I definitely like Halo 3 scout the most but I understand why people's favorites would be the Reach design or the 4/5 design. I think they all have their fans for different reasons, personally the leaked Halo Infinite scout design might be my new favorite or 2nd favorite; while I don't like the 4/5 design, the new one takes broad inspiration from it but makes it look really nice and a bit more reminiscent of the Bungie designs
I personally like the head-canon that the Forerunner tech we see in 4/5 is earlier than the tech we see on the Halos/Ark, closer to the height of their power before the losing-battle with the Flood made their technology (and culture) more bleak and brutalist, more utilitarian as they faced their demise. the elaborate ornamentation of the shield world, the Prometheans, etc fits an empire that still thought they were going to prevail (given that the shield world's were an early plan, and the Halos literally the last-ditch effort at their empire's nadir). to me, that helps to sell the Didact's story, too - he was trying to preserve a vision of their empire at its height, not realizing as the Librarian had that they needed to end and recede from the Mantle.
That's not a headcanon. That's literally explicit lore information. Requiem is thousands of years older than Installations 00-06. Also in the lore is that Requiem is a product of the Warrior-Servant caste of Forerunner society, while the original trilogy stuff is all of Builder design.
@@autumngottlieb3071 Then why would Shield World 0459, a Warrior facility serving as a docking stations for numerous Forerunner warships, still look distinctively different than Requiem??? Why would the architecture on Installation 09 look different from that on Installation 08, despite both Halo rings being newly made??? Why would Genesis, a Builder facility, look different from the Builder aesthetics while being stylistically closer to Requiem??? No, it made no sense lore-wised...
But Shield World 0459 was also built at the height of their power before the start of the Flood war, and it was a fortress for the Warrior Servants, so why did it also look bleak and brutalist as you described??? Or maybe 343 wasn't concerned about visual continuity as much as their creative vision...
@OP While I think that there is no reconciling the drastic change in artstyle no matter how we spin it, I do also like this head-canon for what it is. Thanks for sharing.
It's refreshing to hear the positive perspective of 343 Halo's starting art style discussed in an articulate manner. I love the redesigns you come up with, but hearing about what worked and in some way providing notes for future designs in other works is awesome to see. Edit: I feel the need to state that I am more a fan of the pre-343 era games designs and styles, with 3 and Halo Wars producing some of my favorite designs in the series. I feel it's also important to praise 343 for the original or re imagined designs they made for their games with Halo 4's Mark V recreation being one of my favorites of the series of the series altogether.
It often aggravates me when people dump on the newer variants of old UNSC weapons because for the most part, they're just mumbling about it being different instead of providing objective reasons the art style is worse, and they make no attempt to actually understand _why_ art style changes were made in the first place. I've been around, on and off, since Halo 1, so I definitely wouldn't mind the criticism if even an ounce of actual thought went into it, but it's exceedingly rare that I find someone who actually bothers. Most of them...just don't _like_ the new art style. Subjectivity is fine, but the disdain for 343i's art style borders on fanatical and is extremely toxic. It makes such discussions difficult to have. I'm glad there might be an opportunity to have one here. With that in mind, I think the best example of this is the BR85 variant of the battle rifle. I don't think of it as any more "futuristic" than the BR55 or BR75. Instead, I think of it as "more modern." The BR55/BR75 aesthetic was "futuristic" for when it was designed: In the early 2000s. It featured a mix of what looks like stamped steel components and molded components, both polymer and metal. These were common manufacturing techniques for newer weapons back then, but it had been over a decade later that Halo 4 came out, and the firearms industry had evolved in that time. The BR85 is clearly made of CNC-machined components which fit each other like Lego blocks. That's rapidly becoming the new industry standard for manufacturing a lot of weapons, especially metal-framed ones, and it was gaining traction back then, too. The BR85 is perhaps a bit overly busy in its design but it also gives the appearance of a thicker, chunkier, more durable weapon than its predecessor, although it may sacrifice some accuracy thanks to probably-worse barrel harmonics. It's probably also built to be more modular, although we don't really get to see much of this if it's the case. Another example is the M57 Pilum rocket launcher. Now, neither the M41 Jackhammer or the M57 Pilum are exactly _realistic_ designs, but while the M57 may look more "generic," like a standard rocket launcher tube you might see in today's militaries, the SPNKr, much as people love the iconic design, is really a grossly-impractical weapon. It's extremely bulky, employs two tubes which are _not_ reusable, and spins the tubes each time you fire the rocket launcher. This adds moving parts which can easily break and forces the soldier to carry around gigantic bulky tubes for use as additional "magazines." It's almost like carrying multiple rocket launchers. The M57 looks mostly like a real-world recoilless rifle, except it's magazine-fed. This is _far_ more practical. It's less bulky, less material is wasted, the ammunition is far less bulky and most likely far lighter, and the weapon is likely far more mechanically reliable since it doesn't have nearly as many moving parts. Any soldier would tell you that looks to the side, they'd prefer the Pilum for its practicality. I could cite some other examples. The _Strident_-class heavy frigate is a more structurally-sound design than its predecessors, since it's basically just a flying brick with sloped armor. The introduction of smart-linked sights finally addresses a long-standing issue with Halo weapons often somehow having no sights or really badly-designed ones. The MJOLNIR GEN2 armor and yes, even the Chief's Mark VI MOD armor were designed to look bulkier and heavier, but also still somehow more agile and flexible, which fits the lore of Spartans being walking tanks. The point I'm ultimately getting to is that I would argue that by and large, 343i's designs were _more_ realistic than Bungie's, actually. The _problem_ is that realistic, well-designed military gear is...boring-looking. It's plain, simple, and gets the job done. Bungie-era Halo art took liberties which _did_ come at the detriment of absolute adherence to realistic hard sci-fi designs, but it allowed them to make unique, distinct, memorable designs which have since become iconic. The old tuning-fork frigates are always going to look more memorable than the _Strident_-class. I applaud what 343i tried to do, but I recognize why it didn't go over well with the fanbase. They weren't looking for _realism,_ they were looking for distinct, memorable designs. They just seem to be confused about what is and isn't realistic.
it both has bad and good things in their art designs... Bungie ones weren't always good by example i wasn't a big fan of MC previous armors (especially for their speedo looking metal parts) as well as some weapons especially covenants , which looked like toys
You were mixed because the human part of you absolutely loved it while the dumbass halo no like change fanboy didn't like it. Its the fortnite situation.
@@goblinman3010 no one likes fortnite but it is very addicting so when more people started playing more and more kids started showing up and treat fortnite the same way halo fanboys treat well halo.
@@terrelldurocher3330 Or maybe the vast majority of people just prefer the more classic Halo art style over the “new” artstyle for a multitude of reasons.
I've always been a believer that all the forerunners installations we have visited so far within the 343 saga, are places that were around long before the end of the war, giving the forerunners time to put extra touches on their art, whereas placed we visited withing the bungie saga were mainly all built near the end of the war, leading the forerunners to rush and lose some artistic touches
That actually is correct. Most of the Forerunner designs were made with hardlight and special, but expensive alloys. Due to the war with the Flood and Mendicant Bias, they used simpler alloys and processes to get the job done faster
Another thing I've really liked about the Recruit armor, is that it empowers the mystique of Mk VI. No longer the default armor, that mentality of replacing the default no longer applies to it.
I recently looked back at H5's helmets and compared them to Reach's and it seemed the Reach followed certain rules with all of their helmets while H5 had more deviants. Most of the deviations weren't good though. And it didn't help that some of these helmets probably only existed to pad the req pack system. Overall H5 definitely has some good helmets.
From what I heard, a big source of the deviations was because 343 allowed Microsoft to bring on smaller companies to help develop the armors. Many of these companies went on their own design philosophies and things went mainly unsupervised for many of the armors. That is what led to some of the more terrible designs in halo 5.
@@fissilepear7805 This. The reasoning is because its suppose to emulate how each armor design would be made by certain fictional companies, as such, they outsourced multiplayer armor design to small studios to reflect that. Like you said, some were good and kept to the Halo aesthetic while adding new things, but most were just either bad or didn't look like they belong in Halo.
@@Razgriz_01 You know, that explains so much now that I think about it lol. I did think it weird because even in Halo 4 a lot of the armors they made that we hadn't seen before still felt like they fit in. 5 though was just all over the place and I wondered why that was.
To be honest I struggle to find a helmet I love in reach, like none of them are bad but they are all just Mark V variants which lore wise is the case and makes sense but they all just seem so bland, not to mention a lot of them have this squished in face that doesn't look like you'd be able to fit a head into the helmet without having your face up against the glass of the visor, BUT with halo 4 there's a bunch of helmets I love and emulate that halo 3 style I like, such as the Scout, Recrute, Soldier, Warrior, EOD and Recon, like they all look so much more unique but still fit that halo aesthetic, its kinda like I'd rather take 4s lot cause even though I really don't like a bunch of the helmets and some of them are just eh, there's a bunch that I love and think are still even after infinite are the best iterations in the series, really cut they ruined the soldier helmet, which just happens to be my favourite out of all the games
I mostly grew up with Halo 3 and Reach, but when Halo 4 came out the art style, music, and story captured me in a way that even a decade later no other game has, and was what really got me into Halo's lore and made me a lifelong fan. I don't dislike the style in Infinite, but I'd give almost anything to see Halo 4's style show up in places too, maybe on a different Forerunner installation or in a armor set directly ported from GEN2. And the Prometheans. I fucking love the Prometheans. It makes me so sad that fans of the 343 games get shunned the way we do; we love Halo too and I don't know a single person who's favorite games are 4 and/or 5 that don't also love the Bungie games. There's more of us than people think; we just don't like to talk because of the backlash it gets us. Idk, maybe someday we'll get our own Halo Infinite: a game that returns to the Halo we grew up with. It's just hard being in this position.
I grew up with the Bungie games and I liked Halo 4 campaign a lot. I like the middle ground approach but it almost seems like their completely abandoning the fans of the newer games. Luckily, the newer fans are more welcoming to change than the classic fans, which even now are nearly impossible to please.
@@tiger_lord305 ehh from what I've been seeing the 343 fans are pretty upset with Infinite too because it doesn't feel like a natural progression in terms of look and feel from 4 and 5. Feels like a very janky switch to an older look that was very much less than necessary and only happened to appease old fans that will always be upset with them anyways
I was a bit sketchy on the Halo 4 art-style when I played 'Dawn' for the first time, but I found myself perfectly fine with it come the next mission. Requiem is a master-piece in visual design imo, I'm shocked they managed to make it work on the 360.
Yeah but better and more detailed graphics came with the sacrifice to gameplay variety, encounters and environments. Idk if it was a good trade off. There's a reason why Halo 4 overall falls short when compared to other Halo games. The 360 could barely keep up so to make it a big jump visually they had to butcher everything else.
I’m glad to see Halo 4 and 5’s scout on the thumbnail. It has always been my second favorite helmet behind Halo 3’s Recon. Although the Blackguard Carrion Crow helmet from MCC Season 8 is slowly becoming my new favorite.
