Pr0larbear

Not sure about the terminals, i beat the game this morning and went straight to bed and havent touched it yet for the remainder of the day but we'll see. You're very right about the focus on chief, the storypath you spoke of could very well be the direction they plan to go. It seems like the most feasible route while retaining a damn good storyline But as said before it definitely would be a whole different turn for the halo franchise. From a huge galactic war focal point as the main story to an individual and personal story with the galactic war as a background would be a strange transition to see but could be ingenious if they pulled it off right. Though at the pace and gametime this kick off had i have little hopes. =/

I posted similar feelings of irritation in the general discussion. i would love to reiterate here but i dont have the time for it at the moment. Seems like there's going to be a lot of hollywood theatrics in the future. anyways it's all there if you care to read. So much was left unanswered and so much skewed between the two. http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/16324-horrible-ending/

Killstreak rewards? You gotta be kidding me...

While i can't say much to this as i havent check out the multiplayer yet but Halo2 featured numbered ranks as well. Maybe an attempt to relive the glory days? I also have to agree with you in a way. I feel they wanted to veer off into their own direction so they wouldn't be clumped/compared with Bungie and it just went tragically downhill.

Well i highly doubt there will be any better dynamic they can come up with for the chief. He was already and incredibly silent soldier through 1-3 and i was really glad they gave more insight to his character by giving him an actual voice throughout this game. The problem that has occurred due to this ending seems like it would only be something that could halt that progress on his character. If it didnt then they're turning it into Halo - Hollywood. But that was already a path they went down with the ridiculous way of having so and so survive and so and so not despite the circumstance... Like.. point blank and you're magically alive? What is this, the power of love? Given how it ended i really doubt they'll go down the path of trying to save face through a plot twist. It would just screw everything already screwed further with questions that shouldnt be able to be answered through any means even if they managed to find a way. You'll recognize these and just look at this saying.. "um, i really dont care what or who or how. It will never work like that. In any universe." Overall there were so many plot holes and unanswered questions just thrown up to in game 3 minute explanations which you cant entirely focus on due to being in the game trying to live or just overwhelmed by how fast everything is pacing. Definitely required more than 5-6 hours of game time. And dear god i hope they don't go down the road of releasing more info related to story through DLC. All faith would be lost. I also find it a little odd how in 3 humanity got their translators working properly and you could understand the covenant and now you can't 4 years later. Did they all of a sudden change their entire language among the collective? Just something odd.

I've been with halo since CE and it's always been my most beloved series. Books as well. But this ending really pissed me off. This was something that needed to be done at the final end game of halo. not at the start of a trilogy. Essentially ruining the combination that made these two beloved in the first three games. I understand the dilemma that was at hand and it would have been hard to string it along till the end but seeing how they excused some lives not being taken regardless... they could have done it easily. Feels like too much time was put in to make the game pretty than the story/ties/background explanations/etc. substance. I wonder how hard of an impact these decisions will have on the rest of the dedicated hardcore halo fans. And i don't mean the kids that just get it for multiplayer, i mean the people that truly admire the series for what the story is. The game is amazing in its own right, dont get me wrong. It's just not the halo i came to love. Kudos to the graphics/art department though. The visuals were incredible.