343i is going all StarWars EP1 on us (Gaming)

by Durandal, Thursday, November 26, 2015, 21:17 (3284 days ago) @ Kermit

The author expresses opinions very similar to the ones I've written elsewhere in the forum. I think 343I is having a hard time because they have new writers who don't get the series or the characters, and don't really care.

Master Chief and Cortana started out very different, like StarWars A New Hope, Bungie had a long list of rewrites and edits before they got to the final look and feel of the product, but they had a very specific look and feel. Go back and look at the ODST trailer, or the Halo 3 trailer and diorama. Look at the old Macworld footage of the early Mac version of the game.

Humanity was doomed. The enemy is a relentless conglomeration of religious fanatics hunting us to extinction. No matter how awesome our space marines are, they can't stand against it, yet they do, and do so with honor and integrity. That attitude colors all the fiction and in game character moments.

All of that is gone now. Halo 4 saw the last of it with the Chief/Cortana interactions. If you desaturated this game and added some extensive profanity it would be tough to tell the difference between it and Gears of War. Halo 5's marketing is all about the Chief as a rogue, a traitor, or Locke as an uncaring bureaucrat like the Agent from the Firefly movie. Which makes even less sense because the Spartan II from Locke's little intro movie does everything we expect from the Spartans of Halos 1-4. Look at the point where they have to choose who stays behind on the ring fragment, and draw beads. The Spartan II rigs the game, not for glory, but because he knew the other two had something to live for.

343I knew what the theme was, but for better or worse they are changing it. It could just be different writers, it could be an editorial direction. I mean, there is the whole "Humanity is now the top dogs" speech when they intro the Infinity. But all of that ignores all that came before, and for me that is a tough pill to swallow. I could be ok with it, perhaps, but it's just all handled so ineptly, so inelegantly, I can't stand it.

The captain is a jerk, why? The plot demands it! The Didact is a jerk, why? The plot demands it! Everyone hates Halsey now, why? The plot demands it! I'm half surprised you didn't defeat the Warden by reversing the shield polarity. It's too convenient, too lazy, to just make things so instead of coming up with good reasons why. This bugs me the most. If this wasn't a Halo brand it would be "generic sci fi shooter 2015". We have all the checkboxes. MP, gear and appearance customization, xp system, 4 player coop, etc.

I still have to give them credit though that the scenery is beautiful.