Halo 5: Guardians [XO]

[Laa-Yosh]

So ONI is going to try to treat the Chief as a loose cannon? Interesting...

Also kinda feels like the 4-5-6 story arc is going to be very similar to the old Star Wars trilogy. I mean H4 was a lot like New Hope - Chief destroyed the superweapon, but the main villain got away, a close friend died, and it even had a Death Star trench run near the end
Seriously though, H5 is probably gonna have a cliffhanger ending. The parallel storylines are of course from Halo 2, so I also wonder if Locke is going to change sides at the end and become BFF with Chief - or maybe they're gonna play against this expectation?

Oh and for Cortana, one idea is that she's sort of left an imprint or echo in the Forerunner network, which could allow for her return as a 'ghost', kinda like Obi-Wan. Now that I'm thinking, Halsey would also be a good match for Yoda - an old master who's done a lot behind the scenes and also got morally compromised... so she could also die in this game?

 

[Jwm]

Hmmm...what if Cortana uploaded into the "domain"? Or she is now in MC as a geas, and will from time-to-time will make some sort of appearance as more than a memory.

Maybe Locke is hunting Chief as they believe him to be descendant of Chakas (or someone) and he has a little bit more forerunner in him that they want to investigate and manipulate.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

That wouldn't be enough to call Chief a traitor, and neither is going AWOL on its own.
His friendship with the Arbiter could be an issue, but then ONI would not have sent Locke to consult with the guy, either.
So it must be something he did after Halo 4...

Also, something else I've thought about, concerning the epilogue scene we did for H4 where Chief has his armor removed in the Infinity armor bay. As far as I can tell, he's been wearing his armor ever since... the beginning of Halo2! The damage on the chest plate is certainly from the fall from orbit at the start of Halo 3, and it hasn't been upgraded; it could have been removed during H3 though while they were preparing for the assault of the Ark, but I'm not sure if there was any equipment on the standard UNSC warships. Granted, we don't know how much time has actually passed in Chief's POV, with all the hibernation and such, but still, it must have smelled kinda bad... Oh and you also have to wonder about his daily calorie intake, and the waste material...

 

[AlNom]

So ONI is going to try to treat the Chief as a loose cannon? Interesting...

Gotta cover up for the controversial Spartan II program, which they approved and funded.

Also kinda feels like the 4-5-6 story arc is going to be very similar to the old Star Wars trilogy. I mean H4 was a lot like New Hope - Chief destroyed the superweapon, but the main villain got away, a close friend died, and it even had a Death Star trench run near the end

So what I can look forward to:

Master Chief rides a moa into battle, then press X to slice open.
Scarab battles on an icy planet
Palmer accidentally crushes Lasky's back during an embrace. Press X to pay respects.
Locke is the product of Thel and Master Chief's DNA, thus making Master Chief and Thel his fathers. Press X to cut off arm.
Master Chief fights a Guta that's been armoured up by Covenant who captured it from Reach. Press X to board. Press Y to pay for Guta MP vehicle dlc.
Various Sangheili (loyalists captured by fanatics) get fed into a pit of lekgolo worms. Spartan Hunter Locke seemingly gets thrown in when Arbiter accidentally.

Didact falls into oblivion again, and enters Skyrim.
Grunt allies instead of UNSC.
Cortana makes a final appearance as old Halsey then glitches into young Halsey because reasons.
Grunt musical number concludes the series.

Legendary Endings:
Locke eats the Lekgolo worms in the pit then swears revengeance upon his fathers while making a pact with the new Gravemind.
John settles down with Linda.
Palmer marries Lt. Dustin "Echoes" Crim and has a son.
Arbiter gets a new wardrobe specialist.
The Halos merge together to form Pipe.

Now that I'm thinking, Halsey would also be a good match for Yoda - an old master who's done a lot behind the scenes and also got morally compromised... so she could also die in this game?

They would have to retcon Halsey's speech at the end of Reach, which takes place in 2589. I suppose they could say that it was just a recording played back years later.

... after she is no longer a war criminal.

