Nailing the "halo" feel on the head (campaign)

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Humanity cannot be as strong as it was in halo 4, it needs to be knocked down again. There needs to be a more of a desperate feeling, a large scale war again.

I would love this. For me, halo has always been about fighting a battle there is no possible way of winning, and playing a game of tug of war with the enemy. Except when humanity tugs, the opposing force tugs harder. This is probably why I did not like halo 4’s campaign as much as others did, it seemed like humanity was too strong compared to it’s enemy. I did not feel like I was fighting a great battle.

The Didact was not a gigantic threat, sure he was at the moment, but it took one man to take him down with some help from the infinity.

When did you ever feel you were in the risk of losing a battle in halo 4? I only ever thought " Well master chief could die, but it wouldn’t result in the loss of humanity, there are other ways they could kill the didact" There was no sense of urgency besides the actual moment where the didact was composing new phoenix.

Even though halo 4 probably was the best at getting emotion out of chief and cortana, It just did not feel as emotional for me. In reach, seeing noble six stay behind or the covenant glassing reach gave me more “feels” than losing cortana. These typs of moments need to be in halo 5.

Introducing the flood again but on a bigger scale would be a great way to achieve this feeling again. Fighting an unstoppable force, hoping for the tides to turn in favor of humanity. It would certainly feel like halo.

Maybe i’m just nostalgic, but this is halo for me. Other games just feel like spinoffs without this feeling. It does not feel like a true halo title imo.

2

You bring up good points, I never though about it as you have but you are correct. Spartan Ops was even less urgent lol…

3

I don’t want the campaigns to loop again like the events of Halo CE-3 weren’t important. Maybe a large impending danger like the Flood, but humanity doesn’t need to be wiped out again.

4

> 2533274877056440;3:
> I don’t want the campaigns to loop again like the events of Halo CE-3 weren’t important. Maybe a large impending danger like the Flood, but humanity doesn’t need to be wiped out again.

I don’t think they need to be wiped out. I think it should be more reduced or maybe just a feeling of being outnumbered and back against the wall

5

Yeah, we definitely need a return to the traditional formula:

  1. Fight Covenant
  2. Discover Forerunner world
  3. Fight Covenant on Forerunner world
  4. Encounter ancient threat on Forerunner world
  5. Battle both new threat and Covenant
  6. Destroy Forerunner facility to end threat

Oh. Wait… I think I just described Halo 4. Huh. Guess it’s closer to traditional Halo storylines than you might think.

In my opinion, 343i needs to be more creative in how the story unfolds. I don’t think we need to worry about the scale of the impending threat, either- from all indications, whatever the danger is poses a huge threat to both the UNSC and Covenant, so I’m sure the stakes will be very high indeed.

6

Halo has done a poor job of showing the aftermath of the war. In Halo 4, there’s all these gleaming cities a mere four years, seven months after Halo 3–where half a continent got glassed, Earth’s defenses were wiped out, and only a small amount of people survived. There’s still this unbelievable figure I keep seeing:

Population of Earth: Early 2552: Billions [at a guess, 7 billion, because Bungie liked 7].
Population of Earth: Late 2552: 200 million.

Oh, but Earth is just fine, with plenty of ships and people to crew them, and with all these gleaming cities four years later. Yeah, right. You’d take at least a century to completely recover from something like that, and I highly doubt you’d send all of your best and brightest onto one ship, when they’re needed at home to rebuild. Maintaining that technology? You can forget it.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Earth decided to strip the surviving Inner and Outer Colonies of resources in order to rebuild. You know, of food, technology and people. Which would provide us with a wonderful excuse to fight the Insurrectionists–or Earth. Perhaps the Master Chief teams up with Admiral Preston J. Cole against Earth and the UNSC Infinity?

7

I would like a mix. It’s already confirmed to have one of the focuses be on Chief’s humanity, and, like you’re saying, Halo 5 needs the feeling of desperation other games had. Not to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy Halo 4’s story, but I feel like a mixing of both of these worlds could make Halo 5 the best it can be.

8

If you keep fighting “unstoppable” forces then they don’t stay “unstoppable”. Flood were clearly stoppable since it’s been done twice in Halo history. In the end out enemies are just things for us to shoot at. If you think about it after Halo CE Chief and the Arbiter almost single handedly took down the Covenant.

