we did, he mentioned he was in the band Nonpoint. I was really into the band at the time and could tell it was definitely him, his voice was the same. We played together for about 2 hours and I added him to my friend list. But after that day, I don't think I ever saw him sign on to Xbox Live ever again, which was kind of sad.

[@JZStudiosonline]

There's very few games that actually do that now. I don't know why.

[@Crunch630]

Damn I hate when my new friend never logs back on... that's a cool story you got, no sarcasm

[@KM____________]

omg 85 people read your wall of text GG

[@divinecomedian2]

Dude that's badass. What a memory to have!

[@OgSauce23]

I miss talking to the other team post match lobby and end up teaming up with them :) yeah you’re right it feels weird being dumped back into the playlist screen mcc is just far better in my opinion I get more people to talk with actually

[@Donika691]

I have not played Halo much, but I do remember playing Halo 3 splitscreen co-op with my brother a lot when we were teenagers. It was so much fun, and I'm sad that gaming seems to be going away from couch co-op, like not everyone can easily play online or what about when you just want to play in person with your friends or family? Or when you have no other friends but you do have siblings?

[@freddymcshreddy6586]

When Halo Reach came out i never felt it was betraying or abandoning the core "identity" of Halo. I felt like it was a different but still fun and unique twist on the classic halo formula. Its different enough from the original games to avoid feeling stale but is still similar enough to be enjoyed as a classic Halo experience all the same.

[@daklr2501]

You see act man, the REAL reason 343 gimped the social features in halo was actually because they wanted you to *feel* the authentic socially-stunted child soldier experience, as is accurate to the lore of the spartan program. You really feel the loneliness that master chief has felt since halo 4.

[@SW_FITNESS]

I loved the progression system on reach and looking at the service record of others to compare

[@jacacent]

Really well said. To this day fondest memories of Halo are playing locally with my friends and family, I even still play MCC almost every day because I can just get together with someone and replay the campaign missions or fool around in multiplayer. Infinite is lacking so much of the core experience.

[@TimeBucks]

I like how act man always finds a way to talk about halo

[@Isupportthecompletionist]

Hi bot

[@mr.sirsam]

🤖

[@RuSsHeR1]

Especially when there’s negativity involved with Halo. That’s where he gets most of his clicks nowadays, it’s pretty pathetic.

[@Isupportthecompletionist]

@@RuSsHeR1 that’s a bot

[@Isupportthecompletionist]

@Chetan Rajbinde that’s a bot

[@MrKuger9]

I still remember when my friends and I would make plans to get together and play Halo. Who would bring what and we'd also barbecue outside. But when things got dark, we all stayed inside and played online with other friends who couldn't make it. We all stayed up real late that night and it was blast. Definitely a great way to end our high-school senior year right before we all graduated and went our separate ways.

[@R3dgrey]

I felt that.

[@botezsimp5808]

Fun days..

[@dochallah1721]

I'm fucking crying

[@DonRoyalX]

Couple months ago I brought 7 boys around to my house, close lads, my little brother brought a tv and we literally lan partied halo mcc, it was magical. I legit almost shed a tear Bcoz of how much it meant to me to have that again. We legit played Blood Gulch, Halo CE CTF 4v4. It ended up in a tie after a 40 minute match, 2-2. I can’t express how good that night was. I was hosting a Halo comp, $5 entry, and 2 guys made it to the end, they 1v1’d in H3 on slayer with a 15 kill limit. The score was 15-14. The hype was so high that we woke up my neighbours. Bring whoever u can around again for it, I promise it’ll be as good as the old days. I’m printing the photos of that night for my photo album. That’s how good it was 😎

[@DonRoyalX]

Funny too Bcoz the winner of the 1v1 was shaking after. He was like, “dude look at my hands, I’m fucking shaking bro, what the hell”. That’s halo man.

[@midshipman8654]

god, i loved the vidmaster challanges. doing in game stuff to get specific rewards that you could see, helmets and stuff, and you KNEW what it ment was such a cool motivating thing. especially in 3 and reach.

[@SlowV6Mustang]

I remember when I first played the halo infinite insider and remember thinking “they really did it this time, halo is really back!” Then the game released and after a few months I stopped playing. My older brother who played halo since the release of CE and introduced me to the franchise recently bought an Xbox and tried Infinite. He hasn’t touched Infinite since and now we play Apex together.

