After the release of the 2020 gameplay demo at E3, many Halo fans expressed their frustration about the graphics and gameplay seen at the E3 showcase. Although I do share the same concerns, I will actually talk about what I believe to be a very under looked topic which is the aesthetic of the Banished army. When Halo Wars 2 was released, I was in love with the return of the original art style. The grittiness and simplistic look of the UNSC was back and we were introduced to a new enemy faction called “The Banished”. Unlike the Halo 4/5 reiterations of the Covenant, the Banished really captured the classic look of the Covenant with sleek and elegant Elites, the feral nature of Brutes, and the “cuteness” and comedy of the Grunts. Nonetheless, the Banished were not the Covenant! The Banished had a distinct scavenger and Jiralhanae look that took the once clean and uniform “purple” look of the covenant and created a unique look composed of rough edges with crimson, grey, and black color tones. That is why I was extremely disappointed with the return of traditional covenant infantry and ranks. Now, I know we do not have a lot of information about the campaign and that a possible explanation for this could be an alliance between the Banished and the Storm Covenant; however, most of the enemies on the gameplay and official Infinite merchandise (toys) seem to verify the return of the traditional Covenant look at the expense of the unique look of the Banished. I am afraid that 343 in their quest of bringing back a nostalgic classic look to Halo (especially CE), ignored and forgot that one of the most fundamental aspects of the Banished is that they are NOT THE COVENANT! I am interested to see what other fans think about this.
> 2535469002667963;1:
> After the release of the 2020 gameplay demo at E3, many Halo fans expressed their frustration about the graphics and gameplay seen at the E3 showcase. Although I do share the same concerns, I will actually talk about what I believe to be a very under looked topic which is the aesthetic of the Banished army. When Halo Wars 2 was released, I was in love with the return of the original art style. The grittiness and simplistic look of the UNSC was back and we were introduced to a new enemy faction called “The Banished”. Unlike the Halo 4/5 reiterations of the Covenant, the Banished really captured the classic look of the Covenant with sleek and elegant Elites, the feral nature of Brutes, and the “cuteness” and comedy of the Grunts. Nonetheless, the Banished were not the Covenant! The Banished had a distinct scavenger and Jiralhanae look that took the once clean and uniform “purple” look of the covenant and created a unique look composed of rough edges with crimson, grey, and black color tones. That is why I was extremely disappointed with the return of traditional covenant infantry and ranks. Now, I know we do not have a lot of information about the campaign and that a possible explanation for this could be an alliance between the Banished and the Storm Covenant; however, most of the enemies on the gameplay and official Infinite merchandise (toys) seem to verify the return of the traditional Covenant look at the expense of the unique look of the Banished. I am afraid that 343 in their quest of bringing back a nostalgic classic look to Halo (especially CE), ignored and forgot that one of the most fundamental aspects of the Banished is that they are NOT THE COVENANT! I am interested to see what other fans think about this.
Yes, but that was only the demo. Also, nice job making toys sound like highly classified stuff.
> 2535469002667963;1:
> After the release of the 2020 gameplay demo at E3, many Halo fans expressed their frustration about the graphics and gameplay seen at the E3 showcase. Although I do share the same concerns, I will actually talk about what I believe to be a very under looked topic which is the aesthetic of the Banished army. When Halo Wars 2 was released, I was in love with the return of the original art style. The grittiness and simplistic look of the UNSC was back and we were introduced to a new enemy faction called “The Banished”. Unlike the Halo 4/5 reiterations of the Covenant, the Banished really captured the classic look of the Covenant with sleek and elegant Elites, the feral nature of Brutes, and the “cuteness” and comedy of the Grunts. Nonetheless, the Banished were not the Covenant! The Banished had a distinct scavenger and Jiralhanae look that took the once clean and uniform “purple” look of the covenant and created a unique look composed of rough edges with crimson, grey, and black color tones. That is why I was extremely disappointed with the return of traditional covenant infantry and ranks. Now, I know we do not have a lot of information about the campaign and that a possible explanation for this could be an alliance between the Banished and the Storm Covenant; however, most of the enemies on the gameplay and official Infinite merchandise (toys) seem to verify the return of the traditional Covenant look at the expense of the unique look of the Banished. I am afraid that 343 in their quest of bringing back a nostalgic classic look to Halo (especially CE), ignored and forgot that one of the most fundamental aspects of the Banished is that they are NOT THE COVENANT! I am interested to see what other fans think about this.
Gonna have to say I agree with this while I appreciate classic enemy art styles coming back but this is the banished they should like banished not the covies. Also im curious about the brute take on everything.
I like the way they look, the brutes look a lot more menacing wearing red instead of what the Covenant made them wear. I also like the way all their technology still resembles stuff like the brute shot and spiker.
