This is a story feedback thread on Spartan-IVs, aimed at 343i [grim, vociferous, catalog or whoever else reads it I guess]. I’ve been wanting to do this so here we go. It’s quite long, so, prepare:
Introduction:
I feel like the current image of the Spartan-IVs are of these brash, arrogant and abrasive soldiers. They should be seen as these heroic, capable selfless heroes with different personalities, but I don’t see this variety to be very present. Let’s look at that. Most of our window into the Spartan-IVs comes from Palmer and Majestic. Now Palmer, a lot about her has already been said. There is the Halsey thing, the helmet thing, the berating of other soldiers. It’s not simply about doing it, it’s also about how you do it. Palmer seems to be a very static character I find and her interactions are not always pleasant it seems. Majestic?
They sometimes seem to be out of control, see Spartan ops episode 2. And it seems like things repeat themselves so much. How many times does Thorne get hurt/knocked out? The first time on Requiem, nice, he escaped. I find that one nice enough. On Ven III, he did get knocked down and captured again but he didn’t seem very resourceful or enduring when got conscious again. Spartans, the IIs and IIIs seem to brush off pain and keep going past normal limits. Naiya is one of my favourite IVs, she tries to be resourceful, quick thinking. Thorne has done some nice things, but then we also have the rest of majestic which seems to be a bit lacking in character and interaction. We got a nice part with Grant and Thorne but, it seemed to be this one-time thing that and not much afterwards. Making the Spartan-IVs really likable also depends on how they interact with each other and others. How do they talk with marines? Do they simply ignore them, and brush off their deaths? Do they berate them and think they’re a nuisance?
We’ve had some other exposure to Spartans but it’s very short in many of those cases. Dalton seems to handle things pretty well, he seems to have an eye on the big picture. A shame that he isn’t involved more in comics and such. Miller? He does try to be resourceful, we can see that in Spartan Ops when he’s the one trying to figure out what’s going on and what goes where. Mountain squad, well they didn’t seem to last very long… considering they are Spartans… although they did seem more disciplined. That’s one thing too, in gameplay, make them inspiring, make them feel like Spartans, not simply slow walking marines with shields. Castle team, well they did seem disciplined and like they could do the job on the chatter. Shadow? Ah, they come in, destroy a covenant cruiser, and get out. That’s the thing!
Overall, most other Spartan-IVs in Spartan ops seemed to be portrayed nicely enough. But it seems like the ones we see are mostly kind of, meh. And being a Spartan doesn’t simply mean, yay I killed four grunts, or yay I killed an elite who didn’t have shields while standing in the open. They need to be inspiring, they need to leave you in awe with their combat skills. Fluidity in combat. So let’s talk combat.
Spartans in combat
Combat, remember that thing Palmer said about a specialist being able to hit a target with a sniper without scoping in on a windy moonless night? Have moments like those sometimes, not just pep talk. Have acrobatics and fluidity in combat that gives awe. Awareness of what is going on and control of the situation. Not simply rushing in, bam bam I kill everything because it dies in one shot from a magnum. Show the shields and show how the Spartans have to work around that. Remember the halo wars cut scene monsters? When the Spartan-IIs faced those guards and were so fluid and acrobatic in combat? Show that!
Remember in Scanned, when John threw a grenade at the knights and ambushed them, taking a scattershot because it was more advanced and effective? Show that! Remember the package where the Spartans were acrobatic, fast and deadly? Show that! In headhunters, the Spartan-IIIs? They used gadgets like EMP grenades and kept firing at the shielded elite. Doesn’t MJOLNIR have an EMP capability? Use it to disable the shielding on elites and then one shot them with accuracy. Show a struggle where a IV wrestles an elite for an energy sword. There was a struggle between Thorne and Gek, and between that sangheili warrior that Ray fought. Give Spartans really nice feats. What do I think of as a Spartan? Fast thinkers, agility, mobility, strength, able to come up with plans. No weapons? Isn’t the best armory your enemy? A Spartan throwing a rock should be deadly, they’re strong! Remember when crimson escaped capture? That was awesome! Do it again! Hidden knife, take the enemy’s equipment.
One reason why I like Ray, she thinks fast and adapts. How could this have been done better in Spartan ops episode 7? Remember when Palmer was firing at the promethean knights? She should have told the marines to get to cover and tried to maybe take a shot for a marine to protect him, since she has energy shielding. She should have been more fluid, maybe running and shooting and jumping behind a promethean to grab the sword and kill him and maybe round them up so the marines can shoot at them from behind while throwing a grenade. Not standing there in the open shooting while a promethean knight teleports behind her and kills the marine next to him.