[@FUJIIDEW]

Something I really loved about Bungie era Halo was the glitches and easter eggs in the campaign. I remember trying to get to the naked man on the last level of halo 3 for hours, failing my grenade jumps with my friends. Or trying to find ways to escape the playable areas. Those are some of my fondest memories with halo and it added serious charm. 343 washed that charm down the drain.

[@jeremyn4397]

This was my thought when he asked us to think about our fondest Halo memories. My mind things of all the campain and multi-player glitches, going up against some lag switching cheaters in ranked doubles and hearing over the proximity chat "Now!" as our characters begin walking indescriminatly into walls. The kids were yelling to their friend to reset the connection everytime we enganged them. My buddy and I got smart and decided to only use ambush tactics and assassinate them before they could lag switch. We won and it felt glorious!

[@paegr]

after years of games marketing themselves as The Halo Killer, it was ultimately Bungie themselves who made the Halo Killer

[@Dovahkiin520]

So Bungie gets a praise for releasing an incomplete glitchy mess but you down 343 for it? Way to let nostalgia take over judgment there bud. It's always bizarre that bungie cuckolds will make every excuse for them. You can literally do all those things you mentioned in 343 titles.

[@gregoryklemkowski1130]

@@paegr nope 343 made it

[@randomhiphop5055]

@@paegr bungie sold it off microsoft was ultimately the reason why they did. Microsoft was getting too intrusive and bungie wasn't a corporate space at the time it was just a bunch of nerds making video games.

[@deag4113]

That “make your own BR map and mode” idea you had is absolutely brilliant, and proof 343 should have trusted that appealing to halo players would have been successful. It would have been been awesome at launch to have the vital forge and custom games for popularity and the game would have been awesome with a full content complete release to revive the game. Then once you had a good core of players then add BR and that crap, then halo would have been extremely unique with forge and BR mixing in a unique competitive way against other BRs.

[@JEBEDIAH8D]

343 and the word trust don't go hand in hand. It's just a bunch of Microsoft yes men at that company. Haven't delivered one decent title

[@cyrus6236]

Goddamn I almost started to cry. People don’t realize HOW BEAUTIFUL HALO REALLY WAS

[@vietnow4611]

He’s so right! My favorite memories of Halo are playing CE in my friends basement, 4 of us splitting 1 tv screen. We were in high school, and his parents went out of town once so he threw a party and like 100 people came, but we were down in his basement playing 4 player free for all the entire night like it was any other. Such great memories

[@PersonMan-hl9gj]

When you brought up how everyone’s best halo memories are with someone else it immediately made me think of being 8 with my best friend and doing the halo 3 warthog run for the first time. Now I’m in my 20s and we had a falling out years ago but I’m glad that this series was able to give me a memory like this, of the good times.

[@VeryFamousActor]

Playing halo 3 with my best friend were some of the happiest memories I had growing up. He switched schools and ended up having a nasty concussion. I still remembered the good times we had but he couldn't anymore. We met by chance years later and managed to play another game and finish the warthog run before going seperate ways one last time

[@thehermitman822]

My best memories are still of system linking Halo: CE in the baracks. Would walk out and give the "Halo call" and wait for the reply yell.

[@BrokeLegZombie22]

Facts halo 1 then connect Xbox too Xbox then halo two allowed 4way Xbox connection the we I enjoyed halo wasn't even online yet lolol

[@SickScavenger]

None of my friends are into halo :(

[@thehermitman822]

@@SickScavenger You must be young then. It was a no brainer when it came out and others saw it that they went and got BrickBox too.

[@charliekelly7024]

Something I have always ALWAYS missed is the Bungie Favorites from Halo 3. Logging in every day to see what cool screenshots people took, goofy clips, cool custom games you could download...was so great! It gave you such a strong feeling of community.

[@austinthegamer100]

The halo 3 video you made back in 2016 or 17 made me cry. The way you talk about games that you love moves me. Thank you so much for making videos explaining exactly how a lot of us felt and feel. Watching your channel is like going back in time. Fucking wonderful!

