Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Subject: Does anyone dislike where the story of the Halo series is going?
  • Subject: Does anyone dislike where the story of the Halo series is going?

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: the real Janaka
The version I have cooked up in my head after having seen the Legendary ending, experiencing the Terminals, and reading the articles over at Ascendant Justice, is the canon that I--in denial--follow.


You're implying that there's some kind of massive difference between the direction John was going at the end of Halo 3 and now in Halo 4. There really isn't.

The design is poor and so is the storytelling, script and direction.

What? How do you know that the script is bad from 5 MINUTES OF FOOTAGE in what's likely to be a 6-10 hour long game? You're criticising the direction, yet it's exactly the same direction Halo 3 was headed and indeed the Halo 4 that Bungie was planning before Reach (the evidence being that they got Isaac Hannaford to draw up a concept of a Forerunner Promethean - even 343i's design on the Promethean Knight carries some similarities to it).

The direction they've gone down is to have a more character-driven story with Cortana descending into rampancy, examining how that affects John and the relationship between them while simultaneously being stranded on a Forerunner planet where everything is new and mysterious again... I cannot comprehend what's so awful about this direction.

  • 06.06.2012 4:04 AM PDT

did no one notice the screenshots of GREEN covenant vehicles? this implies that allied covenant are involved. maybe some enemy covenant are as well. sounds cool to me. (arbiter? :D) not to mention this whole new crazy world to discover. I'm a bit oldschool when it comes to multi-player (goldeneye for the n64 was epic. loved the pace.) the only thing i'm unsure of is the multi-player because it sounds like they've actually aimed to speed it up. campaign alone has me interested enough to check it out though, and maybe spartan ops will turn out to be pretty cool.

  • 06.06.2012 5:03 AM PDT


Posted by: TheStarkilla
I've been a fan of Halo ever since Combat Evolved came out and I've played through all subsequent releases but, whenever I hear about Halo 4 and fanboys screaming "THE CHIEF IS BACK!", I can't help but feel that the series, especially Master Chief's involvement, is past its prime. Yes, I am aware of the books and how in Glasslands, the sangheili find a reason to conspire against humanity and how Prometheans are the ancient evil etc etc. All lore and poor storytelling aside (The elites were our allies at the end of the war, NOW THEYRE BACK FOR VENGEANCE), is anyone else getting tired of the aging formula of using the Chief and putting him against immeasurable odds.

Personally, I feel that MC is getting old. He's cool and all but, we can't keep playing as him over and over again. If the series is going into an entire new trilogy, new heroes should take center stage, like the Spartan IVs.

However, I also feel that 343i pulled the Spartan IV stuff out of their asses just to keep Spartans relevant. I mean, I fail to see a significant reason as to create a new generation of super-soldiers if the the Human-Covenant War is over...

The inclusion of the Covenant also feels like something that 343i pulled out of nowhere. If anything, their true purpose is to serve as an element that keeps players familiar with the previous game. Merely a gameplay factor. 343i can explain their return any way they want, doesn't mean its a good idea. I mean, you spend an entire trilogy fighting Covenant and you're STILL fighting Covenant?

Perhaps when the game finally comes out, everything will make more sense but until then, I want to hear from others, particularly any longstanding fans that still roam the forums of Halo's true home (Bungie). Do you like where Halo's story is going?
Nope.

  • 06.06.2012 5:32 AM PDT

Haters are going to hate.
Praisers are going to praise.

The Bungie Forums are what keeps my mind sharp and my fingers active, between writing my own movie scripts, drawing, and studying industrial design. At the moment I'm working on miniatures for a short movie that I'll hopefully be able to film once I've saved up for a camera... That's me, with the mug, trying to have a conversation with Konoko.


Posted by:@ ajw34307

Oh, but there really is...

First of all I'd like to say that discussions online tend to become ineffective, since, even a full page of highlights only cover a nuance of someones opinion. But I'll do my best to explain why I think there's a massive difference between where 3 ended and 4 picked up.

Yes it is subjective, but some points are undeniable.

Here we go...

