My pitch for a Chief focused campaign expansion

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Here is my proposal of what an updated Halo 5’s campaign would look like with bold text denoting Blue Team missions:

1.Osiris
2.Blue Team
3.Orbital (Covenant fleet attack after Argent Moon is destroyed, some space combat, Blue Team dialogue to expand on characters, talk of ONI and AWOL repercussions)
4.Glassed (More debate on Blue Team, Locke revealed to be bitter at Chief for not saving his homeworld from being glassed and is disillusioned with the idea of Chief being the saviour of humanity “Our greatest threat is believing in a hero”)
5.Meridian Station
6.Hunted (Blue Team learns of Locke and Osiris hunting them, revealed to be declared KIA by ONI “The official word, an evolving lie”, attacked by Prometheans on way to Guardian)
7.Unconfirmed
8.Evacuation (Much more debate and friction on Blue Team, Locke is determined to bring in Chief, Tanaka is sympathetic to Blue Team, Vale doesn’t have an opinion, Buck is more angry towards Sloan and Cortana)
9.Reunion (More debate within Blue Team about going AWOL, Blue Team beginning with Fred starts to question Chief’s leadership and moral high ground)
10.Swords of Sanghelios (Halo 2 Anniversary cinematic at the end because when did that meeting happen? Was it even canon)
11.Alliance (Cortana misleading Locke on Chief’s absence in that he is helping her activate Guardians to build Locke’s resolve against him “My mission is clear, take down a verified traitor”, driving Chief towards her side "Spartans never die, but equipment can be retired)
12.Whispers from the Past (Dialogue mission, context behind Cortana’s return, Warden’s origin, Chief’s destiny, Didact’s fate)
13.Enemy Lines
14.Before the Storm (Edited to include Locke warning Osiris that ONI wants Chief dead and prepping them on the possibility of having to put him down)
15.Gateway (Exploring the Domain facility, exposition behind where Promethean soldiers came from and Bastion Forerunner Builder, debating what to do with Locke)
16.Battle of Sunaion
17.Genesis (Edited to include Blue Team**/Fireteam Osiris** boss battle at the end but Cortana**/Exuberant Witness** breaks up fight before player lands killing blow, player can choose which team they play as according to who they think is more morally superior)
18.The Breaking
19.Gaurdians (Librarian reveals the overall importance of the Master Chief to Locke and how Chief must be saved from Cortana, Chief witnesses Osiris’ efforts to save them and forgives Locke for hunting them)

Upon reading that you may notice that a running theme in my updated campaign is the hunt for Chief and the conflict of interests between him and Locke. I believe that one of the main reasons the campaign is considered to be a letdown is how it was marketed opposed to what it was. We were told through the excellent podcast “Hunt the Truth”, the live action trailers “All Hail”/“The Cost”, the “Halo 5 Experience” and “Fall of a Hero” commercials and even the front cover depicting the two Spartans opposing each other that this campaign was revolved around a conflict between two soldiers with different ideologies, histories, personalities, goals and methods that in their mutual concern for humanities safety clash. This dark plotline was highly anticipated and we were ready to see how this conflict would play out, the ambiguity created around the Chief’s disappearance and whether or not he was a traitor had terrific potential to venture into new story paths that Halo hadn’t gone before. Instead this Hunter vs Hunted plotline was basically stopped after ‘Unconfirmed’ where Chief and Locke fight for 30 seconds. The next time they meet Chief and Locke bury the hatchet in 10 seconds and become best friends by the end. The intrigue we were expecting and the tension between these two heroes was nearly nonexistent and the plot unwisely shifted to stopping Cortana/Warden.

