BaconShelf

Alright, to be frank, I don't think I'm going to be updating this list ever again. I utterly despise Halo 5 and everything about it, and having done some critical thinking/ reflection on the more recent Halo media, I can't say I've enjoyed much of it to anywhere near the level I enjoyed the CE-Reach games/ books/ comics. In short, Halo 5 has completely killed my interest in the Halo franchise and it seems silly to do a lore list thingy for a franchise I don't follow. So if anyone else wants to continue this reference (Copy the OP and make a new thread or something), feel free. Chances are I won't be updating it any longer. Sorry 'bout that.

Update 23/03/2016 - Ayy Lmao -Moved New Blood to novels because **** you physical>digital -Added Tales from Slipspace to upcoming -Added the novel listed on Amazon as an unnamed Halo title (We know jack all about it) -Renamed TFORA to The Butchery of Reach: Animated because that's what it was.

Yeah. Most of the unique heavy weapons are prototypes and in the experimental stage or are used for specific purposes. If you read the descriptions, it answers the circumstances surrounding their creation. Plus, you never see a UNSC military base in the campaign; only the odd pelican and a civilian corporation, neither of which are likely to sport weapons like the Ad Victoriam (Fellow Knight). It's like expecting every combat circumstance in the real world to be sporting HVM-II launchers and a wide variety of weaponry when in reality, all soldiers get pretty much the same gear. Are you around the age of six? Are you an orphan of war? Are you looking to get some revenge on some lizard scumbags? If you answered yes to all of those, welcome aboard. Forerunner tech adapts to fit the user. The Terminals in Halo 3 scan the reader and try to emulate the reader's language - similarly, it's pretty easy to imagine the arour abilities modify themselves to be used in MJOLNIR. The limited time usage could be a side effect of them not being fully compatible.

Unknown as of yet - we've never been able to see a Spartan get infected. John waa certainly worried about it, but MJOLNIR energy shields and filters mean infection is a low possibility as long as those two systems are active.

The war master armour mentions it's a popular choice becaus eof it's "unusual" focus on aesthetics The HALO 4 LE poster shows armour schematics being recommended for Thorne based on his service history There's a UNSC code regulating what colours can be applied to armour, indicating an element of choice there. I imagine a lot of teams set a theme (IE Majestic being all blue) I put all SIVs in game being recruit down to gameplay limitations. Goblin armour is specifically mentioned by fireteam shadow (iirc) in the Requiem Campaign, but we see those guys in recruit in SO, so take that as you will.

Cool beans. But I care more about function over form. I'm not upset there's no lore for them. I'm upset there is lore for them; there is no feasible scenario in which promethean bullets or energy bayonets should rightfully exist as a UNSC technology. Sorry, but I care more about internal consistency,function and logic than OMG IT LOOKS COOL!!1!! XDXDXD Nope. They get to choose; Halo 4 LE has Thorne's armour requistion where he is placing a request for armour. Guilty. I should probably say I'm not fully opposed to MJOLNIR MKIV-VII and ODST platforms moving to GEN2. Most, if not All of them are much more practical than nearly anything made by 343 (Stuff like Warrior, Soldier, Recruit seems prety practical within the Halo universe) My original point wasn't that well explained so I'll try again. Say seeker is practical in some way (Obviously a lie,but go with it). If it's being rated for combat, it's design and technology is obviously decidedly better than say, MKVI. If the design weren't better than MKVI, why not just use MKVI and add the internal tech to the inside? You'd save a lot of time amd money that way. If the design is being used,it obviously has some kind of advantages over the previous generation, or it wouldn't be used. In real militaries, people don't choose equipment because it looks pretty,people get equipment because it is suited for purpose. The only advantage I can see Gen1 ports having is cost, but I'd even say that's dubious.

I suppose putting the armour of a WWII sherman onto an M1A2 Abrams would also mean it functions exactly the same because the inside technology is the same, right? I would expect soldiers to be able to adapt to their current conditions. If they wanted to stay an ODST,don't join the Spartan Corps.

