I will be honest. When Halo Reach came out, I wasn’t going to buy it at all. It was only after 3 weeks, that my friend was showing me all of his armor customization when I saw all the cool Elite player models. I played as a Spec Ops elite in Halo 3, and I fell in love with all the new designs for the elite armors. I thought it was so cool that I sped down to the local Gamestop and purchased a copy. Also, Arby n the Chief (a series mostly forgotten by the community, back for one final season) was making use of the new Elites to the fullest extent, so I absolutely had to wear it. I played infection until I was Corporal and put it on. Yeahhhh.
Fast-Forward to Halo 4. I got the game for a birthday present from a friend and thought of the Elites I saw in online videos and articles. I loved them and hopped on to unlock them. But to my dismay, you could not change your player model from human. Why did this change, honestly?
Before anyone says “play MCC or Reach for xbone”, I am talking about the here and now, not games that I have exhausted. I am ready for elites to be introduced to Halo 5 or maybe Halo 6. Let me dismiss some common arguments.
Elites in Halo 5 are massive and have a different hitbox.
Did you not play Reach? Elites were big in that game, some models towering over spartans. Would it really be that hard to make a players elite model a tad shorter?
Why would Elites be in the UNSC war games simulations?
If you look in the lore, after the human-covenant war, most elites joined the human cause, even trading weapons and training in the same environment as spartans aboard the UNSC Infinity carrier.
In Warzone, why would Elites fight other elites?
The enemy AI elites programmed into war games simulations are based off of the enemy that Spartan IVs would encounter on the battlefield; Covenant Remnants. In campaign, the Arbiter and his followers are seen absolutely destroying other elites.
Elites can’t have spartan charge and other abilities because they aren’t "spartans"
Elites in Reach had their own jetpack, and their own visor layout. Just like Master Chief, who had thrusters put into his armor before the events of Halo 5, the human-allied Sanghelli can have thrusters implemented into their armors.
What purpose would having Elites serve in Halo 5?
Well, some Halo Machinimas need alien characters, like C n P and Arby n the Chief. Also, with the new forge allowing you to build huge creations (for example, a huge covenant or ex-covenant cruiser), they need an alien crew, do they not? And finally, you can have some variety in your armor customization, so you don’t HAVE to look like a noob wearing Recruit, a try-hard wearing Warmaster, or a kid using Teishin.
How would Elite customization work?
I would imagine it working like it did in halo, with the player being able to change the head, shoulders, and chest-piece. You would be able to unlock Elite armors through the REQ system. They could be implemented during “Memories of Reach”, with the new Storm Elites, and old Halo Reach style armors. To add another company commendation award, if a company has earned all the kill commendations (equating to earning the Achilles Helmet), the player would earn the “Rise above the Heritics” pack, earning the Halo 2-3 style Arbiter armor.
Please leave all hate below V
“Negative. I have the gun. Good luck, Sir” ~Noble Six