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> I like the way they look, the brutes look a lot more menacing wearing red instead of what the Covenant made them wear. I also like the way all their technology still resembles stuff like the brute shot and spiker.
I like the red colour for sure but I wish their armour looked more armour like I guess. Something more aggressive looking would be much more appealing to me.
Brutes are meant to be savages and the Banished just don’t give me that feel from the way they look at the moment.
> 2533274865778947;5:
> > 2535408313671628;4:
> > I like the way they look, the brutes look a lot more menacing wearing red instead of what the Covenant made them wear. I also like the way all their technology still resembles stuff like the brute shot and spiker.
>
> I like the red colour for sure but I wish their armour looked more armour like I guess. Something more aggressive looking would be much more appealing to me.
>
> Brutes are meant to be savages and the Banished just don’t give me that feel from the way they look at the moment.
I wouldn’t consider the Brutes to be savages. They operate space ships and complex weapon systems, so they have at least the minimum intellect required to operate complicated machinery. The Brutes more than anything have a propensity for violence, which has led to them appearing as savages in most situations. However, I’d say that appearance isn’t indicative of their intelligence. Maccabeus was a skilled leader, tactician, and even diplomat to a certain extent. Tartarus was capable of leading what could effectively be considered a Skein in its own right. Pavium and Voridus were scientists. Atriox is probably the most overtly intelligent Brute of them all.
Idk if this is even relevant to your point. I just wanted to point out that the Brutes aren’t really savages. Just savage looking.
> 2535435902217648;6:
> > 2533274865778947;5:
> > > 2535408313671628;4:
> > > I like the way they look, the brutes look a lot more menacing wearing red instead of what the Covenant made them wear. I also like the way all their technology still resembles stuff like the brute shot and spiker.
> >
> > I like the red colour for sure but I wish their armour looked more armour like I guess. Something more aggressive looking would be much more appealing to me.
> >
> > Brutes are meant to be savages and the Banished just don’t give me that feel from the way they look at the moment.
>
> I wouldn’t consider the Brutes to be savages. They operate space ships and complex weapon systems, so they have at least the minimum intellect required to operate complicated machinery. The Brutes more than anything have a propensity for violence, which has led to them appearing as savages in most situations. However, I’d say that appearance isn’t indicative of their intelligence. Maccabeus was a skilled leader, tactician, and even diplomat to a certain extent. Tartarus was capable of leading what could effectively be considered a Skein in its own right. Pavium and Voridus were scientists. Atriox is probably the most overtly intelligent Brute of them all.
>
> Idk if this is even relevant to your point. I just wanted to point out that the Brutes aren’t really savages. Just savage looking.
Ah I understand what you’re saying completely and it’s definitely interesting information that I never really considered.
But I’m approaching it more from a combat looking view. With Brutes being very in your face and aggressive that look kind of mild and boring in game. Obviously we haven’t seen all that much of them and things are subject to change.
Maybe I have a lot of nostalgia for the Halo 3 Brutes and their look.
I also think the desire for ‘old artstyle’ has unfortunately obliterated the banished’s ascetic.
This is halo wars 2 banished. Lots of layered plates. Very squared, with rounded bits being the result of multiple layered plates. Plenty of spikes and sharp edges without seeming like a chaos space marine.
The halo infinite brute looks more like a modern taken on the h3 brute armor. Very samurai-like helmet, the leg armor especially has a lot of similar shapes, and it has a lot of rounded pieces.
Feels like we’re getting ‘the (sometimes) red covenant’ as opposed to the banished. Which is sad, cause I think the banished’s look was like one of the few new artstyles the community liked.
I’m still hoping there’s gonna be more halo wars 2 inspired banished armors and colors at least for the brutes, but I have liked the red banished brutes in the demo so far though I do wish they were a darker red. I’m inclined to think the more covenant looking units are the harbinger or some kind of mercenary group/faction aligned with the banished, but we’ll have to wait and see.
While the Banished do indeed perform a bunch of retrofitting to their ships/vehicles, Atriox has also hired parts of his army. If you hire a Shipmaster or someone similar, you don’t necessarily need to Brute-up their toys if they are still in working order. I think a lot of the hodge-podge designs of Halo Wars 2 came from Atriox using what materials he found on the Ark to repair or improve his own armament. It makes a lot of sense to me to see both reworked designs and Covenant designs in good, working order.
I’m not sure I agree, because the differences in aesthetic do make sense from a lore standpoint. While we had a fairly consistent red-gray theme running through the Halo Wars 2 designs, the Banished grew somewhat significantly between then and Infinite. I could easily see the Banished absorbing several Covenant splinter factions, and being more practically-minded than the Covenant, they likely didn’t bother redesigning or recoloring their armor.
I’d love to be absolutely wrong with this assumption, but I would say it came down to MS pulling the strings.
