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  • Subject: bungie's writing?
Subject: bungie's writing?

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I was just wondering What people's opinions were about bungie writing. Did the story really get to you? If so in what way? What aspect of the halo universe did you find the greatest? or did you only need the gameplay? just a few questions.

  • 10.06.2011 2:10 PM PDT

In a time long past, the armies of the dark came again to the lands of men. Their leaders became known as the fallen lords, and their terrible sorcery was without equal in the west.
In 30 years they reduced the civilized nations into carrion and ash. Until the free city of Madrigal alone defined them. An army gathered there, and a desperate battle was joined against the fallen
Heros were born in the fire and bloodshed of the wars which followed and their names and deeds will never be forgotten

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  • 10.06.2011 2:14 PM PDT

Yes, I AM just that awesome.


Posted by: spartain ken 15
Urk's weekly updates make me happy inside. :p
I think OP means the Halo novels.

I only read Contact Harvest, it was okay, got boring in the middle, but I liked the ending.

  • 10.06.2011 2:21 PM PDT
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  • Exalted Legendary Member

Mourne not your comrades who must dwell / too strong to strive -
Within each steel-bound coffin of a cell, / Buried alive;
But rather mourne the apathetic throng / The cowed, and the meek -
Who see the world’s great anguish and its wrong / And dare not speak.

[group]167741|Diner|Where's the food?[/group]

Posted by: BouncedMr happy
I think OP means the Halo novels.

I actually think he meant the story inside the games, since he said "or did you only need the gameplay?"

IMO a game can rarely be great without a great story. Bungie has always been known for the deep universes that go with their games, and the Halo story was no exception.

Personally, though, I thought the dialog went downhill from the first one. Every time I think about Halo 3 I remember this little gem:

Officer:"Ma'am, squad leaders are requesting a rally point. Where should they go?"
Miranda Keyes:"To war."

Presumably the next line was "No, I meant they literally need to know where to go. You... you have a plan, right? Wait, where are you going?"

  • 10.06.2011 6:41 PM PDT


Posted by: aku
IMO a game can rarely be great without a great story. Bungie has always been known for the deep universes that go with their games, and the Halo story was no exception.


I call shenanigans. Dune has a rich universe. Foundation has a rich universe. Ringworld has a rich universe. Warhammer 40,000 has a rich universe. Mechwarrior has a rich universe. Halo has an entirely one-dimensional conflict between them and us with only a pilfered backstory from Forbidden Planet to give it any height at all, though of course without the wit or imagination that made that movie.

And I'm in no way exaggerating the connection with Forbidden Planet. The forerunner architecture, color pallete, and sudden disappearance due to an apex-civilization super weapon is all quite nearly a 1:1 port with any discrepancies coming in as a reflection of the need to make room for more trivial shooting at the expense of the truly deep material.

[Edited on 10.06.2011 7:04 PM PDT]

  • 10.06.2011 6:55 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

Mourne not your comrades who must dwell / too strong to strive -
Within each steel-bound coffin of a cell, / Buried alive;
But rather mourne the apathetic throng / The cowed, and the meek -
Who see the world’s great anguish and its wrong / And dare not speak.

[group]167741|Diner|Where's the food?[/group]

Posted by: Matu Flp Krawfe
I call shenanigans. Dune has a rich universe. Foundation has a rich universe. Ringworld has a rich universe. Warhammer 40,000 has a rich universe. Mechwarrior has a rich universe. Halo has an entirely one-dimensional conflict between them and us with only a pilfered backstory from Forbidden Planet to give it any height at all, though of course without the wit or imagination that made that movie.
Comparing the story of a video game to the story of a novel is not all that useful. A novel is story; that's all it is and that's all it can ever be. A video game, meanwhile, has to mix "telling a story" with "being fun". That's much more difficult to do. (See Final Fantasy and the latest Metal Gear for examples of games that leaned way too hard on the story button.)

I haven't seen Forbidden Planet but from reading the plot synopsis it sound like you're referring to the idea of an ancient species that disappeared and left some stuff behind. That very well might have been original in the 50s (which I honestly doubt), but at this point you could practically call it a sub-genre. I don't see any notes in there about invading militant aliens or a hibernating parasitic race, not to mention a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier who's out to save the universe from both of them while trying to save as many of his fellow soldiers as he can.

Calling Halo a story of "Them vs. Us" completely ignores at least one obvious fact: the story was actually "Them vs. Them vs. Us". In Halo 2 it was "Us and Them vs. Them vs. Them".

