The Human Themes of Halo 4 and Beyond

<<Note: This thread contains my personal opinions, so feel free to agree or disagree.>>

The art-style that 343i has presented in Halo 4 (whether it be campaign, multiplayer, etc.) so far has been nothing but stunning. From what I can tell so far, the Forerunner themes feel very Forerunner and the human themes feel very human.

I feel like Halo 4’s art direction is in good hands, yet I still have my worries, especially on the human themes. The last thing I want is another Reach art-style. Don’t get me wrong because even to this day I enjoy playing Reach for what it is, but I’m annoyed by the fact that many campaign levels and multiplayer maps use the same repetitive colors (mainly: brown and grey). Aside from Zealot the only other maps that I felt broke this trend were from the Defiant and Anniversary map packs. There were so many new hues introduced that made those futuristic human locations feel just right for a Halo game.

Now what do I think should be done in order to continue making the human themes as appealing as possible? Well, in my opinion the browns and greys will always be a part of nearly any theme, but there needs to be other colors that compliment them. I think Halo 3: ODST pulled this off very well. There were many browns and greys, but there were also reds, greens, yellows, and the familiar Covenant purples and blues that just were able to fit well into the human setting. The sky-box felt very colorful as well even though it was mainly red, orange, and yellow (though at one point or so it was blue). Also, the architecture of the buildings and other structures felt futuristic and believably human.

Again, this is just how I feel. So do any of you agree? Disagree? I’d like to hear what your thoughts are.

I agree.

ODST nailed it with the human themes, and hopefully 343 has been inspired and has expanded beyond that for Halo 4.

I hope that they begin to show how exactly humanity will incorporate Forerunner tech into human tech seeing as how we are meant to reclaim all of the Forerunners stuff.

> I hope that they begin to show how exactly humanity will incorporate Forerunner tech into human tech seeing as how we are meant to reclaim all of the Forerunners stuff.

I haven’t thought about this for a while. I hope they do too. If not in Halo 4, then at least at some point during the Reclaimer trilogy.

> > I hope that they begin to show how exactly humanity will incorporate Forerunner tech into human tech seeing as how we are meant to reclaim all of the Forerunners stuff.
>
> I haven’t thought about this for a while. I hope they do too. If not in Halo 4, then at least at some point during the Reclaimer trilogy.

I think that 4 isn’t gonna touch on it too much but will probably be a major point in 5 or 6.