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[cormack12]

I've been replaying all the campaigns on co-op to jog the early memories of CE and 2, and fill in the gaps I never did (ODST, Reach). My mate generally just skips al the cutscenes which is fine I guess - he has a kid so his time is more restricted. So I ended up watching them on youtube. Still a little confused I read some bulleted lists on waypoint and reddit but they still didn't really explain it chronologically and linked to the games. Anyway I stumbled on this youtube video which did a good enough job



And it's actually quite deep. The lore kind of ...I dunno. I don't wanna say it deserves better games because many are products of their time but some of the bigger moments in the storyline really need contextualising and more justice given to them.

What do you think GAF? Please do watch the video if you need a refresher or find a clearly bulleted list for the full order of events

 

[Mr.ODST]

After watching the Multiplayer Showcase again in 4K and the story cutscene, it looks incredible now just really hope they hit the nail on the head

Atriox is a great antagonist and was great in Halo Wars 2 (the game leading to Infinite) and the ycan do some awesome stuff, major thing is the Temple of Pain? where the Forerunners experimented with Humans and Flood, really hope we get to go in one because those horror type levels really helped pace the game well.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I like it. I want to see where Cortana went wrong in her plan to take over the galaxy. How the Banished play a part. Why would a man made smart A.I(The Weapon) be able to subdue Cortana who evolved when she assimilated Forerunner tech? I also hope you encounter other Blue Team Spartans on the Halo.

 

[Corgi1985]

The warden eternal and everything about the prometheans is complete ass

 

[anthony2690]

I like halo, but I can't tell you anything about the story, the only memorable moments are everyone dying at the end of reach and cortona going rogue at the end of 5 in my opinion (I really liked halo 5 and it's campaign, I thought the levels and firefights were the best in the series) But I know I am in the minority when it comes to that (please don't burn me on a stake) haha.

I mean when everyone says halo 1-3 had this incredible story, I just don't see it.

Loved the series/games though.

From looking at the trailers alone for infinite, it looks like it could have more interesting characters and story.

(I've never read any of the books though)

Edit: definitely going to get round to watching the video some point this week

 

[elliot5]

Haven't played 5 but heard the story is weak there. Halo 4 story kinda lost me with the Didact and all that.

I think Halo 2 has the best story by far. The political intrigue, the dual story telling, the deeper lens into the covenant and flood. The H2A stuff with 343 guilty spark was pretty cool to kinda round everything out and layer it together.

Halo 3 has a good campaign, but I didn't care for the story

PLaying through Reach now and it's got a good campaign and story. Definitely better than I remember.

 

[Mr.ODST]

I like halo, but I can't tell you anything about the story, the only memorable moments are everyone dying at the end of reach and cortona going rogue at the end of 5 in my opinion (I really liked halo 5 and it's campaign, I thought the levels and firefights were the best in the series) But I know I am in the minority when it comes to that (please don't burn me on a stake) haha.

I mean when everyone says halo 1-3 had this incredible story, I just don't see it.

Loved the series/games though.

From looking at the trailers alone for infinite, it looks like it could have more interesting characters and story.

(I've never read any of the books though)

Books are incredible, the world is absolutely amazing, 100% worth reading

 

[anthony2690]

Books are incredible, the world is absolutely amazing, 100% worth reading

I've been hearing this a lot actually and hear it adds a lot to the games, that is actually why I mentioned I hadn't read the books, I might check if they are digitally available on amazon, but from the games alone I honestly couldn't tell anyone much about the story if they asked haha

 

[Dolomite]

I did a youtube run through of all the halo cutscenes to refresh my memory and catch me up on what I missed. The lore is very rich. Challenges you at points. The books, are insane

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Quite frankly, I can't recall ever being more excited for a Halo game. I've always felt Halo can be perfect for an RPGish format, and this is as close as we'll ever come with this semi open world approach they've gone with. I'm dying to see how they incorporate "The Weapon" into the overall story, finding out what truly transpired with Cortana (I have some solid theories of what could be happening), very eager to learn the current state of things with humanity, and what is up exactly with Laskey and the rest of the UNSC Infinity crew. I want to see what threat the banished will pose. There are so many interlinking story threads that make where they take this infinitely more exciting.