Having 80% of the game about Locke and Osiris COULD have worked if Locke himself was a compelling character, however without having any exposition around his backstory, morals and supposed skill as an assassin tracker we aren’t that invested in him. My proposal actually does more to develop Locke’s character as when we learn of Locke’s long held grudge towards the Chief for not saving his home planet despite being hailed as the ‘saviour of humanity’ we get to see a side of the Halo universe we haven’t seen yet, that maybe Chief isn’t a saviour and Locke is right in saying “Our greatest threat is believing in a hero”, which he will come to think more on by the end of the game and maybe change his mind. Locke can be seen as the anti-Chief, the only one who won’t bend over backwards to glorify to legend of 117 and this is summarised perfectly by his “All hail the conquering hero” speech. If you would have run Locke’s character on this premise alone I guarantee you the fans would warm up more to his character. As for Chief we have his arc based on the “Is this what you wanted?” speech in which he is so obsessed with finding Cortana that he has blinded himself to the bigger picture and how much of a threat Cortana has become. Through Fred (the only member of Blue Team who can offer constructive criticism to John’s actions) we will start to doubt if Chief is making the right choices and whether we should side with Locke in the end. At the end of the mission ‘Genesis’ we would get the climax of this conflict, Locke who believes that Chief is a fallen hero who for the good of humanity must be put down vs Chief who is obsessively trying to save his AI friend at the expense of the safety of the galaxy at a whole. We the players after seeing both sides would get to choose who we go with, if we choose Osiris we fight Blue Team right up until Locke is going to deliver the killing blow and Cortana teleports an injured Blue Team away BUT if we the players stay loyal to Chief we fight Osiris until Exuberant Witness intervenes and teleports Blue Team away before Chief can execute Locke. After that ‘The Breaking’ would continue as normal. In the last mission ‘Guardians’ the ghost of the Librarian would finally appear to Locke and reveal that Chief is essential to humanity claiming the Mantle and despite Locke’s personal issues with him; Blue Team must be saved. From his Cryptum Chief would witness Locke’s efforts and once he is freed they will make up.

With this updated campaign, the plot we were hoping for between the Hunter vs the Hunted is resolved with all the intrigue and duality we were hoping for. Though the flaws of the Chief, Locke becomes a fascinating character who gives us context to John and whether he really is the saviour of humanity. During the campaign Osiris would also argue about Chief’s absence and define themselves by it, giving them personality that is sourly lacking in the campaign as it is (except for Buck who we all love). In the end I will say that the central theme of Halo 5: Guardians should be 'What is a guardian?", is Locke the guardian of humanity by having the conviction to do what no other Spartan can OR is Chief the guardian of humanity because he’s the -Yoink- Master Chief and he’s earned the right to make executive decisions like going AWOL and pursuing Cortana at his discretion. If the campaign is updated to primarily reflect this question (as greatly implied by its marketing) while giving somewhat equal time to both its protagonists I promise you it will be redeemed (a passing mention to the events of Halo: Nightfall would be nice too because seriously, what was the point of that?)

2

This is actually a very well thought out post - I like how you tied in everything with the marketing, and practically all your ideas would have made ‘Halo 5’ a VASTLY better game.

3

I haven’t read your entire wall of text of the time of this comment, and I strongly support story expansion, so much so that I think we should get a completely redone campaign, but right off the bat I have a few issues with the first two missions being left as is in your revision of the campaign. First off, killing off Jul’Mdama was probably the dumbest thing to happen in the entire campaign after all the build up he had. So, in whatever story DLC we get, that is the first mistake that needs to be rectified. Either have him escape or whatever, but killing off is one of the most egregious offenses I have ever seen done to a fictional character. As for Blue Team, we shouldn’t know that Cortana is still alive (she honestly shouldn’t be alive at all, but I digress). That took out all sense of mystery that marketing promised us the game would have right from the get go. And Blue Team needs a more compelling reason to go AWOL other than because MC had a dream. It makes no sense that Fred, Linda, and Kelly, all of whom were indoctrinated from age 6 to respect and obey the chain of command, would go AWOL for a dead AI that they never even met. And the UNSC drastically overreacted to MC, who effectively saved humanity 3 times by operating on his own, going somewhere they told him not to. Likewise they should have no idea that Cortana is behind it all either, both because its just boring storytelling and because it makes no sense how they know as it is never explained how any of them figured it out. Also, Locke resenting Chief for not saving his homeworld kinda works, but is also kinda weak when you consider how many other worlds were glassed and Chief was powerless to stop them, making Locke a little childish and irrational. I do think Locke having an actual reason to hate Chief is very crucial to building a convincing conflict between the two, because in its current state their beef with one another could have been settled if either of them just took 5 minutes to talk. It might be better to have an even more personal reason, like a loved one dies in a Guardian awakening with all evidence pointing to Chief being responsible for awakening it. Any way that’s all I have time for right now. All in all what you have is million times better than whatever garbage Brian Reed could probably come up with, so good job there.

