New Ideas For The Halo Franchise?

The Master Chief's saga may be over, but that doesn't mean Microsoft is about to walk away from its most lucrative cash-cow since DOS.

A Kotaku tipster sent in a heads-up about a new marketing survey floating around with questions designed to probe gamer interest about potential future projects based on the Halo IP. Respondents were asked to rate numerous ideas on a five-point scale, ranging from "definitely would buy" to "definitely would not buy," and while many of the ideas, such as a Halo prequel, sound not only plausible but appealing to fans of the series, a few others definitely do not.

A third-person Halo action-adventure game, for instance, might be of interest to die-hard fans of the series but likely wouldn't have the universal appeal of the original FPS titles. Going a bit farther down that road is a "Halo arcade game," which is vague enough to mean just about anything but would almost certainly translate into crap. A suggested Halo-based MMOG is probably a bad idea that we'll end up being slapped with at some point in the future anyway, but still infinitely more sensible than Halo Racing or a Halo LEGO game.

The most inexplicable entry on the list, however, is "a more family friendly Halo game," which not only defies description but also the very fabric of reality.

None of these concepts are in the works, of course, at least not as far as Microsoft is willing to admit. It's more akin to a list of what the company is thinking about considering for the future of the franchise. Unfortunately, we won't be able to express our opinions, or cold-sweating fears, about any of these ideas; while Kotaku describes the excerpted questions as coming from a company "very interested in Xbox 360 gaming," no links to the survey itself are available. Still, if you're the sort of person who's not happy unless you're worrying about something completely beyond your control that probably won't happen anyway, feel free to check out all the horrible ways Microsoft is planning to destroy the Halo franchise here.

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I have posted this elsewhere, and I'm going to post it here.

Master Chief's Horse Adventures. It prints money.

-- Steve

PS: Or maybe Peter Jackson's Reservoir Grunts, an interactive movie.

What's DOS?

Anton P. Nym:

Master Chief's Horse Adventures. It prints money.

-- Steve

PS: Or maybe Peter Jackson's Reservoir Grunts, an interactive movie.

LOL

A serious suggestion

Longsword (best title I can think of, but they probably want 'Halo' in there somewhere)
It's a fighter combat sim, like Rogue Squadron. Maybe this one could have real space flight physics instead of airial fighters getting shoehorned into space.

But, make it good, then make it Halo. And don't release it 'til it's done.

DOS is an old group of operating systems.

As for ideas for the next halo game in the franchise...well fuck anything will sell really.

Isaac Dodgson:
DOS is an old group of operating systems.

As for ideas for the next halo game in the franchise...well fuck anything will sell really.

Thx

and yes, anything will sell, but what will be good?

Hell, vamp up the graphics a bit, throw in some new guns, helmets, levels etc, and just release a new multiplayer Halo game.....it's pretty much all i use 1-3 for anyway.

I think they should continue the sega, I mean the ending of halo 3 did leave us with something that looked like a cliff hanger. It should still be a FPS, just make it a bit more realistic and add a new gameplay mechanic. I've been going through this in mind lots of times. For instance in the new halo game, Cortana can show you the weak points of different enemies through your helmet. You can also upgrade your guns and stuff. Make the levels much more interactable and create a much more deep and emotional story that has new interesting characters, intelligent plot and that it also concentrates on Master Chief's past. Also allow the game's multiplayer to be modded, just like the ps3 version of UTIII

rayman 101:
I think they should continue the sega, I mean the ending of halo 3 did leave us with something that looked like a cliff hanger.

*sigh* Nobody reads their Arthurian myths anymore these days.

-- Steve

I must disagree with Herr Chalk: Lego Halo would be the best game ever.

"Longsword" is a great idea, kudos.

Halo/Metroid crossover. Oh, wait...

Seriously, Halo _is_ FPS. Its arguably the reason why they started making FPS games for consoles. Its not just the character that's iconic, its also the gameplay. Anything else will feel like generic scifi game #6813. Unless it has mecha-ponies.

So, FPS/RTS hybrid. Break into Savage's house, and steal everything not bolted to the floor.

