Folks Need Heroes

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Before I say anything else I’d like to establish myself as a Halo player since 2005, played all the games, read most of the books, blah, blah, blah, ethos. Okay, I am one of those people dissatisfied with Halo 5: Guardians campaign and don’t want to allow it to be swept under the rug. Out of all the issues and gripes I have with Halo 5: Guardians, the campaign is where it hurts the most. I usually don’t post criticism on Waypoint because the forums can get a little aggressive but /r/halo is too busy watching GIFs to really care enough to read my two cents on Halo. I wont criticize the plot of the story too much. That is the narrative teams decision and I must respect it as a fan. I will say though, I don’t appreciate Cortana coming back to life after being pronounced dead. And I feel like they wrote themselves into a corner by “destroying” the remaining Covenant. Anyways…

The marketing campaign showed us a different game than what we got. You might have heard this before but it is undeniably true. Lets start with Hunt the Truth. Remember when Ben Giraud watched a surveillance footage of the supposed Master Chief gunning down a whole room in an embassy only to later find out the whole thing was fabricated? That started the whole “Traitor” theme that we were lead to believe would be in Halo 5. I mean just look at how much effort went into marketing this idea. Then we were introduced to the Hunter and Hunted ads where we were shown two perspectives of Chief and Locke at each other’s mercy. Locke’s monologue was one of the best I had heard in any type of trailer. The theme of Chief being a traitor, Chief going rogue, ONI framing him and announcing his death, Locke having to “hunt him down”. It didn’t exist.
“All hail the conquering hero. the one that was supposed to save us all. But now I must save us… from you.” or how about when Halsey said "They will order you to kill us both" at the beginning of Halo 5?
I’d like to mention that both “All Hail” and “The Cost” ads were taken off the XBOX YouTube channel.

Lets look at the Halo 5 Launch Commercial
“He’s not responding to orders, and he’s setting these things loose”
“The only thing worse than loosing a hero is watching him turn against us.”
“The official story is the Master Chief is dead. You, Spartan Locke, are the unnoficial story. Your mission is go.”
“Lets hunt him down.”

In the trailers, the UNSC believes that Chief is the one setting off the Guardians meaning there is a misunderstanding going on. That is why he is called a traitor. That is why Spartan Locke is sent to hunt him down and stop him. That’s not the case in the game. We learn in the second mission that the UNSC knows it’s Cortana. Spartan Locke isn’t sent with the task of stopping Chief therefore stopping the guardians. He’s just sent in to stop Chief for no reason. As a matter of fact nobody is sent with the task of stopping Cortana. Its a large plothole that is created because the story was changed from what we saw in the trailers to what we have now. Some might say,

> “But Dotty what if they’re teasing Halo 6 in the trailers?”

This cannot be the case. It is absurd marketing. It’s like releasing trailers for Captain America: Civil War, then releasing the movie Avengers: Infinity Wars. It just makes zero sense from a marketing view.

> “Dotty, cant you see the trailers are just ONI propaganda meant to mess with us and make us “hunt the truth”?”

The clever “ONI propaganda” theory is nothing but a defense mechanism some fans have created to shield themselves from the fact the advertisements were misleading. ONI had nothing to do with Halo 5 because there was no propaganda that tried to make anyone think Chief was a traitor. The entire theme was just non-existent this is also absurd from a marketing view.

Speaking of heroes, the greatest downfall of Halo 5’s story is the lack of one. Halo’s universe is filled with heroism, sacrifice, an perseverance. The Master Chief is the “hero we needed him to be”. Sacrifices were made by heroes like Sergeant Forge and the rest of The Spirit of Fire. Sacrifices were made by the members of Noble team during the Fall of Reach. Think about the hundreds of Spartan III’s who sacrificed their lives to buy the UNSC more time during the darkest times of the Human-Covenant War, and finally think about the millions of soldiers who sacrificed themselves to save their homeworlds and the billions who persevered and fought like hell for survival. That’s the Halo I’ve come to know. Halo 5 though has none of this. Locke is a great soldier but he isn’t a hero. He doesn’t do anything that sets him apart and he has no intrinsic motivation. He has orders given to bring Blue Team back. He doesn’t save the galaxy, he doesn’t stop the Guardians or Cortana. The only “heroic” thing he did was free Blue Team from the cryptum. The story went nowhere.

