For me, the big take away from the render of the new Mk VII vs. the concept art, is that both the Techsuit(undersuit) and armor sections seem to plain and flat textured. And yes, I know its just a render and that it’s subject to change, but it seems like it has to much of a plastic asthetic. Many will argue that the spartan’s depiction in Halo 5 made them look like plastic action figures, but the lack in detail on the Mk VII render just screams megablox toys. Less isn’t always more, in this case.
What we saw in the concept art features more textures and details on both the Techsuit and armor and looked very good, in my opinion, albeit for the “space diaper”. The techsuit looked like it integrated some of the armored sections into it, and featured many reduced snag areas that made the armor look sleek. I like it quite a bit.
These are just some things that bother me about the art direction as a whole; somethings are getting over simplified to give the “feel” of the CE days. Instead of improving upon some of the already established looks and asthetics, like adding details that ground the Spartan’s armor in a possible reality, or at least make it look semi-attainable, 343i seems to have dumbed it down to the graphical level of the original Halo, just with better lighting and increased FPS.
For me, the best iteration of the Mk VI was in Halo 2 anniversary. It was the best blend of old and new and still looked like it belonged in the lineage of the Chief’s armor. I like the detail depicted in the armor, even though there were so few variations, it looked great. The only i would’ve changed was the vibrancy of the armor, which I feel the games in general (save for Reach) was always plagued by. Tone down the colors, wash them out a bit, and itd look much, much better…to me anyways.
In regards to Halo 5’s spartans, I think the biggest “problem” was that the character models seemed to be highlighted against the background in multiplayer. Like they had their own lighting effects, separate from the level. This gave them a somewhat cartoony pop to them, compared to everything else in game. The colors, again, were to vibrant. When you compare the Beta, to the actual finished game, the spartans looked way better in the beta, with muted brick reds, and washed out navy blue colors. They looked like battle worn, and abused armored suits. It was waaaaay better in my eyes. If they could’ve gone with that with the finished product, I feel like some of the graphical asthetics would not have been such a big deal. Lighting and color go along way, for better and for worse. But the details on most of the variations of Spartan armor looked good, and fitting of the Spartan IV’s more mass produced ideology. Some things were over done, but overall I liked the way the GEN 2 suits looked.
I just hope, thay some designs get more detail, and that being original, for the sake of nostalgia, isn’t the drive for this game. Halo is in a tough spot with trying to keep old fans, and bring in new ones. Halo 5 showed that many people already have a permanent look and feel of what they think Halo should be, and that deviating from it has caused quite a rift in the community. But Halo 5 also brought with it some of the most technical, and smoothest gameplay to modern shooters. Watch any of Shyway’s videos on YouTube and you’ll see how complex Halo 5’ movements can be. It’s a very rewarding for sure.
