Over-thinking Halo

[Eclectic Dreck]

If you've been awake for the bast few years chances are you've heard about Halo. Whether you love it or hate, I think you'll agree with one thing: Halo is half-baked. Why do I say so? Because I have nothing better to do than to analyze a game that has as much depth as a piece of paper.

Let me start by saying that I like the premise of this thread.

Let's start this little nit picky analysis with the conflict itself. It's man vs. alien, a tale that has been told before hundreds of times. It gets the job done in terms of transporting Master "Rambo" Chief to his alien filled destination but it doesn't take too many creative liberties. How so? Let's start with:

Nice to see that we can dismiss the obvious stuff first.

The aliens:
The covenant, a group of aliens. That's it. They fall into a few cliches such as the "Aliens Speak Perfect English" cliche and the "Tiny aliens make a lot of growly noises and act "funny" while big aliens roar a lot" cliche but it doesn't copy and paste the interesting cliches. No giant, multi-story tentacled alien monster eating cities or anything exciting like that. Just Grunts, Jakals, Elites (to a point), Brutes, Head crabs and the occasional Hunter do little to excite. They're not threatening or varied, they're just there to shoot at, and they don't even die that spectacularly.

But, the aliens are just half of this conflict.

The problem with science is it turns out it just isn't as exciting as fiction would have us believe. Turns out, it's REALLY hard for REALLY big things to exist. Big Bugs would have trouble breating much less sorting out how to move a few tons around. Still, you do have some surprisingly large monsters. Hunters are nothing but very large colonies of worms wrapped in armor. Considering Master Chief is quite large, the bulk of the hunter or the brute is singificant. Afterall, a brute is larger (by a fair margin I'd bet) than most terrerstrial animals AND they're smart enough to use a gun.

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

There's a really neet convention in the universe. The first is a simple physical law - any linear kinetic energy you want to impart on a projectile being fired from a weapon held by a person must be resisted in it's entirety by the person. This means quite simply that every ounce of energy a bullet possesses must have been absorbed by the shooter. What this means in all reality is that there is a significant upper limit for just how much energy we can apply to a bullet. At the EXTREME edge, you have anti-material rifles which fire large caliber (12.7mm or larger) rounds with the intention of breaking things which are generally more capable of sustaining damage than people.

It turns out that the difference between surviving a gunshot and dying is measured in tiny fractions of a second. Simply put, the more quickly a bullet is stopped by your body and the smaller the area the force is applied to the more damage done. This means it's relatively easy to apply lethal injury to a person at close range but if you want to do the same thing to a person in the distance protected by something sturdier than flesh and bone you have to increase the energy the round carries.

Not having the technology to replicate a more advanced way around the problem (that is, applying more energy to the target without harming the shooter), this leaves humanity with few options save just use more bullets to solve the problem. The limitation here is the durability of the human body, and the game universe does indicate humanity was actively working to resovle that problem in the form of the Spartan program.

While we're at it:

The weapons:
The aliens' weaponry is appropriate alien, what with all the "pew pew pew" and neon lasers. It's standard stuff, they get the job done. But the human weapons lack power. The assault rifle sounds like it's coughing, doesn't recoil and does as much damage to an alien as farting on it. They feel inadequate. It's like you're up against vampires and you're armed with standard military weaponry but no silver bullets, wooden stakes or crucifixes.

It turns out there's always a down side to weapons. Lasers may not impart a significant kick as they apply electro-magnetic energy rather than going for a simpler kinetic approach. Unfortunately you find diffraction to be a problem. Simply put, as a laser is fired it obviously vaporizes protective armor which, by default, will scatter the laser and reduce further damage. The solution is to increase power, which reduces battery life which requires a larger power source and so on. Thus you quickly run up against a limit as before. Eventually the laser will be so large that it's impossible to carry.

Besides, they didn't want the game to feel unbalanced. According to the cannon, humanity could fight the covenant to a standstill on the ground - it was space superiority that proved the key in all the battles mentioned.

The Technology:
It's the future and humans haven't developed unmanned combat drones, jet-packs, or transport vehicles that don't look like Jeeps. It's all very understated and unimaginative. The Army is coming up with more creative weapons/gadgets/vehicles as we speak. The Halo universe isn't limited by such pesky things such as physics or realism, they could have mechs and transforming tanks.

