Posted by: ajw34307
Posted by: CharlesBrown33
Posted by: ajw34307
The only level that even remotely managed to convey a sense of "despair of a losing war" was New Alexandria, the rest was shockingly laughable. Especially in Exodus, when the ship holding the civilians gets shot down - I didn't see or know these people, I just saw a hunk of metal sink into the water with some woman saying "oh my fod, they killed the civilians!".
New Alexandria captured it perfectly with the silent opening cutscene, Six hunched over in the Pelican watching the skyscrapers tumble and burn, then later on in the level where the Covenant ships descend to glass the city.
That had emotional weight. The rest was just... flaccid.
Most cutscenes after Jorge's death were really well put together. Kat's death was uncalled for, but you can listen how Carter's voice changes afterwards.
You're going to have to define what you mean by "well put together". From a technical standpoint, yes they were very impressive. From a story/character development perspective? Not so much...
Kat's death was excellent, New Alexandria is literally the pinnacle of the game. But that is juxtaposed by a meandering miasma of fail.
I look at it as a slope. New Alexandria does fall pretty close to what I call the climax of the game, but after that the slope in quality doesn't suddenly drop down the drain.
The scene where you receive Cortana, the scene where Jun takes Halsey away and the scene where Carter is getting shot are all pretty damn awesome. And I don't think you can put more personality in characters that are losing a war and who have lost comrades in the process. They're soldiers, not entertainers.
They get the job done. And that's what mattered to me, at least when I judged each Noble Team character.