It's been three years since we've seen the Master Chief in a Halo game which only means one thing. The very hushed project of Halo 6 must be almost complete and its release will happen soon. As Halo 5 was not received very well among fans (including me), there are some things about the franchise that needs to change. As a long time Halo player, here is my wishlist for Halo 6.
1. Complete game at release
The game needs to be complete on release date. Halo 5 was an unfinished game when it released in 2015. Forge mode didn’t come until two months after the game was out and many multiplayer game modes just weren’t in the game. The game was a bugged disaster and it wasn’t until several months of free DLC content later when the game finally had enough content to fulfill its $60 retail price.
2. The return of split-screen co-op
Split-screen cooperative play needs to return. Halo was originally made successful because of split-screen. It was the greatest party game before the days of Xbox Live. Its always been a trademark of the series and its removal in Halo 5 was one of the worst decisions the franchise has ever made. Players understand that graphical fidelity will be sacrificed for split-screen and have never had a problem with that.
3. Make the Master Chief likeable
The Master Chief is the Xbox’s most iconic character and should be treated with the respect he deserves. Out of the 15 playable missions in Halo 5’s campaign, three of them had the Master Chief as the player’s character. His character was a shell of himself and his actions didn’t have the impact to the overall story like they had in the past. He was a passive protagonist that let things happen. That’s not what made him a beloved icon in gaming.
4. Remove sprint
The removal of sprint should seriously be considered for Halo 6, at least for the multiplayer of the game. Sprint has been controversial in Halo since its debut in Halo Reach, which was the start of the decrease in popularity for the series. Sprint completely changes the multiplayer which was widely beloved in Halo 2 and Halo 3. At this point, removing sprint would be an innovation for the series because Halo has had sprint longer than it hasn’t. Sprint is a cool idea for campaign, custom games and unranked multiplayer playlists, but it shouldn’t be used in competitive and ranked playlists. That being said, multiplayer maps shouldn’t be designed around sprint if that’s the case.
5. Remove spartan abilities
Spartan abilities also need to go. Halo has always had what’s known as a holy trinity in gameplay features. The trinity consists of guns, grenades and melee. Since Halo 3, each game has tried to add a fourth element to the gameplay. Halo 3 had equipment, Halo Reach and Halo 4 had armor abilities and Halo 5 brought spartan abilities to the game. Each fourth element of the gameplay has negatively impacted the core holy trinity of Halo’s multiplayer. This would take the game back to its golden days of multiplayer. Every single innovation Halo has tried to make since Halo 3 has made more people turn away from the game. Innovations can be done without changing the core gameplay.
6. Unique maps
Multiplayer maps should be unique from each other and not use reused assets. Halo 5 has an issue with its multiplayer maps because they reuse a lot of the same structures. The environments are different, but buildings and platforms are all carried over. It makes the maps all feel the same. In Halo 3, the maps were all different and unique. They all looked different and played different. Halo 3 has some of the most memorable and iconic maps where as Halo 5’s maps are forgettable.
7. Improved customization
Bring back the Halo Reach style armor customization system. Halo 5 only lets players customize their helmets, chest pieces, helmet visor colors, and armor color. Not to mention there are over 150 options for helmets and chest pieces. This sounds great, but it has the same problem that the maps have. There are few armor pieces that actually stand out. Most of them blend together and look the same. Quantity over quality also has made a lot of the armor look bad compared to the armor in Halo 3 and Reach. There were fewer options in those games, but players were given the customizations features from the shoulder pieces, wrist equipment, leg armor, and so much more. Each spartan looked more unique and all the armor had a lot more detail put into them.
8. A story that makes sense
The story needs to be its own condensed story. Halo 5 has an issue where the only way to understand the story of the game, one must know of extra content in the franchise. Halo 5 can only be understood if you know the story from the previous games, several comics, books and even a tv show. For a video game, not many people are going to want to go through all that which is why the story needs to be easily understood by itself.