For those too young to remember, back when Halo was huge every gaming publication was always like “is this new shooter X going to be the Halo killer?” Every time a big multiplayer shooter was announced, there was speculation about whether it was going to be the Halo killer.
Now that Halo is dead, which game was the Halo killer?
343 did a bang-up job at murdering their golden goose in the pursuit of a mythical “broader audience” that they’ve referred to many times. In Halo 4, they doubled-down on the loadout systems, added in COD-style perks and ordinance drops, and drastically changed the art direction and tone of the game (and don’t even get me started on the story). Halo 5 was much of the same, this time opting to chase the advanced movement trend that was all the rage in the mid-2010s, crazy MTX lootboxes, and a somehow even worse artstyle/story.
Even though the raw gameplay as Infinite was mostly a return to form, 343 again scuttled their own ship with their abysmally pathetic imitation of a Fortnite-styled live service/F2P game. 6-9 month seasons. No rank/career progression. Exorbitant shops prices and locked-down customization. Drip-fed additions of content. Staples of the franchise that are STILL not in the game after 18 months.
It’s funny that you mention MCC as 343’s best game, though, since I’d argue that was their worst by far. Sure, MCC is pretty good now, but the game was literally unplayable for YEARS for many people - not “oh I’m lagging a bit” sort of unplayable, I mean game-crashing, no multiplayer loading, unable to log-in type issues that only were resolved beginning in 2019 when they brought the game to PC (and even that had a massive slew of issues).
Anyways, I’m rambling at this point. I enjoy playing Infinite quite a bit and think it’s 343’s most faithful effort, but it’s still plauged with issues. 343’s endless pursuit over the past decade to attain a broader audience for Halo has effectively killed the franchise in popular opinion - and the ironic thing is that 343 never realized that Halo fans already were the broader audience to begin with.
I respect you for sticking with the franchise. MCC was rough around the edges because of 343 implementation issues, but I had a lot of fun with friends playing through the classic gameplay that had been absent.
All 343 had to do was just … keep doing what Bungie did. Like Nintendo doesn’t drastically alter what 3D Mario games play like. Apple doesn’t drastically alter the iPhone each year. Just because you didn’t massively change the formula doesn’t always mean you’re lazy, it often means you’ve identified a great product and have refined it. Some times you refine it more than other times. And that’s okay.
They just wanted so badly to make Halo their own game. And by that point, it simply was not possible. Halo was too massive an IP.