RisingPho3nix

Oh I know the lore. Doesn't make me hate the Flood any less.

I have to admit, I am shocked and depressed by how many people want the Flood to come back. The Halo games I have enjoyed the most, with the exception of Combat Evolved, have all been the games WITHOUT the Flood. I might actually cry if the Flood come back for Halo 5.

If you want a more in depth answer, read the Kilo-Five book trilogy. It starts with Halo: Glasslands and continues with Halo: The Thursday War, but I don't think the third book has been released yet. In any case, these books are what bridge the gap between Halo 3 and Halo 4.

Call me crazy, but I actually really like Palmer. She's the only Spartan IV besides Thorne who I think could prove themselves worthy of the Spartan name. I wasn't too sure I'd like her in the beginning, but she's grown on me. Personally, I hope she gets a much bigger role in the main campaign of Halo 5.

So after a fair bit of thinking and playing a TON of Spartan Ops, I'm starting to think that with the death of Cortana, John's new partner in crime could become Commander Sarah Palmer. The way she leads Fireteam Crimson is not that different from the way Cortana helped John. While we would all like Cortana to return, I would rather the Chief partner up with Palmer than be paired with another AI.

So I've had a couple friends tell me now that I can advance my weapon commendations in Spartan Ops matchmaking, but mine still say that I can only advance them by killing enemy spartans, and when I tested in anyway, it didn't work. Are my friends pulling my leg or am I missing something?

Quite honestly, I think 343 is taking the whole Halo Universe far more seriously than Bungie did. I think they're going to build him up in Spartan Ops and then have him really jump onto the scene in Halo 5.

You know, that point about Spartan Ops is a pretty good one. I think that would be the perfect way to set up Cortana's return. But maybe save it for Halo 5, should Spartan Ops return. That way, it serves as a prequel of sorts to the ending clip of her return.

You know, I usually hate that equation, but having actually given it some real thought, I can't help but agree with it. Cortana is an integral part of the Halo formula, and Halo would not be the same without her. The Master Chief and Cortana have become one of those inseparable duos where it's either both of them, or none of them. That said, I think given the goal of humanizing the Master Chief, that strength of partnership makes her "death" pretty much mandatory. And also makes it even more important that she does not return in Halo 5 (unless it's in a bonus legendary ending clip). The Master Chief needs a serious taste of life without her. What would be really interesting, story wise, is if Halo 6 was a conflict between stopping Didact and saving Cortana. As in, make it seem like you can either stop Didact or save Cortana, not both. And to prove that his humanity is winning out over the soldier/machine side, have him choose to save Cortana. And then, through the kind of daring and luck the Master Chief is known for, have him do both anyway. That way, you can complete the humanizing arc by ending it on the point that our humanity is what gives us the greatest strength.

I think making her human with the Composer is exactly what they set out to do. My guess is that we'll learn of her possible return at the end of Halo 5, maybe as a small clip in the legendary ending.

I wrote the title as it is to avoid spoilers. I figured that anyone who had beaten the campaign would know what I was talking about.

So the one thing I'm noticing in Halo 4 Matchmaking is a distinct lack of attack/defend gametypes. Specifically, the absence of Single-Flag CTF, which was hands down my favorite multiplayer gametype since Halo 2. I miss it. I miss it badly. And after playing obscene amounts of Rush in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, I find myself feeling like I need Single-Flag CTF in Halo 4. Anyone else feel like it needs to make a return?

Troll hard my friend, troll hard. As for me, the only shooter that could pull me away from Halo is Battlefield 4. Or Battlefield 3 if 343 doesn't add single-flag CTF.

About the Chief/Cortana thing? Check out a thread I started: http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/17116-opinion-why-cortana-was-a-good-thing/ That'll give you my thoughts on that particular aspect of the story. Also, I would point out that the Chief was actually not on Reach when the Covenant invaded. He was not part of the ground team that was sent to guard the reactors. Fred-104 was the Spartan in charge of that op. As far as John-117's luck is concerned, that ties in with the main point in my Cortana thread, which was that the time has come for change. John-117 has been the lucky/unstoppable badass for 3 amazing games, but it's time for his character to evolve into something more. To do that, he has to be thrust into a situation where not even his luck can save him. Hence, Cortana.

This. Seriously. The game has barely been out a week, and 343 said when they announced Halo 4 that it would be the first in a new trilogy. Take solace in the fact you know it's coming at all. I remember finishing Halo: CE in 2001 and only being able to hope there would be a sequel. God the wait for Halo 2 was painful... (Also, totally unrelated, this is my 69th post. Heh heh heh. ;P) (Yes, I am a child sometimes.)

If I wanted reality, I'd live it. At least half the point of all fiction is to pull us out of reality for a moment, make us forget our troubles and have fun visiting worlds and times where the impossible becomes possible. That said, I understand where you're coming from and while strict realism is obviously not a requirement of mine, I do require the story to be believable within it's own context. So long as a story follows its own rules, I generally don't have a problem when something seemingly outlandish happens. This is why I wouldn't have a problem with Cortana coming back as a human through the digitization process. Because the theory has already been established. I'm honestly split 50/50 on whether or not she should come back. One way or the other though, I don't think it robs the story of it's dramatic integrity. I would go so far as to say that robbing any story of it's dramatic integrity is truthfully hard to do, provided the story follows its own rules. Again, since the possibility of her human return has been established, I wouldn't say it robs the story of it's dramatic integrity. However, if she comes back immediately in Halo 5, that would rob the ending of Halo 4 its dramatic integrity. Because that's the writer essentially saying the ending of Halo 4 didn't matter. Much as I want her to come back, especially as a human, that version of her return would piss me off.

Now that, that is straight up not cool. We need our single objective game-types!

Link to poll or it's BS.

The death of Johnson was doubtlessly hard on the Master Chief. The deaths of his fellow Spartans is hard on the Master Chief. But my point is that as hard as they are, John knows how to deal with the loss of fellow soldiers. The "death" of Cortana was much different, as I've stated before, because his relationship with her is the closest thing he's had to a relationship based on mutual affection and love. So losing her would be even harder on him than losing Johnson.

The only advantages the DMR has over the BR is range and accuracy. In terms of raw damage, they are identical. And as I am more of a sniper type, for me DMR all the way.

And as I said before, we have already stopped The Flood in Halo 3! Them showing up as enemies in the new trilogy would be pointlessly redundant. They can show up in a CGI cutscene/flashback as part of the Human/Forerunner story, as our first contact with them is what led to the Human/Forerunner war. But the story of the new trilogy is about the Human's finally taking their intended place as protectors of the galaxy. We've already proven we can defeat the Flood without sacrificing the rest of the galaxy (something the Forerunners could not do), so now it's time to prove that we are better than the Forerunners to their face.

Makes perfect sense.

Oh God, speak not the name! There was no excuse for that ending, none whatsoever. The extended cut made the ending of ME3 tolerable, but that's it, and the fact that it was necessary in the first place is unforgivable. It kills me to say, but the Mass Effect series is pretty much dead to me, and Mass Effect 3 was the last BioWare game I will buy until I have assurances they won't pull the same **** twice. Now, with that out of my system... IF Cortana returns, I would want her to return as a human and become a legitimate love interest for John, so that he finally can have a true and fully human life. I also think that it would be a good way to round out the humanizing thing if both of them are learning how to be truly human together. Plus, it would just be plain sweet.

But we already stopped The Flood in Halo 3. That was the whole point of Bungie sending the Gravemind to the Ark and having us fire the new Halo ring that was being built there. Us stopping the Flood was half the plot of the original trilogy. This is a new trilogy, and therefore needs a new story.