I could easily imagine MS twisting 343’s arm into making the aliens look more ‘Covenanty’, because of brand recognition and marketability.
> 2535408313671628;4:
> I like the way they look, the brutes look a lot more menacing wearing red instead of what the Covenant made them wear. I also like the way all their technology still resembles stuff like the brute shot and spiker.
This
I feel 343 is between a rock and a hard place. The Banished do have a unique style that should be preserved, but they’ve been pounded for their Covenant stuff not looking “Covenant enough”. Probably in a bid to knock back that criticism, we see the more traditional Covenant stuff. But we now also have the Banished…seemingly because they were cool and popular in Halo Wars 2 and fans liked them.
> 2533274812652989;14:
> I feel 343 is between a rock and a hard place. The Banished do have a unique style that should be preserved, but they’ve been pounded for their Covenant stuff not looking “Covenant enough”. Probably in a bid to knock back that criticism, we see the more traditional Covenant stuff. But we now also have the Banished…seemingly because they were cool and popular in Halo Wars 2 and fans liked them.
I’m not sure complaints about the storm covenant are applicable to the Banished. As far as I’m aware when Halo Wars 2 came everyone waa like “look 343 this is how its done!” For the art style.
> 2533274865778947;5:
> > 2535408313671628;4:
> > I like the way they look, the brutes look a lot more menacing wearing red instead of what the Covenant made them wear. I also like the way all their technology still resembles stuff like the brute shot and spiker.
>
> I like the red colour for sure but I wish their armour looked more armour like I guess. Something more aggressive looking would be much more appealing to me.
>
> Brutes are meant to be savages and the Banished just don’t give me that feel from the way they look at the moment.
and more scavenged possibly cause there armours to bright and clean imo
> 2533274876991706;15:
> > 2533274812652989;14:
> > I feel 343 is between a rock and a hard place. The Banished do have a unique style that should be preserved, but they’ve been pounded for their Covenant stuff not looking “Covenant enough”. Probably in a bid to knock back that criticism, we see the more traditional Covenant stuff. But we now also have the Banished…seemingly because they were cool and popular in Halo Wars 2 and fans liked them.
>
> I’m not sure complaints about the storm covenant are applicable to the Banished. As far as I’m aware when Halo Wars 2 came everyone waa like “look 343 this is how its done!” For the art style.
343 made halo wars 2
> 2535467938018614;17:
> > 2533274876991706;15:
> > > 2533274812652989;14:
> > > I feel 343 is between a rock and a hard place. The Banished do have a unique style that should be preserved, but they’ve been pounded for their Covenant stuff not looking “Covenant enough”. Probably in a bid to knock back that criticism, we see the more traditional Covenant stuff. But we now also have the Banished…seemingly because they were cool and popular in Halo Wars 2 and fans liked them.
> >
> > I’m not sure complaints about the storm covenant are applicable to the Banished. As far as I’m aware when Halo Wars 2 came everyone waa like “look 343 this is how its done!” For the art style.
>
> 343 made halo wars 2
Halo Wars 2 was primarily made by Creative Assembly.
> 2535469002667963;1:
> After the release of the 2020 gameplay demo at E3, many Halo fans expressed their frustration about the graphics and gameplay seen at the E3 showcase. Although I do share the same concerns, I will actually talk about what I believe to be a very under looked topic which is the aesthetic of the Banished army. When Halo Wars 2 was released, I was in love with the return of the original art style. The grittiness and simplistic look of the UNSC was back and we were introduced to a new enemy faction called “The Banished”. Unlike the Halo 4/5 reiterations of the Covenant, the Banished really captured the classic look of the Covenant with sleek and elegant Elites, the feral nature of Brutes, and the “cuteness” and comedy of the Grunts. Nonetheless, the Banished were not the Covenant! The Banished had a distinct scavenger and Jiralhanae look that took the once clean and uniform “purple” look of the covenant and created a unique look composed of rough edges with crimson, grey, and black color tones. That is why I was extremely disappointed with the return of traditional covenant infantry and ranks. Now, I know we do not have a lot of information about the campaign and that a possible explanation for this could be an alliance between the Banished and the Storm Covenant; however, most of the enemies on the gameplay and official Infinite merchandise (toys) seem to verify the return of the traditional Covenant look at the expense of the unique look of the Banished. I am afraid that 343 in their quest of bringing back a nostalgic classic look to Halo (especially CE), ignored and forgot that one of the most fundamental aspects of the Banished is that they are NOT THE COVENANT! I am interested to see what other fans think about this.
I agree with you on this to an extent but I think they chose to keep some of the original colors to differentiate ranks because If everything had just red/grey we would have difficult time quickly seeing which is a general/ultra.
as i said in the other post, i agree 100% with you and this is driving me crazy tbh…