This is just my opinion on the beginning direction of Halo Infinite’s campaign, and the theme revolving around it. I very much love Halo, and I think regardless of the direction of the story, it’s going to be great. But me being as passionate as I am about it, there’s things that I see and want to express that have me a bit concerned in some aspects. I will start off by saying that I do not know how the story will play out, but we have certain information and hints that lead me to believe generally how the story will likely unfold. We know that with Halo Infinite, there is a clear emphasis on Master Chief being the driving force in which to instill hope and optimism for humanity, and taking back the ring from the Banished. We know that the 2019 trailer with Chief and the Pilot in the pelican in space is the opening cinematic of the game, and therein lies the fact that this story takes place after the Banished have already won months prior, and will not be about the Banished vs UNSC war on Zeta Halo at its height.
We know that the Banished will be taking the front and center stage for the most part, and that 343 needs to be able to properly introduce the Banished to the general Halo audience that hasn’t played Halo Wars 2. Regardless of the direction, I do think that 343 will be able to do a good job building them up, but the starting direction being after they’ve already won the war may limit the potential for them to maximize the desired perception, and from my viewpoint, here’s why:
With the Banished having already won the war, and the story taking place long after that time, the general theme is becoming the hope and taking back the ring. But we’re talking about a new enemy that most people don’t know about. I firmly believe that showing the strength of the enemy is the best way to get people to respect the opposition and even fear it, that gives people a more profound sense of understanding at what’s at stake, and what the enemy is truly capable of. If the campaign started at the height of the Banished vs UNSC war, where it was like Halo Reach in theme, where the heroes progressively lose, it gives people a better understanding as to why they’re so dangerous and why they need to be taken seriously, and being able to capitalize on those points, they’d be at a position to where they don’t need to try as hard to make sure people deviate the Banished from being “red covenant” or just another storm covenant splinter faction. I understand that there will be audio logs and dialogue that talk about the war that took place with the Banished, and how they lost, but seeing is always more impactful than hearing. In retrospect, to the general story player, why should they truly care that the Banished defeated the UNSC when the story is about taking back the ring from them with Master Chief being a one man army and killing all of them? I’m just finding it a bit perplexing that they’re instilling the themes of hope before showing us the loss of hope.
The Banished is the best thing to come to Halo, and I feel that with this approach, with them already having won months prior, they’re missing out on giving the general audience the best first impression of the Banished. What we know is that pretty all of the Hands of Atriox will be boss fights in Halo Infinite, and the probability that they all die is high. Killing the top dogs in the Banished chain of command just in the main campaign alone most likely is a bad look, and even a worse look if we’re destroying their ships as well. It can unfortunately make the Banished just look like pushovers, even with the Banished defeating the UNSC months prior, and that’s because it doesn’t seem like we’re going to SEE the Banished win against the UNSC. That right there is the big difference. We SEE Chief going head on and probably defeating the Banished, but we DON’T SEE the Banished win against the UNSC. It already doesn’t help when Halo Wars 2 had an old ship in the Spirit of Fire hold their own and conduct a stalemate with the Banished. And for the people that did play Halo Wars 2, there’s already a stigma and belief that the Banished can’t be that powerful if the Spirit of Fire managed to beat them. Perception is everything, and it’s hard to change that perception if we’re not visibly seeing a change in it.
Regardless, with the direction they are going for the campaign, there will still have to be loss and sacrifice even after the UNSC has been defeated. Heroes that are still alive would have to die (in a good and meaningful way) to reinstate that even though Chief may be taking back the ring from the Banished, it won’t happen without an extra heavy price to pay, and reinforcement of the fact that the Banished is still powerful. If this doesn’t happen and all the notable heroes are still alive, and the UNSC ends up winning in the end, the general audience will fail to see the importance of the Banished winning prior since they never got to see that take place.
Ideally, the structure of the campaign in my opinion should be Halo Reach style where the Banished go up against the UNSC in fight for control of Zeta Halo, and we get to experience the full-on war and see for ourselves exactly how the Banished managed to decimate the UNSC, and the loss of hope which will give everyone a more appreciative and understanding view of the threat of the Banished. From there, the campaign DLC would be about Chief becoming the hope and attempting to rally what’s left of the UNSC forces to take back the ring and save humanity from the Banished threat. Regardless of what happens, I still do think the story is going to be pretty good, but everything I’ve stated above is just my opinion on some of the things we know, and how that seems to be shaping up for the game.