343i,
Credit where credit is due. You guys pulled off something that i would have bet my life savings you would have screwed up in true microsoft fashion. So right now i admit i am eating crow about your ability to handle the franchise. so lets recap the campaigns only:
Halo 1 = epic
Halo 2 = developers gave there fans the finger, two of them
Halo 3 = Good but not great, no pushing of the envelope in story or execution
Halo odst = short, but awesome story, relatable characters great pacing
Halo reach = developers gave the halo universe and lore contenuity two middle fingers, story was iffy, character we wanted to see got killed with no good scenes, other characters we wanted to die much sooner than they did.
Needless to say Halo is my favorite game of all time, but has not been handled near as well as it could or should. And this is why.
THE CAMPAIGN IS EVERYTHING TO THIS FRANCHISE. YOU MARGINALIZE THE STORY AND YOU LOSE BUSINESS.
343i did a great job on story and the hard work shows and i really really do hope you guys get all your money back and more, cause i know ill be buying more halo stuff cause of how great you did the story and the characters.
now here is a small list of what needs to be improved and i can garuntee an automatic pre-order of halo 5 and possibly even a new xbox edition with it
1. Story was good but delivery was messy. need smoother and more comprehensive delivery. So many elements were left unexplained and or missing completely. example MC meeting spartan-IV's for the first time. nothing was mentioned. Having to watch story elements in waypoint is annoying.
2.What is and what isnt cannon anymore is so up in the air its rediculous. like spartans armor, if halsey is back what happened to fred and the other spartans.
3.No cheap thrills, armor abilities were tastefully done, but some are a little out there for a soldier in the field. Sentry? jetpack?
4.Ending. I do not mind the loose threads, but sheer cliffhangers are annoying (halo2). but a boss fight with the didact might have been nice. It is okay that masterchief is not a match for the didact hes not supposed to be but having him fall off a bridge......kinda a cop out.
Some advice though for the future.
IMHO your formula is damn near perfect, but does need some work. Good pacing good mechanics, epic story, epic action, and good dialog.
One reason the new batman movies worked is because they were believable. The sequels didnt take concepts and keep blowing them out of proportion for money. It was more real. Halo needs to evolve this same way.
last but not least the Masterchief
1.Thou shalt not change his armor much more, halo armor revisal was good but keep messing with it and it might bite you in the butt.
2.Thou shalt put in more awesome action sequences of MC doing awesome stuff. please. We wanna see more MC being a bad@$$.