Red,Black, & White: Where are they?

Games Halo Infinite
1

The halo community got a lot of new information regarding the campaign details this month; everything from graphics updates, story insights, new character reveals, and in the most recent “Inside Infinite” news release, high resolution renders of some of the enemies we will be seeing inside the campaign. The covenant, the flood, sentinels, promethians, and a offshoot of the covenant led by Jul Mdama. These are all the foes (and sometimes allies) that have shown up throughout Halo’s in-game history. Each of these factions have their own distinct characteristics, leaders, beliefs…and styles. The banished are the latest faction to show up in the Haloverse, and if you have played (or at least watched) the campaign of Halo Wars 2, you would know that the banished are not the covenant, and they are not the covenant 2.0 like the Halo 4/5 faction; the members of the banished have largely thrown tradition, and their historical religious fanaticism to the wayside. The banished are distinct from the covenant, and in Halo Wars 2, so was their aesthetic; they donned black, white, and red armor that was not polished or clean but instead worn with battle, and showed signs of modification and repair.

This is all to say: the character models look fantastic…but these are not the covenant; 343 these elites, grunts, jackals, and hunters should be in the colors of the banished not the covenant. I understand for game balance reasons the player needs to be able to differentiate between an elite major and minor, or a grunt major and ultra and so on, but do it with the colors of the banished not the covenant of old, (ex. Elite minors donning primarily red, majors primarily black, and ultras still in white). I have fought the covenant as Master Chief, rookie, captain Cutter, the Arbiter etc…I am ready to fight a new threat, but with these colors it feels like I am fighting the same battle all over again. I think 343 has done a fantastic job on updating the game since last years reveal, and while the color of an enemies armor in a video game truly is not the end of the world, I loved fighting the various races of the banished in their banished color-palette armor in Halo Wars 2, and it is a little jarring to see the supposedly same faction in infinite look like…well, not the banished.

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If you read the article, they talk about that.

Here’s the thing, silhouette is important, as is color. In Halo: Infinite, we need things that Halo Wars 2 didn’t need. Halo Wars 2 needed unifying faction colors for things. But for when we get to the FPS roots of it all, we need color differentiation… and there’s only so much they can do with Red and Monochrome, with gold lights.

Now perhaps the weapons should all be a unified Red, Monochrome and Gold. But as it stands, The Banished has a hodgepodge of all sorts of stuff.

They’ve left things that are originally, truly, Banished in origin, to look Banished. Mule grunts, Spartan Hunters, literally all of the Brutes - even with their non red and monochrome armors, still do not look exactly like the Halo 3 brutes… and it’s fine if they do, because those were Brutes that were finally allowed all their stuff.

I’d like to see more variation too. But the issue is, white has always meant ultra, red has always meant sergeant, black has always meant spec-ops. After 20 years of that, it is a brutally hard shift to ask of a playerbase that even I’d be extremely hesitant to do.

So, we need to ask ourselves what’s easily recognizable on the field. Should the armors all be shaped differently and maybe, should have used the old colors as ACCENTS on monochrome? Yes, probably, I think that would have been a very good compromise. But it’s also quite clear to me that 343i wanted to show us two things.

1: That they know a lot of players want classic Halo back.
2: That they want to show us what the old stuff could look like today.

Honestly if you ask me the Marines are a lot less good looking. Never liked the Reach kit too much, for them. Always preferred the Halo 3 gear over anything else. I’m not exactly excited about their getup.

But, yeah. This could have been handled differently - I definitely would have, but much like Disney did with Star Wars and The Force Awakens - 343i wants to show us that they can make a proper, real Halo game that we’ve been asking for.

Question is, are we going to take what we asked for, or spit in their face for giving us exactly what we wanted? Which, for the community at large, was this.

3

> 2533274805075298;2:
> But, yeah. This could have been handled differently - I definitely would have, but much like Disney did with Star Wars and The Force Awakens - 343i wants to show us that they can make a proper, real Halo game that we’ve been asking for.