MKV[A] is Halo 5, and CE MKV is Halo Reach, CEA, Grey Team and was basically succeeded by NOBLE and MKVII Halo 4 and 3 are unknown quantities In the same way, we got the MKIV used by Red Team/ Halo 5 and MKIV variants used by Blue Team in Package/ FUD. Just different sub-models in the same line. Kind of redundant why you'd opt to use technology that is outdated and inferior, but when the alternative is wearing 343-designed garbage,who could blame them for wanting something that doesn't look like the scribblings of a twelve year old?

Because they weren't there? The closest to a UNSC facility we ever get is Meridian. Liang-Dortmund likely only ordered base-model weapons for the facility. This is literally the same thing as asking why we never saw the MA37 Assault Rifle or DMR in Halo 2 and 3, despite both being used by the UNSC Army and Marine Corps. Plus, the Holosight is likely the standard loadout for marines in the UNSC. Currenr militaries have a set loadout for their trrops;US Army marksmen use the M16A4 with an ACOG scope. Similarly, UNSC marksmen likely use a BR-85N with the longshot scope, we just don't see any marksmen. Royal Army troops use the L85A2 assault rifle, but they don't get to customise it with a bunch of different scopes and stuff, Battlefield-style. It's only special forces that get that privelege. The closest we've come to seeing a large number and variety of UNSC forces was Reach, and the attachments didn't exist then. So TLDR, we don't see any marines in the campaign, we see civilians who were given a rifle when their planet got ****** over, but they're private security and random miners. Not soldiers. Most marines don't customise their gear anyway, so of course we won't see anything but a base-level variant in 9/10 combat scenarios.

If it helps, I never particularly liked them. But they were never meant to be canon, nor were they common items that ever guy and his dog had while playing. I always found the armour effects really cringey, honestly.