I got a new idea for them, make a good game.

why dont they try a halo without the story, like a battlefield version of halo. If anyone has ever played the battlefield series, halo has some potential there.

Ughhh, why don't the just kill it... Nope, Microsoft doesn't work that way, they gut it and feed off of it till everyone hates it. (Not that halo 2 + 3 didn't make me hate it... because it did) Microsoft deserves to at least burn up and fizzle. I'd be happy :)

Aetmos:
Halo/Metroid crossover. Oh, wait...

Seriously, Halo _is_ FPS. Its arguably the reason why they started making FPS games for consoles. Its not just the character that's iconic, its also the gameplay. Anything else will feel like generic scifi game #6813. Unless it has mecha-ponies.

So, FPS/RTS hybrid. Break into Savage's house, and steal everything not bolted to the floor.

Keyword: Arguably...

"why they started making FPS games for consoles." <--- They started long before halo came out, MANY GAMES. Halo's not the first, and it's definitely not the reason a mass of FPS's came out. Granted it probably guided a few companies to milk the FPS genre, it didn't "start" an FPS revolution.

How about turning the rebounding health meter on it's head and putting players in the shoes of a lowly Marine.

It's still firmly in FPS teritory, but could make for an interesting (if insanely hard) reversal of the current trend for one-man armies.

Marathon with Master Chief.

Well I'd certainly like to see more:

Sergeant Johnson and the Chief's adventures between the first and second one.
The first and second done to the visual standard of the third one.
The Fall of Reach (and the other surviving Spartans).
One done around the Covenant's perspective of the first or following on from the las/t battling against the hold-outs that still believe the Prophets' lies.

If they were to do a RTS FPS hybrid, I'd like to see it as well. You could choose to be the godlike entity that controls the units or be one of the units on the field. Those in the field perceive it from an FPS view with the strategy guys handling the bigger picture of deploying units to certain areas.

How about you play as a different Spartan, with a different role in the battlefield. Master Chief is basically a walking tank. Why not focus on a Spartan who takes on more of a scout/infiltration role? Less abusing the shotgun, more sneaking and knifing Elites in the stomach. Finding out Covenant intel, assassinating Prophets, etc etc.

TomNook:
I got a new idea for them, make a good game.

OMG! YOU DONT LIKE HALO!

I love the fact you clicked on this topic all the while knowing what you was guna post. You probably had a sly little grin on your face when you thought of your "witty" comment

ANYWAY

I just want more of the same. Just continue the trend. Better graphics, new weapons,new enemies. I would say concentrate mainly on multiplayer but seriously wtf could they do to make it better?

To AlphaWolf

Wait a minute you hate Microsoft? So i can assume you dont have an xbox, xbox 360 or a windows based PC? Can i ask HOW then you have played Halo? Assuming of course your hatred of the series isnt just born out of petty fanboyism?

Also if you hated 2 why did you play 3?

Thank you GyroCaptain, I love kudos.

To all the anti-Halo people, you're pathetic. Coming here to spout hatred and contributing nothing to what could be an intelligent discussion. If humanity is on a downward spiral (as many claim, not me) then it is people like you that are pulling us.

Another idea:
"Helljumper"
You play as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST). Basically this is Halo meets Rainbow Six, maybe with some Ghost Recon and possibly the "choose your starting point" mechanic of of Medal of Honor: Airborne.

And I believe the histories of the Covenant and the Forerunners are fertile grounds to cultivate many games.

I love the Halo games. But maybe we should put Master Chief to bed and smother him with a pillow, made out of titanium, repeatedly, in the face. KILL IT!

Stubee:

TomNook:
I got a new idea for them, make a good game.

OMG! YOU DONT LIKE HALO!

I love the fact you clicked on this topic all the while knowing what you were going to post. You probably had a sly little grin on your face when you thought of your "witty" comment

ANYWAY

I just want more of the same. Just continue the trend. Better graphics, new weapons,new enemies. I would say concentrate mainly on multiplayer but seriously wtf could they do to make it better?

Just felt like fixing that for you.

