Site Poll 81: Why Halo Infinite, and not Halo 6?

[Ranger Intel]

 

 

Hi everyone, Spartan here with site poll #81.

 

 

Last week we talked about whether 2013's E3 teaser was actually Halo 6, and some likely possibilities were suggested. Click here to view the last poll, #80.

 

 

 

 

Why Halo Infinite, and not Halo 6?

 

 

 

Initially it looked like a prequel, but it's pretty much been confirmed that Infinite is Halo 6. Besides the first game, every mainline Halo title has had a number as a suffix, why change now? Some may say 343 don't wanna sound like Final Fantasy (e.g. Halo 15), but I'll miss seeing the number after "Halo" in that classic Halo font.

 

The fact it isn't "Halo 6" further influenced the thought that this will be a prequel, but now we know that most likely isn't the case. What we don't know, is why "Infinite"? What does it mean? Someone leaked that a "Halo Infinity" is set to be shown at E3, and they were close with that name. When I heard this, I though it would be a side-game and or potentially a series, appearing alongside Halo 6, but now we know it's Halo 6 itself.

 

What do you all think this means, and why do you think 343 decided to make this change?

 

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,

Spartan out.  

[Adv Jones]

I personally don't mind it. At some point with 5, before or after release, it was mentioned by 343 that they are dropping the number system. I want to say they said it would happen after 5, but idk.

Either way, as long as the story is true to what it needs to be, then the title doesn't need a number.

[I_Make_Big_Boom]

It's because the Infinite subtitle whatever added onto the Halo brand caters to the largest casual audience who, upon seeing the trailer, suddenly believes that all their "classic artstyle" dream fetishes will come true, and that our lord and savior 343 has finally saved us from the damnation they themselves made for us. /s

 

Seriously though, I hate the title. It's dumb, and really generic. Halo 5: Guardians is a good title. Bad game, but good title. They shot themselves in the foot by calling it Halo Infinite because... what happens after that? The context of the title is really important here, because if the game was called Halo: Infinite Evolved then the pressure wouldn't be that bad, but since it's just called Halo Infinite...

 

This is the same problem Call of Duty had with Infinite Warfare. That is by far the dumbest title Activision has used in the entire series due to the fact that it suggests the warfare goes on forever, so what's the freaking point? It's even more hairbrained when you take into account that there's gonna be another CoD coming out a year after this one, sooo.... In Halo Infinite's case, it suggests that we're basically stuck with these dumb Halos forever. Or the series itself is "Infinite", and will never die out despite the fact that it almost died 3 separate times since Bungie handed over the reigns. Maybe the title is a last ditch effort to convey to fans that 343 is committed to keeping the series alive, idk.

 

Additionally, the setup for this game is pretty suspicious given our Battle Royale ecosystem we got going on. If Call of Duty, and Fallout are cashing in on the hype, then I suspect Microsoft wants a piece of the pie as well. It would make sense for Halo Infinite since games like Rust, and Minecraft essentially go on forever (which Microsoft owns Minecraft now, mind you). We also gotta remember that Halo's been doing the Battle Royale crap since Halo: Reach, looong before it was an actual thing, and that we also have Warzone, a huge sandbox that easily could be altered for a Battle Royale mode. Combined with the generic title, classic artstyle nostalgia play, and apparent open world traits, I bet you Halo Infinite's gonna be a Halo: CE and Minecraft fusion Battle Royale experience shipping alongside standard modes. I hate the mere suggestion of it, but it's a rational evolution for the series.

(Oh yeah, forgot to mention... Animals, and nature were given allot of screentime in the Halo Infinite trailer... when have animals and their ilk ever been relevant to players in gameplay? Wanton destruction of Moa is fun, but it's a meme pastime. For these animals to be relevant, they'd have to be swole as hell, capable of killing any Spartan with ease. Or... conspiracy theory here... we're gonna be harvesting these animals and wildlife for resources... which reinforces the notion that Halo Infinite is a Rust-like experience.)