More importantly though, the characters in Halo were certainly interesting. The relationship between Cortana and the MC was neat, though handled a bit heavy-handedly in the third game. Jacob Keyes, while being absent for much of the first game, still managed to feel like a great video game leader. Then you have Johnson, obviously, who was such a fan favorite that he had to be brought back for the second game and was turned into a main character.

Does the story match the originality of say, Dune? No. But as far as action games go it's right up there. The only shooter I can think of that even bothers competing on the same level is Half Life.

  • 10.06.2011 7:28 PM PDT

"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space." -Johnny Cash

Are you talking about the script in the Halo games, the writing in the novels, or the writing in the news stories on Bungie.net? I'm assuming you mean the games since you mentioned gameplay, so I guess I'll reply to that.

The writing (or the script) in the Halo games was really put together well. I've never paid too much attention to it myself, but when I did, it would just basically show me how the characters felt and how the story was progressing. I needed a good story to along with the gameplay, but I paid more attention to the gameplay.

[Edited on 10.06.2011 7:35 PM PDT]

  • 10.06.2011 7:35 PM PDT

"The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit,
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
-Omar Khayyám-


Posted by: aku
Posted by: Matu Flp Krawfe
I call shenanigans. Dune has a rich universe. Foundation has a rich universe. Ringworld has a rich universe. Warhammer 40,000 has a rich universe. Mechwarrior has a rich universe. Halo has an entirely one-dimensional conflict between them and us with only a pilfered backstory from Forbidden Planet to give it any height at all, though of course without the wit or imagination that made that movie.
Comparing the story of a video game to the story of a novel is not all that useful. A novel is story; that's all it is and that's all it can ever be. A video game, meanwhile, has to mix "telling a story" with "being fun". That's much more difficult to do. (See Final Fantasy and the latest Metal Gear for examples of games that leaned way too hard on the story button.)

I haven't seen Forbidden Planet but from reading the plot synopsis it sound like you're referring to the idea of an ancient species that disappeared and left some stuff behind. That very well might have been original in the 50s (which I honestly doubt), but at this point you could practically call it a sub-genre. I don't see any notes in there about invading militant aliens or a hibernating parasitic race, not to mention a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier who's out to save the universe from both of them while trying to save as many of his fellow soldiers as he can.

Calling Halo a story of "Them vs. Us" completely ignores at least one obvious fact: the story was actually "Them vs. Them vs. Us". In Halo 2 it was "Us and Them vs. Them vs. Them".

More importantly though, the characters in Halo were certainly interesting. The relationship between Cortana and the MC was neat, though handled a bit heavy-handedly in the third game. Jacob Keyes, while being absent for much of the first game, still managed to feel like a great video game leader. Then you have Johnson, obviously, who was such a fan favorite that he had to be brought back for the second game and was turned into a main character.

Does the story match the originality of say, Dune? No. But as far as action games go it's right up there. The only shooter I can think of that even bothers competing on the same level is Half Life.


Learned collegues, friends, fellows lend me your ears. It seems we're arguing about some very trivial, yet wasting our energy trying to prove our opinion. Now I am not one to mix words and certainly not one to randomly flame, but we must look at the original post and give our opinion on what had us hooked on the halo universe. For me, personally, what got me was the rich atmosphere the game produced mixed with the novels which were well written. It was a mixture of these which watered the seed that grew into the flower of my love for the Halo Universe.

  • 10.06.2011 7:40 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

Mourne not your comrades who must dwell / too strong to strive -
Within each steel-bound coffin of a cell, / Buried alive;
But rather mourne the apathetic throng / The cowed, and the meek -
Who see the world’s great anguish and its wrong / And dare not speak.

[group]167741|Diner|Where's the food?[/group]

Posted by: Tookurdignity
Learned collegues, friends, fellows lend me your ears. It seems we're arguing about some very trivial, yet wasting our energy trying to prove our opinion. [...] we must look at the original post
Well he asked about Halo's writing, so IMO we're pretty well on topic. As far as saying that an internet debate about video games is somehow trivial, I'm frankly shocked. I was really hoping that my bnet conversations would lead to a Nobel peace prize one day. :/

I didn't mention my favorite part of the Halo universe though, did I? I think that award has to go to the variety of enemies in the game. Not only did they work together in neat ways in the games (and add their own bit of character at the same time), but even in the first game they all had their own little backstories. I always thought the Covenant interactions were pretty cool.

  • 10.06.2011 7:54 PM PDT