And considering this will be an evolving, possibly 10 year effort, there could be some major story additions to this package.

 

[Mr.ODST]

I've been hearing this a lot actually and hear it adds a lot to the games, that is actually why I mentioned I hadn't read the books, I might check if they are digitally available on amazon, but from the games alone I honestly couldn't tell anyone much about the story if they asked haha

IGN arnt fully accurate with everything but should keep you up to date

Btw the Story is COMPLEX AS FUCK

 

[anthony2690]

IGN arnt fully accurate with everything but should keep you up to date

Btw the Story is COMPLEX AS FUCK

I'll definitely give this a watch, probably best for me to recap before infinite anyway

Actually just realised, I've never played odst actually!

 

[Kuranghi]

I generally just remember scenarios and one-liners from the Halo games, even when I got Halo 2 early and I had no commitments and literally say for more than a day playing it I had no idea about the intricacies of the story.

I can still recall the design and flow of entire levels from Halo 1 and 2 though so I think it just wasn't my focus.

 

[Mr.ODST]

I'll definitely give this a watch, probably best for me to recap before infinite anyway

Actually just realised, I've never played odst actually!

This video doesnt include Halo Wars 2 story, which is the lead up for infinite and Atriox but sure there is something

 

[intbal]

Actually just realised, I've never played odst actually!

That's my favorite Halo game.
And the only one I replay regularly.

 

[Bragr]

I think there is a difference between deep lore and a lot of lore. Halo has a lot of lore, not deep. I think the ideas around the Halo's and humanities exploration of space are cool and Bungie were absolute geniuses with how they managed to craft a game that feels embedded into the feeling of a lone warrior embedded into a space opera of sorts. It's like Yojimbo in space.

I think the best take from Halo and the lore are how Bungie pulled off designing a universe that felt lived in and interesting right from the get-go. And I love that they don't explore every major story event, it makes it more interesting when you come across hints of what has happened. I think it lends a lot to the games that the first Halo didn't tell you much of anything.

However, most of the story is by the numbers, especially the parts with the flood and the wars on Earth. If you love great sci-fi, Halo is not gonna satisfy you. Halo's story works best when it's quiet and you discover it through Master Chief's eyes and how the world unfolds before you.

 

[mejin]

Although the lore has potential, the story was always the weak part in the games imo

Bungie did only the necessary and 343i is just inferior in every way.

But I never really cared since the objetive was mostly the fun of shooting things.

 

[Griffon]

It's schlock.

 

[Kev Kev]

i never cared for making cortana the villain. but i really enjoy halo lore other than that. read a lot of the books back in the day and there is some really great content in the halo universe.

 

[anthony2690]

This video doesnt include Halo Wars 2 story, which is the lead up for infinite and Atriox but sure there is something

I played wars 2, except the expansion, I thought the story was good in that, if not better than the main games

Completely forgot about wars till you mentioned it

 

[Stephen Curry]

Everything 343 has done so far in the story is good in theory but horribly executed. I was so hyped for Halo 5 with the trailers and the Hunt The Truth podcast and was genuinely interested in the possibility of a Master Chief vs ONI story. But then you play the game and it has nothing to do with that and is just embarrassing schlock. The Master Chief and Locke fight is a horrible piece of cringe that has been burned into my brain.

The banished on the lore rich Zeta Halo has me really interested though for Infinite and it seems to be written WAY better than 4/5.

 

[SCB3]

Everything 343 has done so far in the story is good in theory but horribly executed. I was so hyped for Halo 5 with the trailers and the Hunt The Truth podcast and was genuinely interested in the possibility of a Master Chief vs ONI story. But then you play the game and it has nothing to do with that and is just embarrassing schlock. The Master Chief and Locke fight is a horrible piece of cringe that has been burned into my brain.

The banished on the lore rich Zeta Halo has me really interested though for Infinite and it seems to be written WAY better than 4/5.

