007Ace

I think what’s happened here is, you are playing the games as shooters, room quake and unreal were not story driven games. It was either get the coloured key to progress, or kill everything between point a and b. All the newer games you listed have great story that drives the gameplay. And halo being the first real controller multiplayer experience brings a lot of nostalgia to people.

However it’s the same reason that I haven’t gotten on the ‘boomer shooter’ trend. They are essentially doing what you bring up. No added function or feature, they just feel like a reskin or mod of quake.

Im doing the same on my steam deck. I wish there was a way to make the HUD/UI elements smaller. They do take a lot of real estate on the screen. And Dusk’s bloom is better than the original, but still very powerful!

Overall I am still enjoying! Play on!