The military is intensely pragmatic. You don't use a guided weapon that costs several hundred thousand dollars because it's cool, you do it because it can get the job done. This is most true in vehicle design. The modern HMMWV shares much in common with the GP of world war 2. It sits high off the tround, all accessory features not necessary to the operation of the vehicle are stripped and it possesses a very high power to rate (in terms of torque at least) ratio.

Besides, a cursory glance at physical principles tell us that a vehicle that hovers must be applying some sort of force downward. If this is not being done mechanically (with tracks or tires) somethine else must accept the load meaning you will have to expend energy to make it happen. It was the energy problem that was cited as the reason for the shortcommings of most of humanties technology. They couldn't figure out how to power directed energy weapons or large shield emmitters and the like, so why expect them to sort it out for a hover technology. It doesn't make a lot of sense in a wider context - afterall, you've solved FTL travel but cant power many effective DEW systems? Seems like a cart before the horse problem.

The Environments:
The ring world of Halo looks a lot like Earth. Then you're on Earth.

The more interesting thing is that the atmosphere was friendly to humanity. Given that relatively minor chances in it's composition can be lethal, it's surprising no assisted breathing apparatus was required.

Master Chief:
The fact that he's the pinnacle of armed combat yet relies on underpowered guns, can't fly, doesn't have night vision, can't sprint or take cover really makes think that the bar for "the pinnacle" will be lowered significantly in the future. That and the fact that he doesn't even have a combat knife makes me think he's an under-trained soldier who taped some tin foil to his kevlar.

His running speed is actually quite fast, especially when you consider the weight in armor. The simple fact he can maintain accurate fire while moving in any direct and at any speed is enough to convince me he's super human. It's hard enough to hit a target when we're both standing still in real life. As to the weapons, he's obviously going to use what everyone else has. What good is your super soldier if you can't keep him supplied in the tools of his trade?

The ODST:
They're useless in Halo 3: ODST. They have knives but don't use them as a melee attack, their guns are even more underpowered and they're just cliches. The worst part? They were supposed to go raid a huge covenant ship with just a silenced SMG and a Pistol when you need around 2 clips to kill one brute. It's like trying to raid a NAVY Carrier with a Magnum and a smile.

Supressing a round poses a problem. First, to truly "supress it" you must limit it's velocity to less than that of sound in the medium. The problem is by reducing velocity you also reduce power, and given the universe the game takes place in, this doesn't make a lot of sense. It is an improvement on the previous interpretation of the SMG however, but that's not saying much. When my left hook is an improvement over a firearm, you've done a terrible job at making a gun.

As to what they're being sent to do, I'd have to agree. The ODST's are little more than a futuristic analog for airborne infantry in modern combat. These units are generally deployed to secure key pieces of terrain knowing they're going to be outnumbered and outgunned. The purpose of this gamble is that they can hold the enemy and deny key terrain long enough for the main forces to make their way in for a rescue. Thus, I would postulate that their job was not to sieze the carrier outright but rather simply hold it in place while ground forces attempted to destroy the surrounding units.

From a strategic standpoint, capturing a carrier could yield technological insights that may turn the tide of the war. Given that the vessel played host to a key leader of the enemy raises it's value considerably. Thanks to it's size and placement, destruction would not be the best option since it would almost certainly annhiliate the city below.

Halo is an average game with a half-baked universe which offers nothing to 'wow' over.

Opinions?

Sorry for the kilometer long post. D:

You did little to establish your jab at Halo at the end. Your points are generally valid, and even if they can be explained away with ease it doesn't stop them from being present. It seems strange that we'd solve FTL before we figured out how to make a laser rifle or a hover-car.

 

[Your Nightmare]

I think Halo is a pretty cool guy. eh kills aleins and doesn't afraid of anything

Sorry...I don't really care much for Halo, I liked the multiplayer when I first got my xbox but now..it's pretty much dead to me. I see it as a game young teenagers play before becoming a man - from which they play more hardcore games like Gears ;D

 

[The Rookie Gamer]

I think Halo is a pretty cool guy. eh kills aleins and doesn't afraid of anything

Sorry...I don't really care much for Halo, I liked the multiplayer when I first got my xbox but now..it's pretty much dead to me. I see it as a game young teenagers play before becoming a man - from which they play more hardcore games like Gears ;D

No. Gears 1 might be considered "hardcore", but Gears 2 is way too immature.

