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Hello everyone! With you, ActMan. In my last video, we talked about the layoffs at Halo Studios and the franchise being transferred to Activision. It still sounds so wild. I can't quite believe this. But today I want to continue this topic, because this is a great moment for all of us to ask and answer a very important question: where should Halo go next? So, what future awaits this franchise? It's a little early to make assumptions, but why not. And where do we even begin to untangle this, for lack of a better word, mess? What should be the creative direction in the future? What are they going to do with the story? And, more importantly, what do you guys want to see in Halo?
Suggest your ideas for Halo 7 in the comments below. Let's start the discussion. We currently know that Activision is creating a new dedicated studio to develop Halo games. It will be called Halo Studios 2. And we have no idea who is responsible for hiring or management or anything like that. It was reported that Activision wanted nothing to do with the head of Halo Studios, Pierre Hinze. I can't blame them. I mean, if that's not an exhaustive description, then I do n't know what is. Like, if even Activision doesn't want to work with you, that speaks for itself. It seems like this is a clean slate for the series. And I know we've heard this countless times before, but I dare say: I feel hopeful that Halo is now in
the hands of those who are completely detached from the old ways. Although they are still under the wing of Xbox. The point is, I think the chances of our opinions being heard at this mysterious new company are much greater than they were with 343 or Halo Studios. And that alone gives me hope. Perhaps a vain hope, but still hope. What we do know for sure is that Activision is planning to release a full-fledged Halo main game. But what should it be? Perhaps the most difficult thing is to understand what to do with history. Because resolving this issue is priority number one.
Some believe that Activision should pick up where true sequel that will unravel all the plot knots and complete the open ending. Offensive bias was deployed. Others say that the entire Reclaimer trilogy and all of 343's work should be completely discarded and turned into archival content. Which would be pretty funny, considering Halo Studios obviously changing huge chunks of lore could have serious consequences, and the things Halo 4 introduced are, well, still being talked about. But there are also rumors that Activision wants to completely reboot this franchise. I mean, start from scratch. If they wanted to play it safe, they could
make a game set in the future that wouldn't break the established lore, but would be largely detached from it, and therefore might seem pointless. So, a full restart, a partial restart, a continuation, or a time jump. These, in my opinion, are our four options. So let's look at them one by one. A complete reboot, like removing Bungie games from canon. Probably the worst thing they could do. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want them to go that far. We love these stories for a reason . You know, Halo Campaign Evolves was just following the same path as 25 years ago. I think at this point Halo fans are a little tired of the reboots and nostalgic lure.
See you in the sequel. It's a shame that we've reached a point where we have to reboot everything. But Campaign Evolves clearly didn't resonate with fans and didn't spark new interest in Halo. What the And it seems that the PlayStation community wasn't too bothered by it either. Overall, Campaign Evolves failed to capture the essence of Halo and its legacy. So, I think it's safe to say that this was the wrong direction to move the franchise forward. So, the idea of a complete restart can be discarded. Please don't do this. There are good moments in Halo's lore and history that are worth preserving, and the hard part is figuring out which ones. Infinite was already a kind of soft
reboot, as was Halo 4 to some extent. Maybe Reach, but that's pretty far-fetched. You could even consider the Halo series a kind of reboot in an alternate timeline, if you don't hate me for reminding you of its existence. The neural bridge is shutting down. Make a Halo game based on the "silver " timeline. So how about a sequel that picks up where we left off? Infinite ended on an intriguing note: Zeta Halo teases a new species deadlier than the Flood-the " Infinite." And there was a time when I wondered what this would lead to. It's been 5 years since then, and no update. I hate to say it, but I don't care anymore. In an ideal world, of course, we would get a sequel to that story simply for the sake of consistency, but the Reclaimer trilogy was
anything but consistent. I mean, look at Halo Studios' plans. 5 years have passed, and they did n't even have any idea what Halo 7 would be like. It seems like they themselves weren't going to continue that story, and that's probably the only consistent trait of 343 and Halo Studios- their utter inconsistency. Each game seemed completely disconnected from the others. The Reclaimer trilogy was quite confusing, and while I found some aspects interesting, for the most part the plot of each game was barely connected to the others. Even Cortana's death in Halo 4 didn't really affect anything in 5 or Infinite. The guards were simply thrown out of the frame, and you know what we are left with as a result?
