Halo Infinite needs to bring back humor

Games Halo Infinite
1

So one of the biggest problems I had with Halo 5 is that it just wasn’t funny. Maybe there was a couple laughs here and there, but there is literally nothing that stands out in my mind about any of the campaign or characters being funny. Sure, there are some funny grunts and maybe even the elites can be funny, but Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris? Boring. All the lines from the teams were always super serious and “Action movie” styled, only without the charm and finesse.

I’m going to give Halo 4 a free pass because it was written as a story where humor wasn’t all that necessary and they focused on other important things such as relationships and stuff.

However, one of the biggest things Halo always had going for it was that it was funny, whether it was trying to be or not. Having marines bellyache and whine at the end of Truth and Reconciliation in Halo CE was not only hilarious, but it was a great tribute to Aliens where the so called “tough guy” marine was always complaining in similar ways. Also, SGT Johnson is also a great tribute to Sergeant Apone from the same movie, who was given the same attitude and sense of humor that really stood out in both franchises.

Today I feel like Halo is inspired by Power Rangers or Avengers, and I’m being dead serious. The opening scene of Halo 5 literally looked like something out of a Marvel film and the dialogue that goes on in the game is generic, “super soldier” lingo that doesn’t represent at all how actual soldiers speak. I mean, I’m not asking for full on Gears of War banter that is clearly written and appreciated by adults only, but Blue Team and Osiris are so PG rated it just sucked.

I think a lot of people really underestimate how much humor enhances a game, be it the raunchy and over the top humor found in Rockstar Games or just the ridiculous lines shouted out by enemies in Crackdown, humor has the ability to make or break a game.

If Halo Infinite keeps the T for Teen rating along with it’s overly safe dialogue and content, it’s going to suffer for it for sure.

2

While I like the more human aspect of H4/5 Chief the overall tone is too serious in my opinion, maybe serious isn’t even the right word. I don’t know how to explain it but there was a certain charm Bungie’s Halo’s had in its characters and storytelling and 343i’s just feels generic.

3

I agree that humor is important to Halo and I wouldn’t want it to turn into one of those games that takes itself too seriously. Halo 5 was spot on with the hilarious grunts, and the IWHBYD dialog, but it was missing the hilarious marines. I hope they bring them back in Halo Infinite.

4

Absolutely agree, I’ve said this before. Even the subtle humor like chief just tossing a grenade up and down in the level The Maw or when spark says “it appears I was mistaken” and chief responds with “that’s a first”. There’s way too much melodrama going on now.

5

Yeah, it would be nice if there was a little more humour, sometimes.
Just don’t turn it into Borderlands - I love that series but that much humor is too much for Halo.

6

To be fair, it’s rather understandable why Chief himself isn’t quite feeling the humor. He literally lost his best friend and then came to find out she had become an immortal Megalomaniac bent on ruling the Universe with an Iron Fist. Chief’s humor was likely brought about mostly by Cortana who would regularly sass our favorite Space Marine about decisions he would make or statements he would say.

Blue Team likewise would be worried about their brothers mental health after losing the only thing he had tying him to his humanity when he was essentially alone for so long. (I would wager that like normal humans, prolonged lack of exposure or contact with other people to even the most antisocial Super Soldier units would drive them mad.) So jokes probably wouldn’t be on their list of priorities; I’m also fairly sure that at least one or two of Blue Team isn’t all that ‘sociable’. Linda definitely isn’t. Kelly? I’m not too sure about. Fred I’ve heard is one of the more approachable within Blue Team as well as the Chief. We never got to learn enough about Sam to know what he was like.

Osiris has little excuse; we know Locke was an ONI spook before becoming team leader, but Buck? He was practically known for his witty banter and charm, but even he seemed to be lacking both those departments. Sure, I got a few laughs from Buck, but nothing like in ODST or even Reach for that five minutes we knew he existed. Tanaka and Vale seem kinda…stale. Tanaka’s attempts at drawing a laugh from the audience is tasteless and relies too much on trying to poke fun at Buck. Vale is hardly funny at all, she’s far too worried about everything going on around her to even attempt cracking a joke.

Even Palmer’s humor was drier than usual.

Overall, Halo 4 and 5 seemed to have taken a more serious turn and I wonder if it’s because of the rating change.

7

I agree that Halo Infinite would need some humor in it. Sgt.Johnson is a perfect example! He was such a prime character in each Halo game he was in because of his personality. The game can’t be too serious or else it would feel a bit dry, Halo 5 made a noticeable attempt with Buck but it turned out to be just “meh”.

8

I always like humor if not forced and done right. Definitly have great memories of Halo humor.

9

I have mixed feelings about this. Because, to me, the Bungie titles seemed too much like 80’s and 90’s action movies. The characters were heavily influenced caricatures, rather than relatable people. Yeah they may have some dialogue that seems like something a normal person would say, but c’mon, Johnson was a 90s action character- like always two words away from some -Yoink- one-liner. Maybe that’s what certain fans want/like. But I like the darker/grittier tone of the 343 titles, and even Reach- though Reach had very little in the way of deep character lore; Carter-stoic, almost jock-like, captain-of-the-football-team, all-American…etc. Cat/Kat-cynical, outcast type with a chip on her shoulder due to daddy issues. Jun- tryhard comic relief that seemed annoying- think Flash from Justice League movie(terrible). Emile-tough, exile, who just wants some love and attention. Jorge was the only character with some humanity in him, whom the player could relate to. I just think Breakfast Club, in space when someone talks about this game.
I digress.
The tone of the Halo franchise, for me, has always been dark, mysterious, and harrowing; brief glimpses of hope through the veil of secrecy and wonder. Adding slight humor would help lend brevity to the story, but forced comedy, or eccentric characters detract from the plot progression. Maybe its because the majority of long time Halo fans grew up with the series, between the ages of 8 and 14-guessing, this is the frame in which our fondest memories are set, and any deviation to that seem like a huge departure from what we expect to see. Our expectations of some of these cut-and-paste caricatures is that they need that to be over the top, and in your face. I think subtlety is the name of the game. In game banter goes along way. Theres a couple of lines of dialogue, for me, that stand out: In Halo 4, when you first meet up with Lasky, and he asks, ‘dont suppose youre any good at clearing LZ’s?’ To which the Chief replies, ‘on occasion.’ See, subtle, yet doesn’t detract from the Chief’s personality.
In Halo 5, when Osiris is on Meridian, and Buck impersonates Sloan. Or when Osiris is escaping the Guardian, and theyre running along those forerunner pad-things, and Buck misses the jump, and says, ‘oh hell’. Like he knew he survived glassings, invasions, covenant bombardments, free falling from high altitude, and what finally kills him is instead, falling into lava.
Subtlety, to me, goes along way.
Just my thoughts im sharing.

10

I agree, we need more times Cortana teleports the Chief into Corvettes upside down, we need more of Sergeant Johnson struggling with Elites until the end…

11

I agree, as long as it’s not forced like a lot of humour seems to be now. Some witty dialogue that marines and grunts occasionally say would be great. I’d like the overall serious tone though, just a little bit of witty and funny moments like that.