Handling Halo 5's Split-Character Campaign

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

To my understanding, there was a notable amount of people who didn’t like having to switch between 'Chief’s perspective, and that of the Arbiter’s, throughout the Halo 2 Campaign. So, I started to think about how 343 could handle the two leads of Halo 5.

Chose Your Campaign
So, right off the bat, on the Campaign start up screen, one of the options presented to the player will be if you’d like to go through it by default - switching at predetermined times during the Campaign - or individually. Individually will ask the player whose journey they’d like to play through; Master Chief’s or Agent Locke’s. Whoever is chosen, you would run through that character’s Campaign without ever having to switch perspectives. You want 'Chief only, you can have that - and vice versa. This would appease those who just want to experience the Master Chief, at least on their first run through of the game. I’m not sure it would have been a huge deal in 2, if they could make that choice. Play the 'Chief now, play the Arbiter later.

So it would be: Default – Master Chief – Agent Locke.

Changing Whilst You Play
It doesn’t end there, though. I was also thinking about after you’ve started a character’s Campaign. Maybe you want to switch roles. Maybe the two have converged, and now your interested in character X’s adventures up to this point. In this situation the game will give you an option to do so without ever having to exit back to the main menu. Press start, and below Save and Quit will be: ‘Save and switch’.

Save and Switch
Unlike the option to save and quit, this one will save your progress and then transfer you over to the other character’s Campaign. If you have yet to start character X’s story, the game will start it up from the very beginning. However, If you have, it will give you the option to select your most recent progress, or missions that you have already completed.

Seamless Switching
Another idea would be that once you’ve completed a mission, there will be some kind of prompt that allows you to switch between the two - once the outro cutscene for your current mission has completed. Instead of loading into character A’s next level, it will load into character B’s. I would say that if you chose to switch using this method - which is more seamless - you will either start from the beginning if you have yet to start character B’s story, or you will resume from where you left off. You would chose this switching method when you want to move more smoothly between each character, so having a menu come up where you can also select completed levels breaks the flow.

Perhaps you’re given the option to enable or disable the bookend transition prompts. If you enable them, you will be given a window to transition over during the concluding cutscene of every level. If you disable, you will be prompted only at the moments 343 would have them switch by default. So, in Halo 2, if this feature was available, you would be given the choice to switch to Arbiter after every level, or only on Metropolis, Regret, and Gravemind - the levels where the developers have dictated the transition.

Issues
Whilst I love this idea, I do see a big issue with it. Because you have no knowledge of character B’s story, when playing as character A, you may learn something that could spoil character B’s journey for you. Maybe when the two finally meet, something dramatic happens, and now you know that event will take place when you finally decide to start Character B’s Campaign. One character’s story will lose some impact, because certain big moments in his journey will have already been revealed.

[EDIT] In terms of any issues with spoilers, it would just be a case of designing the Campaign in a way that all the big story beats in both stories happens when they’re apart. If they do communicate at one point, it would be brief, and provide no exposition as to what’s been happening with character B.

Unlocking the End Game - to combat the issues of spoiling each Campaign
I was thinking that maybe they’d introduce new Campaign levels once you’ve played both stories to completion. After that, a final set of - end game - levels will unlock, which will be when everything goes down. At this point, both characters will come together and prepare for the final confrontation. If you’re now playing alongside the other, it’s not a case of spoiling the other character’s story, it’s a case of whose eyes are you playing through.

2

I can’t help but feel this would unavoidably cripple the plot.

3

Because of the issue I outlined?

As I was constructing the post, I realised that’s a big obstacle, but I wanted to throw it out there, anyway.

4

I think they will go down the same route as Halo 2. Some levels you play as Chief and some you play as Locke.

It’s simple and it works well.

5

> I think they will go down the same route as Halo 2. Some levels you play as Chief and some you play as Locke.
>
> It’s simple and it works well.

i’d guess so, too, but like we know 343i, they like to “experiment” around with already working formulas, so i wouldn’t hold my breath on it.

6

> I think they will go down the same route as Halo 2. Some levels you play as Chief and some you play as Locke.
>
> It’s simple and it works well.

I don’t think what I suggested is in any way complicated, but it does present issues.

I’m just thinking about the backlash Halo 2 recieved for forcing players to play as anyone other than 'Chief. I guess the answer to that could be as simple as creating a character that fans will like enough to not be bothered by the change of perspective. Let’s hope Locke is a raging success.