 

[Your Nightmare]

Ya, that's why I said Gears and not Gears 2 Sorry if I didn't make the clear

 

[More Fun To Compute]

The Halo universe isn't limited by such pesky things such as physics or realism, they could have mechs and transforming tanks.

So the creative liberties you want to see are throwing mecha anime themes into a game influenced by a certain type of western science fiction for no reason? Might as well though considering all the stuff that was done to the series after the first game.

 

[PurpleSky]

You just overthought halo.Why?
So yes,only people that don't quite like halo analyze and nit-pick,others just play it.-in my opinion-

Also I do not believe in the halo "universe" i.e.-no ideea what it means- books,stories.It's ALL just an excuse to shoot people in the face.

 

[Pandalisk]

If you've been awake for the bast few years chances are you've heard about Halo. Whether you love it or hate, I think you'll agree with one thing: Halo is half-baked. Why do I say so? Because I have nothing better to do than to analyze a game that has as much depth as a piece of paper.

Let's start this little nit picky analysis with the conflict itself. It's man vs. alien, a tale that has been told before hundreds of times. It gets the job done in terms of transporting Master "Rambo" Chief to his alien filled destination but it doesn't take too many creative liberties. How so? Let's start with:

The aliens:
The covenant, a group of aliens. That's it. They fall into a few cliches such as the "Aliens Speak Perfect English" cliche and the "Tiny aliens make a lot of growly noises and act "funny" while big aliens roar a lot" cliche but it doesn't copy and paste the interesting cliches. No giant, multi-story tentacled alien monster eating cities or anything exciting like that. Just Grunts, Jakals, Elites (to a point), Brutes, Head crabs and the occasional Hunter do little to excite. They're not threatening or varied, they're just there to shoot at, and they don't even die that spectacularly.

But, the aliens are just half of this conflict.

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

While we're at it:

The weapons:
The aliens' weaponry is appropriate alien, what with all the "pew pew pew" and neon lasers. It's standard stuff, they get the job done. But the human weapons lack power. The assault rifle sounds like it's coughing, doesn't recoil and does as much damage to an alien as farting on it. They feel inadequate. It's like you're up against vampires and you're armed with standard military weaponry but no silver bullets, wooden stakes or crucifixes.

The Technology:
It's the future and humans haven't developed unmanned combat drones, jet-packs, or transport vehicles that don't look like Jeeps. It's all very understated and unimaginative. The Army is coming up with more creative weapons/gadgets/vehicles as we speak. The Halo universe isn't limited by such pesky things such as physics or realism, they could have mechs and transforming tanks.

The Environments:
The ring world of Halo looks a lot like Earth. Then you're on Earth.

Master Chief:
The fact that he's the pinnacle of armed combat yet relies on underpowered guns, can't fly, doesn't have night vision, can't sprint or take cover really makes think that the bar for "the pinnacle" will be lowered significantly in the future. That and the fact that he doesn't even have a combat knife makes me think he's an under-trained soldier who taped some tin foil to his kevlar.

The ODST:
They're useless in Halo 3: ODST. They have knives but don't use them as a melee attack, their guns are even more underpowered and they're just cliches. The worst part? They were supposed to go raid a huge covenant ship with just a silenced SMG and a Pistol when you need around 2 clips to kill one brute. It's like trying to raid a NAVY Carrier with a Magnum and a smile.

Halo is an average game with a half-baked universe which offers nothing to 'wow' over.

Opinions?

Sorry for the kilometer long post. D:

Read the novels, you will get greater depth and something i actually prefer than the Games, the novels are very enjoyable as is the Anime that was made.

The aliens:
The covenant, a group of aliens. That's it. They fall into a few cliches such as the "Aliens Speak Perfect English" cliche and the "Tiny aliens make a lot of growly noises and act "funny" while big aliens roar a lot" cliche but it doesn't copy and paste the interesting cliches. No giant, multi-story tentacled alien monster eating cities or anything exciting like that. Just Grunts, Jakals, Elites (to a point), Brutes, Head crabs and the occasional Hunter do little to excite. They're not threatening or varied, they're just there to shoot at, and they don't even die that spectacularly

a group of aliens formed through war over Forerunner technology and tricked into following by a fake religion because of a mistranslated Forerunner Glyph, that leads them into a cover up story which revolves around the Genocide of Humanity..I find that pretty cool.