[@ItzOdasity]

My favourite social part of halo was on halo reach when you was in the in game lobby and you could see everyone else’s armours scrolling down the lobby, really gave the game a sense of a social community with everyone having their own personal Spartan due to the extensive (and free) armour customisation

[@colonelcrockett2250]

I agree almost entirely. When the game first launched and I played it with my buddies, we all felt that it was way more stale than the halo we remembered, but we couldn't put our fingers on exactly *why* that was the case. The lack of playlist content, the dry progression system, the borderline inability to gain cosmetics outside of a battlepass or purchase and others are definitely big reasons why Infinite turned us off after only about a week of play.

[@OzkanArac]

This. I was having fun when it first came out but this feeling was always there. They didn't make the game in a way that it stays interesting. The core gameplay is fun and works well. They just forgot to put the rest of the game in. I tell you, it's because of the live service model.

[@pikkyeaterz]

We recently got into the original Halo games and everything about these games just encourage the best kinds of chaos. Whether it was the campaign or different multiplayer modes. That’s what makes Halo great.

[@McBoofus]

Have you tried speed halo on reach?

[@pikkyeaterz]

@@McBoofus We’ve not

[@_Phen_]

@@pikkyeaterz we?

[@pikkyeaterz]

@@_Phen_ yes

[@wesleyward5901]

@Hyphen This feels like a woosh moment.. Look at his name and then maybe you'll get it.

[@r.daneel.90]

- ActMan: I hope you get it now 343i, Halo needs more social interaction. - 343i: Loud and clear, Halo needs to be a METAVERSE -ActMan: Shitballs ...

[@tynki777]

This is an amazing analysis of Halo, and as an extention, a great look into player retention and social interaction! 💚

[@Mahdi_B]

I'd love for someone at 343 to explain why they made these decisions. I just can't wrap my head around them.

[@batman6621]

Money. Thats what shitty business people do. They take something good and ruin it because all they care about is money. So instead of thinking how can we make money while making this game great, they think how can we make money and change the game enough to do that. Thats why lots of games today keep having shitty battle royales because they saw fortnites popularity and thought "well try and do a fortnite and get some of those kids to come along to our game" Probably the reason why battlefield V had 0 accurate uniforms and everything was so wacky. It wasn't the "wOkE lIbCucKS" that ruined bfv, that morons keep saying it is, its shitty business people at the top that made the worst design choices to maximise profit. Its sad when these people at the top who ruin good games are the ones that get paid the most, when the developers dont

[@TheMistyBlueLounge]

Just be careful blaming executives for everything. The responses from some of the developers on games like Halo, Battlefield, WoW and Saints Row indicate clearly that the developers themselves don't know wtf they're doing and are making many of these changes themselves. Some even calling the fans unrealistic and "toxic" in the expectation that a sequel be at least as good and feature rich as the game before it. A lot of these studios just don't have the same passionate and talented developers anymore, and I don't even think they enjoy playing their own games which might explain some of it. No doubt greed powers it all on some level but I really think poor decision making is more rampant since these awful decisions aren't exactly breaking sales and profit records (something like GTA Online being an exception).

[@TheRobbieg77]

I can see your argument about developers not having the passion anymore. But I challenge you to put yourself in their shoes. Being underpaid, overworked, and under appreciated i too would be putting out shotty work. Not to mention all the talent that has fled the industry or never attempted to join it. I had a chance to study game design but I saw how the greedy executives had the control over the developers. Imagine being a creative person and having some suit telling you what to do. I left and never turned back.

[@MsMiDC]

This question has only 1 answer. You can switch out 343 with any other company with any other service, and the answer will not change, ever. The answer is money. Activision spews out CoD games for the same reason. Suckers just keep buying them. Games come out unfinished and broken, and why? Simple. Short-term money. Get it all asap. *Every single decision* companies make, is in the name of making money, and nothing else.

[@finnfin]

@@TheMistyBlueLounge cmon man, hard to take you seriously with that saints row comment, when its not even out yet.

[@snapelilly]

100% agree about social interaction being the core of Halo, me and my brother played halo 3, reach and 4 religiously for years using split screen, the second halo 5 dropped without that feature we both abandoned the franchise for the most part. Halo is 1000% more fun with friends and family.

[@cousinbabu8911]

Sounds like we had the same childhood.. I miss the good old days

[@tonysiouxfan]

Halo 4 sucked

[@DontActuallyWannaDie]

@@tonysiouxfan Man, you sure added a bunch to the conversation, huh?

