Where Have All the Spartans Gone?

Last November something amazing happened; Halo 4 was finally released.

I’ve been completely enthralled by the series ever since I played Combat Evolved for the first time over a decade ago. I’ve purchased every game in the series (even Halo Wars), read almost every book that has been published that has Halo somewhere in the title, and put an outrageous amount of time into multiplayer. I have action figures, I have posters, and I am wearing a t-shirt with Master Chief on it as I type out this sentence.

To say that I am a fan of the series is an understatement, and when 4 came out I completely lost my mind. I completed the campaign in one sitting and then spent the next couple of months playing nothing but War Games aboard the Infinity. I was in front of my 360 every Monday morning for weeks waiting for the next episode of Spartan Ops to come out. My Spartan leveled up like it was no one’s business and I loved every second of it.

However something odd has happened that I never could have ever expected. I no longer have any interest in playing Halo 4 at all, and the teaser trailer for the next game in the series that Microsoft debuted at E3 did nothing for me. I want to be thrilled, I want to know why the Chief was wondering through the desert, and I want to want to play more multiplayer, but I just can’t muster up the enthusiasm.

I’ve heard that this happened to other people after they played other games in the series, especially Halo: Reach, and I can totally understand that. Reach’s multiplayer wasn’t the best in the world (I’m looking at you armor lock), but I still played it up until the moment Halo 4 was released and I got mass amounts of enjoyment every time I put the disc in the tray.

So what’s so different about 4 that makes me want to turn to other games? I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that I’m not the only one who has been disenchanted by Halo 4. I recently went into multiplayer at the behest of a friend and was astounded to see that there was barely anyone online. The playlist with the most people playing didn’t even reach four thousand, and the smallest playlist I saw was in the twenties.

Despite the praise lauded on the game last November by fans and critics alike, no one wants to play Halo 4 any more, not even a hardcore Halo junky like myself. If any one has any idea as to why this is, I’d love to hear it.