-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
The Official Halo 3 Thread
- Thread starter GhaleonEB
- Start date
- Status
GhaleonEB said:
Yeah, I think a lot of that was the result of people just bitching endlessly about the Arbiter's story in Halo 2, but I would have loved it if they went into some of the deeper shit there, like the Elite's getting some sort of revenge against the Brutes beyond the Covenant just sorta' vanishing once the Arbiter cut down Truth. Seemed to go out with a whimper instead of the Elites getting any true victory of any kind. Arbiter got his revenge, but that was about it.
GodfatherX
Member
TTG said:
or marathon depending on what you see on that planet's surface
Ajemsuhgao
Member
A friend and I just broke The Covenant while looking for anything Recon-armor related. :lol
I ended up triggering the "Revelation" area well before I was supposed to somehow. So that was kind of loaded before the lightbridge was activated. The Cortana effect AND the cutscene started overlapping eachother once we got inside. And after that, the letterbox stayed while we fought our way through the enemies. We could only see the targeting reticle, and the VERY top of our motion tracker. None of our followers were helping until way late into the fight. We went into the little rooms with Truth's holograms, and my friend could actually stand ON the chair, as if it were a solid object. And Truth's hologram model was pushed OUT of the chair. Our allies started ATTACKING the hologram. They pushed it into the wall, and just continued to beat it until the hologram's message stopped. :lol
We also got passed some pretty interesting barriers, and I got stuck under ground a few times. We completely bypassed the Scarab loading area, but ended up getting stuck in an area that was surrounded by death barriers. Approaching Halo 3 HIH style is fun...in co-op. Playing alone and doing what we did would be a total mess. So many deaths...
I ended up triggering the "Revelation" area well before I was supposed to somehow. So that was kind of loaded before the lightbridge was activated. The Cortana effect AND the cutscene started overlapping eachother once we got inside. And after that, the letterbox stayed while we fought our way through the enemies. We could only see the targeting reticle, and the VERY top of our motion tracker. None of our followers were helping until way late into the fight. We went into the little rooms with Truth's holograms, and my friend could actually stand ON the chair, as if it were a solid object. And Truth's hologram model was pushed OUT of the chair. Our allies started ATTACKING the hologram. They pushed it into the wall, and just continued to beat it until the hologram's message stopped. :lol
We also got passed some pretty interesting barriers, and I got stuck under ground a few times. We completely bypassed the Scarab loading area, but ended up getting stuck in an area that was surrounded by death barriers. Approaching Halo 3 HIH style is fun...in co-op. Playing alone and doing what we did would be a total mess. So many deaths...
Scarecrow
Member
Ten-Song said:
I almost missed a bit of passive radio dialogue right after the double scarab battle where an elite mentioned that Truth's fleet was falling apart/defeated. Thought that was a little passive for such a turning point in the game. And I reeeally wanted to fight Gravemind.
goldenpp72
Member
So I beat the last level of legendary in full the other night by myself, I have all legendary badges for single player, is there any way to see them online or can I only see them on my console.
As long as we're talking about the story (good, we should be), I'm going to avoid the Arbiter storyline for now because I get way to passionate and my head explodes. However, I need to talk about Gravemind:
Why do I keep seeing that people are upset about not being able to fight Gravemind? Who wants to fight some lame, the-doors-lock-behind-you boss fight against some giant thing with a lot of tentacles. Stupid.
I took it to mean, total.Proelite said:
Ouch.
the disgruntled gamer said:
I personally didn't want to fight him per se, just see him. From a story telling perspective, he was one of the two arch-villains (Truth being the other), and having him only appear as voice and a few tentacles was odd. And really, I just wanted to see him realized in Halo 3. So much of the Halo 3 art closely matches the concept work, from the environments to enemies; much more so than the previous games. The concept work for Gravemind was pretty awesome, but the Halo 2 implementation was....not. So on a purely curious level, I wanted to see him done proper. Alas.
siamesedreamer
Banned
Skilotonn said:
Its the "spine throwing monsters" that make the level so gawd awful. They can plant themselves virtually anywhere and can cut you in half in about 3 seconds. Its ridiculously cheap. There were times where I would die on purpose just to see if those things would set up in a different way.
