Why Halo Studios taking the opposite approach to Halo Infinite might be the best fit

The era of 343 industries Halo hasn't had the highest-rated campaigns in the series' history. 2012 Halo 4 featured a new incomplete enemy faction, the one from 2015 Halo 5: Guardians made some controversial narrative decisions and offered an uneven dual protagonist structure, and that of 2021 Infinite halo was praised for feeling like a long-awaited return to the series' roots, but its pacing left something to be desired.

Following its recent rebranding, Halo Studios appears to be ushering in a new era of Haloand hopefully the new era will continue to put single-player campaigns at the forefront. And while Infinite haloWhile the campaign offers a decent foundation on which to build the next chapter, it could benefit from taking a different approach when it comes to NPCs.

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The next Halo campaign is expected to add more NPC allies

Halo campaigns were chock-full of colorful NPCs

The moment-to-moment gameplay of Bungie's original Halo trilogy, HaloReachand a good portion of Halo 3: ODST they often saw players fighting alongside a group of NPC allies. In most cases, these NPC allies would be rugged UNSC Marines, capable of joining the player in a firefight and hopping into a Warthog to deal damage on the move.

These frequent moments of interaction between the player and NPC allies like the Marines helped create Halo's moment-to-moment action feels like just one part of a grand galactic war, adding a great sense of scale to the Halothe universe and the narrative of. Likewise, these NPC interactions offered subtle world-building, showing the wide gap between the skills of Marines and those of a Spartan super soldier.

Interactions with HaloThe Marines also added some heart Halowith many Marines having unique vocal lines that suggest a deeper personality and legendary personal history. Fighting alongside these characters naturally developed a bond between the player and the NPCs, and this is especially true for recurring named allies like Halo 2the captain of the ship, Halo 3the Referee, Halo 3: ODSTteammates Alpha-Nine and HaloReach's Noble Team, whose gameplay integration went a long way towards making them feel like living, breathing characters.

Halo Infinite's campaign felt a little lonely

Infinite haloThe story sees the Master Chief arriving on Installation 07 too late to save many of his fellow Spartans and Marines, most of whom were massacred by Atriox's exiled forces during the six months the Chief was floating in space. Aside from a handful of Marines that players can liberate from banned camps, most Infinite haloThe running time is spent without any NPC allies at the Boss' side.

While it makes perfect sense given the premise of the game, and the absence of other NPCs undoubtedly strengthens the bond between the player and new characters such as the pilot and the weapon, Infinite haloThe lack of allies makes the game feel a little smaller, which is antithetical to the game's new open-world structure.

The next Halo campaign should feel a little livelier

If next Halo the campaign wants to return to the roots of the series even more than Infinite halothen he should consider restoring frequent interactions with NPCs. More precisely, the next Halo it should bring back Marines or some other type of ally to fight directly alongside the player and be truly useful in combat, thus developing the game's world-building and stakes naturally through gameplay.

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