You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here
Xbox’s Halo franchise has been in a weird state since the departure of Bungie after the release of Halo Reach. For 343 Industries, now Halo Studios, the release of Halo 4 saw a more lore-focused direction, a return to the Master Chief and, most controversially, a brand-new art style.
Darren Bacon, who worked on the original Destiny at the time before joining 343 for Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite, remembers the reaction at Bungie back in 2012. While there was a great deal of respect for the technical achievement 343 Industries was pulling off on the creaking Xbox 360, there was also a fair amount of distaste for the new art direction.
No, Bungie did not like Halo 4’s new art style
Speaking on an upcoming episode of the VideoGamer Podcast, Bacon recalled developers across Bungie being “disgruntled” over the massive change in aesthetic between Halo Reach and Halo 4. While the team was impressed with the game’s original E3 showing as a technical achievement, a number of developers didn’t enjoy watching the series make such drastic changes.
“I worked at Bungie at the time when Halo 4 [released],” Bacon told VideoGamer. “And the internal vibe at Bungie was like, you know, everyone was disgruntled because they were seeing their baby kind of being taken another direction.”
“There was like an incredible amount of respect for what a technical achievement it was.”
destiny, halo 5 and halo infinite artist darren bacon on bungie’s reaction to halo 4
While Bungie developers were upset at the aestetic changes from their time on the series, the studio couldn’t deny the talent on display. With the team filled with talented artists and developers from Id Software—who had just wrapped up the open-world RPG RAGE—Bungie was impressed at how much the team managed to cram onto the Xbox 360.
“There was like an incredible amount of respect for what a technical achievement it was,” Bacon explained. “It still holds up today. In a lot of ways, it looks better than games we see come out, you know, modern day. And that’s just because the art was so good.”
“The team that made [Halo] 4 was incredible,” he continued. “It kind of carried over into [Halo] 5. It’s just, that was a special game. Like, those don’t happen very often.”
At the time of writing, Halo Infinite is still receiving post-launch updates with a brand-new season set to launch next month. At the same time, the newly-rebranded Halo Studios is working on bringing the series to Unreal Engine with a brand-new project. Is it a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved? Who knows. Not me.
For our money, there’s never been a bad looking Halo game. Despite complaints, even Halo Infinite looks sublime despite some technical faults, and Halo 4 looks incredible to this day. While the art style changes aren’t as satisfying to a long-time fan like myself, it’s still gorgeous art, it just strayed too far from what fans loved.
About the Author