LEGO HALO OMG THAT WOULD BE AWESOME lol, but seriously why not

a halo MMO, interesting concept though not entirely plausible
a halo RTS (halo wars) if they make it like warcraft3/frozenthrone itll be great, if they make it like AoE the only fans will be me and maybe a few of my friends (we like all rts)
rpg? that might be ok not good but tolerable if they did it right
Longsword idea (flight combat) not bad but it wouldnt be a very deep game

i dunno i kinda think the halo series died with halo 3

Eh, I'm not sure how I feel about another title. Halo 3 was all right, but not good enough to make me want to try out the first two and certainly not enough to give a (spiritual) sequel the benefit of a doubt, and Microsoft isn't going to stray too far a formula as successful as Halo.

I'm all for reinventing titles, but I don't see it happening with Halo. And if it does happen, like the article suggests, I don't see anything worth buying coming out of it.

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:
How about you play as a different Spartan, with a different role in the battlefield. Master Chief is basically a walking tank. Why not focus on a Spartan who takes on more of a scout/infiltration role? Less abusing the shotgun, more sneaking and knifing Elites in the stomach. Finding out Covenant intel, assassinating Prophets, etc etc.

This.
Or, my personal favourite, a Halo Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon game. You play as a Marine leading his squad. In such a game Elites and Brutes would actually put the fear of God in you. It would also be fun switching the roles to a Covenant-style squad game. My only hope is that the game would have more than 2 or 3 AI squad members (not a fan of Rainbow Six style).

Ok, I like your devotion to the Halo story. I personally loved it, though I was kinda annoyed that Halo 3 was more of a "Here all all the details that require you to play Halo 2 to understand" type of story game. Plus we have the problem of "Halo" being associated with "Master Chief" or more distantly "Spartans." What they need to do is find another series title that's now apart of the Halo universe if they are going to focus on anything but the Spartans.

I have 2 Ideas to some of the responses mentioned above. First is the Continuing the Halo story. If they were to do that then one of two things would have to happen for them not to totally kill the Famous Halo Story depth. First, LEAVE MASTER CHIEF LOST IN SPACE. It was a very nice way of making the MC character. I take a quote from the Patton Movie. "He is the pure soldier." Master Chief was woken up from Stasis because he was the only one who could save the ships crew members/prevent the covenant from finding earth. In the second and third Halo's he's the only one that can save Earth. Master Chief is a Pure soldier is a master of war and knows nothing else. It is fitting to him that once he has saved earth and has nothing else to do, he either dies, or in our case disapears from the scene by one method or another. If they want a good story then they need to do the prequel stuff. I would really like to learn about the other spartans and find out why Master Chief was the only one, why weren't there others anywhere or especially on the Pillar of Autumn. For story Quality on top of Gameplay quality, Prequel is defineately the way to go. But If they MUST have Master Chief in the story then I like the Idea of you being a young Spartan, just entering the Training and entrance into the Gauntlet of War. Master Chief's absolute beginning short of Getting shoved out of a women's body.

The Idea of a Battlefield type game, very little story, mostly just multiplayer is very interesting idea. Unfortunately the way Microsoft will work it will just mess it up and will make it look like crap. The only way to do this is a total Lack of story. Nothing makes sense other wise. Second, Ditch the Halo name, the whole idea of it(while extreamly cool and quite possibly fun) goes against everything Halo. If they were to do it one or both of two things will be needed. First is NO SPARTANS, unless it is UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY WITHOUT STORY. Second is if Spartans are used then either make it just like current Halo multiplayer without changing anything other then Maps, Graphics and Guns. OR If they use Spartans (Which unfortunately for the Story lovers WILL happen) Make it with a similar idea to my above idea for story, make it the Spartan Project training Center where you are a Spartan to be and are in training.

The Halo franchise should be mainly the FPS Tank/One Man Army Soldier game, if Halo Wars turns out as well as AOE2 (AoE1 and AOM sucked) and Warcraft 3 did then it has a chance for some of it's own sequels or expansions. Otherwise They'll be killing it the whole spirit of the Halo games so far, thus killing the reasons to make any sequels for anyother reason then money.

Saskwach:

my personal favourite, a Halo Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon game. You play as a Marine leading his squad. In such a game Elites and Brutes would actually put the fear of God in you. It would also be fun switching the roles to a Covenant-style squad game. My only hope is that the game would have more than 2 or 3 AI squad members (not a fan of Rainbow Six style).