One thing I like about 343's art style is that it made the unsc feel like it had evolved or became a bit more advanced. With the new spartan armors it was inevetable that the unsc would make the armor look more streamlined which makes the it lighter and more agile whilst also making it more low-profile.
@Mike Limon Which feels kind of odd with the marines who feel like they progressed backwards with their bulkier armor and soft ballistics vests But I would disagree with the armor looking more streamlines making it look worse. The Mk VI armor still looked great despite being far more streamlined in comparison. The issue was how far 343 had strayed from the existing aesthetics when they did streamlines it, along with over detailing the armor in a few places. Wernissage's previous videos have really highlighted how with a few tweaks in the right areas 343's models would have not only looked great but still fit with the established aesthetics.
@@ODSTGeneralYT I’m guessing the soft ballistic vest is for the UNSC Army units stationed in the Infinity given it’s past 2 engagements were against insurrectionists and we know that Bulky armor is pointless against most plasma based weapons, so might as well cut that from the budget. So they made them lighter and more agile by providing more simpler set of armor for basic protection rather than have them wear extra weight that could’ve been used to carry more equipment and move much more agile At the end of the day it’s just a video game
@@ganggang2537 armor realistically is supposed to keep you as agile as possible on top of that it is supposed to be military budget-friendly. Bulky armor is expensive and cumbersome and when you are human fighting aliens you definitely wanna be agile. Also realistically being bulky with a grappling hook is an easy way to get yourself killed. That's exactly why new amor strays away from knight kinda armor in IRL.
Just finished watching the video. While I don’t agree with everything that was said a lot of your points were very well made. I’ve always preferred the classic halo look over the newer art style but there were a lot of things I loved about Halo 4 and 5 and they will always hold a place in my heart as we move forward with new halo games. So it’s nice to see someone else still appreciating them as I do. Great job on the video! I look forward to the next one!
Requiem is still my favourite location across all the Halo games. So beautiful. It still absolutely blows my mind how good it looks to this day considering it was running on a freaking 360.
My man, how are you going to leave the Helioskrill armor set out? That's hands down my favorite armor set ever, not only because it's amazing visually and it reminds me of the Arbiter's armor in H2 / H2A; but also because it's amazing lore-wise, being a Spartan armor created by a Sangheili, and as someone who loved to see the Elites collaborating with the humans in Halo 3, this is just like a dream come true.
I agree that the Warthog variant from 4/5 looks fantastic. To the list of good UNSC redesigns, I would add the MA5D Assault Rifle (4 & 5) and the M820 Scorpion (5 only). The Assault Rifle just looks right, and sounds especially great in Halo 4. And the M820 Scorpion in Halo 5 looks much more like a functional tank than the M808 models before it.
Something like the Assault Rifle wasn't redesigned though, it's clearly faithful to the original ARs. It's not like 343 changed every single thing about how Halo looks.
To many it might seem like a bold title, but yes I loved certain design elements of 343's art style more than the Bungie era of Halos. I'm sure many people did too!
Personally while I think stuff like most enemies and some weapons looked better in the Bungie Games, for the most part when it comes to stuff like the Master Chief and the environments I really like Halo 4, by far has my favorite environments and such. Underrated beauty of an artstyle.
I hope Haven gets brought back in Infinite. Just redo the artstyle to fit the old forerunner architectur, or just bring back 5's version cuz it's so pretty. I loved how the map played.
Im Glad that someone is giving credit to that amazing things 343i has done...They got a lot of things bad but some were so good...I Hope we get see a little of 343i Dna in infinite as well!
I will probably always maintain that h4 chief armor is my favorite and actually a lot of armor pieces from classic halo had great iterations or improvements scout being most obvious. I personally love the style but it just wasn’t as consistently good as the old one. I could go on but now’s not the time for an essay.
In my opinion, Master Chief's armor in Halo 4 is by far his best armor design in the games. To me it just looked so badass, especially in that ending cinematic where he's walking in slo-mo through that corridor to go get his armor and helmet removed.
Honestly, I'd call it fairly critical. The negatives are addressed, but the positives aren't ignored, resulting in actual analysis instead of whinging about how Halo's dead or whatever.
First off! The h4/5 Kig yar jackals are of the Ibe Shan sub species, living mostly on the jackals homeworlds more volcanic areas. So not really a redesign but an addition. Oh how I wish 343 could explain it similar with the brutes, elites and grunts differences from game to game. Different sub species, evolved on different parts of their homeplanet and other bodies in their solar system(s)The foreruuner aesthetic and artstyle differences are as far as I know, due to the different castes. Builders, Warriors, Lifeworkers etc. In some places mixing a bit. As far as I see it the first trilogy had alot of Builder and lifeworker aesthetic. Just my thought. And also when the forerunners first have created their structures etc they wouldnt or/and couldnt revert the change that Im more sure of think I found those tidbits from Halopedia or some youtube vid, not sure. Visor less helmets follow the concept of external sensors feeding into the inner HUD display of the helmet. A different kind of way to protect the head while offereing visuals.
It's a redesign that got explained away. You can say "well actually these dinosaur looking things are from the poopfart region on the continent of skeetsquirt" and it doesn't matter, they're supposed to be jackals, they function exactly like jackals, they only difference is that they're uglier than shit
@@RealGrouchoMarx honestly I think the jackals were the best redesign out of them all but as for the elites there's no excuses considering that it seems the arbiter changed the subspecies or whatever if it weren't for the elite and grunt redesigns honestly I'd like the game alot more
@@RealGrouchoMarx personally, the H4/5 jackals are pretty well designed. Even with background lore info too. They look more "sturdy" than the OG ones we know from previous Halo titles. This is the one design for the covenant I truly liked than the rest. But elites did look OK at best, grunts, not my favorite at all. Hunters still kept their identity, just updated their armor and such
@@IanThatMetalBassist technically Gungnir did have a visor, that little dot of glass on the very front of the armor? That's considered a visor by the game and will change color depending on what visor color you've selected
Video suggestions: Reskin Covenant weapons to look like UNSC tech, and vice versa ...or... Design a few weapons with UNSC and Covenant design styles blended together.
I like 343's Warthog design. It feels more utilitarian, like it fits. I liked some of 343s armors, like Scout, Warrior, Wetwork, and Soldier, as well. Also, I fucking loved the beefy sound of the AR in Halo 4.
Agreed. I've been actively avoiding the fandom because I've had an absolute gutsfull of fanboys whining about the negatives and crucifying anyone who so much as utters "on the bright side."
The Halo 4 DMR and Battle Rifle have my favorite silhouettes of their designs. I love how flat the DMR is and how boxy the Battle Rifle is. The Boltshot and Phaeton also have some pretty good and recognizable silhouettes. I've always felt like there's plenty of room for both design directions in the Halo universe between 343 complex and Bungie simplified, and using that design for gameplay would be genius. Halo Wars 2 barely touched on it, by having Suicide Grunts use their Halo 4 style and every other grunt having more traditional inspiration, but there's plenty of room past that. Like what if the chaingun warthog used the traditional Halo 3 design, while the gauss hog borrowed Halo 4's guard rails? Or the traditional mongoose was the smaller Halo 3 variant, while the gungoose was the beefier Halo 4 version? It would certainly help visual design if the Anti Air Wraith had Halo 5's vertical Wraith look while the traditional wraith was more classic. It could even bleed over to gameplay and story, I'd love to see a class system where Spartan 4's could use sprint and thrusters with Halo 4 cosmetic styles, while Spartan 2's can dual wield weapons borrowing from Halo 3's cosmetics.
The Anubis helmet is personally one of my favorite helmets of all time, bungie included, and I'm soooo glad the redesign for Infinite looks so fantastic, absolutely going to be rocking it when I can!
My MOST favorite things about art style in Halo 4-5: Chief's armor, the Mark 6 G2 if I'm not wrong, it looks impressive and will always be my favorite along Mark V (CE), it has too many little and cool details, my favorites are the less armored index finger for faster trigger action, and the visor, I love it and want it in my Halo Infinite Spartan Arby's armor in H5, what the hell, he looks more imponent, powerful and heroic than ever, he is the savior for Sanghelios as Chief is for mankind, and his Prophet's Bane mythic sword, awesome combo Halo 4 Cortana, I do not have words for how good she looked, my favorite model so far I fell in love with the UNSC Infinity since first time I saw it, I really like those sci-fi starships like the Star Wars ones, and Halo ones of course too, I want a miniature version of it so bad Those Smart-scopes in Halo 5 were cool too imo, were sutile and futuristic, but yeah, the game felt a little more like CoD because if you wanted to have some more range/precision you had to aim even with an AR or Energy sword I like the Warthog new design more than original, looks more equipped and militaristic, also the H5's Scorpion, but I like we have the original back, and about the Wasp, I think everyone liked it, even more than Hornets Jackals looked more like dinosaurs in H4 and 5, and I loved those designs, would be awesome we have both in Infinite, and yeah, shields are cool af too! Agreed with everything you said in this video, 343i is very underrated, Halo 4 is a clear prove
Lol so true! You always gotta put a disclaimer out for some of these folks; It's hard to have a decent/civilized convo about your fav fandom without it erupting into name-calling, favorite-bashing, "I'm right cause I've been here day one" arguments. I've been wanting to do a video on rewriting Jul 'Mdama's Covenant and giving them expanded lore and the "Banished" treatment in terms of design aesthetics to differentiate it from other countless "covenant remnant" factions, but I'll wait my turn on the "burn the witch cause they don't agree with me!" line.
It's incredible seeing how many Bungie fanatics can't comprehend someone saying something positive about 343. Coming from a Bungie fan it's absolutely mind boggling.
One thing I respect about 343 is the they werent afraid to change completely the artstyle of a game as iconic as halo. A lot of their designs at a bit to much and others are tasteless but theres a lot of work and originality. One of my favourite things was the Mantis, a really cool and unique vehicule that I dont think could exist in a Bungie game with their retro futuristic style.
I really like a bunch of 343s new helmets! Scout, warrior, and several others were really damn cool! As for the art style I prefer the old looks, but I also do appreciate many things 343 added
I always have loved the 343 art style, the unsc seemed more sci fi, and the aliens look more alien. I do think the original trilogy looks more unique though.
Yeah I’d be cool with 343s design if it was for a different IP, I mean I love Mass effects art style. Just not for my halo and it’s 80s-90s sci fi military aesthetic
Some of my favorite designs were the Lightcruisers in H4. I just love their green light look. They also had three variants. The more blueish purple ones seen in Dawn and Forerunner and Composer, the purple ones seen in Infinity and the reddish ones seen in Reclaimer and Shutdown. The Lich and the Sahara & Winter class Prowler were also awesome models. I love that all of these smaller ships finally got actual models or at least canon appearances in the games. The Sangheili ships (the Blockaderunner and Man O' War especially) were also neat looking ships that I wouldn't mind to see returning. They look Covenant while also being something new. The H4 Kig-Yar are a sub species called the Ibie'Shan, and my favorite one at that. I just love their look, and I wished they were also present in Infinite (since the other two sub species are already confirmed). The elites are actually outside of their upper mandibles very simular to the Bungie design, it's their armor that makes them look less elite (with the Zealot armor and Jul' Mdamas armor being an exception). I massively prefer the H4 elite bodies over the Reach ones (the Reach ones don't look like elites without their armor, they look like weird hunted experiments out of a horror game). You've already mentioned both Requiem and Sanghelios so I'm not going to talk about those. Also the Mantis might be one of my favorite vehicles ever next to the Wraith, Ghost and Banshee!
