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  • Subject: /Halo 4 whining/thoughts thread.
Subject: /Halo 4 whining/thoughts thread.

light travels faster then sound, this is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak

Alright. so i have something to say about halo 4. Namely what shouldn't, and what could be in it.

i'm going to say this right off the bat. If there's a single Forunner, Human or enemy covie seen in game, the writing team at 343 should be shot, becuase let's list why.

1. the whole series is about imaginitve alien worlds.

alright, so so far we've seen high charity, two halos, the ark and earth. but each game has something spectacular to show us. Halo 1 had Halo obviously, and delved into everything that could be. Halo 2 saw the introduction and exploration of the covies side of things. though the betrayal with the brutes could've used a little more setting up (time fighting humans as the elites would've been brilliant) it worked well, and showed who and why did what and how. plus, Delta Halo, earth, and high charity were all just flattening in terms of atmosphere and visuals.

of course, in halo 3, we had the Ark. which wasn't that amazing if i'm honest. didn't really carry a sense of scale, but it worked as a plot device, and for the most part, i'm glad it's there.

Reach and ODST don't count, Reach least of all but you get the idea, Halo means pretty places, and if the trailer is to be believed, an entire planet made from forruner tech in the traditional sense promises to be mind blowing, but if we return to any of the above listed places MOST OF ALL EARTH OR ANY OTHER HUMAN PLACE, it will be a step backward. no argument.

2. it's about exploring said places

which is why halo 3 failed. it didn't feel like we were exploring anything (IE just trying to get somewhere by our own ideas in halo 2, it felt like we were inturrupting something, rather then just passing through) the ark had the potential to be just amazing, but it just felt like we were running errands the whole time. (Jungle, like Sierra, and... sand. wholy -blam!-. how amazing.) And while the final level was pretty neat and did install the feeling of scale in some form, it was THE FIRST BLOODY HALO.

So, we have to always feel like we're moving, and we can't take orders from anyone, and have the game make us decide to follow it's objectives, halo 1 style, and to keep changing the scenery. like in halo 1, we went from nice fields, to spacey metal cooridors, do purple place, to more space metal, but this time it was under different context, and the flood changing everything gave it a different air and context, so it still felt like progress. this has to be emulated to get the spirit of halo.

3. there is no reason anyone familiar should be here. none.

All loose ends have been wrapped up for the chief. Covies are off either killing themselves (brutes) killing the brutes (Elites) or simply dead. (prophets) the rest taking sides. (i'd like to see a game from Arby's perspective as the elites wreck the brutes -blam!-. that'd be great.) the humans are nearly gone, with some expectations, but the focus is on rebuilding and forgetting. not meaningless war. besides, the chief is "lost" in space. they have no right to be wherever the chief is. and the forunners are all dead. no question. leave them out of this.

So, we need a new enemy, and let's have a goal other then "save every human ever, k?" because A) that's a gigantic copout and B) nobody cares about it anymore.

so here's what i propose.

Let's make the chief the bad guy.

But we don't know it until the end.

Let's look at the facts here. The chief needs to be expanded on as a charicter. Cortana is an AI, and while she's sentient, let's say Halsey put in a few this and thats, say, a contingency algorythem that's made her paranoid about the halos, especially after her time in high charity?

and the chief. the dude's been fighting every day of his life for forty years, he's got to be a little weird in the head to still be here. and Cortana's the only compassion that he'll ever know. especially being "lost" in space. so he trusts every word she says.

So let's set the scene.

John wakes up, ships exploding, Cortana's going insane from the however many years meantime being alone (nine year old AI's go rampant mind, mabye she did and collected herself over time, which would be a neat horror element later on, with her going insane)

so, she wakes john, the ship is apperantly going to crash into the forunner world, Cortana sounding anxious around the topic of the forrunners.

so, first level, introductory level, ship going bablooie around you, but slowly, time enough to gather your nerves.

latter half of the level is a panicked rush to get to a safe part of the ship for a crash landing, neat platforming sections mabye, using the pistol to sharp shoot a few things to get past, nice intro, high pace, gets attenition, fits the story.

blah blah blah, ship goes boom, crash landing in a desolate part of the world, the skin of the world (Being forrunner) sepeartes, letting you inside, as it detects a "reclaimer" after the ark was blown up.

the first two hours of the game has to be dosolate. mabye shooting hostile wildlife, in order to set the tone of being lost, as well as building the trust with cortana, as mabye your suit's malfunctioning, with no radar, you have to listen to her, as perhaps the local fauna is a pack hunter.

So this goes on, and slowly, you find evidence of some sort of sentient life. mabye a few dirt roads layed out in the amazing landscape, cutting through the inverted mountains and such, Cortana telling you to follow the trails.

eventually, you find your way to a civilisation, a decently advanced civilisation that evolved in the last however many thousand years, advancing their civilsation by dun backtracing the forrunner technology (like the prophets/elites, yes i'm drawing paraelells)

But they're hostile, attacking you with energy weapons, Cortana and john (more charicter here ploz kthanx) both agreeing that they should be put down.

over time, through some sort of leader, taunting you, telling you about how they're about to crack open a hithero sealed section, prying open the vault to a superweapon that will stop this new scourge (you)

Obviuosly, Cortana, knowing what she does about the covies, sees both the paralells to the covanent religion, and the obvious alluding to that being a giant "flud b here" box.

