arthurjr98

Like most people here, I think the Chief will have a falling out with the UNSC for the following reasons: The UNSC, and humanity in general, will have developed mixed feelings about the Spartan Program. - While humanity would have been wiped out if it werent for the spartans (the master chief in particular), they also know how mentally flawed they are as people and their dark past of fighting human rebellions. Perhaps since Halo 3 the UNSC has found ways to perfect these flaws and have developed a new generation of spartans that are not connected to the older programs. Thus making the Master Chief a sore reminder of what the Spartans once represented. - By the time Halo 4 happens, the Master Chief is a living legend to many. However, some within the UNSC leadership such as Captain Del Rio of the Infinity just see the Chief as a broken soldier and a relic of the past. This tension is displayed in Halo 4 between the two as the Chief disobeys Del Rio's orders to surrender Cortana. Del Rio won't even listen to the Chief for tactical advice when confronted with the threat of the Didact. Del Rio may represent a segment of the UNSC that want nothing to do with the Master Chief or the dark stain that was the Spartan II program. Master Chief's actions in Halo 4 drive a wedge between him and the UNSC - The case could be made that the Master Chief was responsible for the Didact threat. When the Chief learned that the Infinity was trying to contact him, he and Cortana tried to open what they believed was a communication device to warn the Infinity not to enter Requiem. One could argue that the Chief was reckless to mess around with Forunner technology without understanding what he was doing. Or one could say that he was reckless to allow Cortana to guide him to accidently release the Didact. Cortana was dealing with severe rampancy at this time. She was losing her mind, acting defiant towards authority, and even the Chief at times. Someone could argue that Cortana was so broken herself that she may have intentionally fooled the Chief into releasing the Didact. Whatever the case may be, the Master Chief was largely responsible for releasing the Didact from his prison, whether we like to admit that or not. - What if the UNSC needed a scapegoat for what happened at Ivanoff Research Station and New Phoenix? There was no clear indication that the Didact actually died and therefore no one has yet to take the blame or be punished for those murders. Since the Chief accidentally released the Didact, someone could argue that all those people never would have died at the hands of the Didact had the Chief not released him from his prison. - What if some of the UNSC leadership try to court marshal or reprimand the Chief because of his actions on Requiem? There are no witnesses to verify the Chief's story except Cortana. And now she is dead. Even if she were still alive she had been suffering from Rampancy. Who would believe her anyway? It would just be the Chief's word against whatever facts and evidence someone could build in a case against him. The Chief is Searching for Dr. Halsey, and so is the UNSC, but for different reasons - So one thing is for sure, the UNSC and Dr Halsey are on the outs. They tried to assassinate her, she wants revenge against them and has now joined up with the covenant we saw in Halo 4. This presents a big problem for the Chief. He needs her alive because he believes that she may be critical to reviving Cortana. Yet the UNSC want to kill her because they view her as a traitor and a liability who is aiding the enemy. - This may force the Chief to choose sides in future battles. Will he be forced to fight against the UNSC in order to protect the only means he might have to saving Cortana? Will he betray every thing he was taught and groomed to be as a soldier by defying the UNSC's standing order to hunt down Halsey? I'm not saying i expect all of those things to actually take place in Halo 5, but they would be interesting angles to play off of. especially the last one about Dr Halsey. I think any of those angles would help push the Chief into finding his own identity. Him trying to figure out what it means to be human and what is role within humanity in general really means. Perhaps the Halsey story line will force the Chief to question his own morals and loyalty to the UNSC and humanity. It might force him to figure out what is most important to him. Does he side with the UNSC and continue to follow orders? or does he protect the people and things that mean something to him specifically? In the previous games, including Halo 4, there is a line drawn out in the sand, so to speak. We see good vs evil. Red vs blue. The Master Chief is the good guy and the Covenant/Flood are the bad guys. What if this time the fog of war creeps into the halo franchise and we see a conflicted Master Chief struggling to figure out who is friends and enemies are. In the past, he has always acted selflessly for the benefit of mankind. what if in Halo 5 he decides to fight for himself and god help whoever gets in his way. Just some food for thought.

Yeah like i said, I dont really consider the books part of the halo universe. If its not Bungie or 343, I don't consider it cannon. Even the story and characters conflict with each other at times throughout the games.

Most of the UNSC forces we see are from Infinity. This could just be a special military outfit that is separate from the regular marines. But it does look like armor and uniform configurations have been upgraded. Then again we have a 4 year gap between Halo 3 and Halo 4. Anything is possible. Halo 4 just didn't allow for much opportunity to explain whats happened since the Ark.

I agree with this article. Its hard to objectively critique this game. It single handily laid out the foundations for online gaming we know of today like Call of Duty. It was the the first of its kind to revolutionize how we game on the consoles. Its campaign mode offered a deeper look into the story of the franchise as well, and really set up the future of the Halo universe that we have. In otherwords, Halo 2 was a gamechanger for not only the franchise, but for the entire gaming industry. Looking back on it now however, the game does have some serious flaws. But I think a lot of the good that came from that game inevitably overshadowed its shortcomings. Yet, if that game were released today, its hard to believe it could go in one end and out the other without getting ripped to pieces. Perhaps because it was the first of its kind it gets a pass. Or maybe our standards for quality or fine tuning were much much lower back then. Either way, the game will always hold a special place in my memories when I was in my teen. And to me it will always be a great game.