Nothing. Infinite's plot was largely a continuation of the story of Halo Wars 2, which wasn't the main game, so that makes things even more confusing. And there were also prequel missions in Campaign Evolved. What was this all about? This storyline was going nowhere. The persistence of Unggoy. And Oh, remember those seasonal cutscenes that were part of the So, I think the harsh reality is that 343 didn't even see the point in continuing their stories. And I think it would be unreasonable to expect Activision and this new studio to want to continue someone else's work. There's too much baggage attached to the Halo brand and the franchise in general. I mean, put yourself in their shoes. If you were tasked with working on the next main
Halo game, would you want to continue Infinite? I'm not sure. I've heard rumors that they won't be using any assets from Infinite, which creates a bunch of other problems. But given the creative constraints and all the baggage that 343 left behind that Activision would have to pick up, it's hard to imagine they'd want to associate this new Halo chapter with one of the worst. I'd love to see where Halo Infinite's plot goes next, but I don't think we'll ever get it. They were always writing a sequel in some book or something anyway, so as long as they do that, and as long as people interested in the lore get the resolution, I think that's the main thing. Here, a spinoff set the future could work.
It would be harmless and would not overturn anything that already exists. But, as I said, it would also seem completely out of context, and therefore somewhat pointless. So, I mean, if you wanted to take the safest option possible, yes, just jump ahead and do something detached, but where do you go from there? So, that really leaves us with what I consider the most realistic option: a partial reboot and a partial sequel. One of the most frustrating aspects of how 343 handled this franchise was that even their good ideas didn't seem to make a comeback in subsequent games. You know, the SAW machine gun, the sticky detonator. Where, for God's sake, is Mantis?
Why hasn't anyone added Mantis to Infinite? I don't care what you say, this vehicle was from Halo 4, but if you put a low-poly version of it in Combat Evolved, you'd think it belonged there. There were things they came up with that I liked. I mean, think about what to do with all those characters they created? For example, where is Laski? Is Palmer dead? What's up with Locke? Is Buck doing anything interesting? The huge problem was that you would introduce all these characters and then they would just disappear like Homer in the bushes. And that's why I think it's inappropriate for Activision to try to continue 343's stories. Realistically -and I hate to admit this because the idea of removing certain things from canon creates a ton of
problems and could cause even more controversy in the future-but I think the most acceptable option would be to remove Halo 4, 5, and Infinite from canon. I'm really curious to know what you think, because in my opinion, given the state of the franchise, this is probably the best option, unless you have better ideas in the comments below. But one thing it will do for sure: show fans that they want to create distance between 343's Halo era and any new direction. Maybe they can try to tie it back into Bungie games. You know, the biggest problem with Halo 4 is that it came out and changed absolutely everything: the visuals, the narrative, the art style-absolutely everything was changed. And the reason people
liked Infinite so much was because it felt like a return to the roots. And that's exactly the kind of Halo we want -a return to form. You know, it would make perfect sense to erase 343's stories from canon because they spent so much time erasing the legacy of Bungie and Halo; you know, trampling on stories we've come to love, rewriting things that should never have been touched, like the fact that the Forerunners are people, killing off characters like the Newcomer in the book. I don't believe this happened. This is all fake. You can't just change the ending of Halo 3 where "Forward Unto Dawn" arrives on that Forerunner planet or whatever it is. So, let's say we cancel everything that happens chronologically after the end of Halo 3. So, you would just
remake Halo 4? Halo 4 2? I think it's so difficult. I'm not sure I can give a perfect answer. I'll be honest, I don't really understand where to go with the main plot. I like the idea of, you know, a reboot after Halo 3. But I can say that in the long run for the Halo franchise, one of the biggest problems was that 343 put too much emphasis on Master Chief. And Bungie, before leaving Microsoft, experimented with ODST and Reach. They expanded the boundaries of this universe. But even in Halo 2 we played as the Arbiter, and it was very controversial back then. It seems that during the time of 343, the scope of this universe narrowed significantly, because they saw Master Chief as the greatest appeal for the brand, which is actually the case
. But, you know, like with ODST and Noble Team, you have to make an effort to create brand appeal beyond Master Chief. Steve Downs is 76 years old, and I hope this guy lives to be 900. But you have to be realistic: one day he will either not be able to or will want to retire, and I really hate to say that. I knock on wood. With that in mind, it's worth introducing new characters and trying to tell stories outside of Master Chief. You know, 343 tried to do that with Locke. They wanted to pass the baton to him, and I respect that idea on paper, but it was executed so horribly that they decided to back off completely and just pretend Halo 5 never happened. So I do n't know. It's hard
to know what the next direction for the narrative and plot should be, but I think a reboot after Halo 3, before Halo 4, might be the best solution. This gives you the most creative freedom. You don't have all the baggage of the previous games, and yes, this might be the best direction to go. But where are we taking the gameplay? What will the Halo 7 combat cycle be like? What will those 30 seconds of fun look like? I have some good ideas about this, you know? And again, it goes back to the fact that even 343's good ideas don't come back. I would say most would agree that Halo Infinite was a step in the right direction after Halo 5. It was
more sandbox-oriented. It had equipment in it. A kind of back to basics Halo. I made a video a long time ago about how to create the best game mode in Halo, and I'd like to reiterate some of the ideas I had, okay? Because when I think of Halo multiplayer, things like Blood Gulch, Avalanche, Spire immediately come to mind. These huge maps with a bunch of equipment, weapons, you know, 16 players. I'm thinking about Warzone. When I think of Halo 4, I think of Dominion. Some of my favorite multiplayer shooters are just huge open-world battles. So I think if you really want to get people involved or make them wait for Halo 7, you need a scale mode.
