: The standard Elite armor looks close enough to an Elite, but those others are
: just dreadful. I really hate 343I's art department. It's one of the things
: that makes it feel like the Reclaimer trilogy takes place in an alternate
: universe, and that the "real" events post-Halo 3 as possibly
: envisioned by Bungie will remain forever unknown.

I distinctly remember during Halo 4's development when 343 was all like "Yeah, Bungie was good and all, but we've got top-tier, world-class artists working for us now so we're even better" (it was a vidoc or something). Then the visual style of their game has all the artistic merit of one of those cheap bargain bin shooters. I always say this (because it cannot be emphasized enough), but a better graphics engine doesn't mean you should abandon the basic rules of design. The human brain can only process a limited amount of visual information and the more noise there is the more forgettable your designs will be. Detail is good and all, but only to a certain extent, and it should always serve to complement the overall design in some way. Not as a cheap attempt to hide the fact there is no cohesive overall design.