At the time, the story was centred around a handful of questions, such as: what was the Legendary planetoid, what happened to Onyx (Dyson Sphere, Halsey and co), what was Mendicant Bias on about with atonement, where did Epitaph fit into everything, and why did Sandtrap along with parts of Delta Halo look different, etc. There are some of more. However, 343i must have thought that these mysteries or questions were far too petty to base, or at least start a new trilogy on, cause they shrugged it all off; tied some of the ends as fast and simple as possible, and ignored the rest. The Dyson Sphere which--at the time--was the most impressive Forerunner structure, ended up being nothing. At this point they've tossed in so many new Forerunner structures, that it's completely diminished the worth of the old ones.

I'm starting to believe that subtlety being a key part of Halo has just been in my imagination since the start...

Halo already had enough structures and characters to easily fill in the gaps. Sure, one could still make some things up, but nothing that would ultimately ruin the worth of what's already established.

Master Chiefs new adventure should have been about finding out what happened during the "Tipping Point", and becoming the "Final Solution"; being a direct follow up on whatever Cortana was on about in the Iris viral.

I'm right there with "MB and the Great Intergalactic Scavenger Hunt"

An action filled adventure more than another expansive money shot.[b/]


Halo fans after 3 wanted to yet again, experience the sense of wonder, serenity, desolation, isolation, and mystery, that CE provided. Not seeing generic armour clad space skeletons rawring in ones face, whilst regurgitated alien hordes fill the landscape, shouting words like "bad ass" and "epic set pieces". What is this, a Transformers skinned Call of Duty?

Sorry, I went of a bit there. This might be a rant, but it should be a civilised one... :P

Shouldn't Halo be about exploration through environments that are able to tell the story for you? Instead of overly storydriven and scripted sequences? Shouldn't the relasionship between Cortana and Chief be defined by comments here and there, about various topics, instead of super dramatic cut scenes? Shouldn't the cinematics main purpose be to just slightly push the player in the right direction, just merely confirminf or denying some of the main theories up until that point?

I'm seeing none of that here. What I thought Halo could amount to and what it has become are horrifyingly different.

Why did it have to be a whole new [b]epic
trilogy, couldn't it be about Chief walking in the shadow of the past and solving whatever the Forerunners couldn't?

As for being able to judge script, direction (as something a director does), etc, I'm going to be terribly--perhaps even off puttingly--smugg and arrogant, saying that there is enough there to judge the quality of the entire product. Everything that happens, every scene, is a product of 343i's style.

There was a dramatic scene with cortana, the were a lot of scripted events - two of which featured an enemie trying to kiss MC right in the face. There were enough scenes.

Take Prometheus for instance, where it was possible to--through analysis and deduction--figure out exactly what would happen throughout the entire movie, just by watching the trailer.
But on a second thought, that might be a bad example since I'm not claiming to be able to fugure out what will happen in 4, just the quality of what will happen.


Anyway... ^_^




[Edited on 06.06.2012 7:26 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 7:14 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: the real Janaka
At the time, the story was centred around a handful of questions, such as: what was the Legendary planetoid, what happened to Onyx (Dyson Sphere, Halsey and co), what was Mendicant Bias on about with atonement, where did Epitaph fit into everything, and why did Sandtrap along with parts of Delta Halo look different, etc.


I think the whole thing with Epitaph and Sandtrap is a bit shallow to include in unraveling a mystery centred around the campaign, that was all a wild goose chase (albeit an enjoyable one) that got blown out of proportion by the fanbase.

However, 343i must have thought that these mysteries or questions were far too petty to base, or at least start a new trilogy on, cause they shrugged it all off; tied some of the ends as fast and simple as possible, and ignored the rest. The Dyson Sphere with--at the time--was the most impressive Forerunner structure, ended up being nothing. At this point they've tossed in so many new Forerunner structures, that it's completely diminished the worth of the old ones.

They didn't have the Onyx Dyson Sphere end up being nothing, we knew exactly what its purpose was in Ghosts of Onyx (a 'bomb-shelter' from the Halo Array) and it's left to be explored and exploited by ONI which we'll no doubt see reflected in Halo 4 and The Thursday War since the technology will likely be implemented into the UNSC Infinity.

The only place they've introduced new Forerunner structures is in the Forerunner Saga set 100,000 years before the present storyline. It doesn't diminish the worth of the old artefacts, in fact it adds to their importance seeing as how we're shown how vast the Forerunner Ecumene was and we're only discovering pockets of technology they've left behind.