Halo 5 had the potential to be great. It had the potential to bring new characters to life and introduce beloved ones to the game. It had the potential to explore dark themes and blur the lines between good and evil. But it didn’t deliver. We can sweep this under the rug and forget about it just like we forgot about the quality of The Master Chief Collection, or we can keep reminding the developers and publishers that we need something better. I will not move on because I do not want this story of this franchise to degrade and I don’t want this to happen again in the future. What are your thoughts? Were you mislead by the marketing? Did the story go in the right direction with the covenant and Cortana? Is Locke the hero we need? And most importantly, can he or someone else fill the Chief’s boots in the future?

Thanks,
Dotty

2

I put a lot of work into this c’mon.

3

I agree? What can I say, you’re right.

4

> 2533274905624999;2:
> I put a lot of work into this c’mon.

just shows you what happens when you put something with effort on waypoint. your more likely to get responses just by posting “halo fives campaign sucks omg omg”

5

No there was a story that came out that stated a lot of campaign was cut out due to unknown reasons. Which looking at it that way, yes it makes a whole lot of sense if you were hyped over the release of Hunt the Truth.

I’ll sum it up -

Chief was accused of a crime he didn’t commit, and a was on the run. A reporter was behind him gathering intel. Which sounded like that was going to be the basis of Halo 5.

I personally think it was a giant middle finger to fans. People who fell in love with the characters and plot were given a half -Yoinked!- story. If you ask me I’d gladly would’ve waiting 6 months to a year if the story was cleaned up in that time.

6

Generally this is better in the universe forums, where you’ll generally get a lot of agreement.

7

yea i was very disappointed in the campaign. i remember the first and only fight scene between locke and chief i was excited like hell yea if this is just the first time i cant wait till they meet again…well shortly a few hours later i was wondering where my next fight scene was to see who was the true victor. instead i was met with dis appointment. there was so much hype for this campaign

8

> 2533274901165186;4:
> > 2533274905624999;2:
> > I put a lot of work into this c’mon.
>
>
> just shows you what happens when you put something with effort on waypoint. your more likely to get responses just by posting “halo fives campaign sucks omg omg”

Unfortunately this is true… Waypoint sucks.