I really hope the comparison of the disaster that is Disney Star Wars and 343 Halo does not come to pass with infinite; Halo 4 and definitely 5 would be a better comparison. As for the rank distinction excuse…really does not hold up if you think about it for longer than 1 minute. The alien races are not present in multiplayer which means getting used to new colors will not impact things such as ranked and multiplayer statistics. Campaign is about the story of Halo and that should be focused on what makes sense from a narrative approach, not what makes sense from a historical nostalgia standpoint. For example Chief’s armor is great, but it isn’t great because of nostalgia, its great because it never made sense from a narrative standpoint to change the design in the first place.

4

> 2533274905191374;3:
> > 2533274805075298;2:
> > But, yeah. This could have been handled differently - I definitely would have, but much like Disney did with Star Wars and The Force Awakens - 343i wants to show us that they can make a proper, real Halo game that we’ve been asking for.
>
> I really hope the comparison of the disaster that is Disney Star Wars and 343 Halo does not come to pass with infinite; Halo 4 and definitely 5 would be a better comparison. As for the rank distinction excuse…really does not hold up if you think about it for longer than 1 minute. The alien races are not present in multiplayer which means getting used to new colors will not impact things such as ranked and multiplayer statistics. Campaign is about the story of Halo and that should be focused on what makes sense from a narrative approach, not what makes sense from a historical nostalgia standpoint. For example Chief’s armor is great, but it isn’t great because of nostalgia, its great because it never made sense from a narrative standpoint to change the design in the first place.

What you’re saying here doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Being able to differentiate enemies in campaign is still important, and seeing an elite covered in golden armour not only makes it extremely clear that its a high ranking, tough enemy, it also plays into my previous knowledge of the franchise to trigger my excitement and nervousness. I’ve faced off against elite zealots, and the enemies are back. Its a distinctly Halo association, and not one that needs to be gone. Campaign is about the story, yes, but it’s also about gameplay. That is at minimum equally as important as narrative, realistically more so. That’s why the guns in Halo don’t function like they’re described to in the extended lore, the AR has a stated range of 500 meters, but good luck even hitting a couple of shots outside of 100 meters in gameplay. That’s a choice that’s made to better fit the gameplay sandbox, at the expense of lore accuracy and narrative consistency. Enemy designs and colour schemes can equally fit into that idea, it’s not so much about narrative consistency, it’s about making the gameplay simple and fun.

But also, it can make narrative sense that the Banished forces are wearing a variety of armour. They are scavengers, they outfit their troops in whatever is available. Its reasonable to assume that the armour Atriox’s forces were wearing on the Ark were scavenged from one place, and the more covenant appearing armour we see Escharum’s forces wear was more recently scavenged from somewhere else. The banished don’t have their own forges crafting banished armour.

And it makes no more logical sense from a lore standpoint for Chiefs design now to look like his classic armour compared to the Halo 4/5 armour. The set he’s wearing in Infinite is a different set of armour, so even if it didn’t make much sense for his 4/5 armour to look the way it did, that’s how it looked. There is a Canon explanation for it, whether you like the explanation or not. The only reason this new set looks like his classic armour is to play to people’s nostalgia, it’s as simple as that.

Also, I don’t know why you brought up multiplayer rank, nowhere in the comment you replied to did they mention multiplayer.

5

Honestly? It kind of makes sense for there to be occasional (or even large groups of) Covenant aesthetic looking Banished units. Remember, Atriox has reached far and wide for those who would side with him. He’s raided outposts of Covenant caches for weapons, vehicles, and armor and then made modifications. BUT, he’s also been getting his butt kicked by Cutter for probably a few months now. While he’s probably snagged some more followers in between, you also have to remember they just raided High Charity in Awakening the Nightmare. (If we are to assume Atriox eventually managed to clear enough of the infestation to send in scavenging parties, then I see no reason why we should hit the brakes on the idea of having forces that come across as easily recognizable.)

So how far fetched is it really to say that all Banished aren’t exactly donning Banished looking gear after knowing that? Atriox’s forces haven’t had the time to make the changes to whatever they may have gotten from High Charity after dealing with the Flood.