Master Chiefs new adventure should have been about finding out what happened during the "Tipping Point", and becoming the "Final Solution"; being a direct follow up on whatever Cortana was on about in the Iris viral.

There are resonant connections but we don't know the full extent of this. We've seen 5 minutes of gameplay from Halo 4, this is not enough to judge what the whole game is going to be about since there's still about 6-10 hours worth of content we know nothing about.

Halo fans after 3 wanted to yet again, experience the sense of wonder, serenity, desolation, isolation, and mystery, that CE provided. Not seeing generic armour clad space skeletons rawring in ones face, whilst regurgitated alien hordes fill the landscape, shouting words like "bad ass" and "epic set pieces". What is this, a Transformers skinned Call of Duty?

I'm quite puzzled by what you've said here. In the demo, the vistas looked just as impressive as they were in Halo 2 with a clear portrayal of exotic and mysterious landscapes, this hasn't changed from the CE-feel I'm sure. But you're comment about throwing in 'generic armour clad space skeletons' can just as well be applied to the Covenant in Halo CE/2/3...

Shouldn't Halo be about exploration through environments that are able to tell the story for you? Instead of overly storydriven and scripted sequences? Shouldn't the relasionship between Cortana and Chief be defined by comments here and there, about various topics, instead of super dramatic cut scenes? Shouldn't the cinematics main purpose be to just slightly push the player in the right direction, just merely confirminf or denying some of the main theories up until that point?

Again, you seem to be judging an entire game off of 5 minutes of footage in which the guy playing it was just trying to run-and-gun through.

There is no single purpose to a cutscene, there's no archetype for it to fill because it can do a lot of different things. It can provide character or plot development, cinematic action, admiration of scenery and plenty of other things. All of this is designed to immerse the player in the experience because a cutscene has to take you somewhere in the story; with what we saw in Halo 4's demo, there's a blend of movement, plot development and action. John is constantly on the move, when he stops it's to look almost in awe at the scale of the things and combined this gives the player a sense of immense size and distance for this world. It's none to different from what we saw in Halo CE, really.

Why did it have to be a whole new epic trilogy, couldn't it be about Chief walking in the shadow of the past and solving whatever the Forerunners couldn't?

Because it can be both. But at the same time, we've already done this in the first 3 games and it's time to add something new into the mix. It seems the reason people don't like this is because it's unfamiliar, players have become way too ensconced in their own preconceptions of a definitive list of things that makes a Halo game a Halo game. There is no list, the universe for this series is constantly evolving and changing - compare Halo CE to ODST or Halo 2 to Reach. They're completely different, each is telling a different story and thus requires a different tone.

As for being able to judge script, direction (as something a director does), etc, I'm going to be terribly--perhaps even off puttingly--smugg and arrogant, saying that there is enough there to judge the quality of the entire product. Everything that happens, every scene, is a product of 343i's style.

There isn't. We've seen 5 minutes of a 6-10 hour campaign, you can be "smug and arrogant" but at the end of the day that's what you're being - smug and arrogant.

There was a dramatic scene with cortana, the were a lot of scripted events - two of which featured an enemie trying to kiss MC right in the face. There were enough scenes.

2 scenes... No, it's not enough to make a judgement on the full product.

  • 06.06.2012 7:39 AM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.

Uhhh, no. 343 is taking Halo's story to new heights and expanding it further than Bungie ever could and making it better.

  • 06.06.2012 7:41 AM PDT


Posted by: the real Janaka

Posted by:@ ajw34307

Oh, but there really is...

First of all I'd like to say that discussions online tend to become ineffective, since, even a full page of highlights only cover a nuance of someones opinion. But I'll do my best to explain why I think there's a massive difference between where 3 ended and 4 picked up.

Yes it is subjective, but some points are undeniable.

Here we go...

At the time, the story was centred around a handful of questions, such as: what was the Legendary planetoid, what happened to Onyx (Dyson Sphere, Halsey and co), what was Mendicant Bias on about with atonement, where did Epitaph fit into everything, and why did Sandtrap along with parts of Delta Halo look different, etc. There are some of more. However, 343i must have thought that these mysteries or questions were far too petty to base, or at least start a new trilogy on, cause they shrugged it all off; tied some of the ends as fast and simple as possible, and ignored the rest. The Dyson Sphere which--at the time--was the most impressive Forerunner structure, ended up being nothing. At this point they've tossed in so many new Forerunner structures, that it's completely diminished the worth of the old ones.