So, you nab a conveniently placed warthog (that came with the ship please. RETCON RETCON RETCON) and tear through the ranks in an epic driving section, with ramps made of everything, jumping through an "enemy" city, with tiny glimpses into the daily lives of whatever we're fighting based on how they'll be set up for gameply (spry leapy species would have a faster paced system ect) so we begin to rationalize with the guys.

Then we follow some sort of signs to where they're cracking open the vaults, and get to the giant horde of the guys, just being overtaken by the tide of flood.

i mean it. tide. sea. ocean. flood.

mabye the whole while we can have a gigantic hologram of the enemy leader helping everyone through, announcing to the city behind us, to keep pressure on, to give a goal, and to keep tension up. sort of like Dr. Breen in the later half life 2 levels.

at this point, we're turning the hog back, cortana going off in our ear about how we have to destroy the world, again, before A) the flood get off it, and B) before the entire population are overrun.

again.

It's drawing paralells to build on our prior experiences, while still being newish, and being a new experement.

so, we're driving as fast as we can, watching the flood taking over the city we just drove through, smashing our way through the half infected populace, Cortana going on about different ways to stop the infestation and such, when the end of the road seals shut in front of us, the hog peeling to a stop.

we try and run, but the hog gets EMPed, a cutscene triggering.

  • 09.14.2011 5:45 PM PDT

light travels faster then sound, this is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak


a number of the guys, including the leader we've been teased about trot out, hands raised, but the camera panning behind the backs of the back row, showing weapons holstered, but hands twitching towards them.

The leader accausts the chief, wondering why he simply paraded into their planet, murdered everything up, and now the flood are here, and though they don't know what they are, it's pretty bloody obvious it's bad news. so obviously with spite and visual begrudging relenting tones, he struggles to ask the chief if he knows anything about the flood. and the chief moves to reply, cortana cutting him off, mabye speaking through the suit, or perhaps tapping into the local's communications, which obviously makes the chief look like a soulless bastard, but we don't have time for that.

Cortana instatnly rattles off a bit of information about the flood. (IE, parasties, already killed off the most advanced civilisation in history, only way to kill them off is to kill everything off ect) much to the horror and distrust of the locals, a few drawing their weapons, the chief snapping out whatever gun he has, all weapons being drawn, moment of tension before the others let down, the chief relaxing. mabye a first person shot with the chief quietly asking why cortana cut him off, his visor filling up with Cortana's avatar, who looks angry and says something along the lines of. "Remember what you said, finish the fight? Look at this chief. we've started another, piling on another. let's put this all to bed chief. we can't risk letting the flood out. not again."

At this point, the leader is tossed a weapon, and he spitefully asks the chief if he can help stem the tide of flood, who are now audibly close. Cortana agrees for the chief (now playing his part)

A surging tide of flood arrive on all floors, the leader and his people glancing up in horror, everyone starts firing at once, with the leader opening a hole in the floor, sealing themselves in the underground, with the hog.
so for the rest of the game, it plays the part of horror, escorting the hog through the tunnels, and working towards a goal of another city where they can seal the old one.

this gives us a new overhead goal, of sealing off the old city, and finding a safehold to weather the storm, which serves as an ending when we finally get there, and a continuation of story for any sequels.

Overall, i think it fits with the tone of the flood being the ultimate threat, and i don't think it'll be a copout in the long run.

But that's just me

  • 09.14.2011 5:47 PM PDT

Eat, Sleep, Row


Posted by: deora2dude
and the forunners are all dead. no question. leave them out of this.

Stopped reading here.

  • 09.14.2011 5:52 PM PDT

light travels faster then sound, this is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak

I meant as enemies, not as an overall drive. have them as they've always been, the mysterious guys who still have a bunch of influence, but are always kept in the dark to both keep the mystery, and always have them as a plot device if need be

  • 09.14.2011 5:58 PM PDT

"Halo! Its divine wind will rush through the stars, propelling all who are worthy along the path to salvation."

Good. But lets see what 343 has for us.

  • 09.14.2011 6:01 PM PDT

You're an idiot.

  • 09.14.2011 6:04 PM PDT
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Posted by: deora2dude
I meant as enemies, not as an overall drive. have them as they've always been, the mysterious guys who still have a bunch of influence, but are always kept in the dark to both keep the mystery, and always have them as a plot device if need be


First off, I loved your post and agree that we need something new, not something copy/pasted from the original trilogy.

But I think we need to shed far more light on the forerunners, like theyre doing with cryptum. The precursors should be our new enigmatic race.

  • 09.14.2011 6:08 PM PDT