You can do large-scale team battles, but in that old video I talked about a combination of Warzone, Dominion, large team battles, and operations. I've always liked the idea of Invasion combining the best elements of Halo's biggest modes into one. It's very bold and ambitious, but that's exactly what I would like to see, you know. You could add allies with artificial intelligence. Of course, I think they should also focus on the core of Halo-the 4v4 format. It will probably have sprinting. I mean, there are so many things we don't know about. And it's even a little fascinating, I like making assumptions about such things. Either way, I want to see a
big mode in Halo 7 that captures the scale and scope of Halo's conflicts, right? Invasion was a fantastic mode. You know, you could do a sort of "Elite vs. Spartans" battle, like in Warzone in Halo 5. You could implement some kind of currency system where during the match you could exchange points for equipment, weapons, or costume upgrades. Force fields and small automatic turrets from Domination mode could be added. And, like the Invasion mode, it could be an asymmetrical battle, where one side attacks, the other defends, and their goal is to capture multiple objectives. There is
simply incredible potential here. I would really like to see the Elites in the game brought back, just for variety and flavor. They don't necessarily have to be in competitive modes, but for social playlists, it would be quite appropriate. The point is that the community has been asking for many things for years, like Forge at release, Contagion mode, social playlists, or large team battles from the start. Just so that the content is available on the first day. You know, I used to often complain that Call of Duty came out with the same seven game modes, and I just wanted more variety. So the question arises whether they will optimize playlists. But at the same time, I think Call of Duty's service support is extremely strong. Whatever they
say about each of the parts, they fully support their games. I'm also really worried about the modding community, because Activision isn't exactly what we'd call a. I have to give credit to 343 and Halo Studios, because they mostly allowed all these mods to exist, or maybe it was the Xbox's fault, I don't know. There is a very active and important modding community, and I can well imagine that Activision would n't want any competition. I don't think the future of Halo has become more uncertain than it was during the Halo Studios era. In fact, knowing that after 5 years of development they had next to nothing even makes it a bit easier that Halo is now under Activision, because it means we can at least expect stable Halo releases once they
get the studio up and running. I mean, whatever they say about COD, they meet deadlines every year. It's impressive that they've been releasing games every year for 19 years in a row and they're not going to stop. I think that within their catalog of games, Activision is unlikely to want Halo and Call of Duty to compete directly with each other, so I don't think we should expect an annual Halo game. I've always liked the pace where the main game is released every 3 years, and a spin- off or some kind of addition every year and a half in between. Halo is going through a very interesting transition right now, but I'm genuinely excited and hopeful that the dark times are behind us, where we can leave them.
Regarding 343's legacy, I understand the reluctance to continue it, deal with it, or be creatively limited by those old games. However, I think almost everyone still respects Bungie games, so yes, the future is not entirely clear yet, but I am full of hope. And it may be a vain hope, but it is hope nonetheless. What do you think? Are you excited or worried about the future of Halo? I mean, it's obviously ambiguous, but you know, we have to work with what we have. Let us know your thoughts and views in the comments below.
Like if you enjoyed the video and subscribe to TheActMan for even more cool content. Well, friends, that's all I have for today. TheActMan was with you, bye. Peace be upon you.