Well actually only a handfull of them knew how to talk it, most hated the human language. only the Uggoly actually bothered to actively learn because they actually enjoyed it. Again in the games you need the aliens to talk, and apparently Both sides have Translation Gear in their helmets, at least Spartan III's do.

I saw some of those "Massive creature divouring cities" In the Aninme, so... Yeah?.

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans

Actually from the novels,anime and games we can draw that they worked really well, so much as Spartans prefer it to Covenant Weaponry.
Their weapons are pathetic in Ship to ship Fights, anyone whose read the novels knows the Marines nearly always got their asses kicked if they didn't try something out of the ordinary.
but they never could get a hold of the Alien technology for Ship shields,lasers and that Guided plama stuff.

The weapons:
The aliens' weaponry is appropriate alien, what with all the "pew pew pew" and neon lasers. It's standard stuff, they get the job done. But the human weapons lack power. The assault rifle sounds like it's coughing, doesn't recoil and does as much damage to an alien as farting on it. They feel inadequate. It's like you're up against vampires and you're armed with standard military weaponry but no silver bullets, wooden stakes or crucifixes.

i felt the weapons were alright, the recoil is not meant to be there on the count of your a goddamn spartan.

The Technology:
It's the future and humans haven't developed unmanned combat drones, jet-packs, or transport vehicles that don't look like Jeeps. It's all very understated and unimaginative. The Army is coming up with more creative weapons/gadgets/vehicles as we speak. The Halo universe isn't limited by such pesky things such as physics or realism, they could have mechs and transforming tanks

They build things for its Usage, not for how it looks, before the aliens, they were fighting themselves, why would they need something Overtly kick ass to fight themselves?.
When the Human-Covenant war began we they did develop a Mech actually, and it was BadAss as well as cyclopses which were also badass.

The Environments:
The ring world of Halo looks a lot like Earth. Then you're on Earth.

The forerunners could of lived in a similar enviroment to us and this is supported that the "Librarian" actually lived with humanity for a time before the Halo's were activated and even if they weren't they knew that everything they built was going to be left for the "Reclaimers" (Humanity) so they could pick up "The Mantle" so they probably built it so the Humans could access everything easier.

Master Chief:
The fact that he's the pinnacle of armed combat yet relies on underpowered guns, can't fly, doesn't have night vision, can't sprint or take cover really makes think that the bar for "the pinnacle" will be lowered significantly in the future. That and the fact that he doesn't even have a combat knife makes me think he's an under-trained soldier who taped some tin foil to his kevlar.

Again Read the novels, it paints him in a different light and he does have a knife in them

The ODST:
They're useless in Halo 3: ODST. They have knives but don't use them as a melee attack, their guns are even more underpowered and they're just cliches. The worst part? They were supposed to go raid a huge covenant ship with just a silenced SMG and a Pistol when you need around 2 clips to kill one brute. It's like trying to raid a NAVY Carrier with a Magnum and a smile

Again read the novels, it paints everything differently and more realisticly than in the games
and suicide missions is what they were bred to do

 

[DrEmo]

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

Last time I checked in Halo when you shoot at an Alien, it does die. Why would they be making Brute Armor piercing weapons when a Sniper does it anyways? Why do Aliens need special types of weapons to fight them? Lead works on all the species to exist. When you shoot an Whale, it dies. When you shoot a human, he dies. When you shoot an alien, why wouldn't it die?

Lead kills elephants, yet hunters use elephant rifles/bullets to kill them. Same thing but with a specialized use.

What I'm saying is that after years of fighting aliens, you'd think humans would have built a gun that could kill an alien faster than punching them.

 

[SantoUno]

Halo is an average game with a half-baked universe which offers nothing to 'wow' over.

And you needed a big wall-o-text just to express that at the end?

Yeah you wanted to back up that opinion, which deserves some props because many people don't do that, but your "over-thinking" is mostly misinformed and inaccurate because as many people have already pointed it out by quoting you again and again, you didn't really do enough research to support your arguments.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

Last time I checked in Halo when you shoot at an Alien, it does die. Why would they be making Brute Armor piercing weapons when a Sniper does it anyways? Why do Aliens need special types of weapons to fight them? Lead works on all the species to exist. When you shoot an Whale, it dies. When you shoot a human, he dies. When you shoot an alien, why wouldn't it die?

Lead kills elephants, yet hunters use elephant rifles/bullets to kill them. Same thing but with a specialized use.