I expected new and original content, then. Why would SO be revived if it wasn't well-received? Isn't that the OPPOSITE of what you should do? They'd have to up their game, and do damage control with people who hated the mode before. Swaying public opinion is easy because marketing is life, but the work required to make it NOT suck would... well lets look at the Campaign. Do I need to explain further? However... knowing 343... they'd do it anyway. Halo 5, and MCC are a good example. If there's money DO IT! I said campaign theatre and firefight (Or some equivalent PvE mode) should return. I would be happy with a Spartan Ops 2, but I'm the kind of guy who has been doing rocketry equations and research into actual military organisation for my own science-fiction. I'm an oddball, but I know most people don't like SO. But how to improve it is a topic for another time. And the sequel DOES expand... depending on how you look at it. It's the safest approach to Halo, and lacks the complexity of Halo 4... well actually it trades it with a familiar yet foreign complexity to Halo. Spartan Abilities are new. Original? No. Is it an expansion? Yes... no? It's both. Not only does it introduce *new* (unoriginal) mechanics into Halo, it abandons all manor of custom loadouts, and AAs. AAs technically are just non-universal Spartan Abilities, but not as lame. Then there's Warzone, which is Reach Firefight, but with 0 privacy. Oh, and classic MP attributes. So the moral of the story is that things can expand while receding. Classic Halo: a series that not only improves upon it's predecessor's ideas, but squanders potential for greatness at the same time. Spartan Abilities are like the scrumptious dinner you get after having been force-fed god awful hospital food / medicine for a year. Halo 5 Campaign is like clawing your own eyes out after getting laser eye surgery. I'm not really saying anything about gameplay because opinions. I don't really give one about it, Halo gameplay has never been my jam. It's been perfectly average. However, the gameplay in Halo 5 has improved on it's predecessors, though the map design does nothing to take advantage of it. Complete side note, but the aiming still feels off, and I can't quite put my finger on it. A bit better with the CG update, but it still feels funny compared to other games on the market. Plus, if the content wasn't there to begin with it has not been removed. You're talking about feature bleedthrough, like Firefight ascending into Reach. Forge World was supposed to launch with Halo 5, but it was held back. THAT is removed content. infection oddball assault one-flag CTF KOTH VIP Race Territories Regicide Ricochet Grifball Nope. These definitely weren't removed. Not at all. Adding them later doesn't count, they should be in on launch - there is no excuse not to. Stuff like ricochet and regicide I don't expect to be in as they werren't well-recieved, but things like infection and assault are core to the experience of many players and they were removed - adding them close to six months later does not count. Halo 4 literally was in Beta mode at launch, and MCC was a trainwreck. 343 have an excuse they're not willing to tell us about, and we can do almost nothing about it. When they fix something they break everything else. We can never win. I think the excuse was that they spread the resources too thin between all aspects, and had to focus a large majority on the MP to assure the game's survival post-launch. The solution they came to was to make the game as safe as possible, and then build on it. I fail to see how adding in stuff like gametypes on forge was playing it safe, but yeah. No coolio OG BTB maps? Oh, we're not paying for them, so... Work isn't cheap for a new map, and the funds to make it have to come from somewhere. They've figured out that they can now milk REQs to death without worrying if it will fail or not pre-launch, so if the money gleaned from them is suficient enough they could reroute it into map development. In the meantime we get free maps built using an archaic mode... that we did not pay for, but could be worthy of paid DLC. There's a difference between waiting for developer BTB maps and hiring community forgers to do the work for you, and then remaking existing maps. I want new experiences, not to replay the same tired thing all the time, and now with the same textures because >forge Forge maps have never been hyped to this extent in prior games, they shouldn't now. PRevious games didn't allow it. I'm assuming Halo 5 was built to allow it due to how new weapons are being added, though it could be empty slots. Have you seen any raving about HCS? Because I haven't. Yes, LoL, DOTA, Starcraft and Counterstrike are dominating right now, but they get hundreds of thousands, if not millions of viewers watching every game and have a similar amount of players still playing them. How many people have you seen raving about halo esports in recent years? Complete side note, but I still find it hilarious that they had to cancel an MCC tournament because the game didn't work. Completely irrelevant, but funny. Because the Halo: Reach and Halo 3 custom games communities died immeditely after launch, right? Statistics say otherwise. Even so, Halo 4's forge (Experience and maps) were sub-par, as were custom games options, so it's hardly surprising that custom games died with it. Case-in-point; infection. 343 has stated all multiplayer is simulation. So yes, all armours, skins, maps and so forth are canon. Sadly. Both are utterly ridiculous. Remember when the spartans were a professional group, not rainbow power rangers? Pepperidge farm remembers. Ultimately, this comes down to mishandling of the lore and is probably only something you'd care about if you're into the lore. Also, headcanon doesn't count. I could go on a massive rant about Halo 5's story, but it might be better for another time. Like, the type of thing better as it's own thread. Also, I can't fault the HTT guys. The company that did that series was told as much about the game as we were, hardly fair, is it? Besides, the same situation happened with Halo 2 and 3 marketing. [the quote disappeared for some reason but there was a quote here) I'd rather games get more expensive and have a complete game at launch than have this ridiculous microtransaction/ $50 season pass bull****. Good middle-of-the-day to you.

