In the Time Before - no relation to The Land Before Time - it was very important to have a "Halo Killer." There were many attempts, wrought at a profundity of expense and labor. They would have been very surprised to learn, years after this conflict had passed into history, that the storied franchise and its laconic green action figure would die to suicide.
For obvious reasons at this time, Sony was often seen musing in the dark - occasionally petting a cat, but always thirsting for victory over John-117 and the other tragic victims of the Spartan Program. Clearly the call went out, and there were some cool attempts. Insomniac had birthed banger after banger, from Spyro to the reliably great Ratchet & Clank to the criminally slept-on Sunset Overdrive, and was ultimately tasked with trying to best Master Chief with various Resistances. The company had already made its bones on creative weaponry previously and it absolutely stood out. Guerrilla Games had a history prior to Killzone, but a destiny after: to kill the man The Covenant called "Demon." They didn't do it. But they got better and better at the attempt, reliably producing powerhouse software that left so many jaws on floors that eventually MadCatz made a jaw-catching peripheral for the PS3.
It seems clear that several years ago an order similar to Kill Master Chief was deployed except now it was Make A Service Game or - perhaps more directly - Kill Fortnite. This hoary edict has buried more money than pirates. Concord was a high-volume cash furnace, Highguard is being processed by a similar woodchipper, Suicide Squad is the most recent victim of Nominative Determinism, and even now Redfall lurches in a hideous form of unlife. It's a grotesque arena, and Guerrilla Games doesn't have to make another Killzone just for me but I'd be surprised if Horizon Hunters Gathering was the song of their heart. I have no idea why they would have spent this studio in this way. Are they being punished? Did they do something wrong?
(CW)TB out.
