While there are occasional reversals of new mechanics (ex. With film, most viewers are able to suspend their recognition of the obvious technological progress that was made between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy of Star Wars, but with Halo its more of a buildup of mechanical changes that mostly make each entry better. Especially since video games are a new medium a lot of gameplay changes have occurred over the decade plus the Bungie (and Halo 4) Halo games span.

Unfortunately, unlike a non-interactive medium like traditional films ('Choose Your Own Adventure' films aside), players are going to be subjected to the actual gameplay mechanics of the games they play.