I'm starting to believe that subtlety being a key part of Halo has just been in my imagination since the start...

Halo already had enough structures and characters to easily fill in the gaps. Sure, one could still make some things up, but nothing that would ultimately ruin the worth of what's already established.

Master Chiefs new adventure should have been about finding out what happened during the "Tipping Point", and becoming the "Final Solution"; being a direct follow up on whatever Cortana was on about in the Iris viral.

I'm right there with "MB and the Great Intergalactic Scavenger Hunt"

An action filled adventure more than another expansive money shot.[b/]


Halo fans after 3 wanted to yet again, experience the sense of wonder, serenity, desolation, isolation, and mystery, that CE provided. Not seeing generic armour clad space skeletons rawring in ones face, whilst regurgitated alien hordes fill the landscape, shouting words like "bad ass" and "epic set pieces". What is this, a Transformers skinned Call of Duty?

Sorry, I went of a bit there. This might be a rant, but it should be a civilised one... :P

Shouldn't Halo be about exploration through environments that are able to tell the story for you? Instead of overly storydriven and scripted sequences? Shouldn't the relasionship between Cortana and Chief be defined by comments here and there, about various topics, instead of super dramatic cut scenes? Shouldn't the cinematics main purpose be to just slightly push the player in the right direction, just merely confirminf or denying some of the main theories up until that point?

I'm seeing none of that here. What I thought Halo could amount to and what it has become are horrifyingly different.

Why did it have to be a whole new [b]epic
trilogy, couldn't it be about Chief walking in the shadow of the past and solving whatever the Forerunners couldn't?

As for being able to judge script, direction (as something a director does), etc, I'm going to be terribly--perhaps even off puttingly--smugg and arrogant, saying that there is enough there to judge the quality of the entire product. Everything that happens, every scene, is a product of 343i's style.

There was a dramatic scene with cortana, the were a lot of scripted events - two of which featured an enemie trying to kiss MC right in the face. There were enough scenes.

Take Prometheus for instance, where it was possible to--through analysis and deduction--figure out exactly what would happen throughout the entire movie, just by watching the trailer.
But on a second thought, that might be a bad example since I'm not claiming to be able to fugure out what will happen in 4, just the quality of what will happen.


Anyway... ^_^



I could not have said it better.

Posted by: ajw34307

[...]
Because it can be both. But at the same time, we've already done this in the first 3 games and it's time to add something new into the mix. It seems the reason people don't like this is because it's unfamiliar, players have become way too ensconced in their own preconceptions of a definitive list of things that makes a Halo game a Halo game. There is no list, the universe for this series is constantly evolving and changing - compare Halo CE to ODST or Halo 2 to Reach. They're completely different, each is telling a different story and thus requires a different tone.
[...]
So, basically, you say it's a Halo game, because they write "Halo" on the cover.

(Oh and i also think there should never even have been books "extending" the story of Halo in the first place. It's a video game. Can't it tell it's story by itself?)

Anyway, i think i can tell what a thing is by remembering what it looked like somewhere else, before. You know, that thing called recognition.

  • 06.06.2012 7:53 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: realdomdom
So, basically, you say it's a Halo game, because they write "Halo" on the cover.


No, it's a Halo game because it's a Halo game. It's set in the Halo universe and is about a particular aspect of the story in that universe which makes it a Halo game, however because of the setting the game has to adapt to a different tone and atmosphere. Halo 2, for instance, is a galaxy-spanning adventure which has you jump from Installation 04's wreckage to High Charity, to Earth, to another Halo etc etc. It has to convey a variety of different themes to it to create a unique atmosphere for each setting; compare that to ODST which is an isolated story set solely on Earth during Halo 2. Not only does it retain the same tone that Outskirts and Metropolis from Halo 2 established but it has to expand on that otherwise the game feels out of place.

(Oh and i also think there should never even have been books "extending" the story of Halo in the first place. It's a video game. Can't it tell it's story by itself?)