[@tonysiouxfan]

@@DontActuallyWannaDie What else needs to be said? Halo 4 was the beginning of the end and the franchise has never fully recovered. It's covered in the very video, the game pop plummeted and the bastardization of the formula fragmented the fanbase.

[@DontActuallyWannaDie]

@@tonysiouxfan Nothing of what you said _needed_ to be said. Also what did any of this have to do with what the original comment was saying? They were just saying they played the hell out of Halo 3, Reach, and 4 and you just come in here insulting said game. This thread was never a debate on what Halo title was good and which was bad; just a thread reminiscing about the Halo games this guy played with his brother, which I also relate too as I played the hell out of Halo 3, Reach, and 4 with my brother and cousin as well. I have many fond memories of Halo 4. You're the only one branching off from this, and as a result I am as well. Even if what you're saying is true, save it for later; it's a little dense and rude to call a game trash under the comments of a person who seemed to have good memories with the game.

[@vizthex]

your point on voice chat applies to other games too. it's a trend i've noticed with the few modern PvP games i've heard about: They keep stripping out social feature, and i *really* hate that trend of modern gaming. the indie games i play either don't have the problem (cuz no multiplayer), or they have text + voice chat (or at least text chat). hell, i met basically all of my online friends through Deep Rock Galactic. the auto-queue feature sounds great too, and it's one reason i kept playing Splitgate for as long a i did. Being able to just hang out with people (even if they weren't super talkative) was still super cool.

[@kingscrub3386]

I remember when halo first came out, I remember the releases of all the games all up to Reach. And in my opinion, Reach was the best game in the franchise. In terms of gaming with buddies, we would always start in Firefight to warm up and wait for everyone to show up, when all were present we would jump over to Team Swat or Slayer, or even forge and make our own maps to play on, whether that be a gunfire map or race or obstacle courses, and then the grind for armor. Don't even get me started. My cousin and I found a glitch in the campaign for infinite xp, I had friends in clans I was in and others were in. The amount of gaming with buddies in the early days of Halo, unbeatable. Unforgettable. The golden years of gaming with friends.

[@lilpookie]

This honestly made me so sad. I absolutely love Halo.. Nothing has compared to the magic of H3 & Reach even though I enjoyed H5 competitive gameplay. You're right on everything Act Man. Halo Infinite has the bones of a great Halo, but they sold us a product with no meat. Halo should be like Thanksgiving dinner, bringing people together from a vast amount of different communities to enjoy a flavorful delicious meal. Instead every year we all keep choosing to eat dinner at 343's house and its the same dry bland turkey with Bob Evans mashed potatoes. No soul of the original food....

[@brickweathertop7907]

Reach was and still is dogshit. Infinite best Halo

[@liamallerdice9919]

@@brickweathertop7907 nice bait

[@Soliye.]

@@brickweathertop7907 A toddler opinion

[@bruhnicetry67]

@@brickweathertop7907 nice bait nerd

[@brickweathertop7907]

@@Soliye. lol, says the man child that hold onto shit ass games from 10 years ago. Wonder why Halo died over night when Reach released? Or why it dropped out of the top ten within 6 months? Hmmmmm

[@09RHYS]

Damn man, you hit the nail on the head with literally EVERYTHING... Props to you Dude. So glad you're still on the platform, you always come with total facts and tell it how it is!

[@Blarnax]

Came here to comment exactly this lol

[@mathislevee3947]

The Fact Man

[@superbearchrist1716]

9 months late, but I ll share my favorite halo story. It was when Halo Reach was new. I was in high school and had a girlfriend who loved video games. We bonded by making our own map designs in forge mode and play testing them asking if the pace was good, how could we make it more chaotic, and final test get our friends bring their xbox to my house and do an online game together on the couch testing it. During those play tests well admittedly the game wasn't the only thing being played with if you catch my drift. It was a good time for me as reach, which I love like a child and just the customization options I earned through my time, not my wallet. We are no longer together, sure, but playing reach on the mcc was a nice dopamine burst of nostalgia and what I consider halo. Intense gun fights with a variety map side, multiple lanes and ways to play maps, an epic story showing the stoic yet human nature of these literal humanoid war machines, and the social factor. Halo 4 looks great but it fails everywhere else and was disrespectful to the series , 5 my question is did they even try, and infinite made me want to yell stop getting your ideas from ubisoft and ea with your unfinished open world game that is as dead as Abraham Lincoln which a bullet to the head is a good analogy to what 343 did to the series.