9

> 2533274833380875;8:
> If you keep fighting “unstoppable” forces then they don’t stay “unstoppable”. Flood were clearly stoppable since it’s been done twice in Halo history. In the end out enemies are just things for us to shoot at. If you think about it after Halo CE Chief and the Arbiter almost single handedly took down the Covenant.

That’s why I feel that desperation would suit Halo better at this stage.

10

I don’t know about you guys, but I certainly didn’t feel threatened by aliens that seemed to do nothing but run around, sleep, and tell me about their love life all day. -_-
And honestly, Humanity is unlikely to end up on the bottom rung of the ladder again. As Lasky said, we are the Giants now. Thousands of Spartans, the Infinity, and more. The Covenant now no longer opposes us with brute force, but with trickery and terrorism. The Covenant’s glory days are over. We barely have to worry about them now.
So, the only things that are going to fight us which are a proper threat are the Forerunners and the Floocursors, one of which nearly wiped out our race with nothing but a single individual’s endeavour, and the other being practically gods.

11

> 2533274833380875;8:
> If you keep fighting “unstoppable” forces then they don’t stay “unstoppable”. Flood were clearly stoppable since it’s been done twice in Halo history. In the end out enemies are just things for us to shoot at. If you think about it after Halo CE Chief and the Arbiter almost single handedly took down the Covenant.

Except arbiter and chief had lots of help in those games, lots of battles to win the war. In halo 4 It took a few battles and chief climbing aboard the space banana to kill the didact. It was still a great game, but it did not capture the “halo” feel for me.

When I say unstoppable, I mean a force so strong that it seems there is no way humanity can win. The flood would be good for the job if they had a stronger, full fledged attack. The flood in halo 1-3 were not the “true flood”.

12

This feeling of desperation is what made Reach the best campaign for me.

13

Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.

I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.

14

> 2533274943814993;13:
> Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
>
> I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.

I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.

The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.

Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.

They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.

15

> 2533274898131165;14:
> > 2533274943814993;13:
> > Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
> >
> > I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.
>
>
>
> I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.
>
> The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.
>
> Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.
>
> They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.

I disagree. Cortana going rampant definitely made things more urgent. The Didact would have composed all of Earth if it wasn’t for Master Chief, Cortana and Lasky’s bit of help at the end. Even with the Infinity’s help at Earth, Cortana still died although you could argue that she was too late at this point already to have a chance at getting to Halsey. John was practically dead too I mean he detonated a nuke that was in his hands… From his perspective, before Cortana saved him from the blast, he was sacrificing himself for Humanity. The stakes were that high. The Didact still ended up composing 6 million people and survived. There is no way that anyone else could have stopped him at that point.

The only reason Chief didn’t die (besides his leet Spartan skills and Cortana helping him) is because he’s immune to the Composer.

16

> 2533274833600810;15:
> > 2533274898131165;14:
> > > 2533274943814993;13:
> > > Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
> > >
> > > I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.
> >
> > The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.
> >
> > Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.
> >
> > They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.
>
>
> I disagree. Cortana going rampant definitely made things more urgent. The Didact would have composed all of Earth if it wasn’t for Master Chief, Cortana and Lasky’s bit of help at the end. Even with the Infinity’s help at Earth, Cortana still died although you could argue that she was too late at this point already to have a chance at getting to Halsey. John was practically dead too I mean he detonated a nuke that was in his hands… From his perspective, before Cortana saved him from the blast, he was sacrificing himself for Humanity. The stakes were that high. The Didact still ended up composing 6 million people and survived. There is no way that anyone else could have stopped him at that point.
>
> The only reason Chief didn’t die (besides his leet Spartan skills and Cortana helping him) is because he’s immune to the Composer.

Exactly. An immunity. It made Chief more separated, while in other games, it was his fight as much as it was ours. It’s like a free immunity card, while in other games, he was just as susceptible to risk as everyone else. It was a lot less urgent.