> 2533274905624999;1:
> Before I say anything else I’d like to establish myself as a Halo player since 2005, played all the games, read most of the books, blah, blah, blah, ethos. Okay, I am one of those people dissatisfied with Halo 5: Guardians campaign and don’t want to allow it to be swept under the rug. Out of all the issues and gripes I have with Halo 5: Guardians, the campaign is where it hurts the most. I usually don’t post criticism on Waypoint because the forums can get a little aggressive but /r/halo is too busy watching GIFs to really care enough to read my two cents on Halo. I wont criticize the plot of the story too much. That is the narrative teams decision and I must respect it as a fan. I will say though, I don’t appreciate Cortana coming back to life after being pronounced dead. And I feel like they wrote themselves into a corner by “destroying” the remaining Covenant. Anyways…
>
> The marketing campaign showed us a different game than what we got. You might have heard this before but it is undeniably true. Lets start with Hunt the Truth. Remember when Ben Giraud watched a surveillance footage of the supposed Master Chief gunning down a whole room in an embassy only to later find out the whole thing was fabricated? That started the whole “Traitor” theme that we were lead to believe would be in Halo 5. I mean just look at how much effort went into marketing this idea. Then we were introduced to the Hunter and Hunted ads where we were shown two perspectives of Chief and Locke at each other’s mercy. Locke’s monologue was one of the best I had heard in any type of trailer. The theme of Chief being a traitor, Chief going rogue, ONI framing him and announcing his death, Locke having to “hunt him down”. It didn’t exist.
> “All hail the conquering hero. the one that was supposed to save us all. But now I must save us… from you.” or how about when Halsey said "They will order you to kill us both" at the beginning of Halo 5?
> I’d like to mention that both “All Hail” and “The Cost” ads were taken off the XBOX YouTube channel.
>
> Lets look at the Halo 5 Launch Commercial
> “He’s not responding to orders, and he’s setting these things loose”
> “The only thing worse than loosing a hero is watching him turn against us.”
> “The official story is the Master Chief is dead. You, Spartan Locke, are the unnoficial story. Your mission is go.”
> “Lets hunt him down.”
>
> In the trailers, the UNSC believes that Chief is the one setting off the Guardians meaning there is a misunderstanding going on. That is why he is called a traitor. That is why Spartan Locke is sent to hunt him down and stop him. That’s not the case in the game. We learn in the second mission that the UNSC knows it’s Cortana. Spartan Locke isn’t sent with the task of stopping Chief therefore stopping the guardians. He’s just sent in to stop Chief for no reason. As a matter of fact nobody is sent with the task of stopping Cortana. Its a large plothole that is created because the story was changed from what we saw in the trailers to what we have now. Some might say,
>
>
>
>
> > “But Dotty what if they’re teasing Halo 6 in the trailers?”
>
>
> This cannot be the case. It is absurd marketing. It’s like releasing trailers for Captain America: Civil War, then releasing the movie Avengers: Infinity Wars. It just makes zero sense from a marketing view.
>
>
>
>
> > “Dotty, cant you see the trailers are just ONI propaganda meant to mess with us and make us “hunt the truth”?”
>
>
> The clever “ONI propaganda” theory is nothing but a defense mechanism some fans have created to shield themselves from the fact the advertisements were misleading. ONI had nothing to do with Halo 5 because there was no propaganda that tried to make anyone think Chief was a traitor. The entire theme was just non-existent this is also absurd from a marketing view.
>
> Speaking of heroes, the greatest downfall of Halo 5’s story is the lack of one. Halo’s universe is filled with heroism, sacrifice, an perseverance. The Master Chief is the “hero we needed him to be”. Sacrifices were made by heroes like Sergeant Forge and the rest of The Spirit of Fire. Sacrifices were made by the members of Noble team during the Fall of Reach. Think about the hundreds of Spartan III’s who sacrificed their lives to buy the UNSC more time during the darkest times of the Human-Covenant War, and finally think about the millions of soldiers who sacrificed themselves to save their homeworlds and the billions who persevered and fought like hell for survival. That’s the Halo I’ve come to know. Halo 5 though has none of this. Locke is a great soldier but he isn’t a hero. He doesn’t do anything that sets him apart and he has no intrinsic motivation. He has orders given to bring Blue Team back. He doesn’t save the galaxy, he doesn’t stop the Guardians or Cortana. The only “heroic” thing he did was free Blue Team from the cryptum. The story went nowhere.
>
> Halo 5 had the potential to be great. It had the potential to bring new characters to life and introduce beloved ones to the game. It had the potential to explore dark themes and blur the lines between good and evil. But it didn’t deliver. We can sweep this under the rug and forget about it just like we forgot about the quality of The Master Chief Collection, or we can keep reminding the developers and publishers that we need something better. I will not move on because I do not want this story of this franchise to degrade and I don’t want this to happen again in the future. What are your thoughts? Were you mislead by the marketing? Did the story go in the right direction with the covenant and Cortana? Is Locke the hero we need? And most importantly, can he or someone else fill the Chief’s boots in the future?
>
> Thanks,
> Dotty

I was really hyped for the story of halo 5 but games this days seem like they think of good ideas but then ruin them with a rewrite or something of that sort. 343 needs to have a better story for halo 6 and make sure to give everyone acillies helmet and armor for free.