Hmmm...what if Cortana uploaded into the "domain"? Or she is now in MC as a geas, and will from time-to-time will make some sort of appearance as more than a memory.

Yeah, I kind of figured that's what will have to happen in order to preserve her.

 

[AlNom]

But the Halo universe is full of interesting characters so the retcon introduction does feel a bit weird.

ಠ_ಠ Rising Retconnaissance

 

[AlNom]

Pipe: Combat Revolved

 

[Jwm]

Pipe: Combat Revolved

To be released on Xbox 1080! (sorry had to)

I would love to explore more of the rings, I think Larry Niven has caused that though. Add in some vampires living under floating cities and furry people and the universe of Halo would... nah leave those out.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

To be released on Xbox 1080! (sorry had to)

I would love to explore more of the rings, I think Larry Niven has caused that though. Add in some vampires living under floating cities and furry people and the universe of Halo would... nah leave those out.

Yeah, I'm not sure we need furry fan porn for Halo.

Regards,
SB

 

[dobwal]

I want a move away from battling Covenant and Forerunners. I wish Halo move onto some of the issues faced by humans before the Covenant attacked and the Halos were discovered. Mainly the Insurrectionist Wars which spurned the creation of the Spartan programs.

Gameplay wise the good guy versus bad guy is pretty much black and white in Halo, but underneath there is a ton a gray when it comes to the UEG and its relationship with outlying colonies. I wouldn't mind if the franchise explored that relationship more.

What I want is Halo:Spartan Wars.

 

[NRP]

No thanks. Halo turning from fighting mysterious scifi aliens to fighting other humans in typical clichéd human conflicts would make it no different from COD, BF, or the dozens of other FPS games that do that same old tired shit. Might as well just shelve it that that's what you're gonna do.

Then again, 343 seems to really want to make Halo like COD, so it's probably all headed for the shitter regardless.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

What about the open world rumor? Granted, even if it's true to some extent, it'd still not change multiplayer...

 

[AlNom]

hm... gotta wonder how they'd pull that off in terms of driving the story while making the gameplay not so tedious (sprinting around, back tracking, collecting etc).

It kind of just hit me that the duality of the trailers also falls in line with the multiplayer map variants during the beta. Wonder if a big chunk of the game is "play same map but different look" between Locke and Chief.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I think it's been discussed before, but anyway...

Everyone would probably agree that the very best gameplay in any of the Halo games was related to the larger levels with multiple player options - Assault on the Control Room for example. Multiple vehicles, lots of different weapons, multiple fighting factions and so on. The gameplay mechanics have always been defined as a sandbox as well.
So it'd make sense to take some of the interconnected but relatively small level sections and combine them together into larger spaces, where the player would have more freedom in completing a group of objectives, and maybe even change the availability of resources like weapons, ammo and vehicles. Yeah, a lot of the encounters in previous games were carefully tuned by limiting these, but maybe it's time to change thins a little.

Also, as it's probably been mentioned before, the first H5 trailer has pretty strong hints about the setting, which would be

Spoiler

the Ark itself, in it's damaged state. While the Halo pulse has probably destroyed all living things and the portal has also collapsed, it wouldn't be hard to sell a few changes. A new portal opened from somewhere and the Covenant separatists have found it; there were Flood spores conserved in research facilities which got released; and of course ONI has also found a path. Add some dormant Forerunner tech, and maybe the Didact leading another expedition, and we can have 4 factions, then combine it with the Chief and Locke both trying to complete some mission in the middle of all the fighting.

Sure it's speculation, but the above could make for a pretty damn good game when done reasonably well, right?

 

[dobwal]

No thanks. Halo turning from fighting mysterious scifi aliens to fighting other humans in typical clichéd human conflicts would make it no different from COD, BF, or the dozens of other FPS games that do that same old tired shit. Might as well just shelve it that that's what you're gonna do.

Then again, 343 seems to really want to make Halo like COD, so it's probably all headed for the shitter regardless.