What I find weird is Bungie and 343i have an issue with making human sized enemies to be Bosses, like Destiny has bad Guardians in lore, but we never fight them in the game, same with Halo, we could've had a Spartan vs Spartan fight in game but it was relegated to a Cutscene

I need to replay Halo 5, was waiting on a PC version like the MCC when I last replayed them, but Series S will have to do before Infinite

 

[Stephen Curry]

What I find weird is Bungie and 343i have an issue with making human sized enemies to be Bosses, like Destiny has bad Guardians in lore, but we never fight them in the game, same with Halo, we could've had a Spartan vs Spartan fight in game but it was relegated to a Cutscene

I need to replay Halo 5, was waiting on a PC version like the MCC when I last replayed them, but Series S will have to do before Infinite

I believe in one of the 343 Q&A's someone asked if we would fight human insurgents in Infinite because The Banished allow them to join. 343 said MC stands as a savior of humanity so having him kill humans would dirty that up a bit.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Story was good until 5 butchered everything.

 

[Naked Lunch]

Halo's story is one of the best sci-fi epics out there.
The crazy thing is, the games are just a small blip of the overall story. Books and comics, even anime shorts and mini series shows, have been steadily releasing for 20 years now - and they are all in continuity. Even the Dave and Busters arcade Halo shooter is set in the lore. Ive been impressed by nearly every Halo book and comic ive tried - theres too many to keep track of at this point.

The core over-arching story has apparently been mapped out years and years ago.
I think sticking to the core lore map is why they keep having trouble with the shows and movie(s). You keep hearing from dropping directors complaining that "the Halo people" want to stick to their roadmap too closely. In my eyes, this is a good thing. Rather than just giving a one off show or movie to some hotshot director who wants to change everything in the plans. The series and story is much bigger than one movie or show - its been building for 20 years now.

Halo 5 was a rough patch, but I think it was hurt by not having another game for a long long time - I think the story they were trying to tell would have panned out in the end. From my memory, Halo 4 was the start of 343's trilogy - obviously the trilogy didnt happen - and its been nearly 6 years since H5.

Infinite gives them a chance to jump ahead far past 5 and start relatively fresh while still keeping mysteries for long timers. The small cut scene we just saw at e3 2021 with the Chief and AI really hit home with me - even after all this time - the Halo universe still feels like it has so much potential.

 

[Fart Knight]

Never gave a shit about the story.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I liked Halo 1-3's story and really liked Halo Reach(although it was sad what happened)

 

[Karmic Raze]

I’ve enjoyed the story thus far. I thought Halo 5’s way of trying to turn Master Chief into the villain was very interesting indeed. Halo: Infinite is going to be one hell of a game, and I am really looking forward to getting my hands on it. It’s my most anticipated Halo game since 3 and that’s saying a lot.

 

[godhandiscen]

It’s a mess. I beat the five main games and I don’t get what happened in 5 or the state of the universe, moreover I kinda stopped caring.

 

[Hobbygaming]

The little snippet of cinematics we saw at E3 was very interesting, the story might be good

 

[TheGrat1]

Garbage. All of the lore in Halo 2 and 3 is thrown in the garbage because we are STILL fighting the covenant. We finished the fight and forged a truce with the Sanghelli if not all of the Covenant and 3 games later they are still the things we shoot. I watched Halo 4's story on youtube and was bored to tears. Little doubt that 5 is any better and Infinite looks like it is trying to be a game that you play forever and never reach a satisfying conclusion. A game as a service.

Expectations: Rock bottom.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

i never cared for making cortana the villain. but i really enjoy halo lore other than that. read a lot of the books back in the day and there is some really great content in the halo universe.

Is Cortana really the villain, or is the Forerunner legacy and desire to reclaim dominance over the galaxy the real villain with Cortana just being a consequence of bigger coming events?

 

[01011001]

well it was a steep decline since Halo 4...

 

[Balducci30]

I've been replaying all the campaigns on co-op to jog the early memories of CE and 2, and fill in the gaps I never did (ODST, Reach). My mate generally just skips al the cutscenes which is fine I guess - he has a kid so his time is more restricted. So I ended up watching them on youtube. Still a little confused I read some bulleted lists on waypoint and reddit but they still didn't really explain it chronologically and linked to the games. Anyway I stumbled on this youtube video which did a good enough job



And it's actually quite deep. The lore kind of ...I dunno. I don't wanna say it deserves better games because many are products of their time but some of the bigger moments in the storyline really need contextualising and more justice given to them.