4

> 2533274899577089;3:
> I haven’t read your entire wall of text of the time of this comment, and I strongly support story expansion, so much so that I think we should get a completely redone campaign, but right off the bat I have a few issues with the first two missions being left as is in your revision of the campaign. First off, killing off Jul’Mdama was probably the dumbest thing to happen in the entire campaign after all the build up he had. So, in whatever story DLC we get, that is the first mistake that needs to be rectified. Either have him escape or whatever, but killing off is one of the most egregious offenses I have ever seen done to a fictional character. As for Blue Team, we shouldn’t know that Cortana is still alive (she honestly shouldn’t be alive at all, but I digress). That took out all sense of mystery that marketing promised us the game would have right from the get go. And Blue Team needs a more compelling reason to go AWOL other than because MC had a dream. It makes no sense that Fred, Linda, and Kelly, all of whom were indoctrinated from age 6 to respect and obey the chain of command, would go AWOL for a dead AI that they never even met. And the UNSC drastically overreacted to MC, who effectively saved humanity 3 times by operating on his own, going somewhere they told him not to. Likewise they should have no idea that Cortana is behind it all either, both because its just boring storytelling and because it makes no sense how they know as it is never explained how any of them figured it out. Also, Locke resenting Chief for not saving his homeworld kinda works, but is also kinda weak when you consider how many other worlds were glassed and Chief was powerless to stop them, making Locke a little childish and irrational. I do think Locke having an actual reason to hate Chief is very crucial to building a convincing conflict between the two, because in its current state their beef with one another could have been settled if either of them just took 5 minutes to talk. It might be better to have an even more personal reason, like a loved one dies in a Guardian awakening with all evidence pointing to Chief being responsible for awakening it. Any way that’s all I have time for right now. All in all what you have is million times better than whatever garbage Brian Reed could probably come up with, so good job there.

Thank you! I really did try to put a lot of thought into it. My main objective with this pitch was to fulfil the promise of “the hunt for Chief” and to make something that could actually happen if 343 wanted to. I too think killing 'Mdama was stupid considering how important he was to keeping the Covenant relevant. But 343 isn’t going to set a dangerous precedent by completely changing a plot point because the fans wanted it. Notice how all my proposed ideas COULD have actually happened in the game, we just didn’t see it. For example, maybe Blue Team was attacked by an angry Covenant fleet on the way to Meridian, maybe they did debate the fact that they were going AWOL on the way there or maybe Locke did prep Osiris on the possibility of having to kill Chief? 343 wouldn’t be compromising the story they told (With the exception of the boss battle on ‘Genesis’) and we would have all our complaints addressed. I think what you said about Blue Team just following Chief because he had a daydream was spot on, however this could lead to a discussion on whether or not the Master Chief is allowed to make important decision because he saved humanity three times or if he still has to follow rules like the rest of them, as Benjamin Girud said “Is it right for one man to have that much power?” With Locke’s motivations I feel that he shouldn’t HATE the Chief, just not subscribe to the notion that he is God on Earth and everything he says goes because he knows that Spartans aren’t perfect and can’t save everyone (his homeworld). ONI/Lasky would see this in Lockes psyche profile and deem him the only Spartan willing and able to kill Chief if needed, remember when Sarah Palmer was directly ordered by Del Rio to arrest the Chief and she just stood there? ONI would vet all the Spartans on Infinity and deem Locke to be the only one with the opinion that Chief is beholden to rules like the rest of the UNSC and hence would be perfectly suited to bring him in. Thanks for your feedback!!