What I'm saying is that after years of fighting aliens, you'd think humans would have built a gun that could kill an alien faster than punching them.

Hunters use elephant bullets because its more efficient.

However, in Halo, using a Sniper Rifle is as efficient as you can get. Why would you develop anti-brute armor when all the guns already do it.

 

[Counter_Southpaw]

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

Last time I checked in Halo when you shoot at an Alien, it does die. Why would they be making Brute Armor piercing weapons when a Sniper does it anyways? Why do Aliens need special types of weapons to fight them? Lead works on all the species to exist. When you shoot an Whale, it dies. When you shoot a human, he dies. When you shoot an alien, why wouldn't it die?

Lead kills elephants, yet hunters use elephant rifles/bullets to kill them. Same thing but with a specialized use.

What I'm saying is that after years of fighting aliens, you'd think humans would have built a gun that could kill an alien faster than punching them.

QFT. I always felt that that was a gaping plot hole in the Halo series. I mean, humanity's back is against the wall, why are we not adapting and shifting from our 21st century weaponry to match that of the times? Why are we not attacking Covenant ships with thermonuclear weaponry? They live on floating cities for crying out loud - easy targets.

 

[Brad Shepard]

The story is there, and the Legends DVD made it better, at least, thats what i think.

Weapons:
Lead goes through human skin just as well as alien laser weapons do, and why waste money on developing lasers when you can put that money twords other stuff, like space ships and defence and such.

And on the knife thing, its the old phrase "Why would you bring a knife to a gun fight?" Oh, and in ODST, Buck used a knife to stab up a brute.

Eviroment:
Look, the halo rings are great, and there a lot like earth for two reasons.

1: Human=forerunners

2: its an excurse to not travel all over the place, take that one long ass mission in 3, you went from a lush beach/forest, to a snowcaped mountin.

The Chief:
Read the extended universe, he was very well trained sense about 9 or so, but anyway, Why use a knife when you can just punch a enemy to death? sounds a lot cooler to me.

the ODST:
There trained in alien weapons too, so im sure the orders where SOC (Secure on site) besides, those weapons are awesome! and if they where both silenced, wouldent you asume it was a stealth mission?

The thing that pops out at me from this post is Lets be like MW2, and i dont want that, Reach is going to be amazing, and im looking forward to it.

 

[DkLnBr]

snip

I was going to say something, but you've already said everything that I would have, so i dont need to now

 

[Penguinness]

No giant, multi-story tentacled alien monster eating cities or anything exciting like that.

Um.. gravemind? I think it fits all of those.

I found Halo fun because I had someone to play it with. Not many games have a co-op campaign that you and a mate can sit through. Takes me back to the days of perfect dark 64.

 

[Counter_Southpaw]

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

Last time I checked in Halo when you shoot at an Alien, it does die. Why would they be making Brute Armor piercing weapons when a Sniper does it anyways? Why do Aliens need special types of weapons to fight them? Lead works on all the species to exist. When you shoot an Whale, it dies. When you shoot a human, he dies. When you shoot an alien, why wouldn't it die?

Lead kills elephants, yet hunters use elephant rifles/bullets to kill them. Same thing but with a specialized use.

What I'm saying is that after years of fighting aliens, you'd think humans would have built a gun that could kill an alien faster than punching them.

Hunters use elephant bullets because its more efficient.

However, in Halo, using a Sniper Rifle is as efficient as you can get. Why would you develop anti-brute armor when all the guns already do it.

As I recall, Sniper Rifles are pretty useless against a tough, armoured creature such as a Hunter, and I think that's the point he's trying to get at. Why are there no specialized weapons designed for dealing with Hunters?

 

[MONSTERheart]

Another person saying the Halo universe lacks depth without reading the books. Okay.

That's kind of like saying the Dune series of books isn't that great just because you didn't like the summary you read on Wikipedia.

Let's address each point:

Aliens: They are bonded together through religion. A 'covenant', if you will. And someone clearly wasn't there around Halo: CE, because that was some fresh shit back then. Also, giant 10 story monsters are physically impossible (assuming its a vertebrae). The weight of the muscles would far exceed the capacity of the bones.

Humans: They were far more focused on expansion and economic growth at the time of the covenant attack. Thus, weapons had only developed to the point they needed it, not to the point where it exceeded their need (kind of like the present day).