I for one don’t mind seeing the Covenant looking enemies.

6

> 2533274905191374;3:
> > 2533274805075298;2:
> > But, yeah. This could have been handled differently - I definitely would have, but much like Disney did with Star Wars and The Force Awakens - 343i wants to show us that they can make a proper, real Halo game that we’ve been asking for.
>
> I really hope the comparison of the disaster that is Disney Star Wars and 343 Halo does not come to pass with infinite; Halo 4 and definitely 5 would be a better comparison. As for the rank distinction excuse…really does not hold up if you think about it for longer than 1 minute. The alien races are not present in multiplayer which means getting used to new colors will not impact things such as ranked and multiplayer statistics. Campaign is about the story of Halo and that should be focused on what makes sense from a narrative approach, not what makes sense from a historical nostalgia standpoint. For example Chief’s armor is great, but it isn’t great because of nostalgia, its great because it never made sense from a narrative standpoint to change the design in the first place.

You call it a disaster, the only thing I disliked was Rise of Skywalker. TLJ is my second favorite Star Wars film.

Fight me I guess lol

7

> 2533274905191374;1:
> The halo community got a lot of new information regarding the campaign details this month; everything from graphics updates, story insights, new character reveals, and in the most recent “Inside Infinite” news release, high resolution renders of some of the enemies we will be seeing inside the campaign. The covenant, the flood, sentinels, promethians, and a offshoot of the covenant led by Jul Mdama. These are all the foes (and sometimes allies) that have shown up throughout Halo’s in-game history. Each of these factions have their own distinct characteristics, leaders, beliefs…and styles. The banished are the latest faction to show up in the Haloverse, and if you have played (or at least watched) the campaign of Halo Wars 2, you would know that the banished are not the covenant, and they are not the covenant 2.0 like the Halo 4/5 faction; the members of the banished have largely thrown tradition, and their historical religious fanaticism to the wayside. The banished are distinct from the covenant, and in Halo Wars 2, so was their aesthetic; they donned black, white, and red armor that was not polished or clean but instead worn with battle, and showed signs of modification and repair.
>
> This is all to say: the character models look fantastic…but these are not the covenant; 343 these elites, grunts, jackals, and hunters should be in the colors of the banished not the covenant. I understand for game balance reasons the player needs to be able to differentiate between an elite major and minor, or a grunt major and ultra and so on, but do it with the colors of the banished not the covenant of old, (ex. Elite minors donning primarily red, majors primarily black, and ultras still in white). I have fought the covenant as Master Chief, rookie, captain Cutter, the Arbiter etc…I am ready to fight a new threat, but with these colors it feels like I am fighting the same battle all over again. I think 343 has done a fantastic job on updating the game since last years reveal, and while the color of an enemies armor in a video game truly is not the end of the world, I loved fighting the various races of the banished in their banished color-palette armor in Halo Wars 2, and it is a little jarring to see the supposedly same faction in infinite look like…well, not the banished.

I think we’re gonna see variety here.
I’m sure there are allied factions not just banished, like the keepers of the one freedom or lydus’ master pack

8

> > 2533274905191374;3:
> > > 2533274805075298;2:
> > > But, yeah. This could have been handled differently - I definitely would have, but much like Disney did with Star Wars and The Force Awakens - 343i wants to show us that they can make a proper, real Halo game that we’ve been asking for.
> >
> > I really hope the comparison of the disaster that is Disney Star Wars and 343 Halo does not come to pass with infinite; Halo 4 and definitely 5 would be a better comparison. As for the rank distinction excuse…really does not hold up if you think about it for longer than 1 minute. The alien races are not present in multiplayer which means getting used to new colors will not impact things such as ranked and multiplayer statistics. Campaign is about the story of Halo and that should be focused on what makes sense from a narrative approach, not what makes sense from a historical nostalgia standpoint. For example Chief’s armor is great, but it isn’t great because of nostalgia, its great because it never made sense from a narrative standpoint to change the design in the first place.
>
> You call it a disaster, the only thing I disliked was Rise of Skywalker. TLJ is my second favorite Star Wars film.
>
> Fight me I guess lol

Not going to fight you over an opinion man; especially when said opinion isn’t really relevent to a Halo focused forum.