Just a shame that the new maps are glorified forge maps. It's a bad thing that REQs make up the majority of any update, yes. Like I said, there's not an inherent problem with them, there's a problem with the way they're glorified. If there were a way to buy individual things at an increased price, I'd have no problem - I'd rather know what I'm working towards than have RNG decide that it wants to give me three variants of seeker helmet. I want to have an objective to work towards rather than grind in the hopes that I might get something I want. Like a little thing called the Credit system in Reach. Have RNG all you want, but I still want a way to unlcok it myself. Hell,have a common helmet cost 20mil for all I care. I'd rather save up RP for that than continuously open up Premium Disappointment PacksTM. Furthermore, if you're going to add weapon skins,I'd rather they appear somewhat useful in a military. Desert, Urban, Woodland, Tundra, Winter, Naval and Autumn skins, just off the top of my head, would be a welcome addition. Heck, the texture is already there because of vehicle variants. I have no problem with this kind of stuff, as it fits in-universe and is still letting the graphic designers and modellers do their thing. Of course,that comes down to my own taste there. I preferred when Halo was an actual serious MilSciFi work with the odd easter egg/ joke here and there (eg bungie flames). Now it's turning into sci-fantasy crap that barely maintains a level of self-consistency with previous works to the point that Halo 5 may as well be considered fanfiction. Halo is going full-on Saint's Row right now, only Saint's Row was self-aware and changed because it realised that the average GTA player wants to run round the streets killing people with a giant purple ***** sword. 343i is hilariously under the impression that a series with pizza weapon skins and armour like tracker, seeker and achilles still has a modicum of self-respect. Go onto the Halo YT channel and watch any of the twenty-second long videos they do to advertise the new updates. If you genuinely find them funny, then there's probably no point replying to me because it's obvious you're part of the audience that 343 wants now. onestly, it seems to me that Halo 5 has no... uh, how to put it... Soul? I guess? IT doesn't feel like the people making it were passionate about their game. Fallout 4, as repetitive and lacking as it is compared to NEw Vegas, still feels like Bethesda loves the franchise and wants to make their games genuinely fun, even if they don't quite meet that goal all the time. Even my new pick-up, Elite: Dangerous, it's obvious Frontier Developments loves the Elite universe and wants to continuously expand upon something they've been working on since the '80's. And for chruts sake, the majority of Elite was made using calculations, with only a very small part of it hand-crafted (400 billion star systems is a lot, after all). If you're going to do the post-launch DLC model of free stuff, look at GTAV for inspiration. Don't get me wrong, the game's online mode didn't work for the first few weeks (And is still very unstable, at least on XB1) but it has continuously added DLC support for free since launch; new guns, vehicles, apartments, missions and other stuff have been added for free. It works becaus the game is fun to play, R* have focused on making sure there is a variety - a massive variety - of things to do. It's a grind, to be sure, but the grind isn't the same thing all the time. There's dozens of game-modes in missions, there's hundreds of quests in single-player, and that's before considering that most people just play the game to **** around with friends. If you make a game that people want to play over again because it's enjoyable, then you've succeeded. Anything to do with progression should be an added bonus. There's a reason why Halo 5 has fallen off the top 10 most played XBL games list already while games like GTAV, Destiny (Apparently the game has improved a hundred-fold since launch, but I wouldn't know) and such are still there two, even three years from launch. It's why Reach maintained a steady amount of players even after Halo 4 released and the new consoles came out and why people were still playing Halo 2 and Star Wars Battlefront II on XBL in 2010, because the games were fun to play on their own, before any meaningless numbers to persuade you to keep playing. The only part of Halo 5 that I can definitely say the developers cared about is the forge team, and I genuinely feel bad that they obviously want more support for custom games in Halo 5 (Tom French's twitter, he actually responds to people tweeting him, he's a pretty cool guy) but are getting shut down by the kinds of people who don't want no social gametypes in my competitive game. Unfortunately, forge isn't worth +60gb of hard drive space when I have Reach, Metro 2033 and Far Cry 4 stil lto play (I had to uninstall the latter two to play Halo 5) , as well as Witcher 2, Deus Ex, Tomb Raider and Halo Wars to install yet.

It was a timed exclusive.

