Watch: Halo 5's Opening Cinematic

[Steven Bogos]

Watch: Halo 5's Opening Cinematic

Nathan Fillion return in style for Halo 5's opening cinematic.

Halo fans may remember that the otherwise lackluster Halo 5 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/halo%203%20odst?os=%20halo%203%20odst], with its just-revealed opening cinematic showing off Buck and his team's new Spartan abilities.

Check out the trailer to the right.

The trailer starts with some quite impressive motion capture of Fillion, before his team descends into an extended downhill firefight. You get to see the new Spartans using some cool new abilities, but mostly just watching them flow through the battle using their jump jets is just a thing of majesty and awe.

It's a shame we didn't really learn anything new about these characters, but it's certainly a very "epic" opener.

Halo 5 is set to release exclusively on Xbox One on October 27.

Source: YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z43ZMBVgKWg]

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[Katherine Kerensky]

Halo: ODST was lacklustre? I rather enjoyed the atmosphere.
Even with Nathan Fillion, it's not enough to make me want to get an Xbox One.
Microsoft just screwed up too badly with it, even if they changed things. Shame, because I used to be such a Halo fan, I even bought the books as they came out.
Also, Buck doesn't need to be a Spartan, he was already good.

 

[Zhukov]

It was looking pretty cool until the Xbox One Exclusive part.

Hurr hurr.

Seriously though, cutscenes like that just make me a bit sad since we all know the actual gameplay isn't going to be remotely as exciting, fast-paced or mobile as anything we just saw. It'll be the same old serviceable but unremarkable shooter with bullet-sponge enemies.

Ah well, it was undeniably a pretty cutscene.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Wait, when did Buck become a Spartan? I thought they were like Space Marines; if they didn't get you in your early teens, you ain't becoming one!

 

[Hawki]

...I think I died a little inside.

Sigh, I really don't like being negative (hasn't stopped me posting admittedly), but...yeah. Funny how a few threads back I was saying how the 'Halo' series should have stopped at 'Reach' - if anything, this makes me even more sure.

 

[FogHornG36]

That was really cool! Until they jumped out of the ship and floated to the ground calmly talking to each other, and then floated down the hill blowing through bad guys like they were nothing. Kinda reminds me of the scene from The new ninja turtles movie were they go down the snowy hill for ever.

When you make them able to do everything super easy, there is no tension and its just boring.

 

[TorchofThanatos]

Wait, when did Buck become a Spartan? I thought they were like Space Marines; if they didn't get you in your early teens, you ain't becoming one!

That is only true for the Spartan 2 and 3 program. Spartan 4's can be anyone and everyone.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Well that was certainly an impressive spectacle, if a bit hard to follow at times. I'm reminded of the lightsaber duels from the prequels; more flash, less substance than the "classics."

I know Spartans are capable of amazing feats in the lore, but this is bordering on Space Marine-level shenanigans. I feel Halo Wars captured the combat abilities of Spartans nicely without going overboard:

I won't knock on anyone who likes 343's stuff, but this isn't going to get me invested in the series again. I already "Finished the Fight," thank you very much.

Halo fans may remember that the otherwise lackluster Halo: ODST [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/halo%203%20odst?os=%20halo%203%20odst]

Oh you did NOT just go there. I'll have you know ODST is one of my all-time favorite Halo games. I must inform you that this unwarranted attack on its good name can only be settled in a one-on-one energy sword duel.[footnote]An admittedly hollow threat, seeing as how I cancelled my Xbox Live subcription over three years ago.[/footnote] At least the game didn't bring the pacing to a screeching halt constantly with non-interactive light shows and shaky-cam dialogue (I'm looking at you, Halo 3).

Wait, when did Buck become a Spartan? I thought they were like Space Marines; if they didn't get you in your early teens, you ain't becoming one!

That is only true for the Spartan 2 and 3 program. Spartan 4's can be anyone and everyone.

Sooo...is every soldier in the UNSC a Spartan then? Are regular Marines a thing of the past? If not, why? Are the suits too expensive to mass produce or something?

Pardon my ignorance, I stopped following the series after Reach.

 

[Zhukov]

Well that was certainly an impressive spectacle, if a bit hard to follow at times. I'm reminded of the lightsaber duels from the prequels; more flash, less substance than the "classics."

I know Spartans are capable of amazing feats in the lore, but this is bordering on Space Marine-level shenanigans. I feel Halo Wars captured the combat abilities of Spartans nicely without going overboard:

[snipped-video-to-avoid-repetition]

God, that was comical.