[Twinreaper]

I see this moving towards the same type of release system as Microsofts Windows Platform.  Microsoft dropped releasing numerical versions with Windows 10, starting the revolution that is "Incremental Updates" to a constantly evolving platform version.  So it makes sense that microsoft is looking for a way to continue the franchise without having to release a full game with title every 3-5 years.

 

This could be a great move for Halo, or it could spell the end.  Lot's of games now or days are adding full fledged campaign or multiplayer content that goes far beyond what we normally had back in the days of Halo CE - Halo Reach.  Having a title like "Infinite" really gives them the freedom of adding any type of story content without having to follow along a general continuity timeline like we have in CE>2>3>4>5.  It gives them the ability to drop a staggering amount of conetent without having to setup a timeline release or explain why and where it's happening.  They can literally decide to drop 60+ hours of gameplay half way into it's lifecycle about what happened between Halo 3 and 4, and they dont have to build a huge back story or title release to do it.

 

That being said, it also has massive potential for failure as living up to a name like "Infinite" is a big one.  The title itself without any other wording, firstly gives the impression that the halo expereince is massive and expansive (think Destiny with DLC) or (Mass Effect).  Halo has never had a large open world or expansive content gameplay that ressembles the aformentioned similar titles, so it's difficult to see where and what they can pull off, and how quickly.  Halo players as it is, hate, and I mean ABSOLUTELY HATE waiting a solid 3-4 years just to be teased with a new title.  Now factor in an evolving title that adds content story....and you have yourself a perfect **** storm of massive proportions that can utterly destroy the fanbase, or revive the franchise.

 

That's just my initial thought on the subject.  Doing this on console is a bit tricky given the resource lock of the hardware, versus the PC counterpart.  If it does come to PC alongside the console version, there is no doubt the PC will not only outperform it's sister version, but also provide an easier path of adding content.  Again, it's not something they are familiar with unless you count Spartan Op's missions...which are just recycled bsp's and not entirely new world size play areas.

[Sikslik7]

Halo Infinite will not break Halo naming system as much as people think it has. The only thing it will break is the naming convention for game with Chief as a playable character, and even then, that's debatable with Halo 5: Guardians. In fact, the use of Halo Wars 2 to advance the main story is key. 

 

The main storyline of Halo has typically advanced with each successive main title. For example, let's look at the order of games when they take place:

 

A. Halo Wars

B. Halo Reach

C. Halo CE

D. Halo Fireteam Raven (During CE)

E. Halo 2

F. Halo 3: ODST (During Halo 2)

G. Halo Spartan Strike (Note this is an alternative storyline during Halo 2 built in-game virtual reality)

H. Halo 3

I. Halo Spartan Assault

J. Halo 4

K. Halo Recruit (Assumed to be during Halo 4 due to only gameplay and the fact both Chief and Cortana are on Infinity)

L. Halo 5: Guardians

M. Halo Wars 2

N. Halo Infinite

 

Now, if we exclude games that go back in time, let's look at which games advanced the main story:

 

A. Halo CE

B. Halo 2

C. Halo 3

D. Halo 4

E. Halo 5: Guardians

F. Halo Wars 2

G. Halo Infinite

 

With the addition of more side games and games that backtracked, the Halo Universe has largely been expanded outside of the main titular games. With the convergence of these storylines in Halo 5: Guardians, we had a change of naming structure. Then with Halo Wars 2, the main story progressed (by a little) outside of the main games. The change of name with Halo Infinite is honestly to be expected at this point. Many events in the games (not to even mention the books) are taking place simultaneously, and I think the name change reflects that. Fans have called for spin-off game surrounding the Elites, the Insurrection, Ancient Humans versus Forerunners, and earlier events in the Human-Covenant War. I expect with this change of name we will see split stories or simultaneous stories emerge in the next few games as well.