Halo Goodbye Halo Goodbye

I was away for the weekend and was curious to see the state of Halo: The Master Chief Collection upon my return.  Spoiler alert -- matchmaking is still broken.

Betrayal: Destroying a Legend

Ok, 343.  I gave you a week.  You know what?  Halo: The Master Chief Collection is still broken.  And now, so is my heart.

I remember quite vividly watching the undergrads carrying in their TVs and Xboxes to play Halo:CE while camping out for basketball tickets overnight.  Long satisfied with my PS2, I knew I needed to play Halo 2 and purchased an Xbox for that reason alone.

I waited for the midnight launch, bought the metallic box edition, and played Halo 2 for hours and hours, late into the night.  Not once did I regret a next day's sleep deprivation one bit because I loved Halo.

 

I waited for the midnight launch at my favorite independent game shop for Halo 3.  I bought the special edition with the Master Chief helmet and bought six BAWLS energy drinks for the late night sessions ahead.  I couldn't wait to "finish the fight."  I get goosebumps thinking about taking down the scarab with friends in co-op.   I remember taking a picture of the title screen on my old Motorola, the first smart phone I ever had, so I could use it for the phone's background wallpaper.

I downloaded the Halo theme DLC for Guitar Hero.  Steve Vai was my ringtone.  My Playstation Vita's lock screen is Master Chief.

I loved Halo Wars and played it even after Ensemble folded.  I smile when someone mentions "All units" and wish for a sequel despite Forge's demise.

I have Halo Action Clix and a Halo Reach stocking cap from the midnight launch.  I played through ODST and brought my nephews to GameStop for their first midnight launch for Halo 4.  They received inflatable spartan helmets for swag.  I have the Halo 4 UNSC controller with the blue-lit guide button.  I own Halo Spartan Assault for my Windows phone -- and Xbox One.

I read The Fall of Reach and the first book of the Forerunner saga.  I own Halo Legends in HD via Xbox Video and Forward Unto Dawn.  I watched the Remastering of a Legend and used the Halo Channel to watch the first two episodes of Nightfall, the Halo Wars Harvest storyline, and the Spartan Ops chapter intros.

I have a small collection of Halo series Xbox Live Avatar figures and sport my Master Chief helmeted avatar as my Twitter profile pic.  I wanted to name our new cat John-117, but my wife vetoed that option.  She did get me the Halo 4 soundtrack as a stocking stuffer for Christmas.

I purchased and pre-loaded Halo: The Master Chief Collection and as recently as this past week, pondered placing the Halo special edition wireless Astro A50 headset on my birthday wishlist.  And I waited for the patch, could barely think of anything else during the day save the chance to jump online tonight.  The result?  It's past my bedtime and the only thing that can make me feel better is to vent about my frustration, anger, and sadness.  MCC was supposed to stir the nostalgia of an unforgettable,  literally life-changing game and series.  The tantalizing glimpses of a few games together with friends and the white-knuckled, tense moments of evading the Flood in campaign serve only to emphasize even more how much this unfinished product has failed to deliver.

I will play, but at this point,  I am not even sure what or when or whether I can... at least the way I was led to believe I could.  It feels like a downright betrayal and I wish I could boot the player from my team.  I don't know that anything will restore complete faith in the franchise,  but please, please, please just fix the game already.

Wake up, Chief. I need you.

I've had Halo: The Master Chief Collection for one week now.  To describe its launch as a "debacle" is overly kind.  Maybe it's karma -- I pondered throwing support behind Sunset Overdrive as a nod of approval for bringing something new to gaming.  I withheld and went with the familiar, the comfort and nostalgia of Halo.  I cannot believe we are ten years out from Halo 2.  And yet this past week, I have been frustrated beyond belief at how disappointing the experience has been.

Waypoint tells me I have almost eight hours of playtime, 18 matchmaking games completed.  I'd be curious to know how much time I have spent in the game not playing.  I know I have waited over an hour to get in a single game of matchmaking.  I know 343 knows that is unacceptable.  And I appreciate that they are working on it.

But to put in perspective how outrageous that is, what a step back that is, I went to Bungie.net to check on my original Halo 2 stats.  I played 12 matchmade games on the first night.  TWELVE!  We are talking November 2004.  In November 2004, I was playing on Xbox -- before Kinect or RRoD or blades.  I had been using Gmail for four months.  Twitter wouldn't come around for a couple more years.  But I played with randoms for hours.  I am baffled that Halo: MCC could be released in such a state.

What now?  I do not expect free DLC or a full refund.  The apologies from 343 are nice, but ultimately, they do very little to ease the pain.  I have played the Halo 2 campaign to pass the time, and it is nice.  The game is beautiful.  The new cutscenes look stellar.  The soundtrack remains iconic and awe-inspiring.  And when I get in games (it has unfortunately been three days now of unsuccessful attempts), every moment is tense and exciting and makes me smile until it is over.  And then the wait begins anew.  So what do I want?  Just a game that works.