I liked Halo 4s story and campaign gameplay, but I never liked the designs, some were cool, but the majority weren't. I also never liked Forge or Multiplayer in 4.
One of my favourite things about this guy is that he takes some of 343s designs, redesigns them taking elements from designs we like and making something really cool, all while acknowledging the hard work that must have gone into the original designs and how he even appreciates some of the things some of us don’t like in a really respectable way. 343 could use you dude, they’re missing out!
@@FakeJake5843 Ironically, the best Bungie Forerunner aesthetics was made in Halo 2 Anniversary, a 343 game... Unfortunately, it further signified the contradictory in the visual continuity.
It's not that people hate it, it's a good looking design, but alot of things are just too stereotypical for SciFi stuff. And the majority of things were far too designed and too complicated and excessive, which isn't Halo at all. Halo is simple, its a Military realistic Sci fi, everything is supposed to look Semi-Futuristic, you can tell it takes place in the future, but things like the weapons, Marines, vehicles, look like they could fit in Modern Times. It's supposed to feel like Retro-Sci Fi, that's Halo.
@@CommunityFan Prime thing here being: Humans, Covenant and Forerunners (and Flood) stood in contrast to each other. H4, by making Humans look more sleek and futuristic, and by making Forerunners look again more sleek and shiny, they bring all 3 factions closer together. Their contrast was a concious artistic decision and I think that lies at the foundation of your feeling of what Halo is.
@@Halo_Legend I agree, everything needs to be different. Humans- More Ruggid and Semi Realistic Military. Covenant- Mostly Brutish, Unique(How much colour variants there are), and Religious(in a way). Forerunner- Sleek, Beautiful, and Stunning. Flood- Horrific.
I really miss the Halo 4 armor art style and I hope it returns in some way, in Halo Infinite. Like its own armor core or something. Halo 4's Recruit, Recon, Protector, Scout, and a few others were beautiful. So detailed and streamlined.
My favorite designs/redesigns include The saw, H5 SMG ,H4&5 AR, H4 chief amor, Scout and mark 5 b redesigns Kelly and Fred’s armor, Some of the forerunner weapons, H5 ghost, H5 Banshee, H4 recruit, H4 Warrior, and the Mantis. They’re many more those are just some of my favorites.
What really amazes me is how Halo 4 is still such a beautiful looking game, almost 10 years later. Also, why would people hate the Venator armor!? I love it
Since we're so close to halo infinite i do Appreciate these videos of halo TH-camrs looking back at 4 and 5 and see some of the good things in them of course not all of it but some
I see most ppl complain about the 343 designs being unoriginal and too heavy on technobabble detail, but personally, my issue with 343's art style wasn't so much the UNSC and weapon redesigns but the alien designs. The guns and vehicles just look updated to me, which typically come with graphical improvements. Master Chief's armor is really the only one that's changed the most, but if his armor looked like the old Mk II one from Halo 3, I'm not convinced the added paneling and nut/bolt details would be as controversial. IMO, were 343 truly showed their lack of creativity was with the Forerunners and Covenant. Everything in the covenant just looks like a reptoid monster (though I didn't mind the grunts being slightly more intimidating),and there's no longer any clear cut variety between the enemy designs. The 343 forerunner look honestly leaves me cold. I don't know who invented the idea of Alien=EVERYTHING MUST LEVITATE, but I've seen it redone so many times that it's lost its charm and I honestly think it looks more unbelievable than unusual. (If they can make things levitate, why do the Prometheans even need arms and legs?)
Just because a game is different doesn't neccesarily mean it's bad. That's what's unique about halo 4. I fell in love with the bright futuristic forerunner environments that always caught my eyes. This art style has really started making me learn more about its architecture and dive into making similar art myself. It's my inspiration and I'm going to miss it in all of its glory. It's hard to stay motivated when many criticize it, but I will try to stay true to what I believe is fascinating and unique. I really needed to see this positive video for once, so thanks a lot.
I always felt that Halo 4’s take on the scout helmet was an evolution of the scout from Halo 3. In a lot of ways I’d even say it’s a lot better! I’m a big fan of the scout armour, it’s always been my favourite ever since I first saw it. That’s why I always felt Halo Reach butchered the scout imo. It’s by no means a bad helmet but I feel it didn’t truly show what scout meant. And that’s why I was so happy to see it recreated in a more faithful fashion in Halo 4.
You touched on a lot of good points here regarding the 4/5 art style. In particular, the thing most people, including me for a long time failed to recognize were the locations. I will admit I was very pleasantly surprised at how beautiful Sanghelios was in an art style for the franchise that I wasn't too comfortable with. There's other locations I think you potentially failed to mention. With Halo 4, a lot of the lush landscapes of the mission Requiem were very nice to look at and you couldn't help but be impressed at the beauty being shown, especially that first time when you walk out of the cavern tunnel and into the sunlight and see those massive floating spires a little bit off(I'm not opposed to a couple large chunks slowly floating, like how the spire in Halo 4 showed). The generally lush valley lanscapes throughout the mission as well as the honestly very beautiful cavern behind the Cartographer chamber is often forgotten. Halo 4 did a great job with the foggy and humid jungles of the mission Infinity as well, with all of its old and twisted trees. I will say, within Halo 4's Forerunner cathedrals, I was disappointed that a lot of the colour variations both for lights and in general colouration from Halo 3(multiplayer maps such as Epitaph and Citadel as well as campaign levels like The Ark) and other original trilogy games did not carry over. I didn't see much if any purples, bronzes, golds, greens, or reds. Weapons too for the most part I agree, though I found the Halo 5 Hydra to be too rounded and curvy for my liking. I personally prefer Infinite's redesign on that weapon. Though on Covenan weapons, I personally think you missed 5's Plasma Caster. It's probably one of the coolest weapons in the franchise, almost feeling like the Elite's version of a futuristic crossbow like weapon with the side vents opening up when firing. Of course, shooting plasma grenades, it's a successor to an already really cool weapon in the Plasma Launcher from Reach. I agree that the DMR in Halo 4 looks quite good, with the design really giving it that "mini-sniper" feel, highlighting how long the barrel is, and the dark colouration as well the large muzzle brake and the way the scope is mounted gives a really good visual indication of weight to me. With vehicles, armours, and enemy designs, I think the amount of detail is a very important part of the overall visual language. You can have a good design, but having too much detail can take away from being able to truly focus on the best parts of said design. I'm not really going to comment on the vehicles here, as my impressions are quite negative on this front. Overall, the Wraith and Banshee in 5 do have a good overall design and is consistent with the design language we see used by the Elites from their ancient architecture to their weapons. As with the vehicle designs, I'll keep my opinions as positive as I can. Just like with the vehicles, I do feel the details and sometimes the design itself has too much cluttering it up, preventing a really clear picture of the overall design.I fully agree that the Mark 5 in Halo 4 is a very good recreation of the original one, though it feels a bit bulky. The Recruit helmet in both 4 and 5 is probably one of my favorite designs for a Gen2 helmet. The "eyeliner", large visor, large sweeping lines, a few ridges, and a lack of little details makes the helmet look clean and minimal while still looking surprisingly aggressive and sturdy. It's a great design for a helmet. Another helmet I personally think is often overlooked is the EOD helmet in Halo 4. It doesn't really add much in terms of detail from previous entries, and it rocks that simple, blocky, menacing design with the visor once more looking like eyes, much like Halo 3's version. You mentioned the Security helmet in 5, though I think the gen1 version of that helmet in 5 looks better without the unnecessary detail in the lowest part of the helmet. I'm not going to comment on the covenant armour here, seeing as I want to keep the comment as positive as I can. Similar to recent topics, I'm not really going to comment on the enemy design, particularly with the Prometheans. Though the Jackal redesign both in Halo 4 and 5 was an interesting choice that fit the species surprisingly well. It's just about the only species for which I can say that for though.
What I like about halo 4 requiem is that I can understand why it looks different, since faber the master builder didn’t help make or design shield worlds.
I think it worked in Halo 4 because the story was so heavy Sci-fi that it bordered on ridiculous, and the art direction matched that beat for beat. It was a thematically more 'absurd' game that incorporated the history of the Forerunners and was a lot more intimate with them in a way the old games couldn't have been.
I still love the hellcat armor from Halo 5. I'm into those odd hybrid armor styles, with the added lore of hellcat being anicent human. I was all on board.
I think a lot of video game communities, and communities of media in general, often fail to recognize the immense amounts of hard labour and creative exercise it takes to create the next entry in their favorite series, because they just buy it and hop in for a few hours, an experience that is wholly unrecognizable to that of actually pouring countless hours into making the damn thing. The art style of Halo is subjective, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but the harsh lambasting of 343 over the past few years about every little detail of new art and design direction fails to account for the fact that each Halo that ends up being released is a MONUMENT to thousands of man-hours of patience, scrapped designs, and sleepless nights for the workers who actually piece these fantastic objects of entertainment together, slowly and steadily grinding over years and years to make something they can be proud of. The idea that a person can pick up a game like Halo 4 or Halo 5 and passingly judge it as bland speaks volumes of their respect towards hard work in general. These games look crazy, especially for their time, and they have character and charm and they are UNIQUE. Halo 4 was a massive departure from the art style that had always been Halo, but I find that pill so easy to swallow because you can tell 343 really out their all into what they made. They'll be recognized for their talent, it just takes years of seperation from the toxicity of the internet I suppose.
I think those who don’t like reimagined armour and outlandish sets might want to skip Infinite MP. Its f2p so they will be wanting to recoup $$$ from the non-fans who unlike us, didn’t purchase the Campaign.
I really appreciate how the EOD looked more like the Halo 3 version rather than the Reach version. I love both of those versions, but it makes more narrative sense that the Gen 2 version of the helmet will be a continuation of the previous version, not a step backwards. This type of stuff is a pet peeve of mine. Like how the MK IV Mjolnir looks more like Mk VI than Mk V.
I just love everything about the halo 4 and 5 artstyle. The curvy and organic feel of the covenant designs, the angular, advanced, beefy UNSC designs, and the sleek, vivid forerunner designs are so pronounced and beautiful. And even though some of the spartan armors do look a bit weird, the odd ones are vastly outnumbered by ones that are just so good. I'm gonna miss it a bit in Infinite.
I have been playing Halo since 2001, I love all Halo games for one reason or another. But i really liked most of Bungies designs. they felt new and fresh but still familiar, and i don't think they deserve the kind of hate people give them. Many of my favorite weapon, vehicle, and environment designs come from Halo 4. And I even like the Spartan 4 design. So i appreciate this video.