9

> > 2533274905191374;3:
> > > 2533274805075298;2:
> > > But, yeah. This could have been handled differently - I definitely would have, but much like Disney did with Star Wars and The Force Awakens - 343i wants to show us that they can make a proper, real Halo game that we’ve been asking for.
> >
> > I really hope the comparison of the disaster that is Disney Star Wars and 343 Halo does not come to pass with infinite; Halo 4 and definitely 5 would be a better comparison. As for the rank distinction excuse…really does not hold up if you think about it for longer than 1 minute. The alien races are not present in multiplayer which means getting used to new colors will not impact things such as ranked and multiplayer statistics. Campaign is about the story of Halo and that should be focused on what makes sense from a narrative approach, not what makes sense from a historical nostalgia standpoint. For example Chief’s armor is great, but it isn’t great because of nostalgia, its great because it never made sense from a narrative standpoint to change the design in the first place.
>
> What you’re saying here doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Being able to differentiate enemies in campaign is still important, and seeing an elite covered in golden armour not only makes it extremely clear that its a high ranking, tough enemy, it also plays into my previous knowledge of the franchise to trigger my excitement and nervousness. I’ve faced off against elite zealots, and the enemies are back. Its a distinctly Halo association, and not one that needs to be gone. Campaign is about the story, yes, but it’s also about gameplay. That is at minimum equally as important as narrative, realistically more so. That’s why the guns in Halo don’t function like they’re described to in the extended lore, the AR has a stated range of 500 meters, but good luck even hitting a couple of shots outside of 100 meters in gameplay. That’s a choice that’s made to better fit the gameplay sandbox, at the expense of lore accuracy and narrative consistency. Enemy designs and colour schemes can equally fit into that idea, it’s not so much about narrative consistency, it’s about making the gameplay simple and fun.
>
> But also, it can make narrative sense that the Banished forces are wearing a variety of armour. They are scavengers, they outfit their troops in whatever is available. Its reasonable to assume that the armour Atriox’s forces were wearing on the Ark were scavenged from one place, and the more covenant appearing armour we see Escharum’s forces wear was more recently scavenged from somewhere else. The banished don’t have their own forges crafting banished armour.
>
> And it makes no more logical sense from a lore standpoint for Chiefs design now to look like his classic armour compared to the Halo 4/5 armour. The set he’s wearing in Infinite is a different set of armour, so even if it didn’t make much sense for his 4/5 armour to look the way it did, that’s how it looked. There is a Canon explanation for it, whether you like the explanation or not. The only reason this new set looks like his classic armour is to play to people’s nostalgia, it’s as simple as that.
>
> Also, I don’t know why you brought up multiplayer rank, nowhere in the comment you replied to did they mention multiplayer.

Multiplayer was brought up because the effects of balance choices affecting multiplayer are time sensitive (if it affects rank and stats it will have a lasting effect on people’s service records) and it can also harm the pro scene which is important for most competetive multiplayer games’ survival. I am curious what the canon explanation for Chief’s new armor in Halo 4 is considering he was in a cryopod ever since the end of Halo 3 but that would be getting off topic. You talk about elites needing to be distinguished by their classic colors for gameplay purposes…but fail to mention anyting about brute colors, brutes were distinguished by color in halo 2,3,odst, and Reach, but you are completely ok with the majority of brute variations for the banished forces being distinguished by their gear and weapons, but have an issue with the same concept being applied to Elites…frankly confusing if you ask me.
You provided a canon explanation for 343 as to why every enemy but brutes are not donning banished style armor when their own explanation for why is literally just: “We wanted to get back to the legacy designs that made Halo characters iconic”…basically they are heavily banking on nastalgia with their designs; narrative is never brought up by 343 when explaining the classic covenant designs with no banished features. As for your claim that the banished never make armor in their many many foundries we know they have…where are you getting that?