5

Not a bad idea… but I’d rather have an entirely new campaign where you play as only the Master Chief and Blue Team, preferably set before the events of Halo 5’s campaign… and actually set on a Halo ring this time. Installation 03, anyone?

A few extra missions isn’t going to cut it; this game already wants for more PvE content. Also, if they ever do make a DLC campaign, no more dialogue-only “missions”.

6

> 2533274834952794;5:
> Not a bad idea… but I’d rather have an entirely new campaign where you play as only the Master Chief and Blue Team, preferably set before the events of Halo 5’s campaign… and actually set on a Halo ring this time. Installation 03, anyone?
>
> A few extra missions isn’t going to cut it; this game already wants for more PvE content. Also, if they ever do make a DLC campaign, no more dialogue-only “missions”.

I’d have to disagree, my opinion has always been that the biggest reason people didn’t like Halo 5’s campaign is because it was falsely advertised. We were promised that we would get Locke vs Chief, Osiris vs Blue Team, Hunter vs Hunted. Instead we got a cinematic boxing match in the 5th mission and then they make up. I think a prequel would be nice but it wouldn’t eliminate the stench of the lacklustre main game. I also think one extra dialogue mission is necessary not only to tell us where Warden came from, what actually happened to the Didact and why Cortana is an evil tyrant but also to expand on Blue Team. To someone who hasn’t read the books Blue Team would appear to be VERY underdeveloped, I think one mission devoted to dialogue and inter-team discussion would serve to give context to the plot and Blue Team’s motivations.

7

> 2533274920039666;2:
> This is actually a very well thought out post - I like how you tied in everything with the marketing, and practically all your ideas would have made ‘Halo 5’ a VASTLY better game.

Thanks!! I endeavoured to pitch something that could actually happen if 343 wanted to. It’s childish to assume that 343 is going to remake the whole campaign with Chief and maybe Arbiter as the main character. My proposal would be loved by the core fans and show them they are listening to their criticisms and all they have to do is add some dialogue to a few existing missions, make 3-4 Chief missions and add a boss battle at the end of Genesis (split screen would be great too).