I have always found Halo 4 to be a beautiful game. To this day I don't get the art style criticism. I mean I see the distinction but Halo 4 had some amazing visuals. I understand the distinction but don't agree with the value judgement. I mean, there's a few things that don't work for me visually (like the promethean enemy types, and some of the Spartan armor) but many more that do (like Chief and Cortana, Requiem, the Promethean weapons, the new shotgun). And the same is true of any other Halo game -- for example I liked Halo 3's lighting but the Elites were too fat. So I don't get the special hate for Halo 4, I really don't. EDIT: Just to elaborate a little -- one thing I think 343 has learned with the Forerunner designs is that they were overdoing the floaty bits. I think it's cool and unique to have guns with parts that just suspend in the air like that, it's weird and alien and cool looking. I was always struck by how well the new guns fit in to the Halo universe as a new distinct weapon type which was neither Covenant nor UNSC. But when there's too many floaty bits it strains credibility. It's like, well what do they even do anyway then if everything floats, is there nothing mechanically comprehensible going on at all? Makes you wonder why they even have gun-type weapons at all if they're at a level where they can materialize things out of thin air. Anyway -- the lightrifle is the perfect balance. There's a scope that just floats there, and a single other piece that suspends in the air when you reload. The design isn't too busy, and it has a lot of really clean lines to it. You look at it and instantly know what it is. It's a precision weapon type of gun, you can tell just by looking at it. So yeah, I wish the lightrifle was in Halo Infinite, I think it would've fit in nicely with the other, less "transformer" type designs like the heatwave and cindershot. It's one of my favorite 343 designs.
@Mike Limon That too, yeah. I love how the polished look of the Forerunners in Halo 4 was such a travesty, "not Halo" ... yet the change between CE and 2 where suddenly there was stone ruins was nbd I like it all. The Forerunners are a whole civilization; there's no reason their relics NEED to look as consistent as people act like they do. I like how Halo Infinite is blending those various styles.
My favourite helmet of all time is War Master. Its Y shape and Promethean looking visor is badass. Sad to see it turn into more of a T shape in Infinite, removing its aggressiveness.
I think its a crime you didn't talk about forerunner weapons. Those were by far the coolest part of Halo 4 and 5. I love how they construct themselves when you pull it out, and how they rip themselves apart when you reload.
Atlas (Unbound variant) is my armor set of choice in Halo 5. Idk why, but I was just immediately drawn to it once I saw it. Been wearing it ever since I unlocked it.
I'll always love Venator's armor. It has an incredibly sharp and aggressive look and has for a long time been my go to armor. I usually pair it with a Mark V helmet.
That Linda bruh... too bad we didn't get to play any splitscreen in the only Halo where the character you're playing changes with the player, and every single character out of 8 possible was already present in the lore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I like the Halo 4’s Spartan Armor because it doesn’t feel overly complex but more advanced then what Halo 1-3 felt like and really did feel we were gone for years in that ship 🥶
The Chuckle right before the sponsorship began made my day. Beside, keep up the good work and Glad to see we're finding so much good stuff to talk about Halo Visuals
Another great video! I especially agree with you on Requiem's architecture. The moments when you first encounter the floating pillars or when you enter the tower at the end of that level were truly breathtaking to me. I would definitely love to see more videos like this one
I have always loved the halo 4/5 Jackals, they looked so feral and dangerous. I’d love to see them come back as shock troops, while the more bird like ones are weaker physically but make way better snipers
I like that idea! The Lizard Jackals (I know the Canon names for the subspecies I don't remember how to spell them tho) remain as Minor, Major, Heavy, etc. shock troopers with shields while the Bird Jackals are Snipers, Rangers, even Stealth with active camo using a sort of melee weapon to get close and fight, and bring back the Skirmishers and they can keep their previous roles/ranks or make hunter-killer squads.
@@nobudarsai9675 halo4 jackals are general infantry using their greater size and ferocity, the bird like jackals are for more delicate roles that need a finer touch, and skirmishers are death squads and body guards for important banished higher ups
It feels good knowing I’m not the only one who enjoys the Reclaimer art style and seeing someone express that in a thoughtfully executed way. I love both art styles and while I do prefer the classic I don’t think 343 needed to fully get rid of the reclaimer style. A good mix would’ve been great!
One thing this video makes me think about is that, in my opinion, almost everything about bungie’s art style is great. Not just that it was the original, but great. 343 had huge shoes to fill and, while they didn’t do as good of a job as I would have liked, they still did some things right and I like that
@@andrewsozio7814 well the reason sucks ass. the guy who used to be in charge of 343 actively hated the way halo looked so he basically had the studio dedicate way to much time and money redesigning halo when they could have just been making new halo games with the existing design framework
I feel like after 343 released halo 4 people criticized it and 343 took it as constructive criticism and made halo 5 better (in terms of variety and multiplayer) I personally like halo 4 more but the movement in halo 5 is severely underrated and I think it was fitting for super soldiers augmented to be fast, stronger and more agile and smarter than the everyday soldier.
343 is a very, very talented studio with some of the best in the industry They're just often directionless, change things for the sake of change and are under the influence of the business-minded Microsoft
One armor design I am sorely missing from Halo 5 that was changed in Infinite, is Anubis. Anubis was my FAVORITE Halo 5 armor hands down (especially the helmet) and they completely redesigned it to look like Reach armor now. It was the only armor where I feel 343 truly succeeded with their take on spartans in Halo 5, and here is an aerodynamic armor designed with integrated thrusters that actually flow into the rest of the armor and don't look bolted on at the last second. All while looking like a Mark VII version of Commando, upgraded out of necessity to suit deployment in space. It was the absolute maximum deviation I want to see from Mark V and VI. Anubis looked like the highest ranking thruster pack spartans ever.
What I don't like of their art are the overly reflective forerunner structures, very bright lightning, cumbersome and seemingly ungraceful looking elites and the floating parts of the prometheans.
I absolutely loved Halo 4's art style the most and could care for Halo 5's. However after watching this, I've come to appreciate the art style. Also, I noticed you're emblem on the recruit shoulder when you show cased them.
My friend, you never stop innovating! I plan to take a page from your book and try some new formats. If only to keep myself making content (it’s been almost a half year!)
I personally loved the art style 343 was running with in Halo 4, a lot of people thought it too 'cliche' to run with a basic modern day expected fantasy/military sci-fi look, but the more realistic art style made me personally feel more immersed. In my opinion, it's hard to feel immersed in a game that is (I want to say cartoony, but even that feels wrong) whatever Bungie ran with. It worked and I loved Bungie's era of Halo games, but there was more than enough room in my heart for what 343 was trying to do with 4 and 5. People often criticized the number of customized parts in Halo 5 and to some extent I do agree. They had WAY too many items, but really, the number wouldn't have felt so big if they had tiled it a lot better. The way they did it just had you scrolling for days to find what you wanted. (Perhaps putting in the base helmets and armors, then making sub categories for you to search through much like they did in 4 and as of now, MCC, would have worked better). Though I do like the Venator armor set...Seeker looks ridiculous to me, you look more like a super fan going to a sports game with a built in soda and boom box hat than you do a soldier. My personal favorite helmet to this day is the Halo 4 Locus helmet, 5's Locus Edge is ok, but the X on the Halo 4 version was the best looking version in my opinion and I hope they bring it back. Armors aside, the entire aesthetic they were going with for all factions looked pretty good to me and the places we went to were downright gorgeous. To say that 343's art style was awful is the furthest thing from the truth. I think what the real issue was, wasn't that the art style was bad...it was that it wasn't 'Halo' as older fans had come to know and love. And I can understand and respect that, but at the time, some older players (and some more recent players) were still coming to terms with the fact that Bungie was no longer in charge of Halo. I don't know if everyone just expected Halo's moving forward to just be hybridized copy and pastes of what Bungie had been doing or what, but the lashing Halo 4 got was not deserved imo. I'm actually a little saddened by the fact that 343 is abandoning the design they'd worked with the last 2 games, but I'll adjust again.
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I see their take on Scout is in the thumbnail and I whole heartedly agree
I definitely like Halo 3 scout the most but I understand why people's favorites would be the Reach design or the 4/5 design. I think they all have their fans for different reasons, personally the leaked Halo Infinite scout design might be my new favorite or 2nd favorite; while I don't like the 4/5 design, the new one takes broad inspiration from it but makes it look really nice and a bit more reminiscent of the Bungie designs
343 Industries’ Scout is too bottom heavy
Also
Anyone else adore Enforcer? Definitely the best Halo 4 helmet in my opinion
@@ItsButterBean1020 A month late but enforcer is brilliant
H4 scout was great
I personally like the head-canon that the Forerunner tech we see in 4/5 is earlier than the tech we see on the Halos/Ark, closer to the height of their power before the losing-battle with the Flood made their technology (and culture) more bleak and brutalist, more utilitarian as they faced their demise. the elaborate ornamentation of the shield world, the Prometheans, etc fits an empire that still thought they were going to prevail (given that the shield world's were an early plan, and the Halos literally the last-ditch effort at their empire's nadir). to me, that helps to sell the Didact's story, too - he was trying to preserve a vision of their empire at its height, not realizing as the Librarian had that they needed to end and recede from the Mantle.
That's not a headcanon. That's literally explicit lore information. Requiem is thousands of years older than Installations 00-06.
Also in the lore is that Requiem is a product of the Warrior-Servant caste of Forerunner society, while the original trilogy stuff is all of Builder design.
@@autumngottlieb3071
Then why would Shield World 0459, a Warrior facility serving as a docking stations for numerous Forerunner warships, still look distinctively different than Requiem???
Why would the architecture on Installation 09 look different from that on Installation 08, despite both Halo rings being newly made???
Why would Genesis, a Builder facility, look different from the Builder aesthetics while being stylistically closer to Requiem???
No, it made no sense lore-wised...
But Shield World 0459 was also built at the height of their power before the start of the Flood war, and it was a fortress for the Warrior Servants, so why did it also look bleak and brutalist as you described???
Or maybe 343 wasn't concerned about visual continuity as much as their creative vision...
@OP
While I think that there is no reconciling the drastic change in artstyle no matter how we spin it, I do also like this head-canon for what it is. Thanks for sharing.
I was literally thinking this a day or two ago, how the guardians have the little faces on them, forerunners were gaudy as hell lmao
It's refreshing to hear the positive perspective of 343 Halo's starting art style discussed in an articulate manner. I love the redesigns you come up with, but hearing about what worked and in some way providing notes for future designs in other works is awesome to see.
Edit: I feel the need to state that I am more a fan of the pre-343 era games designs and styles, with 3 and Halo Wars producing some of my favorite designs in the series. I feel it's also important to praise 343 for the original or re imagined designs they made for their games with Halo 4's Mark V recreation being one of my favorites of the series of the series altogether.
It often aggravates me when people dump on the newer variants of old UNSC weapons because for the most part, they're just mumbling about it being different instead of providing objective reasons the art style is worse, and they make no attempt to actually understand _why_ art style changes were made in the first place. I've been around, on and off, since Halo 1, so I definitely wouldn't mind the criticism if even an ounce of actual thought went into it, but it's exceedingly rare that I find someone who actually bothers. Most of them...just don't _like_ the new art style. Subjectivity is fine, but the disdain for 343i's art style borders on fanatical and is extremely toxic. It makes such discussions difficult to have. I'm glad there might be an opportunity to have one here.