[@vikikitsune]

One of my favorite memories was in custom game in halo 3 i would play a bunch of regular games and then look back through recent players for ppl playing custom games and then message them and ask if i could join them (most ppl would say yes) i have so many found memories doing this we would do anything from cops and robbers to custom infection games where u would be chased through a obstacle course or and having gladiatorial style sword matches where every one else would spectate to me these were the glory days of halo i feel we have lost also really miss lan parties

[@mitchmitting102]

It's quite simple: They made it like every other shooter. Take away the Chief, take away the design and what is left? A few odd weapons and that is it. Halo was loved for it's vehicles, it's unique difference in how everything work and the amazing story. Instead, they started using the generic shooter tropes. ADS, faster pace, less focus on large and cool maps instead favouring small tdm-like maps. All of this is to fit the business model of "Get the same game as everyone else out, then we'll just make it work because fan loyalty". Edit: And to this day, I will have and never will understand why 343 changed anything from Reach.

[@MetaVizions]

The only thing Reach needed was default sprint mechanic on all classes... Maybe weapon customization/cosmetics then introduce a BR mode that could have side lore/canon- possible new abilities

[@MetaVizions]

Like they just had to build upon an existing platform & expand the experience

[@mitchmitting102]

@@MetaVizions From points 1 through 3: Fuck no. Sprint in Reach was weird, but default sprint is what Halo 4 had, look how that went. Weapon customisation is another fucking idea from other games that has help erode the Halo experience, with min-maxing the best weapons for yourself instead of the classic experience of everyone having the same fun weapons. And fuck Battle Royal, get that shit out of here.

[@randomguy4781]

@@MetaVizions Reach didnt need sprint, Reach should have had a base movement speed like Halo 2 and 3 had, and like Doom 2016 has. I bring up Doom because it proves an fps without sprint can still be successful in *currentyear*

[@mitchmitting102]

@Jake Korol What? Ignoring how stupid and unsustainable firing half your workforce in 18 months, how does that have ANYTHING to do with the design choices made by 343?

[@matthewhenderson1765]

I played infinite for a solid day before I was already over it. It just felt like I was playing with the bones of an old dead friend... Nothing but dust and echoes.

[@georgebaggy]

It's soulless. First campaign I never bothered replaying. The MP has potential but is so badly lacking in modes and good maps.

[@armintor2826]

Its super fun but after the daily challenges drop dead with 50xp per match it just screams "ok youve played your daily allotment, now fuck off."

[@duncansiror5033]

Really? A day?

[@Koichi-Kun]

I’ve done both of these

[@matthewhenderson1765]

@@duncansiror5033 I'd rather play mcc than a multiplayer missing my favorite game modes and features lol

[@nathanwhite617]

I believe when I watched Act Man just a few years ago he had like 150k subs or something. Well done Sir.

[@TheJackster-tl8oi]

I remember spending hours on forge in halo reach with my buddy next to me. I know it’s not the best game but I really miss that crap. Until he spoiled Kat’s death like 5 seconds before it happened, I was devastated 😢

[@UncleIan891]

It’s so depressing how it really seemed like this was 343’s redemption story. They were gonna turn Halo around and make it one of the greats again. Only for all of that to come crumbling down only a few short months after release. It’s bewildering that even with a giant like Microsoft backing them, they couldn’t give the fans what they wanted.

[@Xenomnipotent]

The LASO Challenge for Halo 2 goes to show how much love and care went into them that they can bring communities together even 18 years later. The same will not be said about 343i’s Halo games...

[@sleepisthecousinofdeath7395]

I still can’t believe someone beat that

[@bobhanson1037]

Getting rewarded for actual hardwork has died. That's why that challenge was so awesome. No pay to win, only grinding and a big pay off.

[@paladindaril]

@@bobhanson1037 I remember playing so much Halo that I didn't know what Resident evil and other big 3A game was until Halo 2. Like Eating sleeping Halo was a thing. Now it's just a small mound of dirt that you cross with barely any effort and it so forgettable that you play other game.

