Let me begin by congratulating 343i on their fantastic work, and thanking them for all their hard work to bring us, the fans, something great and worthwhile.
One thing that concerns me is the design of 343i’s Sangheili. In fact it is one of my largest concerns about Halo’s art style and it has been since the Elites were first shown during Halo 4’s development.
When I saw Mdama and his army, I thought it made sense that these were a different breed of Sangheili. They were meant to look mean, evil, dangerous and savage. When I thought of the Arbiter and our faithful allies in Halo’s 2-3 in this new era, I remembered them to be strong and heroic looking alien comrades. They looked rather approachable actually, not as unsightly and disturbing as Halo 4’s Elites.
With the incredible announcement of Halo 2 Anniversary and the spine-tingling trailer for Halo 5 Gaurdians/MCC, we saw awe-inspiring graphics and absolutely beautiful reimaginings of Bungie’s masterpiece of the last generation. One thing bothered me however. That something is this screen released by 343i.
From the headdress, we all can recognize this alien as our friend and sidekick Thel Vadam: the Arbiter. His mandible guards are gone, his brown/golden armor is now a dismal grey. But without the signature helmet and armor shape, who would we see?
Thel is not who he used to look like. He is the same as the savage forces of Mdama in appearance. He lost his noble and intelligent look to look more disturbing and alien. For a huge fan of Vadam’s character, this is quite the disappointment. I hope 343i reconsiders this change and replaces it with something more familiar.
> From the headdress, we all can recognize this alien as our friend and sidekick Thel Vadam: the Arbiter. His mandible guards are gone, his brown/golden armor is now a dismal grey. But without the signature helmet and armor shape, who would we see?
The Arbiter didn’t have manidble guard and was grey in h2…
Might wanna fix that hyperlink OP.
It’s the H2 Arbiter just with a badass new look
Okay, finally got your link working, and I’m sorry to say I was impressed. You’re seriously telling me this looks better than that -Yoink!- in the H2A image?
I agree that his bronze Halo 3-era armour was better, but it was grey in Halo 2, and I can’t fault 343 for canonical accuracy.
It has been more than four years since we have last saw the Arbiter in a game. Of course he will have gotten new armour.
The way he looks is fine as well. He is a giant alien from a species of religious zealots he isn’t going to look cuddly. He should look fierce and alien.
This is a problem I had for quite some time.
The new elites look like mindless and stupid savages, not like honorable, disciplined warriors that we knew in Halo 2 or 3.
This is just him in HD. Just like Pokemon would look disgusting if they looked more real.
> This is a problem I had for quite some time.
>
> The new elites look like mindless and stupid savages, not like honorable, disciplined warriors that we knew in Halo 2 or 3.
>
> Although Thel Vadam’ doesn’t look that much like a beast, they could make him a bit prettier. 
They don’t look like mindless and stupid savages at all. 343 is only portraying them as such. The sole reason I disliked Spartan Ops was because of it’s portrayal of the Sangheili as dumb and slow.
> > This is a problem I had for quite some time.
> >
> > The new elites look like mindless and stupid savages, not like honorable, disciplined warriors that we knew in Halo 2 or 3.
> >
> > Although Thel Vadam’ doesn’t look that much like a beast, they could make him a bit prettier.
>
> They don’t look like mindless and stupid savages at all. 343 is only portraying them as such. The sole reason I disliked Spartan Ops was because of it’s portrayal of the Sangheili as dumb and slow.
And so senile they forget they have energy shields.
I really like the new look. It’s classic in nature but fresh and new in appearance. And even if you say it looks ugly, it’s still realistic. And at least it looks better than the Halo 4 Elites.
I wouldn’t stress. He doesn’t look that different, just more detailed but that should have been expected with better graphics now.
> > This is a problem I had for quite some time.
> >
> > The new elites look like mindless and stupid savages, not like honorable, disciplined warriors that we knew in Halo 2 or 3.
> >
> > Although Thel Vadam’ doesn’t look that much like a beast, they could make him a bit prettier.
>
> They don’t look like mindless and stupid savages at all. 343 is only portraying them as such. The sole reason I disliked Spartan Ops was because of it’s portrayal of the Sangheili as dumb and slow.
That’s another thing.
They still look like savages in my opinion though. At least compared to the old models. And stupid… well, because they act really stupid.
I couldn’t look at Jul 'Mdama as a serious threat.
> > > This is a problem I had for quite some time.
> > >
> > > The new elites look like mindless and stupid savages, not like honorable, disciplined warriors that we knew in Halo 2 or 3.
> > >
> > > Although Thel Vadam’ doesn’t look that much like a beast, they could make him a bit prettier.
> >
> > They don’t look like mindless and stupid savages at all. 343 is only portraying them as such. The sole reason I disliked Spartan Ops was because of it’s portrayal of the Sangheili as dumb and slow.
>
> That’s another thing.
>
> They still look like savages in my opinion though. At least compared to the old models. And stupid… well, because they act really stupid.
> I couldn’t look at Jul 'Mdama as a serious threat.
If 343 would stop portraying Elites as stupid to make Spartans look cool, they wouldn’t LOOK dumb. They look like they could still be smart, 343 just want to make them look stupid for some god awful reason.
I wanna see the Arbiter armor that’s shown in Escalations. Gold, awesome loooking. Otherwise I’d want the one we saw today.
I’m just glad he’s not a Halo 4-style Sangheili. It looks like they combined Halo 3 and Halo Wars Elites, but kept the air of alien savagery seen on the Storm. I like it.
> I wanna see the Arbiter armor that’s shown in Escalations. Gold, awesome loooking. Otherwise I’d want the one we saw today.
Ew, no. It looked so Roman.
I liked it. He didn’t look evil or menacing; just old.
OP, that screen is from a CGI cinematic made specially for H2A. Every cutscene for H2 in being redone in CGI by Blur studios.
Its just H2 Arby in CGI…no need to panic.
Yet x)
I don’t really get why 343i gets so much flak for the Elite designs.
They’re very reminescent of the Halo Wars Elites. Those weren’t Bungie’s neither and still people loved them for their bulky, savage, looks. The direction 343i is taking leans towards those designs.
The Storm Elites only looked sleeker because they weren’t wearing the bigger armor of the regular Covenant.
I really like this concept. Granted, he does look less sympathetic because of his more detailed look, but that’s okay. I already like Arbiter anyway, for his voice and delivery and for what he represents.
One thing I am really looking forward to is the portrayal of Brutes in H2A! If the line of the Covenant redesigns is pulled through to Brutes as well we might finally get the savages we have been reading about all those years!
Can’t wait for that first Tartarus cutscene shot to blow my mind!
I am a Sangheili fan and I personally actually like his new looks. Compare Halo 4’s elite’s with him and you will agree that this is clearly much better looking.
