Halo: The Fall of Reach

We all know the story of Halo: Combat Evolved, but did you know the story of the Spartans? Their rise to super soldiers and their history from a black ops organization to the most feared of humanities warriors? In 2001 Eric Nylund took on this task and wrote the story of the early days of the Spartan program, the origins of the Human-Covenant War and most importantly, the Fall of Reach.

As a note, I am reviewing the original 2001 publication of The Fall of Reach, not the 2012 reprint which fixed some continuity errors and expanded some of the story.

After an action packed prologue, the story begins in 2517 with Lt. Jacob Keyes escorting a UNSC specialist Dr. Kathleen Halsey to a planet in the Outer Colonies. Curiously, they tour a school looking for a 'subject' that is being examined for some obscure program that the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is undertaking. The young boy, John, is a rough, adventurous, and courageous child who, ultimately, also has a lot of luck on his side. He is considered a perfect candidate.

Fast forward some months later, and John has been kidnapped and placed in a training facility under the care of Chief Petty Officer Mendez, and he will be trained in the ways of war, strategy and tactics. He will become the ultimate soldier for the UNSC and help quell the maelstrom that is coming. Little do any of them know, humanity's first contact with a hostile alien species is just around the corner.

I've been interested in the concept of supersoldiers for a while. My own novella Reintegration, deals with the idea, and it was partially inspired by this story. The Spartans are supersoldiers made to be the last line of defence against a civil inssurection which could tear humanity apart, and how they are formed is quite a fascinating tale. Nylund captures it with a lot of discussion on why the government feels it's necessary, the extreme lengths gone to in order to make the perfect soldiers, and how it changes them over time. It also explores how, in some small ways, these children turned soldiers lose their humanity, but become it's ultimate guardians in the end.

Nothing in the novel fails to deliver, and it fleshes out the history and character of Halo protagonist John 117, who is the lens through which the player/reader sees much of Halo's world. It also exposes us to other Spartans like Linda, Fred and Kelly who are John's teammates and friends for much of the later games and novelizations who add depth to the world and the Spartans overall. Alongside stellar characters like the brilliant tactician Captain Keyes, the enigmatic Dr. Halsey, and of course Cortana, it gives a lot more to each of the characters it explores.

Of course it also has some amazing action scenes.

From Spartan infiltration missions to duking it out with Covenant ships with superior weaponry, it does a lot to give us some amazing action sequences. 

My favorite part is the whole Sigma Octanus campaign, which has some simply awesome space battle action and some very memorable moments with the Spartans on the ground. It has a particularly memorable sequence which has ignited a love affair with space battles that continues to this day in what I read and write. Nylund really nails the pulse pounding action and gets me pumped up for every alien encounter. It's a perfect companion to a first person shooter.

The Fall of Reach is a fun, and very easy read. Somewhat heavy in a moral direction, it's a fun action romp that will hopefully get you thinking on the morals of supersoldiers, but also suck you into the world of Halo and the many stories it has to tell. 

There's Something About Halo

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.

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.

Castlevania (2017)

There's a new animated series out on Netflix, and in it we get a glimpse into some things behind the long running Castlevania franchise of video games. In a night of sleeplessness I was able to watch the whole series from start to finish. It is only 4 episodes long, but it almost feels like it is 4 episodes too long really.

So is this Netflix series worth a watch? Well, let's just say if you were looking for something original, interesting, or even well paced, you've come to the wrong place.

Ottawa Geekcon 2013

Well readers other than being busy with school work and general research for my own pleasure I did manage to do one other thing which was a barrel of fun recently. That was going to visit Ottawa Geekcon at Carleton University the weekend before last.

While there I saw a number of amusing geek icons, got my photo taken with a Dalek, and picked up some awesome paraphernalia of fandom.

Shockingly this is actually my first fan convention activity. This partially due to a) living outside the United States and away from many of the best fan conventions like Dragoncon and Comicon, and b) having had a work schedule overlap with every Comicon and event held in Toronto for a solid five years.

So this being my first time being exposed to the larger fandom of the land (well more specifically the Ottawa area) I have to say it was an awesome time! Just seeing how many people close to me (and even amongst my friends) was incredibly uplifting since I have actually never seen first hand such a colorful and vibrant outpouring of fan love!

