Halo’s Next Story Campaign Needs to Revisit a Popular Halo 2 Trope

The Halo franchise is in a strange spot at the minute. Though Halo Infinite‘s release was met with great praise from both fans and critics alike, public perception of the game soon turned sour, with developer 343 Industries failing to meet expectations when it came to the game’s post-launch updates, or lack thereof. But flash forward a few years later and Halo Infinite is finally starting to look like the game it always should have been, though that hasn’t stopped fans from wanting more from the franchise.

Still one of the biggest Sci-Fi franchises in gaming, Halo should be much more prevalent than it currently is, and it’s time for Microsoft to start using the franchise a little more. With Halo Infinite and The Master Chief Collection being the best possible options for Halo multiplayer, the next project Halo should prioritize is another full-length campaign mode, and while there are countless different directions to go in, it could benefit from borrowing a core Halo 2 feature to start with.

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The Next Halo Should Bring Back a Dual-Narrative

Halo 2’s Arbiter Was Controversial But Necessary

When Halo 2 first launched in 2004, it quickly became one of the most controversial video games of all time, and it was all due to the game’s second playable protagonist, The Arbiter. Just like Metal Gear Solid 2 a few years earlier, Halo fans felt as though they had been lied to, with all of Halo 2‘s pre-release marketing focusing solely on the Master Chief’s fight for humanity on Earth, and no mention at all of a second playable character.

Naturally, many fans’ knee-jerk reaction was to hate this new character, especially with him taking up half of the game’s entire runtime. But over the years, this bold dual-narrative has actually become one of Halo 2‘s most beloved features. Not only is The Arbiter a well-written character with an excellent voice performance behind him, but his journey is also pivotal in fleshing out the wider Halo universe, with The Covenant not getting too much behind-the-scenes action in the original Halo. On top of that world-building and excellent writing, Halo 2‘s dual-narrative is also a compelling way to tell such a complex story, showing the galactic conflict from two wildly different perspectives and interweaving them fairly seamlessly throughout.

Halo 5 Tried But Failed to Capture the Same Magic

With Halo 2‘s dual-narrative approach being so controversial, Bungie stayed clear of it for its remaining tenure with the franchise, choosing to keep Halo 3 and Halo Reach focused on just one central playable protagonist. But when it came time to make its second game after Bungie’s departure, 343 Industries decided to return to this dual-narrative concept, though it unfortunately didn’t end too well.

Halo 5: Guardians‘ pre-release marketing promised a big showdown between the Master Chief and new character Agent Locke, another Spartan sent to hunt down the supposedly rogue war hero. In an ironic twist of fate, Halo 5 suffered the opposite problem of Halo 2, not delivering a dual-narrative to the same extent that fans had been expecting based on the game’s marketing, with missions and important story moments divided very unequally between protagonists.

343 Industries Could Still Make a Great Dual-Narrative Halo Game

But all hope for another good dual-narrative Halo game is not lost. While Halo 5 has likely put off 343 from attempting another dual-narrative, it really shouldn’t. While Halo 5 failed to live up to expectations, its general premise was exciting, and the idea of a dual-narrative Halo game split evenly among two compelling characters is something that would probably be received very well following Halo Infinite‘s campaign that played things a little too safe.

Halo Infinite

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Halo Infinite is the latest entry in the long-running Halo series. A first for the franchise, this game is open-world, features a grapple system, and more.

Released

December 8, 2021

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios

Genre(s)

First-Person Shooter

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Slipspace

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood, Mild Language, Violence

How Long To Beat

12 Hours

X|S Enhanced

Yes

File Size Xbox Series

90 GB (November 2023)

Metascore

87

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PC, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S