A lot of places I go online, I see plenty of people skeptical of how 343 Industries is going to do with Halo 4 since they haven’t given us much real information on it yet. From all indications, the game was shown in secret at the XBox Showcase in San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday. Rumor has it that the public may get to feast their eyes on it as early as next Monday.
The fan side of me wants to see the game as badly as anyone. From a business perspective, however, I can respect 343i’s strategy. Halo 4 is going to set the tone for the series going forward under 343i. They just get one shot to get it right the first time out of the gate, and restore faith to the franchise that has faltered a bit and seen itself overtaken in popularity by Call of Duty after Reach received a lukewarm reception by fans.
Is Reach a terrible game? Not at all. I wouldn’t have spent so much time playing it otherwise. It does suffer from some issues that have caused the population to decrease in comparison to its predecessor. Since taking over the management of Reach, 343i has taken steps via the Title Update and playlist changes that have made strides toward improving the gameplay experience significantly. Most of the changes made have received praise from many of the people that had complaints. After seeing the way 343i has made every effort to listen to community feedback, along with making positive changes to the somewhat-flawed Reach, I’ve been nothing but encouraged about the future of Halo.
You can’t please everyone, but I truly believe that 343i will make Halo 4 a great success. Remember, Bungie wanted to get away from the Halo franchise. Everyone at 343i is passionate about Halo, and WANTS to be working to make it the greatest game yet. Will they succeed? We will find out by year’s end. But count me on the record as one hardcore fan that has faith in them.
Wake up, John.