With Halo 3, Bungie has been about on par with the past two Call of Dutys in terms of online activity, and is well aware that the keys to a successful multiplayer are well-crafted maps, a set of weapons that work much like a game of rock-paper-scissors, and constant community support.
Only, the way I see it is that Bungie certainly know how to build a game oozing with quality that has an undeniably solid net code and potentially hours of replayability for gamers to sink their teeth into, but they seem to either completely misunderstand what draws players to games like Modern Warfare 2, or they see it as a style of multiplayer they aren’t interested in emulating.
Throughout the years, Bungie have had relatively minimal ranking systems in their games – whether it be an icon, or a number, neither come close to the comparatively extreme way Modern Warfare 2 incents players to play day-in and day-out. And while I still think Modern Warfare 2 goes overboard with the experience points as they begin to merely serve as a means to the next rank, there still is more Bungie could do in their games with regards to a carrot-and-stick experience points system.
In this day and age, it’s almost rare to come across a game without an experience points system. This is just a guess, but maybe Bungie feel they’re above the shameless shoehorning of experience points systems, and will have their own spin on the concept come this fall.
I’m undoubtedly interested to see how Bungie intends to evolve the multiplayer space, but as for now, only time will tell.
-Michael Lenoch
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