Weapons: I'll skip over this since your complaints seem to have more to do with sound/graphic design, not story/universe depth.

Tech: Okay, sure, sort of. In all honesty, though, those things you listed (transforming tanks, mechs, etc) are completely impractical and do nothing you can't do via easier/cheaper means.

Environment: This is one of those thing where you have to suspend your disbelief a little, as with all sci-fi's of this nature.

Master Chief: Again, read the books. And that is more of a gameplay complaint.

ODST: read the books.

Most of your complaints are aimed more at the game itself, not the story/universe. And you can't really judge the universe without a healthy knowledge of it outside of the games.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Humans:
Marines? In space? Is it because they're in ships? Makes sense, I suppose. What makes no sense are the weapons. Why are the humans armed with assault rifles and pistols? They're fighting aliens! They should have weapons specifically tailored for the situation. They should have guns made to pierce a Brute's armor, guns made to shoot down a fast moving Elite and guns to deal with large numbers of head crabs. Not weapons made for killing soft, squishy humans.

Last time I checked in Halo when you shoot at an Alien, it does die. Why would they be making Brute Armor piercing weapons when a Sniper does it anyways? Why do Aliens need special types of weapons to fight them? Lead works on all the species to exist. When you shoot an Whale, it dies. When you shoot a human, he dies. When you shoot an alien, why wouldn't it die?

Lead kills elephants, yet hunters use elephant rifles/bullets to kill them. Same thing but with a specialized use.

What I'm saying is that after years of fighting aliens, you'd think humans would have built a gun that could kill an alien faster than punching them.

Hunters use elephant bullets because its more efficient.

However, in Halo, using a Sniper Rifle is as efficient as you can get. Why would you develop anti-brute armor when all the guns already do it.

As I recall, Sniper Rifles are pretty useless against a tough, armoured creature such as a Hunter, and I think that's the point he's trying to get at. Why are there no specialized weapons designed for dealing with Hunters?

Because its a videogame.

Imagine every time you had to fight a Hunter, instead of dread, all you did was switch to your anti-hunter weapon and take it down. Were's the difficulty in that?

And bullets still work on the Hunters, specially heavy weapons.

The purpose is to have balance.

 

[Penguinness]

Why are there no specialized weapons designed for dealing with Hunters?

If I remember correctly, aren't all weapons fine for dealing with hunters as long as you hit their unarmoured spots, and useless if they do hit the armoured spots? (with the exception of splash damage of course).

 

[duchaked]

this is an average article with a half-baked topic which offers nothing to 'wow' over

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

The story of Halo isn't just humans vs. aliens. It is humans vs. a group of religious extremist aliens, who are also fighting a group of atheist aliens who eventually meet up and join forces with the humans.

Anyone who says that Halo's plot is just "man vs. beast" has clearly either never played the games, or simply ignored watching the cut scenes.

I don't see why the human weapons and vehicles should be any different. They're familiar and they work. Probably the sort of thing we'll still be using in the time era of Halo. The alien weapons look a bit like they were bought from the toy section of Target, but that's the biggest complaint I have about them.

Marines being in space isn't new to Halo. Its been a staple of space combat fiction for a while because, as you said, they are soldiers on Navy ships. It would make more sense to have the Air Force carrying out space operations than the Navy to me, but fiction writers and game designers have traditionally had it be Navy ships. Probably just so they could justify having marines instead of air force infantry, so I suppose that just takes itself right around in a circle.

The environments are mostly Earth looking things I suppose, depending on your definition. The ground was never a gelatinous mass being populated by undescribable things that damaged you by blinking twice, but its very difficult to say that everything looked like Earth. The levels in Halo 2 as the Arbiter, the levels with the Gravemind in Halo 3, the Covenant ship in Halo: CE. Not to mention the fact that "earth" in itself has a pretty varied environment that the game takes advantage of.

I don't see why Master Chief not having a combat knife makes him bad. The only shooter I can think of playing right off the bat featuring that is Call of Duty, and while I admit that it is a better game than Halo, I certainly don't like it as much as Gears of War which also didn't have a combat knife. His weapons are par for the course for the other human weapons, which I guess doesn't make total sense, but, as I said earlier- those are the sort of weapons we will most likely still be using in the time of Halo. While aliens may have the physics defying ability of viable lazer guns, we will be using led for a while yet.

I haven't played ODST, so I won't comment on that.