JK about that last part…

9

hunt the hype…that is all it was and the uber loyal ate it up… I am a loyal dedicated fan but alas I am no zealot…not any more. We help fund games not for long lasting memorability but for hyper-competition and graphics and t being online… 5 will not stand the test of time because of how it was designed. People this day can still go back on their own consoles and replay the game, multiplayer and all with out the need of a “secure connection”. But what of 5? sure campaign can be accessed offline but still, the fact that campaign is the only offline only mode given the state of how it was made is…sub par, As fans we should never really compromise and lower our standards, and neither should a company that is charged with safeguarding the future of an iconic franchise… My only hope is that it doesn’t end like this…please don’t let it end like this…343i

10

> 2533274911267611;9:
> hunt the hype…that is all it was and the uber loyal ate it up… I am a loyal dedicated fan but alas I am no zealot…not any more. We help fund games not for long lasting memorability but for hyper-competition and graphics and t being online… 5 will not stand the test of time because of how it was designed. People this day can still go back on their own consoles and replay the game, multiplayer and all with out the need of a “secure connection”. But what of 5? sure campaign can be accessed offline but still, the fact that campaign is the only offline only mode given the state of how it was made is…sub par, As fans we should never really compromise and lower our standards, and neither should a company that is charged with safeguarding the future of an iconic franchise… My only hope is that it doesn’t end like this…please don’t let it end like this…343i

Exactly. Why should anyone lower their standards? Why not just shoot to make the best possible game and earn the respect of the entire industry.

11

It was disloyal and dishonest in terms of story. Before I lay down my opinion on this, Id like to show who i liked that came out of this story.
Exuberant was great, Buck tried to start what the trailers have shown, and i truly like the soundtrack.

But the Halo 5 campaign lacks what every Halo from CE to 4 had. Something to believe in. The original Halo Trilogy is so beloved because of it’s sheer power and epicness of its events. Its devotion to those moments and the belief in its actions. To save humanity. To save the universe. To stop the tyranny of your former leaders. To stop the flood. To get Cortana back. To stall enough time to send Cortana and the sacrifices made for it. To save Cortana and eliminate a new threat. Everyone of these stories dove into their characters, and their motives. This drove the story. And the commercials for Halo 5 showed that same devotion

What happened in Halo 5. Chief had a dream of cortana. He went after that, and some friends followed him. We dont hear anything about that till half way through the game. Locke tries to hunt Chief for “going awol” which is a load of garbage. Locke’s motivation is to save people, yet chief caused no harm. Cortana gets villainous with no motivation except " You all are unruly. Marshall Law for everyone" After some patty cake and a civil war involving Warden, Cortana’s new bf, Lockes gets Chief to pull out of Cortana. And now they’re on the run. No developed clash of ideals, no death or destruction seen. It was weak.

12

Considering we’ll never know what went down in the campaign development since 343 is keeping silent on what happened, I’m pretty sure a lot of blame goes on the Lead Writer, Brian Reed. He needs to be offloaded from the franchise entirely. The damage he’s done is going to be difficult to reverse.

13

I couldn’t agree with you more.

I bought Halo 5 solely for the story that was advertised in the marketing campaign. You know, the supposed “Greatest Hunt in Gaming History.” I wanted to see why ONI branded Chief as a “traitor” (you had mentioned that the UNSC thought Chief was responsible for activating the Guardians) and why they sent Locke to hunt him down; perhaps they could’ve possibly explain why Locke says, “You’re not the only here because of him,” to Buck.

I wanted to see characters die because of this whole conflict between Chief and Locke – this sounds bad I know, but I’ve always loved the dark and gritty themes of story telling. I initially thought that we were able to choose who’s story to play through first: Blue Team or Fireteam Osiris, where their story would eventually crossover and give us an end similar to the “All Hail” and “The Cost” ads had shown us!