You mean like Star Wars Republic Commando? Thats what I thought the game was supposed to be anyways (with a different franchise, of coarse). Who knows, maybe there's a mod out there that converts it to just that.

Personally, I never got caught up in the Halo hype, since the PC always had better FPSs, the story was as generic as scifi gets, and I always thought Master Chief looks like an obsessive paintball enthusiast. How about we give Halo a Japanese makeover? Sure, nothing good could come of it, but neither can anything those people on jackass do, and they made what, TWO movies of that crap? If they keep the production values high in "Wonderful Alien Harvester Master Chief", Bungie will reap the rewards on both sides of the pacific.

Saskwach:

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:
How about you play as a different Spartan, with a different role in the battlefield. Master Chief is basically a walking tank. Why not focus on a Spartan who takes on more of a scout/infiltration role? Less abusing the shotgun, more sneaking and knifing Elites in the stomach. Finding out Covenant intel, assassinating Prophets, etc etc.

This.
Or, my personal favourite, a Halo Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon game. You play as a Marine leading his squad. In such a game Elites and Brutes would actually put the fear of God in you. It would also be fun switching the roles to a Covenant-style squad game. My only hope is that the game would have more than 2 or 3 AI squad members (not a fan of Rainbow Six style).

I think those are the only ways to do it really, playing as a crack team of ODSTs, making it more of a squad and cover based game. Not that I condone them milking Halo anymore, I could do without Microsoft turning Master Chief into another Mario.

Stubee:

Wait a minute you hate Microsoft? So i can assume you dont have an xbox, xbox 360 or a windows based PC?

Yeah, I hate Microsoft too, doesn't mean I don't own an Xbox 360, infact my 360 is one of the reasons I hate Microsoft.

Galduke:
Personally, I never got caught up in the Halo hype, since the PC always had better FPSs

Care to name this fabled 'better fps' because I've never heard of it. Don't say Crysis either, graphics don't make a game good.

Eagle Est1986:

Galduke:
Personally, I never got caught up in the Halo hype, since the PC always had better FPSs

Care to name this fabled 'better fps' because I've never heard of it. Don't say Crysis either, graphics don't make a game good.

Personally I've always found these PC "smart shooters" to be low on raw fun and bigger on making you think it was a good game afterwards. Then the other shooters have only one environment with no scope (I'm looking at you FEAR). And finally the Crysis aproach which puts the graphics to such ridiculous quality that less than 500 PCs on the planet can run it decently. I think Halo is the best thing to happen to the shooter genre since Wolfenstein 3D (the first FPS).

I also think the Halo franchise has enormous potential for spin-offs and the main series could very well continue for a very long time (yes, essential it would be Microsoft's Mario). As long as Bungie is kept in the loop and only good ideas are made by only experienced development teams that know not to set the release date too early I believe the quality can stay consistent. Microsoft did hire Frank O'Connor to work specifically and only on the advancement of the Halo franchise, which is a good thing.

Eagle Est1986:

Care to name this fabled 'better fps' because I've never heard of it. Don't say Crysis either, graphics don't make a game good.

TF2, COD4, Half Life, Renegade, Portal, and the Battlefield games,. Hell Starcraft Ghost is a better FPS than Halo.

TomNook:

Eagle Est1986:

Care to name this fabled 'better fps' because I've never heard of it. Don't say Crysis either, graphics don't make a game good.

TF2, COD4, Half Life, Renegade, Portal, and the Battlefield games,. Hell Starcraft Ghost is a better FPS than Halo.

Oh for goodness sake, stop it. If you don't like Halo, then keep away from the Halo threads. It's really that simple.

But it's so fun to argue....

There's arguing, and there's flaming. Learn to differentiate...

Well...they could try to completely revolutionize the genre.However this will end up in every single other FPS copying them(control scheme,rechargeable health,multi-player) to the point where we end up with a bunch of anti-Halo fantards who can't remember how and why it all started and who will call it an useless clichéd piece of shit just because modern FPS's have greatly improved and modified the gameplay elements they copied from Halo in first place.

Wait a second...