That's how I took it. My first play through, they slaughtered me since I tend to take mostly short-range power weapons into Flood combat. But there's an abundance of spikers, plasma rifles, carbines and brute shots throughout the level; those guys gave me even less trouble this time through since I equipped myself properly and knew they would shut down after a quick burst of fire. I thought it was a nice change of pace to the usual Flood battles.the disgruntled gamer said:
GhaleonEB said:
See, I like the way they left the ending. Not wide open, but there's room for you to use your imagination. See, I always get mad about this in movies, because people these days want a happy and conclusive ending, all the time. That's why I hate them. People say, "I spent money on this movie, and they just kill the character at the end?" Yes, they did, and you should thank them. If they made you form an emotional bond to a character so you were wishing that character wouldn't be killed, you should be thankful that so much care was put into this character. This is why I was hoping the ending would have MC die. But this ending was okay with me too. It really sums up what MC is: A slave to war.
As I was saying about conclusivness: I'm not looking for a sloppy, half-baked ending that explains nothing, but an ending that implies some things, and leaves things open to your imagination is great.
As I was saying about conclusivness: I'm not looking for a sloppy, half-baked ending that explains nothing, but an ending that implies some things, and leaves things open to your imagination is great.
I need to note that I'm not trying to attack you, and with my big rant I forget what I'm responding too, but I'm not attcking your idea of the storytelling. It's interperetive. Unlike Shotty Snipers opinions.
the disgruntled gamer said:
I'm all for some ambiguity in the story telling department; that's a Halo staple. But for a conclusion of a trilogy, I though the game did relatively little to establish which plot threads had been taken care of. But that's me; I have IQ of a roasted almond. I was hoping some curtains would be pulled back a bit, as Bungie had said would be the case. I have exactly as many questions now as I did before I played the game.
t4ng0 said:
I'm sure this was already discussed in length, but whatever, the legendary ending is new to me :lol
The way they left it with chief saying "wake me when you need me" leaves the door open for a whole separate game or even series of games that have nothing to do with the first 3 Halo games. They would just be in the same universe. Cortana could wake him up 15 years later, or when they land on the planet. There's also a LOT of story to be told. The subject of forerunners is left pretty much the same way it was in the 2nd game. Although Guilty Spark makes it much more obvious that forerunners were the "predecessors" there's nothing outside of that. I don't think the next Bungie game will be called Halo 4, but there's a good chance it will feature MC and maybe Cortana. There are too many hints and too much story still untold... oh yea and Halo has the biggest following of any franchise this gen(and last?).
The way they left it with chief saying "wake me when you need me" leaves the door open for a whole separate game or even series of games that have nothing to do with the first 3 Halo games. They would just be in the same universe. Cortana could wake him up 15 years later, or when they land on the planet. There's also a LOT of story to be told. The subject of forerunners is left pretty much the same way it was in the 2nd game. Although Guilty Spark makes it much more obvious that forerunners were the "predecessors" there's nothing outside of that. I don't think the next Bungie game will be called Halo 4, but there's a good chance it will feature MC and maybe Cortana. There are too many hints and too much story still untold... oh yea and Halo has the biggest following of any franchise this gen(and last?).
the disgruntled gamer said:
Neither did I really. On Legendary there are so many of them though. :O
When one of my friends and I were going through co-op the only thing he complained about was the frequent Gravemind/Cortana acid trips. It did become a bit tedious, but I prefer something like that over a FMV or bloated movies between levels. Even though I have an aversion to FMV heavy games, I do enjoy Halo's (not sure if Halo's are technically FMV's). The cinematic feel of Halo 3 is off the chain.
TTG said:
Wrong. I'm not talking about some fucking ad campaign, I'm talking about the game's ending. He begins the series coming out of cyro-sleep. He ends the series going into cyro-sleep. The ending was never going to be that he saves earth and spends his days relaxing on the beach with his helmet off. He battles, he sleeps, and he battles more. The emotional connection with the player is established mainly through his relationship with Cortana that is shared with the player, and through what the player has done with/as the chief. He fights for humanity. He is a hero of Humanity, but only in war, not peace.
Pudding Tame
Member
GhaleonEB said:
Well given how important the Ark is Truth more than likely attacked Earth with every loyal ship at his disposal, minus the ones left behind at the Delta Halo to finish off the Elites there. Given that his fleet had to deal with the orbital Super-MAC defense grid and then the remains of the Elites' fleet. Truth's Fleet (as well as everyone else's for that matter) suffered a huge ammount of attrition.
While grudges may remain in the Covenant against the Elites, the ability to act on them would more than likely be curtailed by the destruction of Truth's fleet and the fact that the Elites were the ship builders of the Covenant. Giving them an overwhelming advantage if any of the other races were foolish enough to take them on.
As for the Flood, Gravemind was destroyed and the outbreak was stopped. All the other Flood are quarantined (and hopefully dormant) on the other Halos.
