- Wolverfrog
- |
- Fabled Legendary Member
The Brutes. First seen in Halo 2 as a plot mechanic, and the main common antagonists of Halo 3.
Designed to reply the Elites as the enemy, people generally thought they weren't as good as their predessors. It's a shame, because they had the potential to be great enemies. I think Bungie made a mistake though, in Halo 2 it's obvious; they're just damage sponges. In Halo 3, I think Bungie tried too hard to make them like Elites; which they are not.
Now, assuming that Brutes will be in Halo: Reach, I think Bungie can afford to turn them into a unique enemy, likewise assuming that the Elites are back.
Berserking
In Halo 2, when Brutes reached a certain stress level, animal instincts would kick in and they would go berserk, doing much more melee damage at the expense of agility.
Now for some reason, Bungie took this out of Halo 3. Now I know that they sometimes run at you with their arms outstretched when their armour is knocked off, but all they do when they reach you is hit you with a weak attack.
My suggestion is that they bring back the normal berserking to Reach, these could be the reasons why a Brute would start berserking.
- When their armour is knocked off (Assuming they use armour),
- When another Brute is killed in sight of one.
- When they face overwhelming odds (Eg - You have a lot of allies with you)
- If they are pressed into a corner
You get the idea. In any case, beserking Brutes would be one of the ways they could differentiate from Elites.
Pack Mentality
It's often been said that Brutes roam around in packs, and take down enemies simikar to the way a wolf pack might, surrounding their enemies from all sides and closing in, constantly relaying information to each other.
Evidence of this in game is yet to be seen though. Sure, there was that section at the end of The Ark in which the Brute Chieftan challenged you to a 1 on 1 whilst the rest of the pack watched, but that was pretty much.
In the rest of the game, you just see them taking cover, and once again, trying to act like Elites when they are not.
I suggest that Brutes act like the pack they are supposed to be, with them climbing up rocks and moving around you in an attempt to surround you. Brutes should move in front of those without armour, as seen in Contact Harvest when Tartarus steps in front of another Brute, saving his life from the wrath of the humans.
They should exclude Grunts and Jackals, preferring to work together. Elites should be treated with disdain when Brutes are great in number, showing that they have greater confidence when there are many of them.
Basically, Brutes should act like the Brutes they are meant to be.
More unique weapons/vehicles
Back before the Great Schism, Brutes weren't trusted by the Sangheili. Rightly so, it turned out. Regardless, the Brutes were not trusted with much technology; Grav lifts were removed from ships, luminaries were damaged, some weapons were prohibited.
This should be shown in Reach, with the Brutes using more of their own technology from back before they joined the Covenant. Halo 3 showed this rather well, but whilst all the weapons certainly felt Brutish, they still had signs of the Covenant in them.
Thus, this being before the Prophets betrayed the Elites, these Brutes should have limited technology. No longer should they use Grav lifts, carbines, and other such weapons. The weaponry they use should be relatively similar the human weapons, mostly gunpower propelled projectiles, with explosives. Gravity hammers, should they be in the game, should lack the actual Gravity of said hammer, being more like a big cudgel than a high tech weapon.
Vehicles too should show that these are indeed Brutes. The Prowler should fire Spiker rounds rather than plasma rounds. And the Brutes should have no qualms about using Warthogs and such, unlike the Elites who would rather die than use such a means to fight.
A more aggressive AI
Brutes should always be on the offensive. Save the taking cover and retreating for the Elites, Brutes should always be pushing forwards, on the prowl. They shouldn't fire in short bursts or care about whether or not any Grunts happen to be in the vicinity, these Brutes should have one objective on their mind : The death of you.
I don't expect to see any Prowler or Jetpack Brutes in Reach, save that for the Stealth and Ranger Elites. Brutes should be used as footsoldiers that you get no respite from, if you duck behind cover to recharge your shields, they should carry on moving, even in threat of death.
Anyway, those are just some of the ways they could be improved. It's certainly negotiable, so don't start attacking the thread and it's ideas.
I'm just hoping Bungie change the Brutes enough to fill the void left by the absence of the Flood in Halo: Reach. We need variation with the enemies we fight, fighting two species with the same combat styles will get boring, fast.
Thanks for reading this thread. If you hav any of your own suggestions on how Brutes could be improved, please post them below.
And don't just post "Take them out." Because to me, that would show that Bungie aren't capable enough to successfully create an interesting enemy that differ from the other species of the Covenant.