With that in mind, I think the best example of this is the BR85 variant of the battle rifle. I don't think of it as any more "futuristic" than the BR55 or BR75. Instead, I think of it as "more modern." The BR55/BR75 aesthetic was "futuristic" for when it was designed: In the early 2000s. It featured a mix of what looks like stamped steel components and molded components, both polymer and metal. These were common manufacturing techniques for newer weapons back then, but it had been over a decade later that Halo 4 came out, and the firearms industry had evolved in that time. The BR85 is clearly made of CNC-machined components which fit each other like Lego blocks. That's rapidly becoming the new industry standard for manufacturing a lot of weapons, especially metal-framed ones, and it was gaining traction back then, too. The BR85 is perhaps a bit overly busy in its design but it also gives the appearance of a thicker, chunkier, more durable weapon than its predecessor, although it may sacrifice some accuracy thanks to probably-worse barrel harmonics. It's probably also built to be more modular, although we don't really get to see much of this if it's the case.
Another example is the M57 Pilum rocket launcher. Now, neither the M41 Jackhammer or the M57 Pilum are exactly _realistic_ designs, but while the M57 may look more "generic," like a standard rocket launcher tube you might see in today's militaries, the SPNKr, much as people love the iconic design, is really a grossly-impractical weapon. It's extremely bulky, employs two tubes which are _not_ reusable, and spins the tubes each time you fire the rocket launcher. This adds moving parts which can easily break and forces the soldier to carry around gigantic bulky tubes for use as additional "magazines." It's almost like carrying multiple rocket launchers. The M57 looks mostly like a real-world recoilless rifle, except it's magazine-fed. This is _far_ more practical. It's less bulky, less material is wasted, the ammunition is far less bulky and most likely far lighter, and the weapon is likely far more mechanically reliable since it doesn't have nearly as many moving parts. Any soldier would tell you that looks to the side, they'd prefer the Pilum for its practicality.
I could cite some other examples. The _Strident_-class heavy frigate is a more structurally-sound design than its predecessors, since it's basically just a flying brick with sloped armor. The introduction of smart-linked sights finally addresses a long-standing issue with Halo weapons often somehow having no sights or really badly-designed ones. The MJOLNIR GEN2 armor and yes, even the Chief's Mark VI MOD armor were designed to look bulkier and heavier, but also still somehow more agile and flexible, which fits the lore of Spartans being walking tanks. The point I'm ultimately getting to is that I would argue that by and large, 343i's designs were _more_ realistic than Bungie's, actually. The _problem_ is that realistic, well-designed military gear is...boring-looking. It's plain, simple, and gets the job done. Bungie-era Halo art took liberties which _did_ come at the detriment of absolute adherence to realistic hard sci-fi designs, but it allowed them to make unique, distinct, memorable designs which have since become iconic. The old tuning-fork frigates are always going to look more memorable than the _Strident_-class. I applaud what 343i tried to do, but I recognize why it didn't go over well with the fanbase. They weren't looking for _realism,_ they were looking for distinct, memorable designs. They just seem to be confused about what is and isn't realistic.
it both has bad and good things in their art designs... Bungie ones weren't always good by example i wasn't a big fan of MC previous armors (especially for their speedo looking metal parts) as well as some weapons especially covenants , which looked like toys
When I played 4 I was a bit mixed with the designs and everything, I kinda grew to like it a bit
You were mixed because the human part of you absolutely loved it while the dumbass halo no like change fanboy didn't like it. Its the fortnite situation.
@@terrelldurocher3330 fortnite situation?
@@goblinman3010 no one likes fortnite but it is very addicting so when more people started playing more and more kids started showing up and treat fortnite the same way halo fanboys treat well halo.
@@terrelldurocher3330
Or maybe the vast majority of people just prefer the more classic Halo art style over the “new” artstyle for a multitude of reasons.
@@extremelyboredtatsumaki.495 Go on, name those reasons
I've always been a believer that all the forerunners installations we have visited so far within the 343 saga, are places that were around long before the end of the war, giving the forerunners time to put extra touches on their art, whereas placed we visited withing the bungie saga were mainly all built near the end of the war, leading the forerunners to rush and lose some artistic touches
That actually is correct. Most of the Forerunner designs were made with hardlight and special, but expensive alloys. Due to the war with the Flood and Mendicant Bias, they used simpler alloys and processes to get the job done faster
The forerunner art style in 4 and 5 are absolute garbage. Fucking generic scifi shit with glowing lights everywhere. Looks like Tron.
@@ExplosiveBolts Found the Bungie fanboy
@@ExplosiveBolts Cope and seethe. It looks awesome
@@PXTother excessive floaty bits is not awesome.
Another thing I've really liked about the Recruit armor, is that it empowers the mystique of Mk VI. No longer the default armor, that mentality of replacing the default no longer applies to it.
There’s also Prefect from Halo 4, the Halo Championship armor, Helioskril, and Achilles from Halo 5 that are amazing too!
Enforcer is dope too
Love the Centurion armor
I recently looked back at H5's helmets and compared them to Reach's and it seemed the Reach followed certain rules with all of their helmets while H5 had more deviants. Most of the deviations weren't good though. And it didn't help that some of these helmets probably only existed to pad the req pack system. Overall H5 definitely has some good helmets.
From what I heard, a big source of the deviations was because 343 allowed Microsoft to bring on smaller companies to help develop the armors. Many of these companies went on their own design philosophies and things went mainly unsupervised for many of the armors. That is what led to some of the more terrible designs in halo 5.
@@fissilepear7805 This. The reasoning is because its suppose to emulate how each armor design would be made by certain fictional companies, as such, they outsourced multiplayer armor design to small studios to reflect that. Like you said, some were good and kept to the Halo aesthetic while adding new things, but most were just either bad or didn't look like they belong in Halo.
@@Razgriz_01 You know, that explains so much now that I think about it lol. I did think it weird because even in Halo 4 a lot of the armors they made that we hadn't seen before still felt like they fit in. 5 though was just all over the place and I wondered why that was.
I imagine one of those rules was that the helmets needed to be useable by a Human being?
To be honest I struggle to find a helmet I love in reach, like none of them are bad but they are all just Mark V variants which lore wise is the case and makes sense but they all just seem so bland, not to mention a lot of them have this squished in face that doesn't look like you'd be able to fit a head into the helmet without having your face up against the glass of the visor, BUT with halo 4 there's a bunch of helmets I love and emulate that halo 3 style I like, such as the Scout, Recrute, Soldier, Warrior, EOD and Recon, like they all look so much more unique but still fit that halo aesthetic, its kinda like I'd rather take 4s lot cause even though I really don't like a bunch of the helmets and some of them are just eh, there's a bunch that I love and think are still even after infinite are the best iterations in the series, really cut they ruined the soldier helmet, which just happens to be my favourite out of all the games
I mostly grew up with Halo 3 and Reach, but when Halo 4 came out the art style, music, and story captured me in a way that even a decade later no other game has, and was what really got me into Halo's lore and made me a lifelong fan. I don't dislike the style in Infinite, but I'd give almost anything to see Halo 4's style show up in places too, maybe on a different Forerunner installation or in a armor set directly ported from GEN2. And the Prometheans. I fucking love the Prometheans.
It makes me so sad that fans of the 343 games get shunned the way we do; we love Halo too and I don't know a single person who's favorite games are 4 and/or 5 that don't also love the Bungie games. There's more of us than people think; we just don't like to talk because of the backlash it gets us. Idk, maybe someday we'll get our own Halo Infinite: a game that returns to the Halo we grew up with. It's just hard being in this position.
I grew up with the Bungie games and I liked Halo 4 campaign a lot. I like the middle ground approach but it almost seems like their completely abandoning the fans of the newer games. Luckily, the newer fans are more welcoming to change than the classic fans, which even now are nearly impossible to please.
@@tiger_lord305 ehh from what I've been seeing the 343 fans are pretty upset with Infinite too because it doesn't feel like a natural progression in terms of look and feel from 4 and 5. Feels like a very janky switch to an older look that was very much less than necessary and only happened to appease old fans that will always be upset with them anyways
I was a bit sketchy on the Halo 4 art-style when I played 'Dawn' for the first time, but I found myself perfectly fine with it come the next mission. Requiem is a master-piece in visual design imo, I'm shocked they managed to make it work on the 360.
343 had a really big budget for halo 4’s graphic design! They really went allll oouut on the detail, and I really appreciate the work that they diid!😊
Getting 4 to look the way it did had some subtle compromises particularly ai and level size
That first shot on requiem when you walk out of the wreckage is honestly one of my favorite moments in any Halo game
The graphics still hold up really well today.
Yeah but better and more detailed graphics came with the sacrifice to gameplay variety, encounters and environments. Idk if it was a good trade off. There's a reason why Halo 4 overall falls short when compared to other Halo games. The 360 could barely keep up so to make it a big jump visually they had to butcher everything else.
In terms of halo 5 armour, I love Fred’s centurion helmet, and the Mk4 armour as well considering it’s the first time it’s actually been in a game
I’m glad to see Halo 4 and 5’s scout on the thumbnail. It has always been my second favorite helmet behind Halo 3’s Recon. Although the Blackguard Carrion Crow helmet from MCC Season 8 is slowly becoming my new favorite.
I agree that Halo 4 and 5 had some strong art designs in the midst of everything. I’m also a huge fan of the Mantis.
I my self was a big fan of Mantis too
being nearly invincible even in legendary mode was great
One thing I like about 343's art style is that it made the unsc feel like it had evolved or became a bit more advanced. With the new spartan armors it was inevetable that the unsc would make the armor look more streamlined which makes the it lighter and more agile whilst also making it more low-profile.
That’s literally what made it so bad. The UNSC is suppose to militaristic not mass affect space power rangers
@@ganggang2537 True but I bet after the war they collected all the covenant tech they could and used them to make better suits.
@Mike Limon Which feels kind of odd with the marines who feel like they progressed backwards with their bulkier armor and soft ballistics vests
But I would disagree with the armor looking more streamlines making it look worse. The Mk VI armor still looked great despite being far more streamlined in comparison. The issue was how far 343 had strayed from the existing aesthetics when they did streamlines it, along with over detailing the armor in a few places.
Wernissage's previous videos have really highlighted how with a few tweaks in the right areas 343's models would have not only looked great but still fit with the established aesthetics.
@@ODSTGeneralYT I’m guessing the soft ballistic vest is for the UNSC Army units stationed in the Infinity given it’s past 2 engagements were against insurrectionists and we know that Bulky armor is pointless against most plasma based weapons, so might as well cut that from the budget. So they made them lighter and more agile by providing more simpler set of armor for basic protection rather than have them wear extra weight that could’ve been used to carry more equipment and move much more agile
At the end of the day it’s just a video game
@@ganggang2537 armor realistically is supposed to keep you as agile as possible on top of that it is supposed to be military budget-friendly. Bulky armor is expensive and cumbersome and when you are human fighting aliens you definitely wanna be agile.
Also realistically being bulky with a grappling hook is an easy way to get yourself killed.
