So recently I’ve been running a canon run through of every single halo game from Halo wars up to Halo 5 in chronological order and so far I’m almost through reach for the 50 thousandth time but anyway while I was playing I realised I really missed the old aesthetic of the bungie games. I miss the thick armoured nature of the whole thing how Spartans looked like true tanks, forces to be reckoned with; blunt instruments of the UNSC. But as much as I love this art style and do miss it I don’t want it in any of the new material. I don’t want to see this aesthetic in any Halo material that is post 2553 unless it makes sense to be there (halo wars 2).
This is my reasoning; now I’ve done a run through like this last year up to the day of launch of Halo 5. And when I ran through the campaigns last time there was one thing that made this shift feel right for me. It made a distinction between the two eras. Now I’m not saying that 343 needs to do that to have its own aesthetic identity I couldn’t care about that. But it felt like a natural progression in design a logical evolution. 2552 and 2530 (halo wars and every bungie game ever) you are teetering on the edge of an extinction level event R&D doesn’t care about experimentation it just cares about getting Spartans into the field, they just trying to get as many out into the field with enough armour to become literal and metaphorical meat shields for the UEG because that’s all that matters at this point in the war. This is all despite the fact that half the titanium isn’t even useful is completely worthless against plasma is wasted resources. But that doesn’t matter there isn’t enough time in the world for that kind of research into alternative protective materials. From here you have the 343 material. Post 2553. Suddenly you have a society that was preparing for the end of days that has now been spared total annihilation. R&D isn’t thinking in the short term, they’re thinking about the long term. They aren’t arming Spartans for suicide missions anymore to slow the covenant down they’re arming them for the long term, for operations that are more then slowing down an opposing force, they’re building for COIN Operations, they’re building exploratory operations, station security. They are now useful for more then just slowing things down.
From this you see a shift as research teams not only have time for once but they have resources, ONI opens up R&D to almost every single tech company in UEG space big and small and they begin tinkering they begin exploiting Spartan abilities for more then their strength they embrace their speed, their velocity merge that with their strength and endurance. From there they augment those natures. Spartans move from being blunt instruments to weapons of force and velocity. If 343 went with the older style which don’t get me wrong I love it would fail to demonstrate the developmental world surrounding the current timeline of events. This represents a natural step into a different environment where Spartans serve a different purpose to what they used to operate in. And the equipment reflects that. Now in a game where you play a super soldier wearing powered assault armour the characters purpose is demonstrated just as much in what they do as what they wear. If they’re wearing a brick like component and they’re supposed to be infiltration specialists it wouldn’t make sense same with the environment that surrounds the new era. And this is why I will miss the old art style but I don’t want it in the newer games moving forwards.