8

> 2533274885993654;4:
> > 2533274899577089;3:
> > I haven’t read your entire wall of text of the time of this comment, and I strongly support story expansion, so much so that I think we should get a completely redone campaign, but right off the bat I have a few issues with the first two missions being left as is in your revision of the campaign. First off, killing off Jul’Mdama was probably the dumbest thing to happen in the entire campaign after all the build up he had. So, in whatever story DLC we get, that is the first mistake that needs to be rectified. Either have him escape or whatever, but killing off is one of the most egregious offenses I have ever seen done to a fictional character. As for Blue Team, we shouldn’t know that Cortana is still alive (she honestly shouldn’t be alive at all, but I digress). That took out all sense of mystery that marketing promised us the game would have right from the get go. And Blue Team needs a more compelling reason to go AWOL other than because MC had a dream. It makes no sense that Fred, Linda, and Kelly, all of whom were indoctrinated from age 6 to respect and obey the chain of command, would go AWOL for a dead AI that they never even met. And the UNSC drastically overreacted to MC, who effectively saved humanity 3 times by operating on his own, going somewhere they told him not to. Likewise they should have no idea that Cortana is behind it all either, both because its just boring storytelling and because it makes no sense how they know as it is never explained how any of them figured it out. Also, Locke resenting Chief for not saving his homeworld kinda works, but is also kinda weak when you consider how many other worlds were glassed and Chief was powerless to stop them, making Locke a little childish and irrational. I do think Locke having an actual reason to hate Chief is very crucial to building a convincing conflict between the two, because in its current state their beef with one another could have been settled if either of them just took 5 minutes to talk. It might be better to have an even more personal reason, like a loved one dies in a Guardian awakening with all evidence pointing to Chief being responsible for awakening it. Any way that’s all I have time for right now. All in all what you have is million times better than whatever garbage Brian Reed could probably come up with, so good job there.
>
>
> Thank you! I really did try to put a lot of thought into it. My main objective with this pitch was to fulfil the promise of “the hunt for Chief” and to make something that could actually happen if 343 wanted to. I too think killing 'Mdama was stupid considering how important he was to keeping the Covenant relevant. But 343 isn’t going to set a dangerous precedent by completely changing a plot point because the fans wanted it. Notice how all my proposed ideas COULD have actually happened in the game, we just didn’t see it. For example, maybe Blue Team was attacked by an angry Covenant fleet on the way to Meridian, maybe they did debate the fact that they were going AWOL on the way there or maybe Locke did prep Osiris on the possibility of having to kill Chief? 343 wouldn’t be compromising the story they told (With the exception of the boss battle on ‘Genesis’) and we would have all our complaints addressed. I think what you said about Blue Team just following Chief because he had a daydream was spot on, however this could lead to a discussion on whether or not the Master Chief is allowed to make important decision because he saved humanity three times or if he still has to follow rules like the rest of them, as Benjamin Girud said “Is it right for one man to have that much power?” With Locke’s motivations I feel that he shouldn’t HATE the Chief, just not subscribe to the notion that he is God on Earth and everything he says goes because he knows that Spartans aren’t perfect and can’t save everyone (his homeworld). ONI/Lasky would see this in Lockes psyche profile and deem him the only Spartan willing and able to kill Chief if needed, remember when Sarah Palmer was directly ordered by Del Rio to arrest the Chief and she just stood there? ONI would vet all the Spartans on Infinity and deem Locke to be the only one with the opinion that Chief is beholden to rules like the rest of the UNSC and hence would be perfectly suited to bring him in. Thanks for your feedback!!

How is it a dangerous precedent to redo a campaign that is universally bashed as the worst Halo Story to date? Bioware revised the extremely unpopular ME3 ending and it helped them win back a lot of credibility they lost when they first released the game. Why can’t 343 own up to their story’s abysmal quality and misleading marketing and fix their mistakes? It could go a long way for them to repair their extremely damaged reputation. Of course I should think that it goes that whatever story content for the main campaign they do would have to be free, unless they’ve already settled that Halo 5 is going to be their last Halo game.
EDIT: I also honestly don’t get what’s the big deal with not “compromising the story they told”. Their story sucks. Who cares about compromising it? Honestly it seems easier to just go back to the drawing board and start over from square one instead of trying to patch up the infinitely leaky ship that is the current campaign. At this point it’ll be like trying to slap on a new coat of paint on the rusted and corroded hunk of scrap that used to be a car that would sooner disintegrate than exceed 10 mph and then selling it off as a Ferrari. I would respect them a hell of a lot more if they threw out their current writing team and their shitasticular story with them and then bring in someone like Staten or Nylund, hell bring back Chris Scherlf if he isn’t too busy with ME: Andromeda, to pen a proper sequel to Halo 4’s awesome story than if they just tried to salvage whatever they could from the current -Yoink- pile.

9

Really well thought out. This is what the campaign should have been like. Now I just want osiris cutout completely from any future story except for buck.

10

> 2533274800902066;9:
> Really well thought out. This is what the campaign should have been like. Now I just want osiris cutout completely from any future story except for buck.