There is nothing mysterious about the aliens now. Do you think Star Wars universe is tired and cliched because even though there are dozens upon dozens of aliens species, most of the conflict is humans versus humans? There is nothing that says that insurrectionists or UNSC can't have alien allies. I just wouldn't mind if the games were a lot less black and white and more gray and grimmy.

I can see MC being an insurrectionist because from my experience with the games and Halo lore, the UEG and UNSC is more Galactic Empire than United Federation of Planets.

Nevertheless, if there is anything just as played out human versus human conflict in entertainment media its human versus alien.

 

[NRP]

@Laa-Yosh
I agree with you about the sandbox gameplay stuff. Also, I think I could get behind a Halo game based on your suggestions, as long as they nail the second-to-second combat experience.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Not all the aliens in Halo are equally evil, in fact it's quite the opposite now... The Arbiter is friendly, but the separationists aren't entirely bad either. The Flood's back story with the Precursors got a bit more complex IMHO. The Forerunners also have at least two opposing sides - the Didact is Chief's nemesis but the Librarian's imprint is helping him become something greater. And of course humanity is completely divided, and even ONI's actions can be seen as an effort to help humanity as a whole. So I think this indicates that 343 has tried to actually gray up everything as much as it's possible.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

hm... gotta wonder how they'd pull that off in terms of driving the story while making the gameplay not so tedious (sprinting around, back tracking, collecting etc).

Far Cry 3 and 4 are, for me, good examples of open world shooters which let you mix and match various tactics and have a lot of fun doing it. They'll want to avoid the Ubi formula (map/tower/mission markers) and the billion pointless side missions but with options for fast travel I think there's scope.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

@Laa-Yosh
I agree with you about the sandbox gameplay stuff. Also, I think I could get behind a Halo game based on your suggestions, as long as they nail the second-to-second combat experience.

Yeah the only problem at this point is that it's all speculation based on a tiny piece of rumor But I'd be there for such a game first day, would even finally buy an X1.

As for the 30-second gameplay fun, I haven't played the beta so I have no idea. Still, the new skill stuff seems to be aimed at the bread and butter enclosed multiplayer levels and not an open world style approach, as far as I can see...

 

[Laa-Yosh]

with options for fast travel I think there's scope.

I don't think it'd be one big open world; even if the rumored setting is true, it'd probably only be one part of the game, based on the two new trailers which are set in some human world (and what's with the MC statue??).

But this is Halo, so I'm sure they could allow you to hijack any kind of vehicle at any point Warthogs, Banshees, maybe even Scarabs

 

[dobwal]

Not all the aliens in Halo are equally evil, in fact it's quite the opposite now... The Arbiter is friendly, but the separationists aren't entirely bad either. The Flood's back story with the Precursors got a bit more complex IMHO. The Forerunners also have at least two opposing sides - the Didact is Chief's nemesis but the Librarian's imprint is helping him become something greater. And of course humanity is completely divided, and even ONI's actions can be seen as an effort to help humanity as a whole. So I think this indicates that 343 has tried to actually gray up everything as much as it's possible.

Yeah the overall universe is grey but the major plots of the games tend to be black and white. MC pretty much operates above it all with only one task and thats to save human civilization from destruction. The story plots have led to a MC that is paper thin as a character.

Placed in the situation of stopping an alien or alien race hell bent on destroying humans, MC choices are always easy and any choice that leads to the saving the human race is the way to go for him. Remove him from that circumstance and place him in a scenario where it isn't about saving the human race but rather two warring factions fighting over how the human race should move forward, and his choices might not be so clear cut.

Activating a tactical nuke on an spacecraft full of aliens is one thing, activating one on a human vessel is another. One might not decide to question the reality of being kidnapped at six, trained in war throughout adolescent and augmented and turned into supersoldier before adulthood when those actions empower you to stop a malovent alien race. But if you role isn't as noble?

Fighting off an alien race makes it easy for MC to cast aside the greyness of the Halo universe. I just want to see what happens when MC is thrust into the middle of that greyness and see who he really is and how he feels as a character.