While grudges may remain in the Covenant against the Elites, the ability to act on them would more than likely be curtailed by the destruction of Truth's fleet and the fact that the Elites were the ship builders of the Covenant. Giving them an overwhelming advantage if any of the other races were foolish enough to take them on.
As for the Flood, Gravemind was destroyed and the outbreak was stopped. All the other Flood are quarantined (and hopefully dormant) on the other Halos.
Grecco said:
Marathon spoilers to follow.
In terms of that there is an Earth in Marathon and there is an Earth in Halo, yeah, they're in the same universes. Marathon also takes place nearly 200 years later than the events in Halo, so sure, its possible. However, that would beg the question: Why would the Chief not have his MJOLNIR armor if he was the Security Officer? Also, there is (cryptic) mention of you being the last of the cyborgs that was on the Marathon (which is really the hollowed out Martian moon of Deimos) of 10? 9? something like that, directly from Durandal. I would think it to be a huge stretch of the imagination to think about crossing the universes like that, given the discrepancies (the absence of Cortana would be explained, however, by her limited life span of seven years (although I would not be surprised to find out she has discovered a way to 'beat death.'
Just my thoughts.
Just my thoughts.
the disgruntled gamer said:
It was just an example. Bungie has the same aproach to the main character as Valve, for example. There's not a lot of backstory because they want you to more readily assume the role of MC. Ofcourse MC/you never feel exploited as there's no G man. MC is a spartan more than just in the name, he plays the role of one in the Halo universe.
notice HE says "wake me when you need me" and there's a clear expression across Cortana's face as though she wishes to say something more, but decides not to. The people never get to say goodbye for obvious reasons. I don't think MC is ever portrayed as a slave anymore than any softspoken hero of an action/war movie.
Pudding Tame
Member
Havok said:
Adding my two cents too.
I've seen a lot of speculation that the thing seen at the end of the legenday ending was the Marathon. However if anybody has seen Deimos (or Phobos for that matter) neither of them look like what we would traditionally call a moon. They are both just big asteroids orbiting Mars, and look nothing like what was seen in the ending.
Also, Marathon didn't start with you waking up from a cryo-sleep. You started the game just escaped from a shuttle that Durandul took over and wanted to destroy. Though questions to your identity did arise during the games.
As for Cortana, it heavily implied and pretty much directly stated that her time with the Gravemind has made her go rampant,much like Durandal. And like Durandal she has also stablelized, and more than likely isn't bound by the 7 year life span anymore.
I've seen a lot of speculation that the thing seen at the end of the legenday ending was the Marathon. However if anybody has seen Deimos (or Phobos for that matter) neither of them look like what we would traditionally call a moon. They are both just big asteroids orbiting Mars, and look nothing like what was seen in the ending.
Also, Marathon didn't start with you waking up from a cryo-sleep. You started the game just escaped from a shuttle that Durandul took over and wanted to destroy. Though questions to your identity did arise during the games.
As for Cortana, it heavily implied and pretty much directly stated that her time with the Gravemind has made her go rampant,much like Durandal. And like Durandal she has also stablelized, and more than likely isn't bound by the 7 year life span anymore.
TTG said:
Read Fall of Reach and/or Cortana's conversation from Conversations from the Universe from the Halo 2 LE.
radjago said:
The colony ship UESC Marathon was the hollowed out moon of Deimos, so folks assume that since this big ol' planetoid at the end has a technological look to it, it must have a connection. I don't subscribe to that particular newsletter though, for reasons I listed in a post above.
Pudding Tame said:
The problem with the idea of her being rampant by Marathon standards (although, yeah, she does apparently go through the three stages pretty blatantly), is that we don't know the effect of rampancy on a lifespan (since as far as I know, Marathon never explicitly stated the lifespan of the three AI on board, although as we know, Durandal was afraid of death, as seen in Marathon Infinity). I doubt any Halo AI besides Cortana has ever had control of as large of a network as she did while she was in Installation 04 or while on High Charity. I'm beginning to border on a subject I know I don't have time to continue to talk about, so I'll leave it at that...I wish I didn't have work to get done or this would get interesting.
arhra
Member
GhaleonEB said:
Doesn't necessarily have to have been purely an assumption - remember that she was in the Gravemind's clutches, being ripped apart for information - it could have been her plan to lure it to the Ark by giving up information leading it that way.
Also, i've been thinking about the Legendary ending.