Remixes barely count as new maps, and forge maps don't count, nor do Warzone Assault maps count as three extra warzone maps. You don't count the TDM, Conquest small and Rush variants of Battlefield maps as 4x the extra maps in that game, and you don't count the equivalent in Halo as a new map. And both (Spartan Ops wasn't well-recieved so I can't really count it, though I would be happy for its return) should be in. The purpose of a sequel is to expand and improve upon its predecessors, not remove content. Halo 5 has been in development for three years,there is no excuse to launch a half-baked game with five game modes and a half-arsed campaign. There is no excuse for including forge maps as equivalent of main maps aside from the game being rushed out to meet christmas. Things that were missing at launch - Game modes, forge, BTB maps, maps that equal more than UNSC base - are staples of the franchise. Custom games are as much a staple of the franchise as the multiplayer. But hey, at least we get ESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSESPORTSS. I'm so glad that we got a half-baked game rushed out with an obvious lack of content so that it can be drip-fed over the next year because it wasn't finished yet of a feeble attempt to keep people playing. Providing all the base content on launch would keep people playing if it was good. The only reason people didn't play Halo 4 custom games is because they were awful. But you know what is the icing on the cake? The knowledge that spartans running around with nerf guns, pizza skins and vomit skins is canon. The multiplayer is canon which means all that is canon. Any attempt this franchise had to take itself seriously passed long ago. I'd be fine with skins if they had a shred of seriousness about them - Battlefield has hundreds of weapon and vehicle skins, but even the 'silly' ones still have an air of realism (somewhat) about them. Why are there no camouflage variant skins? Why do we get neon-green and blue skins instead of something somewhat reasonable? Halo 4 was far from a perfect game but I was able to give benefit of doubt due to the fact that 343 was understaffed and only had two years to make the game; if Halo 5, a bare-bones, microtransaction-riddled and obviously rushed game is the result of a full team, a full timescale of development and a system much more powerful than the previous one, then I'm not sure whether I want to buy Halo 6. Of course, none of this has even scratched the surface of the abysmal campaign, the hideous-looking armour selection or the cringeworthy advertisments 343 constantly pumps out under the delusion people find them funny, nor the outright lies produced in the pre-launch marketing. Sorry, but I have little and less to like about Halo 5. The soundtrack was good and forge is amazing, but you don't play shooters for the soundtrack and forge is nigh-on useless without custom game options. The campaign length was a lie, the story was abysmal, the gunplay is standard-fare halo (Subjective, of course,but Halo gameplay has never particualrly thrilled me) and the variety is non-existent. For a multiplater appeal to me, I need motivation other than grinding for useless cosmetics and warzone weapons to keep me playing. A fun game with a number of options of playstyle that doesn't leave me wondering why I'm not playing prior entries comes to mind. You like Halo 5: great. Don't let me stop you. For me, it's another symptom of a cancerous practice in AAA games in recent years of releasing games unfinished and adding in the content later - Destiny, Battlefront (2015) and Halo 5 being three noteworthy examples. If I wanted to play early access games, I'd buy them on steam, at least then they're not full-price releases. If I pay £50, I expect £50 worth of content, and enough to rival prior entries on launch. Of course, the age-old argument of "If you don't like it then leave" will come up at some point so let me stop you there. I've already uninstalled and sold the game with zero intentions of coming back. I'll buy Halo wars 2 because I know that Creative Assembly has a good reputation for their RTS games, but I won't be buying Halo 6 at all if it doesn't meet standards set by prior games in the series and myself.

Content that should have been in on launch isn't free DLC. Halo 5 is an early-access game being sold for full price. If paying for dlc guaranteed a full game on launch and maps that weren't half-arsed remixes and forge maps, I woyld happily go back to the old model. Ah well, at least all those REQ sales made a prize pool of 2 million dollars for an irrelevant tournament I couldn't care less about, amirite? I have no problem with graphical artists and modellera making REQs. I have a problem with the way that they are touted as being TEH BEST THING EVAR!!11!!, when all they do is just clog up the pool and make the odds of getting something you want even smaller than before. Of course, it's all irrelevant for me ultimately,,as I've uninstalled the game with no intentions of coming back either way.