Halo is not a video game, it's an entire universe that spans over 3 million years of in-lore history. Games alone cannot support that kind of depth in fiction, especially not an FPS. There are also a mix of different Halo fans. Like me, there is the hardcore fiction lot which cares about the expanded universe and is dedicated to seeing the story of the Halo series reach its fullest potential through identifying the connections between these different aspects of fiction and analysing parts that aren't connected.

The novels are a fantastic addition to the universe, without them the Halo universe wouldn't be half as enticing as it is now for me. 343i are absolutely doing the right thing by removing the schism of Bungie's 'game canon > other media' rule and interweaving all aspects of lore with the games. It makes for a more potent and competent universe than a company who is just going to ignore the hard work and effort into creating more enticing stories for the sake of 'telling their own story'.

  • 06.06.2012 8:09 AM PDT


Posted by: ajw34307
Posted by: realdomdom
So, basically, you say it's a Halo game, because they write "Halo" on the cover.


No, it's a Halo game because it's a Halo game. It's set in the Halo universe and is about a particular aspect of the story in that universe which makes it a Halo game, however because of the setting the game has to adapt to a different tone and atmosphere. Halo 2, for instance, is a galaxy-spanning adventure which has you jump from Installation 04's wreckage to High Charity, to Earth, to another Halo etc etc. It has to convey a variety of different themes to it to create a unique atmosphere for each setting; compare that to ODST which is an isolated story set solely on Earth during Halo 2. Not only does it retain the same tone that Outskirts and Metropolis from Halo 2 established but it has to expand on that otherwise the game feels out of place.
Okay, that's kind of irrelevant to what i said, but oh well.

Posted by: ajw34307
[...]
Halo is not a video game, [...]
Halo is a video game.

  • 06.06.2012 8:21 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: realdomdom
Okay, that's kind of irrelevant to what i said, but oh well.


It's not irrelevant, had you read it thorougly you'd see how it all ties back to my previous point about the fact that there is no definitive list of things that makes a Halo game beyond it being set in the Halo universe and occupying part of a story in that universe.

Halo is a video game.

Sigh... please read the whole of what I say, don't just pick apart 1 aspect of an incomplete point and pretend it's something else.

[Edited on 06.06.2012 8:27 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 8:25 AM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Although I was highly skeptical at first, after having being able to read Cryptum, I feel that this new direction the Halo franchise is taking with the games, making it closer to the novels, is something that the series has been needing for a long time now.

  • 06.06.2012 8:28 AM PDT

To be honest I don't really care what anyone thinks . I'm getting the game because I've read the novels and I liked em and now I've seen Halo 4's gameplay and I like it too .

Sometimes it sounds like some people just want to change the opinions of others . Why bother arguing ? If you don't like the game , don't buy it .

Emphasis on the word 'some'

  • 06.06.2012 8:34 AM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.


Posted by: realdomdom
AJW is right. There is no point in arguing.

  • 06.06.2012 8:37 AM PDT

Haters are going to hate.
Praisers are going to praise.

The Bungie Forums are what keeps my mind sharp and my fingers active, between writing my own movie scripts, drawing, and studying industrial design. At the moment I'm working on miniatures for a short movie that I'll hopefully be able to film once I've saved up for a camera... That's me, with the mug, trying to have a conversation with Konoko.

@ ajw34307:

I respect your opinions, they are clear and well defined, I just don't agree. Not saying that I won't continue arguing everytime I get the chance; evertime I feel my words can back my opinion :P that's what forums are for aren't they?

I might not be able to form sets of convincing sentences to back it up, but what I saw in the 4 trailer, did not live up to what I call Halo.

There's no doubt 4 will be solid game, I'm just not sure my subconscious will let it slide as a Halo game.

EDIT: five minutes have been enough in the past, so I don't why I should deny my instinct crebral authority.

Posted by: realdomdom[/quote]
AJW is right. There is no point in arguing.

Just cause you agree, doesn't mean it's right.

Just cause someone says "Halo 4 is exactly how Halo should be" or even "should have been..." doesn't mean Halo should.
It's all about trying to identify the previous games, and referring to their themes, and seeing whether they match the new or not.

You happen to think they do, I don't.
We'll see who remains unchanged when finally playing the game...

[Edited on 06.06.2012 9:18 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 8:42 AM PDT


Posted by: ajw34307
Posted by: realdomdom
Okay, that's kind of irrelevant to what i said, but oh well.