14

> 2533274800438887;12:
> Considering we’ll never know what went down in the campaign development since 343 is keeping silent on what happened, I’m pretty sure a lot of blame goes on the Lead Writer, Brian Reed. He needs to be offloaded from the franchise entirely. The damage he’s done is going to be difficult to reverse.

The amount of hate that’s gone towards Brian Reed is a bit excessive but not uncalled for in my opinion. I can simply say I don’t like where he lead the narrative. Great writer when it comes to comics and the development of characters within those comics but he does not have the experience to lead the narrative team for one of the biggest Sci fi franchises in gaming history.

15

What can I say you’ve dissected Evey point someone has mentioned to 343 about their shoddy handling of the Halo 5 campaign/marketing. The game overall has been 343 latest failure in my mind along with other games they have released. This was their Moment! to make Halo great to re-kindle a lot of the fans that were still on the fence after the failure of MC Collection and terrible multiplayer of Halo 4. This was mean’t to be you Make it or Break it.

In the months before Halo 5 was to be released with the whole idea of the marketing idea they had going I thought they were planning on broadening the actual game itself make it something bigger to the universe instead of just a small slice. I had an idea in my mind where we would have story arcs in the campaign maybe one or two.

first would co-inside with the events that had happened in hunt the truth with MC going awhol and that would give us an unfamiliar view that never been done in the game before y’know doing the role Spartans were always mean’t for something like that would’ve been brilliant eye opener for people. ultimately i then precoded to think this would then lead to Rebels Ark Ending and the Decimation of a populated area with the blame falling on MC and blue team leading to the further “Traitorous attitude of the UNSC” this would be where Osiris come in and go on the “Hunt” to bring him and blue team in. Whilst Mc is on the trail of the guardians Osiris are dealing with the remnants of what the chief left behind on his trail I.E weather it be Covenant or Rebel ultimatly leading to the Domain. i had no thought on what would go on after that.

Overall expectations and what we actually got surprising different and unmemorable moments throughout the campaign has left it quite bad taste in regards to other campaigns that have been done in the past.

16

> 2533274901165186;4:
> > 2533274905624999;2:
> > I put a lot of work into this c’mon.
>
>
> just shows you what happens when you put something with effort on waypoint. your more likely to get responses just by posting “halo fives campaign sucks omg omg”

This is too true. Surprising when tons of the users on this sight complain saying it’s all hate, and no constructive criticism gets posted. Then they turn around and don’t post on good threads.

17

> 2533274905624999;14:
> > 2533274800438887;12:
> > Considering we’ll never know what went down in the campaign development since 343 is keeping silent on what happened, I’m pretty sure a lot of blame goes on the Lead Writer, Brian Reed. He needs to be offloaded from the franchise entirely. The damage he’s done is going to be difficult to reverse.
>
>
> The amount of hate that’s gone towards Brian Reed is a bit excessive but not uncalled for in my opinion. I can simply say I don’t like where he lead the narrative. Great writer when it comes to comics and the development of characters within those comics but he does not have the experience to lead the narrative team for one of the biggest Sci fi franchises in gaming history.

Agreed the entire escalation series was a complete setup for something Major, but then he through that right out the window.

18

I was mislead by the ads and the Hunt for Truth series. There was a buildup of events in Halo 4. The ads made me excited and I believed I was getting an awesome Halo game. Then I played the Campaign… At first I was confused and insulted. I played the story a few more times to try and make sense of it. In the end, it simply wasn’t the campaign that we were promised. I was expecting more from 5 and I am hoping for more in the next game. I hope 343 learns from their mistake and delivers an amazing story in Halo 6. Thanks for your well thought out post OP.

19

Turns out the whole “Hunt the Truth” ad campaign ended up more like #HideTheTruth.

20

Is this why you’ve been just doing forge the past few days?