[@bencurran3204]

me and my friends felt rewarded by doing halo 3 on legendary, its not all about skill, although i was better and it was like herding cattle (e.g. meatshields to occupy chieftains). it was grinding through that campaign, screwing up, getting stuck, killing marines and getting into a a firefight for ages on rats nest. thats what allowed me to play a campaign way to many times

[@mythiccmouse6214]

@The Act Man with recent release of their roadmap. Now is the time more then ever to voice your opinion on the studio and how they handle it.

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

I'm really not all that much of a multiplayer gamer (I'm weird), _BUT_ a lot of my _Halo_ memories were of playing co-op with friends. I was always a PC gamer, so I never played _CE_ or _Halo 2_ until MCC, so I always played _Halo 3_ whenever I was at a friend's house. A few friends at university had a 360, and _Halo 3_ was one of our favourite games to play, despite (at this point) it being nearly a decade later. When _Infinite_ was coming out, me and a friend of mine were getting super excited at the idea of playing co-op. In fact, most of my gaming memories are of playing with friends, even if we were just taking it in turns.

[@silaswilson8122]

13:12 truer words have never been spoken. Just recently I convinced my older sister to play through the halo reach campaign with me, and watching her reaction as George sacrificed himself to destroy the super carrier only for dozens more to take its place was priceless. Oh and one more thing. BRING BACK SPLITSCREEN !

[@JimHalpertFromTheOffice]

"Listen, Reach has been good to me. Time has come to return the favor. Don't deny me this." - Jorge-052 to Noble Six

[@CmdrTigerKing]

consoles? ew

[@iabaca]

Wait what???? I've been playing split screen... couch split screen online.

[@bplusstudios9031]

Well...

[@silaswilson8122]

@@iabaca halo five doesn't have split screen, and neither dose halo infinite.

[@chgjake2230]

I'm so glad Act Man's got his passion for making videos back.

[@chrisa8863]

I'm glad he got remonitized

[@UltraEgoMc]

@@chrisa8863 You are glad a rich guy can make even more money. Nice

[@Coldfront15]

​@@UltraEgoMc I smell envy.

[@timbrakefield8313]

@@UltraEgoMc My dude... imagine if the Act Man didn't make money off his videos, I promise you wouldn't be lurking in his comment section talking shit.

[@UltraEgoMc]

@@Coldfront15 I smell white privilege

[@sambenson7229]

I miss the days of halo 3 multiplayer... was the peak for me enjoying the halo franchise... I remember playing combat evolved when I was 7 and the flood scared the shit out of me haha, but I was hooked from thay point on. Also fully agree with you depiction of things... I miss the social features and couch co-op....

[@jimbeaux89]

I have sooooo many fond memories hosting lan parties for CE. Me and 20 of my best high school friends in my house, my mama making beer runs for us, gosh. Some of the best moments of my life

[@ScrimWarsCommunity]

Act Man you're the voice for the voiceless, and to 343 that might but surely had ignored your feedback and others that have been a Veteran Halo Fan that knows what their talking about, has been disappointing and heart breaking to know that this company is hurting this game to the core of certain important aspects that made the game to be that we all loved back then. Hopefully they listened to this video. 🙏

[@trentrobertson5308]

Do you know how I can get in contact with the Act Man

[@canadiancomedy6894]

@@trentrobertson5308 patreon?

[@r.d.9399]

I'm 38 years old. Started with the original Halo. I wouldn't play these new games if they were bought for me. Online is boring as fuck.

[@jhandcockful]

Ive been a life-long halo fan since CE. Played lan parties on one and two, live on 3 and reach, and even enjoyed 4 customs with my friends. MCC really dropped the ball on launch, but that got better around the time of the match composer and now its the game I play the most with friends thanks to Saber doing the grunt work to make it a better experience. 5 really left a bitter taste in my mouth when it had an awful launch again, and infinite was the nail in the Halo coffin. I played through Season 1 just because I was so excited after playing in the test flights, but when season 2 launched and had progression tied behind a solo que playlist, in a mode I hate, I uninstalled the game and never turned back. As long as the leadership at 343 have the reings, I am not playing a new Halo again.