It's not irrelevant, had you read it thorougly you'd see how it all ties back to my previous point about the fact that there is no definitive list of things that makes a Halo game beyond it being set in the Halo universe and occupying part of a story in that universe.
Well, i'm just not gonna say anything about that. Makes my stomach hurt.

Posted by: ajw34307
Halo is a video game.

Sigh... please read the whole of what I say, don't just pick apart 1 aspect of an incomplete point and pretend it's something else.
Well, actually thank you. I forgot to say something else about that part:
Posted by: ajw34307
343i are absolutely doing the right thing by removing the schism of Bungie's 'game canon > other media' rule and interweaving all aspects of lore with the games. It makes for a more potent and competent universe than a company who is just going to ignore the hard work and effort into creating more enticing stories for the sake of 'telling their own story'.
Excuse me. What's that? Bungie's Game Canon is Canon. Nothing else.
So a company developing a story for a video game shouldn't do just that?
Best thing probably would be to just let the fans or some random sci-fi authors write the story for the game, like in Star Wars for example?

Posted by: RangyPro1337
To be honest I don't really care what anyone thinks . I'm getting the game because I've read the novels and I liked em and now I've seen Halo 4's gameplay and I like it too .

Sometimes it sounds like some people just want to change the opinions of others . Why bother arguing ? If you don't like the game , don't buy it .

Emphasis on the word 'some'
Okay. It's not like i'm your dad.


Posted by: SEAL Sniper 9

AJW is right. There is no point in arguing.
Interesting. I thought there is a point in arguing.

[Edited on 06.06.2012 8:47 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 8:44 AM PDT


Posted by: X Delta Xero X
1. Just like in the real world, we may have allies, but that doesn't mean ALL of them like us.

2. Prometheans are a Warrior-Servant caste of the Forerunners, they're not an "ancient evil", it's unclear on what is the real evil here, the Didact may be evil now, but it's unsure.

3. Spartans were not created to fight the Covenant, they were created to fight the Insurrectionists so they've always been relevant.

4. The new Covenant is comparable to a rogue faction of a military or a band of Space Pirates, they're no longer a major threat.

5. Things already make sense, you just haven't gone too much into the details is all.


Amen!

  • 06.06.2012 8:46 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Posted by: the real Janaka
I respect your opinions, they are clear and well defined, I just don't agree. Not saying that I won't continue arguing everytime I get the chance; evertime I feel my words can back my opinion :P that's what forums are for aren't they?


Oh of course, I'd expect nothing less. It's what I do everytime.

Posted by: realdomdom
Excuse me. What's that? Bungie's Game Canon is Canon. Nothing else.


Erm, nope. Everything that's officially licenced by both Bungie and 343i is canonical material - games, books, comics etc are all canonical material. I never put Bungie's material into canonical doubt, I criticised them for accepting the extra material into canon but never interweaving the fiction to any particular depth and when they did it just flopped.

Best thing probably would be to just let the fans or some random sci-fi authors write the story for the game, like in Star Wars for example?

You're being extremely pedantic. They don't just grab people off the street and tell them to write a story, greg Bear and Karen Traviss are internationally recognised as exemplary sci-fi authors for both established universes and their own works. Nylund's novels are also highly regarded among Halo fans and Joseph Staten (one of the lead writers of Halo 2, 3 and ODST) WORKED WITH NYLUND to write Contact Harvest.

  • 06.06.2012 9:47 AM PDT


Posted by: ajw34307

Posted by: realdomdom
Excuse me. What's that? Bungie's Game Canon is Canon. Nothing else.


Erm, nope. Everything that's officially licenced by both Bungie and 343i is canonical material - games, books, comics etc are all canonical material. I never put Bungie's material into canonical doubt, I criticised them for accepting the extra material into canon but never interweaving the fiction to any particular depth and when they did it just flopped.
Yes, 343 Game Canon is Canon as well. (BTW, by "Nothing else" i meant the Bungie Game Canon is nothing else than canon.)
Guess Bungie shouldn't have accepted that "extra material" at all.

Posted by: ajw34307

Posted by: realdomdom

Best thing probably would be to just let the fans or some random sci-fi authors write the story for the game, like in Star Wars for example?


