: I would rephrase it as: As more time passed, I realized what I loved about
: Halo, the things that drew me in at first, were not necessarily the simple
: facts of what Halo is, but apparently how Bungie presented it. I just
: wasn't aware of it because they were joined at the hip for 10 years. So,
: the more Bungie designs and audio that went away, the less it felt like
: 'Halo' to me.

: For example, if you had a read a cold script of Halo CE to me, I may not
: care. But if you visualized it with intense colors and
: simplistic-but-iconic designs and coupled it with open gameplay and fun
: combat put to Marty's music... then the story and the universe would
: become appealing. I could then go read Eric Nylund as I listened to the
: Halo soundtrack and have a blast. I could go sketch the visual designs and
: try to come up with my own.

: If 343i had preserved more of those styles, themes, and designs, like say the
: Star Wars EU did when I was growing up, I would have loved everything they
: produced. But instead they've brought in new focuses and art direction and
: rewrote many of the visual designs and musical themes. Some people have
: loved these new directions, and perhaps others find the core layout of
: Halo's universe interesting no matter how it is presented.

: So when I say I loved 'Halo', it wasn't just that I loved a game about a
: cyborg running across the galaxy, it was that I loved the approach to this
: cyborg. That's probably why Destiny feels more 'Halo' than Halo does now,
: for me.

I could write pages on where I feel Halo 4 went wrong to me. I could make an extensive checklist of everything I dislike. But honestly, Levi summed everything up pretty well, so it's easier to just tack a +1 onto his post and call it a day.

I got the game on launch day. I played it start to finish maybe two or three times. I completed Spartan Ops. I played a couple hours of War Games, and twice that in Custom Games. I haven't touched it in months.

Ultimately, the game is Halo, and it's not. So much of the formula I loved, so many of the little intricacies and details changed, that it simply feels wrong. Playing it is less like playing a Halo title, and more like playing a Bizarro World Halo title.