[@attractivegd9531]

Isn't MMC still frame interpolations and no real unlimited frame rate? At least for Halo 1? Does it still have issues with doing coop online with randoms/friends?

[@lustrazor44]

I have the exact same experience. Was 10 when CE released. They ain’t making halo for us anymore. 353/ms want the kids. The reality check they need is kids don’t want to play halo. They want to be iron man shooting Spider-Man and Ariana grande in a fort in fortnite.

[@Spartan_Jackal]

Halo 5, for what it did wrong, really turned around with their wacky custom modes, badass infection types, and other fun modes. That's honestly the reason i even play 5 anymore.

[@thenewsovietunion175]

infinite was a good game and you not wanting to play halo again over a few things is kinda dumb

[@jhandcockful]

@@thenewsovietunion175 It's mainly because they don't care about the social features or releasing a finished game on time

[@stradley_]

16:11 dude, I’ll never forget when my friends and I turned 17 and started working in 2011, halo reach dropped and we bought the game and wanted to get a lan party going almost every winter/spring break. Even though Xbox live was already a thing we brought 4 360’s together and had an unbelievable time with halo even though my parents electric bill sky rocketed 😂😂 something about bungie’s halo was just so amazing to have lan parties together. It was incredible. Always a moment in my lifetime I wish I could repeat

[@kancuzi]

I used to play halo reach with my dad. Its really sad to think that my child and I will never be able to have that experience as long as splitscreen is gone

[@chrisbenson6753]

It’s really incredible how much 343 has failed to grasp any of this. It seems so obvious to me. Halo never was a hyper competitive shooter with a steep learning curve, it never tried to be, and no one wanted it to be.

[@NaruSanavai]

Well, 3 got its feet wet a bit, but it wasn't looking to drown in that pool. It was more of a "Hey, we can do that, too - but it's not really what we're about."

[@Cognitoman]

There was a huge curve what do you mean ?

[@cyanades71]

It was always hyper competitive but it had an easy pickup experience

[@chrisbenson6753]

@@Cognitoman I mean I'm far from an FPS expert but growing up with Halo it provided a franchise that literally anyone could pick up a controller and have a good time with. That's not as much the case with Quake, CS, and even CoD (to a lesser extent). I'm not saying that deep mechanics weren't there, they just weren't as necessary to have a good time. The coop experience, extremely clear gunplay/vehicle combat, and easy to learn movement meant that everyone could find something in Halo they could enjoy and feel awesome doing, no matter the skill level.

[@jon4715]

Simpler the better.

[@compaqdeskpro5770]

Act Man, you actually nailed it, my introduction to Halo was through my best friend in middle school, we played through most of Halo 3's campaign in split screen co op on a CRT. After that I got into Halo 1 and 2 on PC, then I fixed a red ringed 360 to play Reach which was fresh out at the time and my mind was blown.

[@donn4life]

Very similar story here. On top of that: an ex-colleague of mine never really got into Halo because when he played it, it was with friends, but one dude just didn't respect him socially or something, just stomping on his nooby @$$ like there was no tomorrow, which actually in a different way shows that co-op indeed is important. The ability to do it. And then with some people who are not insistent a-holes. Does that make sense?

[@thedescendedangel]

Halo reach was my intro.

[@sheesh3214]

Blackout was really ahead of it’s time

[@happycrack69]

I get the whole party game aspect, but I never thought it should be only that. The lore of the game makes me want so much more from it, like multiplayer matches but with halo wars vehicles and battlefield mechanics

[@loudgames2131]

I absolutely love listening to another fan of halo, their own unique view points and ones I've already had myself. I love the fact you can look at it in a certain point of view and talk about improvements that could be made or otherwise obvious. I remember my uncle got me onto halo (and even his dad) and when I finished halo 3 I remember talking with him about it and he said it's probably the last one. It killed me but I thought I knew how to make halo 4, crazy ideas of well maybe he's just lost not dead and the arbiter could find some forerunner tech to help him find the chief because he knows there is no way he's gone that easy, and I even had an idea of an ai like guilty spark getting a mech suit or something for it to be a better threat and i was blown away when they had something similar to my child imagination come into infinite

[@coopahtroopah1175]

There are few interactions in the history of gaming that have made me as happy as: “…The Act Man??” “Yeah, it’s ya boi!” “HOLY SHIT! :D”

[@delphin422]

The main reason I bought the HMCC was to play the campaign with a friend. Barly touched the multiplayer but still have 305h on steam. To launch Infinite without campaign coop was mind boggling to me.