You're being extremely pedantic. They don't just grab people off the street and tell them to write a story, greg Bear and Karen Traviss are internationally recognised as exemplary sci-fi authors for both established universes and their own works. Nylund's novels are also highly regarded among Halo fans and Joseph Staten (one of the lead writers of Halo 2, 3 and ODST) WORKED WITH NYLUND to write Contact Harvest.
In the end I don't even care who they made write a novel/comic/whatever. That's really not what i was going for ultimately. It's the fact that there are people writing a specific piece of story that is not contained or didn't originate from the video game. (Some people call that fanfiction.)
Also, it's "even worse" so to speak if the author already wrote stuff for other "universes" as it often leads to significant smiliarities among them.


Posted by: EVIL FERN 117

Posted by: X Delta Xero X
1. Just like in the real world, we may have allies, but that doesn't mean ALL of them like us.

2. Prometheans are a Warrior-Servant caste of the Forerunners, they're not an "ancient evil", it's unclear on what is the real evil here, the Didact may be evil now, but it's unsure.

3. Spartans were not created to fight the Covenant, they were created to fight the Insurrectionists so they've always been relevant.

4. The new Covenant is comparable to a rogue faction of a military or a band of Space Pirates, they're no longer a major threat.

5. Things already make sense, you just haven't gone too much into the details is all.


Amen!
Herecy!

[Edited on 06.06.2012 10:22 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 10:02 AM PDT


Posted by: X Delta Xero X

Posted by: Cmdr DaeFaron

Posted by: Isai16
Posted by: TheStarkilla
However, I also feel that 343i pulled the Spartan IV stuff out of their asses just to keep Spartans relevant. I mean, I fail to see a significant reason as to create a new generation of super-soldiers if the the Human-Covenant War is over...


If you were such a Halo fan, you'd realize that Spartans weren't intended for the Covenant and existed before the Covenant came into the Humans sight.


What point does that have to the fact the human-covenant war is over, thus there isn't a dire need to have new Spartans?

To OP, yeah. So much for the Covenant being destroyed and the war over. Them being involved just doesn't feel right :/. I mean, end of halo 3 really felt like "Yes... finally the Covenant threat is destroyed." And now they have an entire fleet in halo 4?

Edit: Agree with somebody else. halo 4 looks and sounds great, we'll see where the story goes. However, disliking some art/detail aspects. Like Chief's armor. And all the preview/box art stuff shows Forward Unto Dawn looking massively different, yet in the e3 stuff they show a Paris class frigate looking like the paris class frigates have always.
The Covenant forces have a massive fleet? Where's this info?

And Spartans were meant for the Insurrectionists, humans are still at war with humans even after the Covenant War.


It's a small fleet, according to a recent article.

That same article--GameInformer--also implied that the Covie forces present are a multitude of various factions, though it could just be misinterpretation of what he said.

And to any naysayers, Bungie has gone on record supporting 343i and their work

[Edited on 06.06.2012 10:33 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 10:31 AM PDT


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

[...]
And to any naysayers, Bungie has gone on record supporting 343i and their work

343i: "Bungie, it has been an honor buying your Halo franchise. Now it's time for you to say: 'You had me at Halo'. You may have a 'Destiny', but for now audacia ad astra."

[Edited on 06.06.2012 11:56 AM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 10:48 AM PDT

Posted by: SEAL Sniper 9
Uhhh, no. 343 is taking Halo's story to new heights and expanding it further than Bungie ever could and making it better.


An opinion. One I vehemently disagree with.

  • 06.06.2012 12:00 PM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.


Posted by: ThePredkiller2
Posted by: SEAL Sniper 9
Uhhh, no. 343 is taking Halo's story to new heights and expanding it further than Bungie ever could and making it better.

An opinion. One I vehemently disagree with.

lol, of course you disagree with it. What else is to expect from a Bungie fanboy? How is 343 not taking the story to new heights? How are they not expanding the story further than Bungie ever did? Please humor me. I'd like to see what kind of BS you can come up with this time around. Two books alone prove that they've taken the story to new heights and expanded it further than Bungie -- Cryptum and Primordium. And I shouldn't even say two. Each of them prove it alone. They don't even need to be put together.

By the way, using big words like 'vehemently' doesn't make you seem any smarter or your opinion any better.

[Edited on 06.06.2012 12:40 PM PDT]

  • 06.06.2012 12:37 PM PDT