17

> 2533274867157068;16:
> > 2533274833600810;15:
> > > 2533274898131165;14:
> > > > 2533274943814993;13:
> > > > Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
> > > >
> > > > I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.
> > >
> > > The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.
> > >
> > > Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.
> > >
> > > They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I disagree. Cortana going rampant definitely made things more urgent. The Didact would have composed all of Earth if it wasn’t for Master Chief, Cortana and Lasky’s bit of help at the end. Even with the Infinity’s help at Earth, Cortana still died although you could argue that she was too late at this point already to have a chance at getting to Halsey. John was practically dead too I mean he detonated a nuke that was in his hands… From his perspective, before Cortana saved him from the blast, he was sacrificing himself for Humanity. The stakes were that high. The Didact still ended up composing 6 million people and survived. There is no way that anyone else could have stopped him at that point.
> >
> > The only reason Chief didn’t die (besides his leet Spartan skills and Cortana helping him) is because he’s immune to the Composer.
>
>
>
> Exactly. An immunity. It made Chief more separated, while in other games, it was his fight as much as it was ours. It’s like a free immunity card, while in other games, he was just as susceptible to risk as everyone else. It was a lot less urgent.

He was still completely at risk. At risk of losing Cortana, at risk of falling to his death while trying to cross the Liches. The urgency was in the fact that Cortana was growing increasingly rampant yet they still had a job to do. They were fighting on their own for the most part without any help and they had to stop the Didact. There was no time to go back to Earth with Infinity just to fix Cortana.

Cortana realized this and knew things were probably not going to end well, but John isn’t used to losing. He almost always wins and he was confident that he could stop the Didact and save Cortana even though he had no real plan. He was just improvising along with Cortana on the way and figuring things would turn out ok like they always do.

18

> 2533274833600810;17:
> > 2533274867157068;16:
> > > 2533274833600810;15:
> > > > 2533274898131165;14:
> > > > > 2533274943814993;13:
> > > > > Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
> > > > >
> > > > > I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.
> > > >
> > > > The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.
> > > >
> > > > Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.
> > > >
> > > > They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I disagree. Cortana going rampant definitely made things more urgent. The Didact would have composed all of Earth if it wasn’t for Master Chief, Cortana and Lasky’s bit of help at the end. Even with the Infinity’s help at Earth, Cortana still died although you could argue that she was too late at this point already to have a chance at getting to Halsey. John was practically dead too I mean he detonated a nuke that was in his hands… From his perspective, before Cortana saved him from the blast, he was sacrificing himself for Humanity. The stakes were that high. The Didact still ended up composing 6 million people and survived. There is no way that anyone else could have stopped him at that point.
> > >
> > > The only reason Chief didn’t die (besides his leet Spartan skills and Cortana helping him) is because he’s immune to the Composer.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Exactly. An immunity. It made Chief more separated, while in other games, it was his fight as much as it was ours. It’s like a free immunity card, while in other games, he was just as susceptible to risk as everyone else. It was a lot less urgent.
>
>
> He was still completely at risk. At risk of losing Cortana, at risk of falling to his death while trying to cross the Liches. The urgency was in the fact that Cortana was growing increasingly rampant yet they still had a job to do. They were fighting on their own for the most part without any help and they had to stop the Didact. There was no time to go back to Earth with Infinity just to fix Cortana.
>
> Cortana realized this and knew things were probably not going to end well, but John isn’t used to losing. He almost always wins and he was confident that he could stop the Didact and save Cortana even though he had no real plan. He was just improvising along with Cortana on the way and figuring things would turn out ok like they always do.

You are missing the point, halo is not just about john and cortana. Sure there was urgency for johns personnel problems, but not on a large scale for humanity. The loss of a dying AI would not effect the rest of humanity, nor would the already presumed dead john. Any other spartan could have ended up with the immunity, it just happened to be john.

There was only a moment of true urgency with the risk of earth getting composed. Even if the didact did compose earth, the way 343 made humanity grow so much in only 4 years, they would have been able to take out the didact with enough fire power. They would just have to avoid the composer and get spartans on board the didacts ship and it would be a wrap. I mean the damaged infinity alone could fight off the didact’s sphere ship.