Why are the elites only using spears? And they're so feeble about it. They remind me of some pikemen I once saw during a battle reenactment. "Yah! I shall now poke you firmly in the sternum! But not too hard, we don't need a lawsuit here!"

Forget the spartans or space marines, those guys looked like they could have been readily handled by a half starved African child soldier with an AK-47.

 

[Sarge034]

Sooo...is every soldier in the UNSC a Spartan then? Are regular Marines a thing of the past? If not, why? Are the suits too expensive to mass produce or something?

Pardon my ignorance, I stopped following the series after Reach.

It was part of the extended universe. The Spartan 4s can be anyone but they're not as good. Don't have the lifetime of training or all the genetic modifications (they were meant to be more numerous, cost less, and be expendable). They basically upgraded any ODST who passed the tests to Spartan 4s. They don't just throw everyone in a suit for the same reason irl spec ops teams have the best gear, money.
http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/SPARTAN-IV_Program

Edit- Forgot to actually talk about the trailer. XD Looks smexy, but we all know how indicative of gameplay CGI trailers are. Also, Nathan Fillion is pretty much awesome.

 

[Shiftygiant]

I kinda liked ODST.

But I'm not really feeling the trailer. yeah it looks pretty, but it also just looks... eh. Like,style over substance eh.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

That was really cool! Until they jumped out of the ship and floated to the ground calmly talking to each other, and then floated down the hill blowing through bad guys like they were nothing. Kinda reminds me of the scene from The new ninja turtles movie were they go down the snowy hill for ever.

When you make them able to do everything super easy, there is no tension and its just boring.

I felt this as well. There was no resistance to anything, it was so super smooth.

 

[Flippincrazy]

The only positive I really have to say about this is that the visuals are rather impressive, the facial animation especially so.

Everything else? Eh... not so much. Even judging it as a trailer independant of what it's advertsing it ain't great. The movement of the Spartans (and whatever Buck is) are absurdly floaty, they're doing absurd stunts that are just dumb even by action-movie standards. No gravitas, no threat and almost certainly no relation to actual gameplay. A big dumb spectacle, all in all, one that I guess I might've enjoyed more if Halo 4 hadn't happened.

And yeah, Halo: ODST wasn't bad at all. Other than the whole E.T friendly alien Engineer thing near the end, which was kinda silly... but a good set up for Johnson.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Oh you did NOT just go there. I'll have you know ODST is one of my all-time favorite Halo games.

Ditto'd. I loved the atmosphere (maybe Marty O'Donnell's best score, for me), change of setting and pace (avoiding patrols, ducking and glancing up at ships as they past over the city, etc), the story's hub/flashback structure (with its layered narrative re the terminals), and the characters. Hell, it pretty much felt like a Halo/Firefly mash-up at times, with Fillion, Tudyk, and Baldwin (and then there's Tricia Helfer, the voice of Caprica Six for another slice of awesome nerd/sci-fi referencing).

So yeah, this particular Halo fan doesn't remember ODST being "lacklustre" at all - I remember it as my favourite game in the series, and arguably the one with the most invention, charm, and humanity. Damn good MP, too.

As for Halo 5 intro: ...wait, that's an intro? So a newcomer's supposed to know what the fuck's going on from that dumb 'epic' action sequence? Ugh... I didn't keep up with the Spartan Eps content (that Elite badguys' still alive/in the story?), or any of other annoying EU stuff that's come out since 4. So being a fan who's primary means of Halo-ness is the games themselves, I have absolutely no idea what's going on, and no idea how Bucky's somehow in a Spartan team.

I suppose I'll be heading to YT for some research if I decide to get Halo 5.

 

[Aerosteam]

We have a team of 4, and out of them 3 are established characters. Pretty obvious which one of them is going to die during the campaign. XD

As for the trailer, eh, it was cool but kinda dragged on and didn't really vary itself up.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Nice cutscene. Would have made a great action scene in most mediums. Though it is only a cutscene. Ehhhh...I hate the "gonna buy the drinks after we're done kicking ass" forced chummy behaviour that is in almost every team based military game dialogue. I am sure soldiers in battle have other methods of communicating their friendship than that same offer every time. It has gone beyond the apex of cheese and should now only be used satirically. Is this halo satirising itself? One can only hope.

 

[KenAri]

-Removed-

 

[Gizmo1990]

Seeing as they are the Spartan knock offs, if they don't have Blue team do something at least 100X more impressive when they turn up I will pe pissed.

 

[MiskWisk]

Yes yes it is a very pretty cut scene and is a pretty pitch for a Halo tv series. For a game? Not so much; I've become somewhat jaded regarding this sort of thing and a pre-rendered cut scene that tells me nothing about story or game play just fails to excite me.