The booths all stocked great merchandise and wonderful items, not to mention a great array of fellow fans all engrossed in the same things I was seeing. To say it was just a fellowship of friends is like saying the Serenity is crewed only by acquaintances! It was a gathering of believers really! It felt so engrossed and accepted it was marvelous! I'm glad that I went and sincerely wish to repeat the experience!

Myself and my Dalek buddy.

My new companion

A Review of Space Marine

Well for the first time on this blog dear readers I will be reviewing a video game! This time I am going to be reviewing the video game, Space Marine!

Now I have written about the idea of Space Marine's and the Games Workshop franchise of Space Marine. Here I'm going to be reviewing the 2011 game of similar name, Space Marine! Set in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, where there is only war, we are thrust into the hellish landscape that is the Imperium of Man playing as its premier super soldier, the titular space marine. You play as Captain Titus of the Ultramarines Chapter (the poster boys of 40k) following him as he attempts to unleash hell on the xenos enemies of mankind.

The Orks have invaded Forge World Graia, a planet devoted to military production, especially that of the massive war titans which protect mankind. Titus must stop the Ork invasion by any means necessary, even if it means teaming up with some of mankind's more brutal agents in order to do so.

The game is fairly well written plot wise, if pretty simple. You learn to love the dry wit of Sergeant Sidonus, not want to slap young Leandros and hope that poor Lt. Mira and her Guardsmen aren't overrun by the greenskin hordes. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing but it is straightforward with the whole theme of the grim future.

Now on to the important aspect, the game play!

The game is not your average third person shooter game. It instead devotes much of its time to close combat and amply rewards the player for doing so. For instance, the only way to regain lost health in game is to go in and execute an enemy. That really made me want to just wade in and start slaughtering the green menace.

It also gives you lots of wonderful weapons in order to do this. From the simple combat knife to the gargantuan Thunder Hammer you have a vast variety of ways to slice up Orks. You also get coated in gore while doing so and many times Titus's nice blue armor was just covered in a new layer of red!

Each weapon has advantages and disadvantages. The regular weapons allow you to fire your bolter and other weapons in accord or to quickly switch back to larger weapons for long range combat. The large weapons like the Thunder Hammer only allow you to use your bolt pistol since the Thunder Hammer requires two hands to wield and one to hold aside otherwise.

The trade off is fair though since the bolt pistol works just as well as a bolter (with a slower rate of fire) and the Thunder Hammer simply devastates anything in its path from the lowliest boy to the meanest Nob.

That's not to say that shooting is lacking either. The guns you are given are an impressive arsenal of closer quarters weapons, and long range firepower. Each can cut a swathe through Ork hordes with either masses of fire or with sheer explosive power. None of them are lacking but the way the game implements them is.

For a game with focuses so much on close quarters battle, the idea of having enemies who can stand off and blast you is a little jarring. You can answer in kind but I found that longer ranged enemies when employed in great numbers, were a slight game breaker. I could defeat them after one or two tries but being mauled by Orks with cleavers while being ventilated by Orks with guns (or rockets) became a serious issue. The worst part was of course the bomb squigs, which were an instant kill no matter the circumstances. Trust me I haven't let such profanity loose at fictional characters since watching Twilight.

While this doesn't diminish the game in itself, it does present a unique and irritating challenge to the pure flow of game play. While switching between weapons is generally flawless, the sections where one has to use a two handed weapons (or one forgets to switch and has no option of changing it) get absurdly difficult rather quickly and it becomes a series of innovative 'stay alive' ideas until you manage to kill everything in sight.

This doesn't ruin the game, but makes it just a bit more challenging and is hopefully a balance issue they will work out in the sequel.

The fun parts though are when you get to run around with a jump pack and smite your enemies from above. These are well place throughout the game and happily break up the tedium of run, hack/slash, and shoot. A number of other sections with vehicles and fun objects serve the games purpose well.

There are only two moments which could really be called boss fights. They tend to be wave attacks until you can smash at the tougher than normal boss. They're pretty fun but I have to say the final boss battle is rather anti-climactic.

That aside though this really is a wonderful game! It's well balanced, has no bug issues, and plays really well. Though many hardcore 40k fans disliked it I have to say they have no clue what they're missing! It plays well and is a barrel of fun, its also reasonable short with a campaign that can't be over a good 20 hours of game play.

All in all I say you ought to pick it up and try it out. So go, enjoy a romp in the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium!