PixlBit

I finished Halo 3 in about 5.5 hours. That's the shortest of the series yet. I was surprised by that. Seems Halo 2 is the longest so far at 8 hours. 

I enjoyed Halo 3 but I often groaned over the Cortana stuff. I mean, she's an A.I. and she acts like a human being, not an A.I.. I get it she's based on a real brain and all but other characters act as if she's human and in the flesh too. It's just weird. I think it's pushing the drama a little too hard.

On to Halo 4, which I got pretty far in today. It begins with an interogation with Catherine Halsey over the morality of the Spartan II program that created Master Chief. I really wonder why this is made the main thrust of this game and several of the books. I feel like someone's guilty about the orignal Halo story and has to address it. I think it's a distraction and an attempt to negate everything associated with Master Chief. I keep thinking someone wants to find a way to leave Master Chief behind and start something new. I think it's impossible and unwise. Master Chief is like the hero of a pulp fiction series. It can go on, like a Flash Gordon or Doc Savage, for ever without getting tiresome. It's the very nature and joy of pulp fiction to see variations on a theme. To get rid of MC is to dissolve the theme, and hence the enjoyment of the pulp fiction. 

So, I'm keeping on to "finish the fight", but I'm not liking the direction the series is going. I mean, I've already pretty much stopped being a huge Halo fan since Halo 4. Yes, I still read the novels, but I didn't get Halo 5 day-one and I'll probably not get the next one day-one either because it'll likely not be a game with Master Chief. I think 343 Industries is taking this series way too seriously. It should remain a pulp fiction-like experience. That's my take. 

But I was pretty engaged by Halo 4. It feels very much like a movie experience.The music is sort of generic movie music and the cut scenes are super slick with pitch perfect voice acting. There's nothing awkward or slightly corny about it and the game's pacing and variety are flawless. Part of me enjoys that but part of me wants that cheesiness and that focus on the hero winning the day again. Making him go AWOL and at odds with UNSC leadership seems an alien concept for the series.

Halo 4 never brought me to that level of awe and excitment that the previous games gave me. The slightly overblown O'Donnell music, the slightly overwrought story and the magnificant vistas is what really drew me into the Bungie created Halo games. Halo 4 is done almost too well, in a way. It's all pro, slick and modern. It's familiar and that's probably the thing I least like in any media. 

Well, that's a day. When I finish Halo 4, the chronology gets a little complex. I have to avoid Halo 4: Spartan Ops and go into Halo Spartan Assault first then Spartan Ops and then Halo 5. I'll wrap the series with Halo Wars 2. 

Toodles!