So as we’ve seen in Fall of Reach, Master Chief had the “Jerome” variant of Gen 1 Mk V, but then in Halo CE, his armor is degraded in features and abilities. And on top of that, we never see the CE variant again. Then in Halo 2 we get this really cool advanced looking suit that COULD ABSORB CORTANA INTO HIS HAND. But then in Halo 3 it was back to a big clunky chip he needed in the back of his head. Then we get Halo 4-5 armor, which I thought was ugly. It was basic in ability. Then in Halo Infinite we get this OP armor that had just been developed by the UNSC, as seen in a HI trailer. But it STILL HAS THE CHIP THING. What happened to the “absorb Cortana into his hand” and why are Chiefs suits so Inconsistent?
It’s likely the usage shown in games just varies depending on how Chief feels like using it. Some of these things are just like turning on the Xbox. Sometimes I push the button, sometimes I voice command it, sometimes I use my controller. Sometimes I use a wired controller. That doesn’t mean the ability for any one of those usages doesn’t exist, I just use it differently all the time.
It’s also just game design. I mean, Halo 4-Infinite armor, Master Chief can sprint in it, but he can’t in 1-3. He can also use armor abilities in Halo 4, and do this ground pound thing in 5, which is unique to those games only. Lore wise, I think it’s fair to say that his armor goes through a lot of redesigns and upgrades depending on the current tech and needs.
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Halo 4 Chief armor, basic and ugly? What are you even smoking? You fail to realize he looks much more human and sci-fi at the same time in that armor, and his humanity was important to Halo 4’s story.
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I think it was portly designed and looked nothing like previous armor.
John had the baseline Mark IV initially. Halo Legends’ The Package and Halo: Collateral Damage introduced two more variants of Mark IV historically worn by the Chief. These were experimental suits, because ONI was evidently throwing tons of money at Project MJOLNIR even during the early Covenant War.
I’m not certain what you’re referring to when you say the Mark V was a downgrade. It was an upgrade in nearly every way, aesthetically being the only exception in my opinion. Mark V had energy shields, whereas only Red Team and Omega Team had used Mark IV with experimental energy shielding; the rest of the Mark IV suits didn’t get energy shields. And the final production model of Mark V (that is, not the Reach Mark V(b) version) had the first neural interface port capable of receiving Smart AIs like Cortana.
Yes, Mark V was rapidly developed and then discarded, but that’s how much better the technology had become. It served its purpose and was then largely replaced by Mark VI.
As for why John could “absorb” Cortana into his hand? He already had the chip in his head, and was absorbing Cortana into it. He had the chip in his head throughout Halo 2, with no need to remove it.
Halo 4’s Mark VI MOD was supposedly to be essentially the same armor as it was in Halo 3, but redesigned to emphasize his sheer size. In Halo 5, he uses GEN2 Mark VI, with all the standard upgrades that GEN2 Mjolnir offers.
In Halo Infinite, he uses GEN3 (Mark VI again of course) which is the most advanced Mjolnir platform to date.
Remember this principle: gameplay does not equal canon.
If you play the campaign the whole hand thing is still there. Sorry I spoiled that aspect of the game