Halo: Friendslop Devolved, because the overwhelming majority of what little enjoyment I did get from this game, came from the fact I was playing it with a friend.
The use of AI for the cutscenes is downright uncanny, with awkward pauses, poses, transitions, and more, that feel like they let chatgpt storyboard the whole game from prequel to end, and then they rushed to animate over the slop without fixing any of the glaring inconsistencies.
The prequel writing feels like something straight out of a YouTube shorts advertisement made with AI, I wasn't sure if the prophet of harmony was gonna keep monologuing about the different covenant species or try and sell me a mobile game.
It wouldn't be an honest review if I only called out what sucks, though, so I will give credit where it's due.
Level design. The changes made to the more infamous areas from the original are a welcome surprise, and the level of detail especially regarding the Flood infested sections was rich, it's a beautiful game and it plays well, but so were the other 343 halos, and we all know how poor writing can tank an otherwise decent game.
The new and reworked weapons make up for that glaring lack that the original game had in comparison to its successors, they're fun to use and handle well, but given how the rest of the game is set up they feel more like a copout to lure in fans of the weapons more than the story itself.
So, should you buy this game? In my personal opinion, no, unless you have friends to play it with, and care more about that than the game itself. If you're a diehard fan of yhe story who solos every campaign for the immersion, just let this one go, you're gonna be sorely disappointed. In this day and age, a game like this isn't worth the price point to retell a story wrong with fancier guns and graphics for the same price point and half the gameplay as the game it's trying to replicate. And even if you do just want a game to play with friends, go buy big walk, it'll hold your attention longer and more consistently.