That's exactly why new amor strays away from knight kinda armor in IRL.
I loved that little disclaimer in the beginning where you let people know that this video isn't for anyone who can't handle positives of 343's designs
yeah me too
Yeah lol. The people who get offended by talking positive about 343's art style mainly dwell on r/halo.
That's basically the 80 % of the fandom
@@jesussilva201 nah more like the 40% who shout way too loudly
Yeah the toxic nostalgia fanboys can go stay in their echo chamber
Just finished watching the video. While I don’t agree with everything that was said a lot of your points were very well made. I’ve always preferred the classic halo look over the newer art style but there were a lot of things I loved about Halo 4 and 5 and they will always hold a place in my heart as we move forward with new halo games. So it’s nice to see someone else still appreciating them as I do. Great job on the video! I look forward to the next one!
Thank you! I’m also a bigger fan of the old art style, but I think it’s important to highlight the best parts of 343’s art style too!
@@Wernissage I completely agree.
Requiem is still my favourite location across all the Halo games. So beautiful. It still absolutely blows my mind how good it looks to this day considering it was running on a freaking 360.
No idea how they made it work on the 360, dark magic I suppose
@@Wernissage its that lighting system they ivested in, it really does distract from some of the poor textures in h4 it really works wonders
My man, how are you going to leave the Helioskrill armor set out?
That's hands down my favorite armor set ever, not only because it's amazing visually and it reminds me of the Arbiter's armor in H2 / H2A; but also because it's amazing lore-wise, being a Spartan armor created by a Sangheili, and as someone who loved to see the Elites collaborating with the humans in Halo 3, this is just like a dream come true.
I agree that the Warthog variant from 4/5 looks fantastic. To the list of good UNSC redesigns, I would add the MA5D Assault Rifle (4 & 5) and the M820 Scorpion (5 only). The Assault Rifle just looks right, and sounds especially great in Halo 4. And the M820 Scorpion in Halo 5 looks much more like a functional tank than the M808 models before it.
Turret shield sucks
Something like the Assault Rifle wasn't redesigned though, it's clearly faithful to the original ARs. It's not like 343 changed every single thing about how Halo looks.
To many it might seem like a bold title, but yes I loved certain design elements of 343's art style more than the Bungie era of Halos. I'm sure many people did too!
well my favorite thing from 5 and 4 was the plasma caster and the lich i thought they were cool and really liked them
Personally while I think stuff like most enemies and some weapons looked better in the Bungie Games, for the most part when it comes to stuff like the Master Chief and the environments I really like Halo 4, by far has my favorite environments and such. Underrated beauty of an artstyle.
I hope Haven gets brought back in Infinite. Just redo the artstyle to fit the old forerunner architectur, or just bring back 5's version cuz it's so pretty. I loved how the map played.
Im Glad that someone is giving credit to that amazing things 343i has done...They got a lot of things bad but some were so good...I Hope we get see a little of 343i Dna in infinite as well!
I've said as always...4 & 5 progressed the art style in a way that I loved. And the Spartans really looked like proper superhumans.
@@droneant7602 well....I never said I have good taste...or common sense. So...yea. :/
@@droneant7602 this is far into the future where I'm pretty dam sure even a visorless helmet can be made without a problem.
@@droneant7602 dont the helmets use cameras or somthin anyway?
I will probably always maintain that h4 chief armor is my favorite and actually a lot of armor pieces from classic halo had great iterations or improvements scout being most obvious. I personally love the style but it just wasn’t as consistently good as the old one. I could go on but now’s not the time for an essay.
I've always loved Halo 4s recruit helmet. It fits the art style of reach
In my opinion, Master Chief's armor in Halo 4 is by far his best armor design in the games. To me it just looked so badass, especially in that ending cinematic where he's walking in slo-mo through that corridor to go get his armor and helmet removed.
A video that's *not* completely critical of the 343 era art style? What timeline have I woken up in?
Excellent video as always, man!
Hahaha, I thought it could use some love!
Appreciate ya
Honestly, I'd call it fairly critical. The negatives are addressed, but the positives aren't ignored, resulting in actual analysis instead of whinging about how Halo's dead or whatever.
First off! The h4/5 Kig yar jackals are of the Ibe Shan sub species, living mostly on the jackals homeworlds more volcanic areas. So not really a redesign but an addition. Oh how I wish 343 could explain it similar with the brutes, elites and grunts differences from game to game. Different sub species, evolved on different parts of their homeplanet and other bodies in their solar system(s)The foreruuner aesthetic and artstyle differences are as far as I know, due to the different castes. Builders, Warriors, Lifeworkers etc. In some places mixing a bit. As far as I see it the first trilogy had alot of Builder and lifeworker aesthetic. Just my thought. And also when the forerunners first have created their structures etc they wouldnt or/and couldnt revert the change that Im more sure of think I found those tidbits from Halopedia or some youtube vid, not sure.
Visor less helmets follow the concept of external sensors feeding into the inner HUD display of the helmet. A different kind of way to protect the head while offereing visuals.
It's a redesign that got explained away. You can say "well actually these dinosaur looking things are from the poopfart region on the continent of skeetsquirt" and it doesn't matter, they're supposed to be jackals, they function exactly like jackals, they only difference is that they're uglier than shit
@@RealGrouchoMarx honestly I think the jackals were the best redesign out of them all but as for the elites there's no excuses considering that it seems the arbiter changed the subspecies or whatever if it weren't for the elite and grunt redesigns honestly I'd like the game alot more
@@RealGrouchoMarx personally, the H4/5 jackals are pretty well designed. Even with background lore info too. They look more "sturdy" than the OG ones we know from previous Halo titles. This is the one design for the covenant I truly liked than the rest. But elites did look OK at best, grunts, not my favorite at all. Hunters still kept their identity, just updated their armor and such
People forget that Bungie also had a helmet without a visor (Gungnir)
@@IanThatMetalBassist technically Gungnir did have a visor, that little dot of glass on the very front of the armor? That's considered a visor by the game and will change color depending on what visor color you've selected
Video suggestions: Reskin Covenant weapons to look like UNSC tech, and vice versa ...or... Design a few weapons with UNSC and Covenant design styles blended together.
I absolutely LOVE the armor design of the h4-5 zealots.
I like 343's Warthog design. It feels more utilitarian, like it fits. I liked some of 343s armors, like Scout, Warrior, Wetwork, and Soldier, as well. Also, I fucking loved the beefy sound of the AR in Halo 4.
Halo 4 AR was the shit.
I really appreciate the positive spin here we all know it’s issues why not talk about the positives.
Agreed. I've been actively avoiding the fandom because I've had an absolute gutsfull of fanboys whining about the negatives and crucifying anyone who so much as utters "on the bright side."
The Halo 4 DMR and Battle Rifle have my favorite silhouettes of their designs. I love how flat the DMR is and how boxy the Battle Rifle is. The Boltshot and Phaeton also have some pretty good and recognizable silhouettes.
I've always felt like there's plenty of room for both design directions in the Halo universe between 343 complex and Bungie simplified, and using that design for gameplay would be genius. Halo Wars 2 barely touched on it, by having Suicide Grunts use their Halo 4 style and every other grunt having more traditional inspiration, but there's plenty of room past that. Like what if the chaingun warthog used the traditional Halo 3 design, while the gauss hog borrowed Halo 4's guard rails? Or the traditional mongoose was the smaller Halo 3 variant, while the gungoose was the beefier Halo 4 version? It would certainly help visual design if the Anti Air Wraith had Halo 5's vertical Wraith look while the traditional wraith was more classic. It could even bleed over to gameplay and story, I'd love to see a class system where Spartan 4's could use sprint and thrusters with Halo 4 cosmetic styles, while Spartan 2's can dual wield weapons borrowing from Halo 3's cosmetics.
The Anubis helmet is personally one of my favorite helmets of all time, bungie included, and I'm soooo glad the redesign for Infinite looks so fantastic, absolutely going to be rocking it when I can!
My MOST favorite things about art style in Halo 4-5:
Chief's armor, the Mark 6 G2 if I'm not wrong, it looks impressive and will always be my favorite along Mark V (CE), it has too many little and cool details, my favorites are the less armored index finger for faster trigger action, and the visor, I love it and want it in my Halo Infinite Spartan
Arby's armor in H5, what the hell, he looks more imponent, powerful and heroic than ever, he is the savior for Sanghelios as Chief is for mankind, and his Prophet's Bane mythic sword, awesome combo
Halo 4 Cortana, I do not have words for how good she looked, my favorite model so far
I fell in love with the UNSC Infinity since first time I saw it, I really like those sci-fi starships like the Star Wars ones, and Halo ones of course too, I want a miniature version of it so bad
Those Smart-scopes in Halo 5 were cool too imo, were sutile and futuristic, but yeah, the game felt a little more like CoD because if you wanted to have some more range/precision you had to aim even with an AR or Energy sword
I like the Warthog new design more than original, looks more equipped and militaristic, also the H5's Scorpion, but I like we have the original back, and about the Wasp, I think everyone liked it, even more than Hornets
Jackals looked more like dinosaurs in H4 and 5, and I loved those designs, would be awesome we have both in Infinite, and yeah, shields are cool af too!
Agreed with everything you said in this video, 343i is very underrated, Halo 4 is a clear prove
Halo purists before you start raging that someone likes 343s art style remember “Art…. Is…… SUBJECTIVE”
Lol so true! You always gotta put a disclaimer out for some of these folks; It's hard to have a decent/civilized convo about your fav fandom without it erupting into name-calling, favorite-bashing, "I'm right cause I've been here day one" arguments. I've been wanting to do a video on rewriting Jul 'Mdama's Covenant and giving them expanded lore and the "Banished" treatment in terms of design aesthetics to differentiate it from other countless "covenant remnant" factions, but I'll wait my turn on the "burn the witch cause they don't agree with me!" line.
It's incredible seeing how many Bungie fanatics can't comprehend someone saying something positive about 343. Coming from a Bungie fan it's absolutely mind boggling.
One thing I respect about 343 is the they werent afraid to change completely the artstyle of a game as iconic as halo. A lot of their designs at a bit to much and others are tasteless but theres a lot of work and originality. One of my favourite things was the Mantis, a really cool and unique vehicule that I dont think could exist in a Bungie game with their retro futuristic style.
I really like a bunch of 343s new helmets! Scout, warrior, and several others were really damn cool! As for the art style I prefer the old looks, but I also do appreciate many things 343 added
I always have loved the 343 art style, the unsc seemed more sci fi, and the aliens look more alien. I do think the original trilogy looks more unique though.
Yeah I’d be cool with 343s design if it was for a different IP, I mean I love Mass effects art style. Just not for my halo and it’s 80s-90s sci fi military aesthetic
Some of my favorite designs were the Lightcruisers in H4. I just love their green light look. They also had three variants. The more blueish purple ones seen in Dawn and Forerunner and Composer, the purple ones seen in Infinity and the reddish ones seen in Reclaimer and Shutdown. The Lich and the Sahara & Winter class Prowler were also awesome models. I love that all of these smaller ships finally got actual models or at least canon appearances in the games.