[@boombirdking2118]

Same. Had to have played the Halo 3 campaign a hundred time before the MCC even existed

[@DiZtheJedi]

I got it for 2 and Reach. So many memories.

[@toxicale72]

I got it to play halo reach forge again… of course that’s not on launch either.

[@MagnumGaming1]

Great video bro... Seriously great... I was preparing a video that says the exact same... But I stopped after I seen this... You took the words right out of my mouth... Been playing halo for 20 years

[@mol-o2766]

We are having a 16 people Halo: CE Lan Party this month on the og xboxs. Fun fact: I don't even own a xbox since X360 and Halo Reach.

[@regularpigeon2702]

Also Infinites XP system actively discourages you from playing longer. Think about it. The more matches you play, the less XP you get. Your per match XP drops down to 50 and if you've already done all your challenges, then theres no more XP from that aswell. So leveling up will take forever if you play for more than an hour. The challenge system also feels like I'm going into every match with a stack of homework, it just sucks the fun out of it. Why is there no performance based xp.

[@donn4life]

Homework. That's a very good term for this challenge system... 👍 Edit: XP system => challenge system

[@w1mark275]

The reason why the challenge system sucks is because it was designed on purpose. Yet another system ruined by monetization. Halo would not offer the option to buy challenge swaps if they were not self aware of the problem, but instead of fixing it like any company which cares about their playerbase, they sell you the solution. Come on, just give us $5, we'll make all your problems go away... You want that free xp now don't chu? Instead of having fun in the video game, you have to rationalize if getting imaginary xp points 10% faster so you can stop playing the game is worth your money...somehow??? These are the trappings of a free to play game. They make you go through mental gymnastics where you think your will have more fun if you pay, often times they will intentionally sabotage the player experience to achieve the desired effect on the player.

[@SteelStorm33]

the monetization sabotaged gameplay elements in infinite, for example the colored glow around players, what indicates friend or foe, was neccessary to sell people skins, they would be worthless if they just recolored their armor in red and blue like in halo3, but with this method, it is nearly impossible to see if one has shields down or up. they copied the halo3 base gameplay pretty good, but made things worse for the sake of dollars.

[@Veralidainai]

Seeing Halo's downfall really emotionally hurts me. I was so attached to Bungie's Halo trilogy (1-3) and even Halo: Reach and I remember a whole month where I was playing Martin O'Donnell's soundtracks on loops, it was a beautiful, nostalgic time. Halo 4 was the last Halo game I played and I will never play 5 or infinite.

[@robertharbaugh7394]

Same for me. Was so disappointed with 4 I never played any of the others after. Halo:Reach is my all time favorite game, but Halo is so dead to me. It's not what it used to be.

[@henrik1743]

Halo literally peaked on Reach, I am glad I got to enjoy it

[@bobbinette3368]

Same here. It really died at 4 for me.

[@micahhouston7335]

You should at least play Infinites campaign, which is pretty good.

[@thecapone45]

Ironically enough, I actually went back to Halo 5 because Infinite was just so bad. I felt comfortable playing 5's multiplayer more than Infinite's. But yeah Infinite's campaign was great!

[@stormlives6051]

I enjoyed playing the campaign, but at the same time it felt incredibly weird only having the option of playing it alone! Besides campaign co-op I've really felt the absence of firefight, even spartan ops lol. It's a shame that 343 is alienating the PvE multiplayer community. I also think that calmer moments during PvE where the players just hang out could increase the chances people buying cosmetics. When bullets aren't flying around you are more likely to notice what others are wearing and potentially get the urge to want to look like that yourself. A social hub like the Tower in Destiny or relays in Warframe would be a good way to promote cosmetics even more, while also making Halo Infinite feel more social.

[@oatsaredelicious2521]

Their newest update video shows it best because it seems like they are trying to make a game halo just isn't. 343 literally gaslights poeple by outright saying "Halo always has been and was meant to be a competitive game". I am very new to the franchise but just from the feedback since launch by the community, I knew this was bullshit.