Honestly Osiris should have been lead by Buck and then should have starred other Halo bad–Yoinks!- we already know like Jun to make the B-Team of the Halo universe. Locke had potential but he was handled so poorly that at this point the story might very well be better off without him. Vale and Tanaka serve literally no purpose whatsoever other than to fill out a diversity quota to include arbitrary female and minority protagnists and to be the two members on the fire team, roles that would have been much better filled by pre-existing characters. Also Buck was written very poorly in this game and doesn’t resemble his much better ODST character much at all. In Halo 5 Buck is essentially just Nathan Fillion being himself, not actually playing much of a character. Overall, the dual story perspectives had huge potential and could have been amazing, as evidenced by how well it worked in Halo 2. But, they gave all the screentime to a cast of characters no body could really care less about and almost didn’t even try to make them compelling or relatable in anyway with minimalist attempts at character development at best.

11

Also, while a little bit more of a personal gripe, another aspect of the campaign that made no sense was Chief and Locke’s “fight”. Not only does it not make sense that they engaged in one in the first place when all it would have taken to diffuse the situation would have been like 5 minutes of explanation, there is no way in hell that Locke would have preformed as well as he did given the knowledge we know about both his and Chief’s armors and training. Right off the bat, Chief is a S-II while Locke is a S-IV. That puts him at a HUGE physical disadvantage in basically every regard, from raw strength and reflexes, to his vastly superior training and mastery of hand-to-hand combat. On top of that, it is confirmed that Blue Team was outfitted with Gen II Mjolnir before they went rogue. S-IV need Gen-II just to be even comparable to a S-II in Gen-I armors, let alone a II in Gen-II. At that point a II probably makes Brutes look like -Yoinks!- in comparison when fully outfitted. So there is no way a fully functional MC would have a problem flooring Locke like a -Yoinking!- locomotive. Also the rest of Osiris is just standing there why Chief casually walks away and beats up their commander, like wut? Shoot ur gunz lolz. I understand that this is definitely more on the nit-picky side, but its the principle behind it that gets me. Brian Reed or whoever completely ignores the predetermined lore in attempt to legitimize and make their new character seem “cooler” by taking on the biggest kid in the playground which ultimately results in a lazily set-up and completely arbitrary fight scene that becomes even more absurd when taking into account how much BS Locke is pulling by being able to stand his ground. Furthermore, it makes the entire premise of a team of IVs taking on a equally sized team of equally outfitted IIs, and the very best of them at that, completely laughable.

TL:DR Redo the fight scene so that it makes sense, both in a story and lore perspective. Give them an actual compelling reason to engage in fisticuffs and make in realistic in the context of your own lore or give an explanation as to how Locke can keep up, like Chief’s suit getting damaged beforehand or Locke’s prototype suit enhances physical attributes more than the standard set of Gen-II Mjolnir.