The Sangheili ships (the Blockaderunner and Man O' War especially) were also neat looking ships that I wouldn't mind to see returning. They look Covenant while also being something new.
The H4 Kig-Yar are a sub species called the Ibie'Shan, and my favorite one at that. I just love their look, and I wished they were also present in Infinite (since the other two sub species are already confirmed).
The elites are actually outside of their upper mandibles very simular to the Bungie design, it's their armor that makes them look less elite (with the Zealot armor and Jul' Mdamas armor being an exception). I massively prefer the H4 elite bodies over the Reach ones (the Reach ones don't look like elites without their armor, they look like weird hunted experiments out of a horror game).
You've already mentioned both Requiem and Sanghelios so I'm not going to talk about those.
Also the Mantis might be one of my favorite vehicles ever next to the Wraith, Ghost and Banshee!
Halo 4 was good game change my mind
Sure, but was it a good HALO game? Play it on legendary and you will see that is not.
@@thomcolmer6564 that’s like is saying halo 2 is a good halo game on legendary
@@thomcolmer6564 you saying halo 2 is bad as well because of how crap that game’s legendary is too?
@@thomcolmer6564 Bro I literally have Smooth Operator, Halo 4 is a good Halo game.
Also, go and play Halo 2 on Legendary. Have fun with that.
I liked Halo 4s story and campaign gameplay, but I never liked the designs, some were cool, but the majority weren't. I also never liked Forge or Multiplayer in 4.
One of my favourite things about this guy is that he takes some of 343s designs, redesigns them taking elements from designs we like and making something really cool, all while acknowledging the hard work that must have gone into the original designs and how he even appreciates some of the things some of us don’t like in a really respectable way. 343 could use you dude, they’re missing out!
Finally, someone that appreciates the forerunner structure of halo 4!😊
Exactly finally
@@FakeJake5843
Ironically, the best Bungie Forerunner aesthetics was made in Halo 2 Anniversary, a 343 game...
Unfortunately, it further signified the contradictory in the visual continuity.
@@user-iy7jo7bq4f ya lol
Yes. Its beautiful. Not halo 5, just halo 4.
Finally someone speaks out about this, I always hated the blind hate for 343's art style and am loving the realization that's been going on recently.
It's not that people hate it, it's a good looking design, but alot of things are just too stereotypical for SciFi stuff. And the majority of things were far too designed and too complicated and excessive, which isn't Halo at all. Halo is simple, its a Military realistic Sci fi, everything is supposed to look Semi-Futuristic, you can tell it takes place in the future, but things like the weapons, Marines, vehicles, look like they could fit in Modern Times. It's supposed to feel like Retro-Sci Fi, that's Halo.
@@CommunityFan We know! It's been drilled into our head for the past 10 years. Enough already.
@@activatehalo7763 I don't care what YOU know, I wanted to comment my thoughts, and my opinion. There is nothing wrong with that.
@@CommunityFan Prime thing here being: Humans, Covenant and Forerunners (and Flood) stood in contrast to each other.
H4, by making Humans look more sleek and futuristic, and by making Forerunners look again more sleek and shiny, they bring all 3 factions closer together.
Their contrast was a concious artistic decision and I think that lies at the foundation of your feeling of what Halo is.
@@Halo_Legend I agree, everything needs to be different.
Humans- More Ruggid and Semi Realistic Military.
Covenant- Mostly Brutish, Unique(How much colour variants there are), and Religious(in a way).
Forerunner- Sleek, Beautiful, and Stunning.
Flood- Horrific.
I really miss the Halo 4 armor art style and I hope it returns in some way, in Halo Infinite. Like its own armor core or something. Halo 4's Recruit, Recon, Protector, Scout, and a few others were beautiful. So detailed and streamlined.
My favorite designs/redesigns include
The saw, H5 SMG ,H4&5 AR, H4 chief amor, Scout and mark 5 b redesigns Kelly and Fred’s armor, Some of the forerunner weapons, H5 ghost, H5 Banshee, H4 recruit, H4 Warrior, and the Mantis. They’re many more those are just some of my favorites.
H2A Carbine is my favorite, that shade of purple is just beautiful
What really amazes me is how Halo 4 is still such a beautiful looking game, almost 10 years later.
Also, why would people hate the Venator armor!? I love it
Since we're so close to halo infinite i do Appreciate these videos of halo TH-camrs looking back at 4 and 5 and see some of the good things in them of course not all of it but some
Helioskrill is one of my favourite designs 343 has made. Love these kind of videos as much as your redesigning ones.
I like both design the old bungie and new 343 designs.
I feel like halo 4 had a more realistic depiction of what future soldiers/military would look like
I see most ppl complain about the 343 designs being unoriginal and too heavy on technobabble detail, but personally, my issue with 343's art style wasn't so much the UNSC and weapon redesigns but the alien designs. The guns and vehicles just look updated to me, which typically come with graphical improvements. Master Chief's armor is really the only one that's changed the most, but if his armor looked like the old Mk II one from Halo 3, I'm not convinced the added paneling and nut/bolt details would be as controversial.
IMO, were 343 truly showed their lack of creativity was with the Forerunners and Covenant. Everything in the covenant just looks like a reptoid monster (though I didn't mind the grunts being slightly more intimidating),and there's no longer any clear cut variety between the enemy designs. The 343 forerunner look honestly leaves me cold. I don't know who invented the idea of Alien=EVERYTHING MUST LEVITATE, but I've seen it redone so many times that it's lost its charm and I honestly think it looks more unbelievable than unusual. (If they can make things levitate, why do the Prometheans even need arms and legs?)
I just realized now that from the front, the Halo 5 Banshee looks like an Elite's head. Quite a clever design.
Just because a game is different doesn't neccesarily mean it's bad. That's what's unique about halo 4. I fell in love with the bright futuristic forerunner environments that always caught my eyes. This art style has really started making me learn more about its architecture and dive into making similar art myself. It's my inspiration and I'm going to miss it in all of its glory.
It's hard to stay motivated when many criticize it, but I will try to stay true to what I believe is fascinating and unique. I really needed to see this positive video for once, so thanks a lot.
I'm glad someone likes the halo 4 DMR, it's so much more interesting than reach
I always felt that Halo 4’s take on the scout helmet was an evolution of the scout from Halo 3. In a lot of ways I’d even say it’s a lot better! I’m a big fan of the scout armour, it’s always been my favourite ever since I first saw it. That’s why I always felt Halo Reach butchered the scout imo. It’s by no means a bad helmet but I feel it didn’t truly show what scout meant. And that’s why I was so happy to see it recreated in a more faithful fashion in Halo 4.
My favorite design from halo 4 is definitely the jackal rangers. I hope they come back in infinite.
I feel like recruit is THE most underrated armour set in all of halo
he´s being sponsored by Raid! Finally the universe saw your effort!
🤘🔥
I've never seen H5 security armor before but golly do I love it
Proof that people will always frown upon 1 mistake over smiling upon many successes
You touched on a lot of good points here regarding the 4/5 art style. In particular, the thing most people, including me for a long time failed to recognize were the locations. I will admit I was very pleasantly surprised at how beautiful Sanghelios was in an art style for the franchise that I wasn't too comfortable with. There's other locations I think you potentially failed to mention. With Halo 4, a lot of the lush landscapes of the mission Requiem were very nice to look at and you couldn't help but be impressed at the beauty being shown, especially that first time when you walk out of the cavern tunnel and into the sunlight and see those massive floating spires a little bit off(I'm not opposed to a couple large chunks slowly floating, like how the spire in Halo 4 showed). The generally lush valley lanscapes throughout the mission as well as the honestly very beautiful cavern behind the Cartographer chamber is often forgotten. Halo 4 did a great job with the foggy and humid jungles of the mission Infinity as well, with all of its old and twisted trees. I will say, within Halo 4's Forerunner cathedrals, I was disappointed that a lot of the colour variations both for lights and in general colouration from Halo 3(multiplayer maps such as Epitaph and Citadel as well as campaign levels like The Ark) and other original trilogy games did not carry over. I didn't see much if any purples, bronzes, golds, greens, or reds.
Weapons too for the most part I agree, though I found the Halo 5 Hydra to be too rounded and curvy for my liking. I personally prefer Infinite's redesign on that weapon. Though on Covenan weapons, I personally think you missed 5's Plasma Caster. It's probably one of the coolest weapons in the franchise, almost feeling like the Elite's version of a futuristic crossbow like weapon with the side vents opening up when firing. Of course, shooting plasma grenades, it's a successor to an already really cool weapon in the Plasma Launcher from Reach. I agree that the DMR in Halo 4 looks quite good, with the design really giving it that "mini-sniper" feel, highlighting how long the barrel is, and the dark colouration as well the large muzzle brake and the way the scope is mounted gives a really good visual indication of weight to me.
With vehicles, armours, and enemy designs, I think the amount of detail is a very important part of the overall visual language. You can have a good design, but having too much detail can take away from being able to truly focus on the best parts of said design. I'm not really going to comment on the vehicles here, as my impressions are quite negative on this front. Overall, the Wraith and Banshee in 5 do have a good overall design and is consistent with the design language we see used by the Elites from their ancient architecture to their weapons.
As with the vehicle designs, I'll keep my opinions as positive as I can. Just like with the vehicles, I do feel the details and sometimes the design itself has too much cluttering it up, preventing a really clear picture of the overall design.I fully agree that the Mark 5 in Halo 4 is a very good recreation of the original one, though it feels a bit bulky. The Recruit helmet in both 4 and 5 is probably one of my favorite designs for a Gen2 helmet. The "eyeliner", large visor, large sweeping lines, a few ridges, and a lack of little details makes the helmet look clean and minimal while still looking surprisingly aggressive and sturdy. It's a great design for a helmet. Another helmet I personally think is often overlooked is the EOD helmet in Halo 4. It doesn't really add much in terms of detail from previous entries, and it rocks that simple, blocky, menacing design with the visor once more looking like eyes, much like Halo 3's version. You mentioned the Security helmet in 5, though I think the gen1 version of that helmet in 5 looks better without the unnecessary detail in the lowest part of the helmet. I'm not going to comment on the covenant armour here, seeing as I want to keep the comment as positive as I can.
Similar to recent topics, I'm not really going to comment on the enemy design, particularly with the Prometheans. Though the Jackal redesign both in Halo 4 and 5 was an interesting choice that fit the species surprisingly well. It's just about the only species for which I can say that for though.
I must say that the recruit armor in halo 4 is probably my all time favorites of the mjolnir armours
What I like about halo 4 requiem is that I can understand why it looks different, since faber the master builder didn’t help make or design shield worlds.
The halo 5 carbine is my fav lol
I think it worked in Halo 4 because the story was so heavy Sci-fi that it bordered on ridiculous, and the art direction matched that beat for beat. It was a thematically more 'absurd' game that incorporated the history of the Forerunners and was a lot more intimate with them in a way the old games couldn't have been.
I still love the hellcat armor from Halo 5. I'm into those odd hybrid armor styles, with the added lore of hellcat being anicent human. I was all on board.
