Halo's rebrand needs to be more than just nostalgia to be Xbox's champion again

Somehow, Halo has returned. Xbox’s former killer-app is going through some big changes as 343 Industries, the developer that’s been overseeing the series since 2012, has undergone a rebrand to Halo Studios.

Along with this news was confirmation that future games will be made using Unreal Engine 5, and to show fans it was serious some delightfully crisp images were shown of Master Chief in his Mark V armour from Halo: Combat Evolved.

It’s believed the future of Halo will abandon the story of Halo: Infinite, which you can see below

This has obviously sparked a lot of discussion over what’s on the horizon for Halo, after all Halo Studios has described the transition as a “New Dawn.” It’s believed this choice of wording along with the images of Chief in his original armour, from a game stand-point at least, is a sign that the Halo series is to be rebooted, starting with a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved.

As a life-long Halo fan, I, like many, find myself feeling cautiously optimistic. The last few years haven’t been kind to the series, with the exception of Halo: The Master Chief Collection (when it was fixed) and Halo: Infinite’s campaign.

If Halo Studios and Xbox are both serious about restoring the Halo franchise to its former glory, it needs to do more than just bait us with nostalgic images and the promise of a story we’ll find familiar.

While it’s probably obvious that I prefer the Bungie Halo games through-and-through, I have to admit that I did like 343 Industries’ Halo games to an extent. I found the stark contrast between Halo: Reach and Halo 4 jarring, but not unexpected, after all it was a new studio and this was a chance to put their own spin on the Halo universe.

Halo 5: Guardians was much harder to love, as I was disappointed by the campaign and wasn’t too fond of the multiplayer either, but Warzone was a decent enough replacement for Firefight, and Custom Games with friends had its moments.

Halo: Infinite was the real return to form, with a gorgeous art style, interesting enemies, an improved story and overall better experience. The multiplayer has never grabbed me but it’s fun from time to time, and while I directly oppose the microtransactions I know I can just ignore them as they’re purely cosmetic.

Xbox Game Studios

All three of these games have their moments, but the reason they all failed in some way is because they seemed to gradually forget, and then suddenly remember, that they were supposed to be Halo games.

Halo is in essence an arcade-shooter, and if you watch videos of the old Bungie team while they’re the original trilogy you can feel that silly, have-fun energy in the room. During the development of Halo 3 programmer Adrian Perez was quoted as saying “this space needs to be fun before it's pretty” when talking about the game’s environments. He said that some arenas could look lovely but be “a terrible space to fight bad guys in” so the team would need to scrap everything and go back to the basics.

Bungie carried that design philosophy all the way through the first three games, believing that if the game wasn’t consistently fun, people wouldn’t continue playing. Cutscenes needed to be interesting enough to keep players from skipping them. The sandbox needed to include weapons and vehicles that were both fun to use, and fun to have used against you.

Now I’m not saying Halo Studios needs to copy what Bungie did for a quick-and-easy win. If the plan is a reboot then deviations to the story and world design should be met with open arms, within reason, but the core focus of the “new era” needs to consider why the old era was so successful, it was fun.

Xbox Game Studios

This means varied environments, weapons and enemy designs in the campaign, giving players a chance to find their favourite levels for replayability. Split-screen multiplayer as standard. Multiplayer that moves away from the “competitiveness” and eSports philosophy the last few games have adopted, as any good arcade-shooter should be. Most importantly the chance for players to express themselves with armour and colour without the need for microtransactions of limited-time cosmetics, not charging players for varying shades of grey.

Halo is a sci-fi shooter with a rich history, and an enormous reputation in the first-person shooter category. Halo: Combat Evolved completely changed the game when it first launched, and arguably the biggest reason why Xbox is still going as a video game company today. It was the ultimate console seller, and given the current state of the Xbox brand it needs the IP restored to its former glory more than ever.

If Halo’s rebrand is to be successful, it needs to do more than just give Halo: Combat Evolved an Unreal Engine 5 makeover. It needs to remember that Halo succeeded where it chose to be different, and give players on Xbox, PC, and maybe on PlayStation too, a sci-fi experience unlike any other, that’s fun before it’s pretty.