I, as many others, thoroughly enjoyed Spartan Ops in Halo 4. I could tell you about all the little details that made it enjoyable, but instead I wish to focus on the core element that made it special for my and my fellow spartans of Crimson.
Basically, Crimson is our fireteam.
Subjectively, of course.
What do I mean by that? Allow me to pontificate on the subject.
I, along with my closest friends, have been through Halo from the beginning to it’s current point. We’ve watched everything unfold through the VISR of 117, Noble 6, the Rookie and now Locke. As much of a roller coaster as it’s been, I’ve never felt like I was there; truly. REACH was the closest, as Noble 6 was, well, you. It was your spartan, not some pre-designed human tank, but the one you made. That clicked with me and is why REACH is still one of, it not, my favorite in the franchise. However, 4 tapped into that magic once again, just in a different way.
Spartan Ops.
Once again, it was me, my spartan. My avatar of war that I controlled and commanded. I wasn’t watching things unfold through the eyes of another; that was my VISR that I peered through, my eyes that stared death in the face defiantly. Even better, those to my right and left weren’t NPC’s filling slots, they were my friends. My real, true, friends that I could recognize through their own unique style. There were no NPC spartans in crimson, it was us.
All of us.
We are Crimson.
We’re not Osiris, we’re not Blue Team. We may have been a part of Noble, but Crimson is intrinsically ours. It’s the first unique four man fire team, different from any other in every way. You’re not playing as Locke or John, you are you. Spartan Ops was easily, easily, the most enjoyable thing in Halo 4 for my friends and I. They were our missions, our struggles. Separate from 117, yet parallel. They provided backstory as to what was going on (even if all you saw in the episodes were punk -Yoink- Majestic). We knew that our success was valid.
We were the silent professionals.
So, you can imagine my disappointment when Crimson didn’t get so much as a passing comment in Halo 5. Let alone the lack of a season 2, I felt left out that Crimson was practically swept under the rug, like we never existed. Now, you may be thinking, “Hey man, silent professionals, right?”, and I don’t redact what I said. Still, Crimson was important to my friends and I. We didn’t need a campaign spot (though I think it would be nice), I just wanted to see the next chapter for Crimson in Spartan Ops.
What was our next mission?
What part were we to play in the greater story?
Where the hell is my Fire Team!?
That is our fire team, people. We are not Blue Team, we are not Osiris.
We are Crimson.
I want new Spartan ops, it’s a shame they got cut… plus, that seems like a WAAAAAAAY better way of getting the enemy commendations… good luck killing grunts lol.
If people want it badly enough maybe we’ll see spartan ops added in a future update.
I’m guessing if people actually wanted they would add it. Most people just didn’t like it or Halo 4 for that matter because 343i made it. The thing I didn’t like about Spartan Ops is that they were always recycled. The levels were recycled, the game types were recycled too. Overall, Spartan Ops was a DECENT addition to Halo.
Pontificate: express one’s opinions in a way considered annoyingly pompous and dogmatic
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Spartan Ops could be great if they didn’t recycle the same environments. I loved the missions onboard Infinity in SpOps because of that reason, they were a breath of fresh air.
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> Spartan Ops could be great if they didn’t recycle the same environments. I loved the missions onboard Infinity in SpOps because of that reason, they were a breath of fresh air.
Amen, I hope we get a nod in a book or something. Would be nice to at least know we`re out there, somewhere