I think a lot of video game communities, and communities of media in general, often fail to recognize the immense amounts of hard labour and creative exercise it takes to create the next entry in their favorite series, because they just buy it and hop in for a few hours, an experience that is wholly unrecognizable to that of actually pouring countless hours into making the damn thing. The art style of Halo is subjective, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but the harsh lambasting of 343 over the past few years about every little detail of new art and design direction fails to account for the fact that each Halo that ends up being released is a MONUMENT to thousands of man-hours of patience, scrapped designs, and sleepless nights for the workers who actually piece these fantastic objects of entertainment together, slowly and steadily grinding over years and years to make something they can be proud of. The idea that a person can pick up a game like Halo 4 or Halo 5 and passingly judge it as bland speaks volumes of their respect towards hard work in general. These games look crazy, especially for their time, and they have character and charm and they are UNIQUE. Halo 4 was a massive departure from the art style that had always been Halo, but I find that pill so easy to swallow because you can tell 343 really out their all into what they made. They'll be recognized for their talent, it just takes years of seperation from the toxicity of the internet I suppose.
I think those who don’t like reimagined armour and outlandish sets might want to skip Infinite MP. Its f2p so they will be wanting to recoup $$$ from the non-fans who unlike us, didn’t purchase the Campaign.
I really appreciate how the EOD looked more like the Halo 3 version rather than the Reach version.
I love both of those versions, but it makes more narrative sense that the Gen 2 version of the helmet will be a continuation of the previous version, not a step backwards.
This type of stuff is a pet peeve of mine. Like how the MK IV Mjolnir looks more like Mk VI than Mk V.
I just love everything about the halo 4 and 5 artstyle. The curvy and organic feel of the covenant designs, the angular, advanced, beefy UNSC designs, and the sleek, vivid forerunner designs are so pronounced and beautiful. And even though some of the spartan armors do look a bit weird, the odd ones are vastly outnumbered by ones that are just so good. I'm gonna miss it a bit in Infinite.
I have been playing Halo since 2001, I love all Halo games for one reason or another. But i really liked most of Bungies designs. they felt new and fresh but still familiar, and i don't think they deserve the kind of hate people give them. Many of my favorite weapon, vehicle, and environment designs come from Halo 4. And I even like the Spartan 4 design. So i appreciate this video.
I have always found Halo 4 to be a beautiful game. To this day I don't get the art style criticism. I mean I see the distinction but Halo 4 had some amazing visuals. I understand the distinction but don't agree with the value judgement.
I mean, there's a few things that don't work for me visually (like the promethean enemy types, and some of the Spartan armor) but many more that do (like Chief and Cortana, Requiem, the Promethean weapons, the new shotgun). And the same is true of any other Halo game -- for example I liked Halo 3's lighting but the Elites were too fat. So I don't get the special hate for Halo 4, I really don't.
EDIT: Just to elaborate a little -- one thing I think 343 has learned with the Forerunner designs is that they were overdoing the floaty bits. I think it's cool and unique to have guns with parts that just suspend in the air like that, it's weird and alien and cool looking. I was always struck by how well the new guns fit in to the Halo universe as a new distinct weapon type which was neither Covenant nor UNSC.
But when there's too many floaty bits it strains credibility. It's like, well what do they even do anyway then if everything floats, is there nothing mechanically comprehensible going on at all? Makes you wonder why they even have gun-type weapons at all if they're at a level where they can materialize things out of thin air.
Anyway -- the lightrifle is the perfect balance. There's a scope that just floats there, and a single other piece that suspends in the air when you reload. The design isn't too busy, and it has a lot of really clean lines to it. You look at it and instantly know what it is. It's a precision weapon type of gun, you can tell just by looking at it.
So yeah, I wish the lightrifle was in Halo Infinite, I think it would've fit in nicely with the other, less "transformer" type designs like the heatwave and cindershot. It's one of my favorite 343 designs.
I agree
@Mike Limon That too, yeah. I love how the polished look of the Forerunners in Halo 4 was such a travesty, "not Halo" ... yet the change between CE and 2 where suddenly there was stone ruins was nbd
I like it all. The Forerunners are a whole civilization; there's no reason their relics NEED to look as consistent as people act like they do. I like how Halo Infinite is blending those various styles.
My favourite helmet of all time is War Master. Its Y shape and Promethean looking visor is badass. Sad to see it turn into more of a T shape in Infinite, removing its aggressiveness.
I think its a crime you didn't talk about forerunner weapons. Those were by far the coolest part of Halo 4 and 5. I love how they construct themselves when you pull it out, and how they rip themselves apart when you reload.
Atlas (Unbound variant) is my armor set of choice in Halo 5. Idk why, but I was just immediately drawn to it once I saw it. Been wearing it ever since I unlocked it.
I'll always love Venator's armor. It has an incredibly sharp and aggressive look and has for a long time been my go to armor. I usually pair it with a Mark V helmet.
Chief and blue teams armours are my favourite armours in the whole of halo. In my opinion.
They’re all great!
That Linda bruh... too bad we didn't get to play any splitscreen in the only Halo where the character you're playing changes with the player, and every single character out of 8 possible was already present in the lore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I love Warmaster helmet from Halo 5, just beautiful
I like the Halo 4’s Spartan Armor because it doesn’t feel overly complex but more advanced then what Halo 1-3 felt like and really did feel we were gone for years in that ship 🥶
The Chuckle right before the sponsorship began made my day.
Beside, keep up the good work and Glad to see we're finding so much good stuff to talk about Halo Visuals
15:12 he says as the zealot fires a plasma pistol, doing literally no damage
Another great video! I especially agree with you on Requiem's architecture. The moments when you first encounter the floating pillars or when you enter the tower at the end of that level were truly breathtaking to me. I would definitely love to see more videos like this one
Halo 4-5 scout helmet is actually my favorite iteration. And recon body, I like the little fairy wing looking backpack on it
I have always loved the halo 4/5 Jackals, they looked so feral and dangerous. I’d love to see them come back as shock troops, while the more bird like ones are weaker physically but make way better snipers
I like that idea! The Lizard Jackals (I know the Canon names for the subspecies I don't remember how to spell them tho) remain as Minor, Major, Heavy, etc. shock troopers with shields while the Bird Jackals are Snipers, Rangers, even Stealth with active camo using a sort of melee weapon to get close and fight, and bring back the Skirmishers and they can keep their previous roles/ranks or make hunter-killer squads.
@@nobudarsai9675 halo4 jackals are general infantry using their greater size and ferocity, the bird like jackals are for more delicate roles that need a finer touch, and skirmishers are death squads and body guards for important banished higher ups
It feels good knowing I’m not the only one who enjoys the Reclaimer art style and seeing someone express that in a thoughtfully executed way. I love both art styles and while I do prefer the classic I don’t think 343 needed to fully get rid of the reclaimer style. A good mix would’ve been great!
One thing this video makes me think about is that, in my opinion, almost everything about bungie’s art style is great. Not just that it was the original, but great. 343 had huge shoes to fill and, while they didn’t do as good of a job as I would have liked, they still did some things right and I like that
Also, it makes me wonder, if halo’s old art style worked so well, why the change? And not just small change, why such a drastic overhaul?
@@andrewsozio7814 well the reason sucks ass. the guy who used to be in charge of 343 actively hated the way halo looked so he basically had the studio dedicate way to much time and money redesigning halo when they could have just been making new halo games with the existing design framework
I feel like after 343 released halo 4 people criticized it and 343 took it as constructive criticism and made halo 5 better (in terms of variety and multiplayer) I personally like halo 4 more but the movement in halo 5 is severely underrated and I think it was fitting for super soldiers augmented to be fast, stronger and more agile and smarter than the everyday soldier.
16:10 This is just a different subspecies of Jackals.
I loved the different variations of vehicles in halo 5.
343 is a very, very talented studio with some of the best in the industry
They're just often directionless, change things for the sake of change and are under the influence of the business-minded Microsoft
Halo 4 is a gem to me as the years have gone on! Also the Halo 4 Banshee is by far my favorite iteration!! Also, great video man! Subbed
343's 4/5 Armor is ugly until you find a set that looks good together. That's what I found.
One armor design I am sorely missing from Halo 5 that was changed in Infinite, is Anubis. Anubis was my FAVORITE Halo 5 armor hands down (especially the helmet) and they completely redesigned it to look like Reach armor now. It was the only armor where I feel 343 truly succeeded with their take on spartans in Halo 5, and here is an aerodynamic armor designed with integrated thrusters that actually flow into the rest of the armor and don't look bolted on at the last second. All while looking like a Mark VII version of Commando, upgraded out of necessity to suit deployment in space. It was the absolute maximum deviation I want to see from Mark V and VI.
Anubis looked like the highest ranking thruster pack spartans ever.
What I don't like of their art are the overly reflective forerunner structures, very bright lightning, cumbersome and seemingly ungraceful looking elites and the floating parts of the prometheans.
I absolutely loved Halo 4's art style the most and could care for Halo 5's. However after watching this, I've come to appreciate the art style. Also, I noticed you're emblem on the recruit shoulder when you show cased them.
My friend, you never stop innovating! I plan to take a page from your book and try some new formats. If only to keep myself making content (it’s been almost a half year!)
Thanks man! I won’t lie, I miss your videos. I need more TravellingHalo content!🔥
@@Wernissage its on the way 💙
I personally loved the art style 343 was running with in Halo 4, a lot of people thought it too 'cliche' to run with a basic modern day expected fantasy/military sci-fi look, but the more realistic art style made me personally feel more immersed. In my opinion, it's hard to feel immersed in a game that is (I want to say cartoony, but even that feels wrong) whatever Bungie ran with. It worked and I loved Bungie's era of Halo games, but there was more than enough room in my heart for what 343 was trying to do with 4 and 5.
People often criticized the number of customized parts in Halo 5 and to some extent I do agree. They had WAY too many items, but really, the number wouldn't have felt so big if they had tiled it a lot better. The way they did it just had you scrolling for days to find what you wanted. (Perhaps putting in the base helmets and armors, then making sub categories for you to search through much like they did in 4 and as of now, MCC, would have worked better). Though I do like the Venator armor set...Seeker looks ridiculous to me, you look more like a super fan going to a sports game with a built in soda and boom box hat than you do a soldier.
My personal favorite helmet to this day is the Halo 4 Locus helmet, 5's Locus Edge is ok, but the X on the Halo 4 version was the best looking version in my opinion and I hope they bring it back.
Armors aside, the entire aesthetic they were going with for all factions looked pretty good to me and the places we went to were downright gorgeous. To say that 343's art style was awful is the furthest thing from the truth. I think what the real issue was, wasn't that the art style was bad...it was that it wasn't 'Halo' as older fans had come to know and love. And I can understand and respect that, but at the time, some older players (and some more recent players) were still coming to terms with the fact that Bungie was no longer in charge of Halo. I don't know if everyone just expected Halo's moving forward to just be hybridized copy and pastes of what Bungie had been doing or what, but the lashing Halo 4 got was not deserved imo.
I'm actually a little saddened by the fact that 343 is abandoning the design they'd worked with the last 2 games, but I'll adjust again.