7

> Because of the issue I outlined?
>
> As I was constructing the post, I realised that’s a big obstacle, but I wanted to throw it out there, anyway.

It could work for some missions, especially if there are multiple plot threads happening simultaneously. But the major story developments would have to be linear. It’s not a bad idea, it just couldn’t be implemented for for the whole campaign.

8

I don’t think this is plausible. Locke is supposed to looking for Chief, so 343i would want to tie both stories into one nice little loop. Having two completely separate campaigns won’t establish the connection with the story, or make it flow very well together.

I think it’d be wise to do it like ODST, where Locke is looking for chief and finds multiple beacons, that could be clues of Chief’s whereabouts at the time, and in a form of a flashback, we will get a Chief mission detailing what happened, when said beacon was left behind. I think this method was rather successful, and works.

9

I actually think that ODST style approach is an interesting one. I do think it’s safe to say that Locke’s side of things will be more traditional than ODST’s, though, and in that sense you’d have to rethink how you integrate that style of transitioning.

To my original point, though, having the story bounce the player between the two characters may be a bit jarring for some - especially given the nature of the two stories. There are people who only want to experience one character, people who may be favouring one story over another, people who feel the different journeys don’t mesh so well as one Campaign story. As cool as it can be, hopping back and fourth can also work against it.

I, personally, had this experience with Halo 2. I didn’t dislike the Arbiter, or his story, but I didn’t look too favouribly on the majority of his levels. I didn’t find them as fun, and the aesthetic of the environments, for the most part, didn’t boast as much variety as Chief’s. I would have preferred to have 'Chief’s portion uninterrupted, and then do the same as the Arbiter. Upon replays, it makes the Campaign more difficult, as well.

My main idea is player choice, whilst still giving them the option to experience both in a non-intrusive manner. You’ll be taking part in their stories, individually, but you will still feel the connection between them, because you have the ability to switch at any time. There’s no disconnect, because you’re made absolutely aware that you’re only playing a slice of an exciting whole. It’s a flexible system that allows players to have a little more control over which slice they get to eat first, that’s all. Fans of the story will play the second character, it’s just about priority.

Halo 2 Anniversary even offers the option to play both separately now, which is cool. It probably won’t work as effectively, due to the game not being designed around it, but it’s a welcome feature.

In terms of any issues with spoilers, it would just be a case of designing the Campaign in a way that all the big story beats in both stories happens when they’re apart. If they do communicate at one point, it would be brief, and not provide any exposition regarding what’s been happening with character B.

Unlocking the End Game - to combat the issues of spoiling each Campaign
Additionally, I was also thinking that maybe they’d introduce new Campaign levels once you’ve played both stories to completion. After that, a final set of - end game - levels will unlock, which will be when everything goes down. At this point, both characters will come together and prepare for the final confrontation. If you’re now playing alongside the other, it’s not a case of spoiling the other character’s story, it’s a case of whose eyes are you playing through during the final gauntlet.

10

I actually enjoyed switching between characters in halo 2 quite a bit. What I didn’t enjoy was that we played just a bit too much arbiter, and the final mission should obviously have been a chief mission… I mean, c’mon… I think 343 has all the knowledge they need on this one since people have been voicing opinions on it since as long as I can recall, seems like the major gripe is that people want to play as a human, so now both characters are human and we get to meet a new character. I’m DTG. “down to game”

11

I honestly loved switching between the Chief and the Arbiter, since I would get a different perspective on the world. I hope they do the same for Halo 5: Guardians.

12

just do it like Halo 2.

13

I think the ODST style of switching characters worked well for it, think I’d prefer that to switching like it was in Halo 2 but that wasn’t bad either

14

> > I think they will go down the same route as Halo 2. Some levels you play as Chief and some you play as Locke.
> >
> > It’s simple and it works well.
>
> I don’t think what I suggested is in any way complicated, but it does present issues.
>
> I’m just thinking about the backlash Halo 2 recieved for forcing players to play as anyone other than 'Chief. I guess the answer to that could be as simple as creating a character that fans will like enough to not be bothered by the change of perspective. Let’s hope Locke is a raging success.

The backlash with Halo 2 wasn’t an issue of character. The marketing for Halo 2 was very “Earth” centric with tagline’s like “Earth Will Never Be The Same” on advertisements with Master Chief fighting off a Covenant invasion of earth that looked apocalyptic. Some of those advertisements even included footage of the E3 2003 demo that we know was never actual gameplay at that point in development.

