…lackluster to me. I’ll catalog my thoughts inside a spoiler tab for those who may not want the game spoiled yet. My thoughts will also be broken down to specific references and what I did not like about them.
The Storm Covenant: I knew the Storm Covenant was meant to be a minor foe in the grand scheme of things within the story, but I was still a bit underwhelmed by their presence. They were fleshed out in Halo: The Thursday War, but in the game they were just there to be enemies. I had hope with the Prologue Terminal and its introduction of Jul 'Mdama, but even that led nowhere. His presence in the game was non-existent however. It would’ve been great to see Jul as a true adversary to Master Chief in the games working alongside the Didact, maybe even act like Truth did in Halo 3 with his religious ramblings about the Great Journey.
Spartan Ops has also reduced them to squatters on Requiem who work alongside the Promethean Knights. Hopefully the rest of Spartan Ops will shed light on what else they have to do on Requiem, but as far as them being a faction goes, their story may end just as soon as it began.
The Didact: As far as the Didact’s role as the antagonist in Halo 4 went, it was a bit underwhelming. He just wasn’t a really good or believable villain in my eyes. Yes, he has a myriad and sordid history that is shown in pieces within the campaign. It was interesting to see the politics of the Human-Forerunner War, but the Didact seemed overwhelmingly unreasonable in his hatred of humanity.
Most of his points about humanity being evil was disproved in both the novels and the Terminals themselves. With his history in the books regarding losing his children in the war and seeing his civilization crumble, I had hoped for a sympathetic and tragic villain, but he only came off as a -Yoink- to put it bluntly. That and we never are told WHICH Didact it was, I felt that would’ve put a better perspective on his attitude.
The Terminals and Reference: Speaking of the Terminals, I liked how they shed light on the Forerunner side of things, but they were really schizophrenic in their timelines. I never got a real sense of when they occurred or how they fit within the lore’s timeline. I think a few more references to Cryptum and Primordium would’ve made things better.
Honestly, I think 343i just tried to fit in too many references to the novels without a solid foundation to do so. To get the info there, you would’ve needed to read the books, something they said people would not need to do.
**Master Chief:**Make no mistake, this is not about Chief’s character development. This is the first Halo game where he actually felt HUMAN to me, not some machine who said catchy one-liners. No, my issue is with what 343i essentially made him: a Space Jesus. What I mean by that is that Chief seems to have become a “Chosen One” type of character. The Librarian said that she planted seeds specifically for the creation of somebody like John to arise.
It makes Chief truly important, but I feel it cheapens the other characters in the game and lore. It is like a giant middle finger to everybody else, “Sorry, Chief is the only one who matters, ha!”. I’m fine with Chief being a central part of Halo, but not as THE character of Halo who will have the biggest impact. Sorry folks, but that one is just a more personal complaint of mine.
Missed Opportunities: To wrap things up, I felt 343i missed some important story points they could’ve mentioned. What was the relevance of the ship that landed on Installation 04? Where were the references to characters like Chakas and Riser from the Forerunner Saga? Why were the Precursors not mentioned? Just a couple of things.
Thank you for taking the time to give this a read if you have read it. I know my opinion may not be popular or shared by many, after all I’ve seen a lot of people call Halo 4’s story the best, and that is fine. Just as someone who has read the books and loves the lore, I’m a bit disappointed.