What do you think GAF? Please do watch the video if you need a refresher or find a clearly bulleted list for the full order of events

The lore is actually way more intense than I ever realized - kinda cool. But I don’t usually play games for the story so…

 

[Exanthus]

I'm playing Halo Wars 2 again. I love the Banished.

 

[Hendrick's]

I've had no idea what is going on with Halo's story since CE. Hope for a soft reboot with Infinite.

 

[Pagusas]

I think Halo had an amazing lore build up before and right after the original game launch. I feel the hight of it was the I love bees audiobook/thing. But halo 2 and on is where it just fell apart. It’s obvious they had no plan or idea what they wanted to do. Once we got to Halo 3 it was just a horrible horrible story (gameplay was amazing though). Halo Reach took what was a very good video game book and turned it into a horrible narrative, and changes several key facts for the worse. Halo 4 made it a billion times worse by trying to force the lore down everyone’s throat (which would be fine if it was actually good lore they were writing, but it was crazy horrible fan fiction bad stuff). Halo 5 then doubled down on the horrible writing. How the heck did those script writers end up with that job? Does MS not give them any budget?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Excited about cliffhanger at then end of Halo 5.

Halo series has such deep lore and world building, disappointed it's not served on a platter in game. Even the audiologs in Halo 5 don't have much. You really have to watch the show and read the novels.

But good thing is it doesn't get in the way of the action.

 

[Crew511A]

I've had no idea what is going on with Halo's story since CE. Hope for a soft reboot with Infinite.

I think they almost have to do a retcon of some sort. I enjoyed Halo 5's MP, but there's no salvaging the existing story at this point.

 

[BigTnaples]

I love Halo lore. Up until 5 it was one of my favorite storylines, and still is one of my favorite as far as lore. At a certain time I had read every book, listened to every Halo Waypoint video/vid doc/ and lore page. It’s just so rich.
That said the story line for Halo 5 left me feeling so disconnected from the franchise. I am hoping they bring me back. Looks like they are trying to write themselves out of it based on the cortana like AI interaction in the trailer. Just hope they can right the ship on this one. I want to love halo again. The Radio Drama they released before Halo 5 had a more engaging plot than the game IMO.

 

[ZehDon]

Garbage. All of the lore in Halo 2 and 3 is thrown in the garbage because we are STILL fighting the covenant. We finished the fight and forged a truce with the Sanghelli if not all of the Covenant and 3 games later they are still the things we shoot. I watched Halo 4's story on youtube and was bored to tears. Little doubt that 5 is any better and Infinite looks like it is trying to be a game that you play forever and never reach a satisfying conclusion. A game as a service.

Expectations: Rock bottom.

I wouldn't quite say "garbage" myself, but yeah - I can echo the disappointment that we're still fighting the same enemies. I get that there are in-universe explanations - splinter factions and all that - but it feels like a re-tread instead of a push forward. The Prophets of the Covenant were defeated; that should've changed something. 343i's attempt at something new with the Promethians failed not because fans are opposed to fighting new enemies, but because those enemies were poorly designed and not really all that fun to fight. Hopefully there's more going on in Infinite than just "Covenant are back, and surprise! The flood is back, too! Please love our game! Please!!"

 

[elliot5]

Im fine with killing brutes and "covenant" in Infinite, but I really hope there's no flood. I know in the audio log on one inside infinite someone thinks they heard a flood noise, but idk.

The flood was very played out by the time I was done with Halo Wars and my playthrough of 1-3 recently. I'm over them. Covenant don't get old to me though.

 

[godhandiscen]

I think Halo had an amazing lore build up before and right after the original game launch. I feel the hight of it was the I love bees audiobook/thing. But halo 2 and on is where it just fell apart. It’s obvious they had no plan or idea what they wanted to do. Once we got to Halo 3 it was just a horrible horrible story (gameplay was amazing though). Halo Reach took what was a very good video game book and turned it into a horrible narrative, and changes several key facts for the worse. Halo 4 made it a billion times worse by trying to force the lore down everyone’s throat (which would be fine if it was actually good lore they were writing, but it was crazy horrible fan fiction bad stuff). Halo 5 then doubled down on the horrible writing. How the heck did those script writers end up with that job? Does MS not give them any budget?