When we played the game a lot of us were surprised when we all of a sudden left Earth and began to play as The Arbiter, more people were raging when we got back to Earth only for the cliffhanger ending. I think with Halo 5: Guardians more people will be accepting of the character switch due to us being aware of it ahead of time and of course the Halo fanbase being more mature than it was in the Halo 2 days.

15

The fact that we’re aware of the second character from the off - with Halo 5 - means that it won’t be as big of an issue. And Locke - looking like a very promising character already - will work in his favour, for sure. The Earth demo was a big deal for a lot of fans, I’ll give you that - I, too remember being very disappointed.

There is no doubt, however, that there was a very vocal group who expressed their disappointment of having to play as anyone other than 'Chief. I vividly remember that. In fact, it was the very reason Bungie scrapped the Arbiter as a playable character for Halo 3’s Campaign.

There’s no real issue with choice, and the choice I’ve outlined won’t hurt the duel character nature of the Campaign. Being able to commit to each story, one at a time - whilst still having the option to move between the two - works out better, I think. People will be a lot more accepting if they can say 'I’ll play as ‘Chief first, and then I’ll play as this new guy’. No matter how good Locke seems to be, leading up to the launch of the game, he’s still not the face of Halo. The icon that a lot of fans want to play as, and not have that snatched away for a few levels.

Actually, Sonic Adventure 2 did the same thing, with a ‘Hero’ and ‘Dark’ story - minus the ability to switch between them the way I suggest - and I think it worked very well. It is a template that benefits duel stories.

16

I agree with the above posters is that a lot of the negative reaction was simply due to false advertising

I mean, we went from apocalyptic invasion trailer to…14 ships invading earth? And despite all the exploding ships in the background, everyone seemed remarkably calm and cool. Covenant were apparently silly enough not to realize earth was our homeworld, and then Regret decided to flee once we destroyed his little toy that decided to go into a tunnel. After that chief just spends the rest of his story chasing regret, killing regret with a handfull of marines, then spending the rest of the game chasing Truth.

Arbiter on the other hand actually had a pretty nice campaign I thought. Story wise it lead more smoothly out of halo 1, where as chief just sort of ends up at earth with an explanation of “read the books”. He has a sort of interesting retread of chief’s story, but with a covie twist. He starts off fighting rebels, ends up on a halo, and has his plans change drastically when he finds out halo’s true purpose and is betrayed.

17

Master Chief was made the only playable character in Halo 3 because of the backlash of the duel campaign in 2. Enough noise was made that caused Bungie to drop the interspersed perspectives. That’s very important.

Arbiter’s journey is not the point I’m focusing on here, it’s the reaction to fans being made to play as another character. It was an issue. We can talk about our opinions on this - our thoughts on the Arbiter - but it doesn’t change the problem a chunk of the community had with Bungie’s decision.

This thread was about creating a solution, so that kind of thing doesn’t happen. I don’t see a real issue with the concept I’ve come up with. Other suggestions would be great, like WarmerToast’s ODST-esque approach. Though that still only deals with how the characters switch. It would still very much be like Halo 2 - which I get a good amount of you had no issues with. In 343’s shoes, you have to think about how fans reacted to previous attempts, and find ways to not cause the same kind of upset.

18

> Master Chief was made the only playable character in Halo 3 because of the backlash of the duel campaign in 2. Enough noise was made that caused Bungie to drop the interspersed perspectives. That’s very important.

And that is why Halo 3’s story suffered. If Bungie ignored those criticism’s we would have had a much better and even longer campaign mode. 343i should stick to their guns and offer a dual perspective campaign to better flesh out the story and universe.

19

Imagine if they hadn’t listened to criticism. That may have gone pretty badly. Plus, my two cents, I don’t think a single character Campaign means a less fleshed out story, if done right.

But, anyway, Halo 5 can still have all the benefits of a multiple perspective Campaign, even with the option to play through as one character at a time. You experience the world from multiple perspectives, but all it means is those perspectives aren’t mixed into one bowl. You can enjoy one perspective, and then move on to the next. Or you can chose to bounce between the two at your own leisure, using the options listed.

It doesn’t take anything away from what you would like, and offers those other fans they’re preferred experience. As I said before, I think people would have been more accepting of Bungie’s decision, had they been able to tackle both characters in individual Campaigns.