12

> 2533274899577089;8:
> > 2533274885993654;4:
> > > 2533274899577089;3:
> > > I haven’t read your entire wall of text of the time of this comment, and I strongly support story expansion, so much so that I think we should get a completely redone campaign, but right off the bat I have a few issues with the first two missions being left as is in your revision of the campaign. First off, killing off Jul’Mdama was probably the dumbest thing to happen in the entire campaign after all the build up he had. So, in whatever story DLC we get, that is the first mistake that needs to be rectified. Either have him escape or whatever, but killing off is one of the most egregious offenses I have ever seen done to a fictional character. As for Blue Team, we shouldn’t know that Cortana is still alive (she honestly shouldn’t be alive at all, but I digress). That took out all sense of mystery that marketing promised us the game would have right from the get go. And Blue Team needs a more compelling reason to go AWOL other than because MC had a dream. It makes no sense that Fred, Linda, and Kelly, all of whom were indoctrinated from age 6 to respect and obey the chain of command, would go AWOL for a dead AI that they never even met. And the UNSC drastically overreacted to MC, who effectively saved humanity 3 times by operating on his own, going somewhere they told him not to. Likewise they should have no idea that Cortana is behind it all either, both because its just boring storytelling and because it makes no sense how they know as it is never explained how any of them figured it out. Also, Locke resenting Chief for not saving his homeworld kinda works, but is also kinda weak when you consider how many other worlds were glassed and Chief was powerless to stop them, making Locke a little childish and irrational. I do think Locke having an actual reason to hate Chief is very crucial to building a convincing conflict between the two, because in its current state their beef with one another could have been settled if either of them just took 5 minutes to talk. It might be better to have an even more personal reason, like a loved one dies in a Guardian awakening with all evidence pointing to Chief being responsible for awakening it. Any way that’s all I have time for right now. All in all what you have is million times better than whatever garbage Brian Reed could probably come up with, so good job there.
> >
> >
> > Thank you! I really did try to put a lot of thought into it. My main objective with this pitch was to fulfil the promise of “the hunt for Chief” and to make something that could actually happen if 343 wanted to. I too think killing 'Mdama was stupid considering how important he was to keeping the Covenant relevant. But 343 isn’t going to set a dangerous precedent by completely changing a plot point because the fans wanted it. Notice how all my proposed ideas COULD have actually happened in the game, we just didn’t see it. For example, maybe Blue Team was attacked by an angry Covenant fleet on the way to Meridian, maybe they did debate the fact that they were going AWOL on the way there or maybe Locke did prep Osiris on the possibility of having to kill Chief? 343 wouldn’t be compromising the story they told (With the exception of the boss battle on ‘Genesis’) and we would have all our complaints addressed. I think what you said about Blue Team just following Chief because he had a daydream was spot on, however this could lead to a discussion on whether or not the Master Chief is allowed to make important decision because he saved humanity three times or if he still has to follow rules like the rest of them, as Benjamin Girud said “Is it right for one man to have that much power?” With Locke’s motivations I feel that he shouldn’t HATE the Chief, just not subscribe to the notion that he is God on Earth and everything he says goes because he knows that Spartans aren’t perfect and can’t save everyone (his homeworld). ONI/Lasky would see this in Lockes psyche profile and deem him the only Spartan willing and able to kill Chief if needed, remember when Sarah Palmer was directly ordered by Del Rio to arrest the Chief and she just stood there? ONI would vet all the Spartans on Infinity and deem Locke to be the only one with the opinion that Chief is beholden to rules like the rest of the UNSC and hence would be perfectly suited to bring him in. Thanks for your feedback!!
>
>
> How is it a dangerous precedent to redo a campaign that is universally bashed as the worst Halo Story to date? Bioware revised the extremely unpopular ME3 ending and it helped them win back a lot of credibility they lost when they first released the game. Why can’t 343 own up to their story’s abysmal quality and misleading marketing and fix their mistakes? It could go a long way for them to repair their extremely damaged reputation. Of course I should think that it goes that whatever story content for the main campaign they do would have to be free, unless they’ve already settled that Halo 5 is going to be their last Halo game.
> EDIT: I also honestly don’t get what’s the big deal with not “compromising the story they told”. Their story sucks. Who cares about compromising it? Honestly it seems easier to just go back to the drawing board and start over from square one instead of trying to patch up the infinitely leaky ship that is the current campaign. At this point it’ll be like trying to slap on a new coat of paint on the rusted and corroded hunk of scrap that used to be a car that would sooner disintegrate than exceed 10 mph and then selling it off as a Ferrari. I would respect them a hell of a lot more if they threw out their current writing team and their shitasticular story with them and then bring in someone like Staten or Nylund, hell bring back Chris Scherlf if he isn’t too busy with ME: Andromeda, to pen a proper sequel to Halo 4’s awesome story than if they just tried to salvage whatever they could from the current -Yoink- pile.

I agree, but demanding such a thing is counter-productive because it probs took over a year to finish Halo 5’s story and making another one from scratch is out of the question from a business standpoint. It is more productive to demand the campaign as it is be FIXED, my idea in essence only adds 3 missions with one 1 dialogue for the Chief, extra dialogue in existing missions for both fireteams and a boss battle but it fixes the campaign just enough so that it is bearable. It’s more realistic at the end of the day and better than nothing at all. Feel free to share my pitch around as much as you want to increase the chance 343 will come across it.