The trilogy of books before Halo 4 was written by a multiple award winning author. I remember reading the first book in the trilogy; it had nothing to do with Halo but it was a good story. The following book was a tougher read and lost my interest.

I agree with you that everything after Halo 3 is just going downhill.

Is Cortana really the villain, or is the Forerunner legacy and desire to reclaim dominance over the galaxy the real villain with Cortana just being a consequence of bigger coming events?

So Cortana was being used by the Forerunners? Was that clear in Halo 5? All I remember is Cortana became evil.

 

[Pagusas]

The trilogy of books before Halo 4 was written by a multiple award winning author. I remember reading the first book in the trilogy; it had nothing to do with Halo but it was a good story. The following book was a tougher read and lost my interest.

I agree with you that everything after Halo 3 is just going downhill.



So Cortana was being used by the Forerunners? Was that clear in Halo 5? All I remember is Cortana became evil.

the implication I got from it was the tried and true cliche: absolute power corrupts absolutely. Cortana was not an exception to that rule.

 

[godhandiscen]

the implication I got from it was the tried and true cliche: absolute power corrupts absolutely. Cortana was not an exception to that rule.

Yeah I cannot remember her motivation other than the whole “AI’s get corrupted after 7 years.”

I think that Bungie just stringed along the fan base with questions upon questions (forerunners, flood origin’s, etc), mysteries that were never answered in game. Clearly, nobody had an idea of what would be good answers to these questions, so when 343i tried to advance the plot, they just failed because nothing lived up to the expectations of fans.

After playing through the story of Destiny I realized that these stories full of mystery were just a big ponzi that would have blown up on Bungie’s hands or anybody else’s.

 

[Pagusas]

Yeah I cannot remember her motivation other than the whole “AI’s get corrupted after 7 years.”

I think that Bungie just stringed along the fan base with questions upon questions (forerunners, flood origin’s, etc), mysteries that were never answered in game. Clearly, nobody had an idea of what would be good answers to these questions, so when 343i tried to advance the plot, they just failed because nothing lived up to the expectations of fans.

After playing through the story of Destiny I realized that these stories full of mystery were just a big ponzi that would have blown up on Bungie’s hands or anybody else’s.

its a common Hollywood trick, something JJ Abrams has mastered. Dangle a mystery in front of the audience for as long as you can, once they get tired of your misdirection , quickly make something up and act like it was planned from the beginning. The days of fully written bibles and such are long gone, no one wants to invest all their energy into future projects they don’t even know will get green lit, so make a story with lots of mysteries that you’ll write yourself out of later.

 

[Vasto]

I will watch this video tonight. Halo's story is amazing.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Atroix was awesome, feels like the Banished villian has been done with Atroix already so I'm not really feeling that side of things. It appears we will be chasing Cortana again given this E3 campaign snippet, it just feels a little recycled to be honest. I hope they basically push through all that within the first act of the campaign and move on to new stuff that you discover along the way for the second and third acts. A bit like CE. Overall I want consistency with a Halo campaign and a continous story I can go along with e.g. Halo 1-3. This is where I thought they'd announce battle pass PvE content that pushed the campaign along each quarter or year for example. I really don't want to wait 3-6 years to get another disconjointed story fix. A one shot deal for campaign is a little tiresome these days, something like Destiny strikes and raids with actual story progression and cutscenes released regularly would be very welcomed. If it was cohesive with some of the books at the same time that would be a double bonus.

Halo 4 and all the terminals was the best campaign lore dump of all the Halo campaigns. Halo 5 literally set a new destination pin and left that all behind. Infinite seems like a reboot again, hopefully it's written well and executed even better.

 

[Shmunter]

Looks much better now. Hope fans get what they want!

 

[Rentahamster]

It was cool until Bungie left.

Making the humans a spacefaring race in the past that got de-evolved is ridiculous. It's like Bungie was foreshadowing one thing and then 343i went and did something different.

It feels like they're just throwing shit at the walls to see what sticks.