It clearly shows the ship drifting over what appears to be a Forerunner planet (the patterns of lights are highly similar to the patterns seen in the terrain of the Ark, and the patterns seen across all the Forerunner architecture). Now, assuming it was merely a random malfunction of the portal mechanism caused by the Halo blowing up, what are the odds it'd drop us out right on top of a Forerunner planet? Pretty damn slim, i'd guess. However, think back to the last level. More specifically, think back to the Terminal on the last level. On Legendary, it contains a message from Mendicant Bias, addressed directly to the Chief. The last page says
Now, the 'path ahead' part could just be referring to the 'hog run to get off the Halo, which definitely could have used some help keeping stable, but i think it's more than that. I think he was referring to the portal mechanism. What if he had managed to gain control of the portal, and was working to keep it running and stable long enough for us to get away from the Halo pulse successfully? And what if he took advantage of that fact to do a little shuffling of endpoint coordinates, so that the Chief and Cortana got dumped out near whatever's left of Forerunner civilisation (although what that would consist of, i don't know; some kind of retirement home for eons-old AI constructs?), in order to fulfil those last two sentences.
Finally, a random bit of quasi-spoilery almost-related-but-not-really-beyond-themes-and-ideas trivia - one of the terminals in Marathon 2 (entitled "PERSONALITY CONSTRUCTS SEEKING CYBORGS"), contains the following:
DAMSEL IN DISTRESS. Captured and
partially-disassembled human-coded AI
trapped on alien homeworld seeks succor
from a tall, dark and handsome cyborg with
big guns. Let my rescue be the basis of a
lasting relationship. MRa4451 (5/23).
partially-disassembled human-coded AI
trapped on alien homeworld seeks succor
from a tall, dark and handsome cyborg with
big guns. Let my rescue be the basis of a
lasting relationship. MRa4451 (5/23).
Remind you of anyone?
There's a few bits like that - onTen-Song said:
Floodgate, when the Elites turn up, there's a snippet of dialogue between one of the Elites and the Arbiter that talks about High Charity falling to the Flood, and something about the Flood 'evolving' (presumably meaning the appearance of the pure forms). It's really easy to miss, and even when you realise it's there it's incredibly hard to make out properly.
edit: The whole
Marathon
The two universes have way too many discrepancies for them to be meshed, not least of which is why the Marathon would be a subluminal ship over 200 years after humans are shown in Halo to be fairly adept at superluminal travel. The timelines simply don't match in the slightest. If you check out some of the earliest interviews and whatnot with Bungie people about Halo (back when it was a mac game), it seems clear that they may have been considering linking it explicitly to the Marathon universe at some point, but it also seems fairly clear (to me at least), that they abandoned that idea fairly early on, instead just sticking to the thematic and iconographic linkages.
StriKeVillain
Banned
Wow, this page is all spoilers.
Pudding Tame
Member
Havok said:
Damn, I think you're right. Now I'm wondering where exactly in my ass I pulled that out from.
However I learned that the Security officer can't be the Chief. From the Marathon manual; "Now, you fall into your old habit, and begin to daydream about your childhood on Mars, your father's death when you were seven..." Page 4. The Master Chief was born on Erandus II.
However I learned that the Security officer can't be the Chief. From the Marathon manual; "Now, you fall into your old habit, and begin to daydream about your childhood on Mars, your father's death when you were seven..." Page 4. The Master Chief was born on Erandus II.
Does campaign scoring work if you "save and quit" and then continue later? I'm up to "the covenant" level on Heroic getting all the scoring achievements but I don't think I'm going to be able to do it in one sitting. I got through the ark in one hour with only two deaths but that level isn't as long.
Pudding Tame
Member
Mooreberg said:
No.
GodfatherX
Member
my theory i totally just came up with
Bungie's next game will be a new story that takes place on that planet at the end of Halo ,likely connecting both Halo and Marathon. Somewhere in that games story arc MC will start being referenced and then maybe a cameo at the end of the game
Pudding Tame
Member
Mooreberg said:
You don't need to get the achievments in one sitting though. You can still get them playing a level at a time.
ALeperMessiah
Member
GodfatherX said:
Bungie's next title.
Halo: Marathon
Believe
Actually, I thought I read somewhere in this thread that Marathon's main characters name was John-117. So maybe you'd be playing as MC from the beginning
ALeperMessiah said:
You are definitely, absolutely not given a name in Marathon. As far as I know, you are only referred to directly, or as 'the cyborg' or 'the security officer.' Also, sort of nitpicking, but the main character per se in Marathon really isn't you, as far as narrative goes, but Durandal. He is one interesting jerk.
- Status