I think people get so caught up in the reveal of the Flood itself, that we often forget how the Flood was revealed. And it was done in CE, in a way that hasn’t really been touched by any of the games since.
Through the eyes of a dead marine, by using his headcam footage to show his final moments.
With Infinite being a spiritual reboot of the franchise, what would be more CE, and fitting for an open-world game, than to implement similar storytelling devices as terminal style collectables to be found around the campaign.
So here’s the pitch.
You’re 20 minutes into your first mission on Zeta Halo. You come to a battle scarred clearing, with several ODST drop pods scattered around.
You see the body of a dead ODST and go over to investigate.
“Tap RB to interact”
Chief’s hand reaches down for the helmet, pulls out the storage device, and inserts it into his own.
Sgt. Jones - Loading > Play.
Your walking down the deck of a ship, comrades at your sides, banter about ‘the mission’. You pass by a window, shimmering in the reflection is the ODSTs, but beyond is the Halo ring, slowly spinning. The others are in awe.
Fast Forward >>
Your in the armoury, packing ammo and grenades. You’re nervous. Rigsby teases you about your pod missing the Halo and drifting into deep space. Robinson berates him for it, tells the rest of November Company to get a move on.
Fast Forward >>
The pod door closes, sealing you inside. You’re yanked into position as the bay doors open beneath you. You’re falling, comrades cheering and chanting. The ring rising through the small window. You land, hard. Bursting out, its a warzone, Brutes everywhere, you take a plasma blast to the chest. Going down to the ground, a Chieftain approaches with his hammer. Another pod lands to the left, the debris cloud knocking the Brute off his feet, before the feed cuts to static.
End >I
Back as the Chief, you’d think it was just a one and done easter-egg to find. But later in the game you’d come across another. Playing the feed back, you realise you’re watching Rigsby’s perspective, flipping between some comradery with the rest of November on the ship, the firefight immediately after the drop, and then perhaps a mourning scene. Each dead ODST you find would give you more insight into November Company and their mission on the ring, and finally what happened to them prior to the Chief’s arrival, and potentially run into survivors.
(As a funny side note, they could have the ODSTs be voiced by the staff at 343, saving money and having a blast recording all their own death scenes.)
It could be a really interesting way to tell a side story, and fill in some of the gaps prior to the opening moments of the game.
Heck, you could switch it out for a team of Spartan IVs that get picked off during a mission led by Palmer and/or Locke. That way, they could include those characters in the game, without them being a part of the main Chief focused narrative.
Just something I was thinking about. Thought it might be a fun idea.