19

> 2533274898131165;18:
> > 2533274833600810;17:
> > > 2533274867157068;16:
> > > > 2533274833600810;15:
> > > > > 2533274898131165;14:
> > > > > > 2533274943814993;13:
> > > > > > Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.
> > > > >
> > > > > The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.
> > > > >
> > > > > Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.
> > > > >
> > > > > They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I disagree. Cortana going rampant definitely made things more urgent. The Didact would have composed all of Earth if it wasn’t for Master Chief, Cortana and Lasky’s bit of help at the end. Even with the Infinity’s help at Earth, Cortana still died although you could argue that she was too late at this point already to have a chance at getting to Halsey. John was practically dead too I mean he detonated a nuke that was in his hands… From his perspective, before Cortana saved him from the blast, he was sacrificing himself for Humanity. The stakes were that high. The Didact still ended up composing 6 million people and survived. There is no way that anyone else could have stopped him at that point.
> > > >
> > > > The only reason Chief didn’t die (besides his leet Spartan skills and Cortana helping him) is because he’s immune to the Composer.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Exactly. An immunity. It made Chief more separated, while in other games, it was his fight as much as it was ours. It’s like a free immunity card, while in other games, he was just as susceptible to risk as everyone else. It was a lot less urgent.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > He was still completely at risk. At risk of losing Cortana, at risk of falling to his death while trying to cross the Liches. The urgency was in the fact that Cortana was growing increasingly rampant yet they still had a job to do. They were fighting on their own for the most part without any help and they had to stop the Didact. There was no time to go back to Earth with Infinity just to fix Cortana.
> >
> > Cortana realized this and knew things were probably not going to end well, but John isn’t used to losing. He almost always wins and he was confident that he could stop the Didact and save Cortana even though he had no real plan. He was just improvising along with Cortana on the way and figuring things would turn out ok like they always do.
>
>
>
> You are missing the point, halo is not just about john and cortana. Sure there was urgency for johns personnel problems, but not on a large scale for humanity. The loss of a dying AI would not effect the rest of humanity, nor would the already presumed dead john. Any other spartan could have ended up with the immunity, it just happened to be john.
>
> There was only a moment of true urgency with the risk of earth getting composed. Even if the didact did compose earth, the way 343 made humanity grow so much in only 4 years, they would have been able to take out the didact with enough fire power. They would just have to avoid the composer and get spartans on board the didacts ship and it would be a wrap. I mean the damaged infinity alone could fight off the didact’s sphere ship.

How can you know that for sure? Earth being completely composed out of no where wouldn’t set back the UNSC at all? We’ve seen what the Didact is capable of. Conventional weapons don’t even work against him and he would have a legion of Prometheans at his disposal (along with Covenant) from composing Earth alone.

The Didact’s sphere was fought off, correct. But his entire capital ship wasn’t. With humanity having no real defense against the Composer, I find it hard to believe that the UNSC would just be able to “take care of him”. Chief was only able to bring down the Didact’s bubble shield by having Cortana insert her rampant clones into the system. Are you positive that can be replicated so easily?

The Didact is right up there with the Flood when it comes to being a galactic threat. What if he got ahold of the Janus Key? Humans still have no understanding of Forerunner technology and the Didact was seen tearing the Composer out of the science station in a matter of seconds where the UNSC needed their biggest ships and it still took months.

I just don’t believe you can be so sure about Humanity winning that war.