I don't think there is any official story or reason as to how Johnson escaped Halo Installation 4. Maybe thats what is told within the books, but all that matters to me are what is told through the games or anything that has been officially acknowledged or told by 343 and Bungie. And he certainly did not return to Earth to warn of a Covenant invasion. Seeing as how Regret had no idea that Earth had a human presence, let alone ever expecting it to be the human homeworld, there is no way Johnson could have predicted that the Covenant were on hot on their trail to deliberately invade Earth. If that were the case the Covenant would have sent a much larger force and focused their attacks planetwide rather than on one small corner of the globe. In addition to that they would have sent in some sort of recon group first, like they did with Reach in order to cause confusion and disable communication networks as a precursor to a larger scale attack. And if it were an invasion of Earth, Regret would not have retreated almost immediately after attacking New Mombassa, unless he brought with him a large enough force to sustain a foothold. Regret traveled to Earth because he was looking for the Ark. It was meant as a simple artifact finding mission. He had no idea humans would be there at all and thus was not prepared for what happened in Halo 2. Also Johnson was an extremely minor character in Halo CE. One that was randomly generated as a friendly NPC in certain missions. Meaning, that it was and is possible to see 2 Sargent Johnson's side by side in the same level. But because he was such a colorful character in the first Halo, I think Bungie decided it would be a good idea if they brought him back as a fully fledged character that would be integral to the story. As far as his explanation of how he escaped the first Halo and his excuse of it being classified, i think is meant to cover up the fact that he was never originally intended to remain as a significant character to the Halo series. I think Bungie knew it was a bit of a plot hole and labeling it as classified is just a convenient way to cover that up. It is fun to theorize this and that about a universe we are so captivated by, but i think with this one, you guys might be digging a bit too deep.

then he would likely be just another mindless drone of the Flood no different from all the other Flood fodder. Unless 343 decided it would be better to make him some kind of boss fight. Also, i think the circumstances of the Didact turning into Flood would have to be awfully extreme. Especially seeing as how he is a highly skilled/equipped and advanced warrior who has spent hundreds of thousands of years fighting the Flood.

Chief and Cortana have a unique bond between each other. After everything they had been through, fighting the Covenant on the Halo installations and Earth. Both of them bringing an end to the Human and Covenant War, while also simultaneously stopping (or delaying, however you want to interpret it it) the Flood threat. They have been through absolute hell and then cut off from the rest of the Galaxy not knowing if they will ever see another living soul again. By the time Requiem happens, Cortana is decaying and falling into rampancy. While she is counting down her last days of whatever life she has left. She begins to reflect on her own existence and what it will mean when the rampancy finally takes over. While she sees the inevitable demise right around the corner, she can't help but wish she was more human. Even though she was constructed to imitate humanity, she has no idea what it feels like to be human. She envy's Chief because he IS human. Yet he acts like more of a machine than she does. Halo 4 is not a love story. While there are some plutonic undertones in the sub plot between Cortana and Chief, it is more centered around the two of them finding their own identities. Cortana just happens to come to this realization much quicker than Chief because of her Rampancy. (next part is speculation at this point) Now that Cortana is dead, it is not completely unreasonable to believe that we could see more personality from the Master Chief in Halo 5. Cortana's rampancy plants the seeds in John's mind that he could lose Cortana. We start to see this when Captain Del Rio angrily demands the surrender of Cortana. The Master Chief tells him no. It may be the first time we see John begin to think for himself and act insubordinate. The man is a soldier. He was bred all of his life to follow orders and kill the enemy. But now he is beginning to do the exact opposite. He is deciding for himself what is more important than duty and following orders. Cortana has always been a part of him. Perhaps the only aspect of humanity the Master Chief has ever had or understood. Cortana was his friend. And now he has lost her. The e3 trailer showed the Master Chief still wearing the same armor he has been sporting since Halo 2. But now the armor looks more damaged than it ever has. Which would suggest that the Chief may have had a falling out with the UNSC or someone high up in the command structure as a result of his actions in Halo 4. This theory, if true would support the idea that the Chief is thinking more for himself and that he may be on more than just a search for resurrecting Cortana, but also finding his own identity along the way.

Yes they are quite one dimensional. But from a writer's perspective they can be used as a great tool to enhance the story of or depth of human characters (ie: Borg and Star Trek). Something that Bungie never really utilized in their games. If 343 decide to reintroduce the Flood into future games, they would be wise to incorporate some of this into the story.

All this talk about the Flood, and the likelyhood that they are still out there (in whatever capacity) leads me to speculate what the future might hold for the Halo series. What if at some point the Flood do make a resurgence and finally become as much of a threat to the galaxy now as they did to the forerunners so many years ago. And what if it possibly lead to the Masterchief or some other inidivudal/group to decide that the Halo rings are the only solution. I think if that was told right, it could bring the story to a full circle and might make for a dramatic ending worthy of the franchise.

I agree, it was a fun addition to the campaign. But it felt a little bit out of place.

Why is there a gravity hammer in the last level of Halo 4? Don't get me wrong, its a badFLOWER weapon and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was available for use in the campaign. But does a Brute weapon have any kind of tie-in to the story at all? There were obviously no Brutes featured in Halo 4, and the gravity hammer is the only Brute weapon (that I know of) thats accessible through the campaign. Elites and other Covenant races don't use the gravity hammer either. So it wouldn't make sense that this splinter group of Covenant would be using Brute weapons. So how does the gravity hammer come to find its way on Didact's ship? Or did 343 just throw it in there for nostalgic purposes knowing that it would be widely welcomed by players to unleash on Promethean Knights? I'm probably looking a little too much into this.