If you know the history of the Halo franchise, you’ll see that it’s full of content meant to be in the games but then got changed or scrapped for one reason or another. Halo 2 is arguably one of the best examples of this. The franchise’s original creators, Bungie, hadn’t expected to make more than one game. But due to how well the original game did and the pressure from Microsoft to keep going, they made a sequel. It was a revolutionary game in terms of its multiplayer and fraught with problems on the dev side. The game famously ended on a cliffhanger, not because that was what Bungie intended, but because they couldn’t finish the third act as they wanted.
Fast forward to now, Microsoft and 343 Industries have released the official documentation for the Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s mod tools. Yes, you can mod those games via the collection, and Halo 2 was one of the titles to get the official docs released. Within them were BTS images from the game’s development by Bungie back in the 2000s.
While the released screenshots are hardly “revealing,” they give an insight into the game’s engine and what Bungie was trying to accomplish with certain things. One can only wonder what the original game would’ve been like if Bungie had been given the time and resources to complete their original vision. We’ll never know, but we can say that the “legacy” of games in the series not living up to the hype or intent has continued since Bungie left.
Because while 343 Industries did take up the mantle and continue the series, it’s hardly been without faults. No one wants to talk about Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians had a misleading campaign about what the game was about, and no one really liked it, and as for Halo Infinite, it was so “broken” that it had to have a segmented launch! That includes the co-op campaign that had years of development and yet was canceled.
That’s not to say the latest game was complete bunk, as many people love the free multiplayer aspect, and there were quality-of-life improvements like with the grappling hook. But the game wasn’t what fans expected, and it was only recently that it became “complete” via the release of Forge Mode.
Fans are hoping that whatever is next for the franchise will not follow past titles’ paths.
Source: Kotaku