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> > > 2533274833600810;17:
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> > > > > 2533274833600810;15:
> > > > > > 2533274898131165;14:
> > > > > > > 2533274943814993;13:
> > > > > > > Are you kidding me? Halo 4 saw the near destruction of the Infinity the minute it was pulled into Requiem. An entire research facility was composed, and six million people are composed in New Phoenix. You’re talking about desperation? How is Cortana’s constant degeneration while you’re trying to complete tasks, putting you in danger, not desperation? The entire game is mostly spent with Chief losing. Even when Chief “defeats” the Didact, he still loses. He loses Cortana.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I don’t think you paid any attention to the game. Give humanity a break. If we want the doom and gloom of humanity facing extinction, there needs to be a game made during the Human-Covenant war, not after.
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I think you missed my point. Chief or cortana dying did not feel desperate, other people could take their place. Sure seeing cortana die was sad, but it was not like humanity was in risk of being annihilated because of it. Other spartans could have stopped the didact, the unsc could defuse the situation. Halo is not just about chief.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The only urgent part of the game was when new phoenix was being composed. Half of the game revolved around requim and infinity, it was not a huge effort for humanity to stop the didact.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Again, halo does not feel right without that “doom and gloom” mixing with that “pumped up” feeling. I do not the games to all feel the same, but halo 4 had a great lack of urgency. Maybe if they did not make humanity so big a strong only after 4 years from the war, it would have seemed like I had to stop the didact from nailing the coffin in humanity.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > They need a large scale threatening force. The didact was relatively small compared to the covenant.
> > > > >
> > > > >
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> > > > > I disagree. Cortana going rampant definitely made things more urgent. The Didact would have composed all of Earth if it wasn’t for Master Chief, Cortana and Lasky’s bit of help at the end. Even with the Infinity’s help at Earth, Cortana still died although you could argue that she was too late at this point already to have a chance at getting to Halsey. John was practically dead too I mean he detonated a nuke that was in his hands… From his perspective, before Cortana saved him from the blast, he was sacrificing himself for Humanity. The stakes were that high. The Didact still ended up composing 6 million people and survived. There is no way that anyone else could have stopped him at that point.
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> > > > > The only reason Chief didn’t die (besides his leet Spartan skills and Cortana helping him) is because he’s immune to the Composer.
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> > > > Exactly. An immunity. It made Chief more separated, while in other games, it was his fight as much as it was ours. It’s like a free immunity card, while in other games, he was just as susceptible to risk as everyone else. It was a lot less urgent.
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> > > He was still completely at risk. At risk of losing Cortana, at risk of falling to his death while trying to cross the Liches. The urgency was in the fact that Cortana was growing increasingly rampant yet they still had a job to do. They were fighting on their own for the most part without any help and they had to stop the Didact. There was no time to go back to Earth with Infinity just to fix Cortana.
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> > > Cortana realized this and knew things were probably not going to end well, but John isn’t used to losing. He almost always wins and he was confident that he could stop the Didact and save Cortana even though he had no real plan. He was just improvising along with Cortana on the way and figuring things would turn out ok like they always do.
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> > You are missing the point, halo is not just about john and cortana. Sure there was urgency for johns personnel problems, but not on a large scale for humanity. The loss of a dying AI would not effect the rest of humanity, nor would the already presumed dead john. Any other spartan could have ended up with the immunity, it just happened to be john.
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> > There was only a moment of true urgency with the risk of earth getting composed. Even if the didact did compose earth, the way 343 made humanity grow so much in only 4 years, they would have been able to take out the didact with enough fire power. They would just have to avoid the composer and get spartans on board the didacts ship and it would be a wrap. I mean the damaged infinity alone could fight off the didact’s sphere ship.
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> How can you know that for sure? Earth being completely composed out of no where wouldn’t set back the UNSC at all? We’ve seen what the Didact is capable of. Conventional weapons don’t even work against him and he would have a legion of Prometheans at his disposal (along with Covenant) from composing Earth alone.
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> The Didact’s sphere was fought off, correct. But his entire capital ship wasn’t. With humanity having no real defense against the Composer, I find it hard to believe that the UNSC would just be able to “take care of him”. Chief was only able to bring down the Didact’s bubble shield by having Cortana insert her rampant clones into the system. Are you positive that can be replicated so easily?
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> The Didact is right up there with the Flood when it comes to being a galactic threat. What if he got ahold of the Janus Key? Humans still have no understanding of Forerunner technology and the Didact was seen tearing the Composer out of the science station in a matter of seconds where the UNSC needed their biggest ships and it still took months.
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> I just don’t believe you can be so sure about Humanity winning that war.

Assuming earth is strong and well again (how it was portrayed) escape protocols probably would take place. Ships would use slipspace from other colonies and arrive to fight the didact.

In the campaign, the infinity damages didact’s banana ship by taking out the shields if I remember correctly. Getting inside the ship would be pretty easy, john could do it, i’m sure other spartans and pilots could do the same. The didact could not use the composer on people in his ship, otherwise he would have used it on john and he would have collapsed like he did in the cutscene.

We also do not know how long it takes for humans to become Prometheans once they are composed, spartan ops took place months after the campaign took place.

With the unsc’s stronger, newer tech, another AI could have done the same as cortana without all the rampant drama. Also, the unsc does know how to work with forerunner tech to an extent, they have even integrated it into the infinity’s engines. We have no idea if conventional weapons work on the didacts armor, but the unsc’s weapons do work on sentinals, prometheans, and bigger guns work on their ships.

The flood is a thousand times more of a galactic threat than a single forerunner considering they had to vaporize the universe to get rid of them.