Back in 2001, one of the greatest First Person Shooters was released. Halo: Combat Evolved quite memorably pit Robocop alongside the Marines from Aliens against scary dogmatic aliens on Larry Niven's Ringworld, oh, and there were zombies! Or more seriously, in the year 2552, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn flees the Covenant destruction of Reach and making a blind slipspace jump, discovers the eponymous Halo.
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From there, a new game franchise was born. Going on it had a brilliant first trilogy, spin off games, and numerous outrigger novels which expanded the world of the Halo series into numerous planets, ships, battles and other moments which gave us exciting new ideas and characters. The series has continued recently to the newest installment in the series, Halo Infinite, and while it has given us more Master Chief, something hasn't felt quite right about the plot. That there is now a new television series, which confusingly creates a new timeline (the so-called Silver Timeline) we can expect to see more unique content in that universe.
Though is it good?
Many would argue no. Now while there's not a whole lot to be said for the depth of Halo's plot - which can be boiled down to "shoot the bad aliens and blow up the ancient artifact" - the outrigger novels have had some gems. The 2001 prequel novel Halo: The Fall of Reach, by Eric Nylund does a wonderful job expanding the universe, the backstory of the Spartans, why they were created, and the beginning of the Human-Covenant War which is the backstory for the series conflict. It is a personal favorite of mine because it examines all the really dark thinking that goes into creating a unit of supersoldiers. This is not really explored in the videogames, but in the novels it creates a backstory that is interesting enough to be adapted in multiple formats and influence the portrayal of the Master Chief from then on.
The games themselves then proceed to get a bit weird. In the sense of upping the ante, Halo 2 begins with the invasion of Earth, which is supposed to be the pivotal moment of the Human-Covenant War, except that doesn't get resolved by the end. Halo 3 returns to Earth, and then somewhere else, and another Halo installation... the storytelling is a bit of a mess.
It can't really be a new surprise then that the new TV series is, while visually stunning, a chaotic mess. In it's first episode it probably breaks the cardinal rule of Halo and shows the Master Chief's face. Over six games now it's been hinted at, he's been vaguely described in the books, but otherwise we never saw the Chief's face. In all of these series from the games, and even to the books, Master Chief has remained a faceless vessel for us to project onto so that we could imagine ourselves in this universe and having these adventures, and enjoy him as an audience surrogate. In a live adaptation, Master Chief as a character in and of himself can be a fatal mistake.
This is compounded by having an overarching plot that was already seen in Halo 5, Master Chief goes rogue, but the reasons are just awful in the television series. In the game, Master Chief is going after the AI Cortana who has been his companion and friend since the first game, players are invested in his journey to re-establish contact with her. In the TV series meanwhile, he touches an alien artifact and is somehow able to simply break years of training and indoctrination and decide to go rogue in favor of an rebel kid who he's just met. An odd decision for a series with some well established relationships which have been done better.
So Halo storytelling being bad is nothing new, but could it be improved?
Arguably we have the template for that already. Eric Nylund wrote The Fall of Reach and Halo First Strike as well as Ghosts of Onyx among other stories like The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole (an unsung hero of the backstory) showing that he, unlike so many others, probably gets the themes and stories to be told in Halo better than anyone. From the exploration of the why of the Spartan program, the tortured emotions of Dr. Halsey, it's creator, to the wild military exploits of humanity's greatest admiral, he captures the essence of what it means to fight and thrive on the bitter edge in this universe. It's dark, witty, and full of edge of your seat action.
If the games had done more of this, arguably they might have been better for it. The false crescendo we got in Halo 2 with the invasion of Earth for instance, most likely needed to be done away with. A videogame following the attempts to get home and the struggle to link up with the UNSC to fight on against the Covenant would have been a more suitable plot, with some wonderful moments to be exploited in space or on alien worlds. The third game being the penultimate Battle for Earth, to save mankind's homeworld, would be more climactic and given the conclusion of the trilogy far more emotional punch.
I won't say too much for the second trilogy, as that is a far longer dissection than I am prepared to undertake today! However, a more structured plot, a few familiar ideas and themes, and the games could have indeed been much more effective in their storytelling, almost as effective as they were in delivering excellent gameplay.
Overall, Halo has had an enduring presence in popular culture since it's debut two decades ago. From some amazing games to an enduring story for super soldiers the Halo series stands strong in science fiction.
