Please Don't Let Him Die

posted by papi blez

Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 05:36:36 PM EST

I've stated many times here before that I'm a huge Halo fanboy, especially when it comes to the fiction of the universe.  I've read all the novels.  I bought the graphic novel and will also buy the comic book when it's released.  For a nameless, faceless soldier, I've become very invested in John, Spartan 117 of the UNSC.  I'm very emotionally connected to Master Chief.

So when I start to think about Halo 3 being released in a little over a month, I also get nervous because I believe that the only way the story can completely wrap up is with Chief's demise.  Of course that means John finding death at the end of this long journey.  And probably his death meaning the saving of humanity in that process.

I can honestly say that I've never been this emotionally invested in a video game character.  And it's kind of ironic because Chief is essentially all of us.  Anyone who has ever played the game is Master Chief.  And it isn't like they gave him a ton of personality.  As a matter of fact, it was essentially the opposite in that I think the technology made the original designers of the game decide to make Chief a faceless hero.  We were all supposed to be Chief and being the one saving the world.  But something strange happened along the way.  In the effort to make Chief seemingly faceless and mysterious, he became more appealing to us.  The mystery began to eat at me and I formed an emotional attachment to this character that I was controlling in order to save the world.  This guy was all about sacrifice and the greater good of humanity in the fight to save the world.  He never questioned his unfortunate place in the universe, he just did his job silently.  I wound up loving Master Chief.  

And in about six weeks, we'll be finishing his fight.  I know that it will probably mean his heroic death in the end.  I'm just trying to prepare myself for the end of that era.  It will be a very sad day indeed.

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Comments Disabled | 27 comments

  •  Of (none / 0)

    all the games I've played, I've never felt so removed from a story as I have when I play Halo.  Halo 1 was pretty interesting because it introduced the whole Halo as a planet thing, and being on a ringed planet was a cool idea, especially the end when it explodes.  Halo 2 moved more away from that, and it bothered me how they just went with, "oh, there's tons of these ringed planets" idea.  It completely removed me from the story.  The only character I like is Cortana, and if there's one thing I'm interested in finding out about in H3, it will Cortana's fate.

    I'm feeling California and looking Minnesota.

    by heeyoh2 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 05:48:44 PM EST

  •  Bungie are hacks (none / 0)

    Storywise, Halo sucks since Halo 1.

    The whole fighting with the covenant and stuff, crap. It's like they couldn't figure out anything else to do, but they had to do some kind of dramatic BS to make people think I dunno, it matters, so they did that. Well I dont like it. Too predictable.

    And yeah MC will die in H3, which is lame, and Bungie sucks. They always go for the cheap, easy, and obvious plot twist dont they.

    Bioshock's graphics are average.

    by gunner on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:03:59 PM EST

  •  LOL (none / 0)

    yeah well i don't agree with anything heeyoh or gunner just said. Don't worry 2 much papie there will be more Halo games.

    "Look, when I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point." Barack Obama

    by Wangler1316 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:20:44 PM EST

  •  ow (none / 0)

    and o meant papi

    "Look, when I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point." Barack Obama

    by Wangler1316 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:21:04 PM EST

  •  there (none / 0)

    is an image that is going around the internet that says orchestra presents believe a tribute to the life of john-117 masterchief so that might mean he  dies

    by amato18 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:29:48 PM EST

  •  Wow there are some (none / 0)

    Halo haters here aren't there? heeyoh, your ok but that other guy... For future reference, if you hate a game that much, please don't foul a post about that game with your thoughtless yammering, k?

    Papi, I totally hear ya...Halo does something no other game FPS really does- it makes you the hero, not the guy your playing. Instantly whenever I hear someone say Master Chief in the game, I think it's me, and remember all the encounters I've been in and memories I've made through the Halo games. Because Master Chief has no "face" you instantly feel like that could be you inside the armor.

    Bungie is one of the best developers of all time because they know how to make a game fun and they know how to tell a story.

    I agree MC will probably die, then again, if you read Ghosts of Onnex you know there may be another way he could disappear... I won't post it in case you haven't read that one! ;)

    by SweetTea023 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:32:16 PM EST

    •  Believe (none / 0)

      me, I'm still going to spend countless hours on both the campaign and multiplayer.  It's just that I built up so much hype for myself for 2 and was completely let down.  I hope 3 does it for me.

      I'm feeling California and looking Minnesota.

      by heeyoh2 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:34:52 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

    •  I'm actually in the middle of (none / 0)

      reading Ghosts of Onyx right now.  It isn't as engaging for me because John has only been in basically like 10 pages so far.  I'm about 100 pages in.

      by papi blez on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:39:27 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

      •  I tried to read that thing (none / 0)

        but

        rant  

        I can't be bothered to figure out what timeline I am in, and without knowing that, the story makes no sense.  I loved the other novels, but Onyx, was completely inaccessible.  

        It has been 2 years since I read the First Strike.  It is completely unreasonable to expect me to remember those little star dates printed every couple of pages.  Total BS if you ask me.  I tell you, time travel is one of the CHEAPEST story telling devices ever invented. If they are going to include that kind of crap, they can, at the very least, provide some visual aids at the end or beginning of the book for reference.  Total nonsense.

        /rant

        "Gears2 has legs, and they go all the way up!"

        by 3Suns on Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 04:16:45 AM EST

        [ Parent ]

  •  Halo is deep (none / 0)

    when you look past the games.  There's plenty of story, and Halo offers, though plenty, only a small piece of the universe.  Read the novels, the graphic novel, and upcoming comics (John gets captured! Marvel, you fiends) and you'll see why John is such a moving character.

    ArkkAngel007

    by Mr C on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:33:26 PM EST

  •  heeyoh- (none / 0)

    I agree, the same thing happened to me with 2, So, instead of playing through the campaign countless times like I did Halo 1, I went through it the first time and then went back and played random levels on occasion. Luckily, it appears we'll be getting more than we could have wished for with 3...(including an ending)

    by SweetTea023 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:36:42 PM EST

    •  Yea (none / 0)

      I played the bridge level on co-op so many times with my neighbor.  We made this pretty awesome game where one guy would get in the tank and the other guy would get in the warthog.  The warthog takes off, and you had to give him about 10 seconds, and then the guy in the tank tried to blow him up before he gets out of view.  But that was pretty much the only replayable level for me.  And like I've said before, 4 player co-op is huge, so I'm excited for that.

      I'm feeling California and looking Minnesota.

      by heeyoh2 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:43:36 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

      •  Speaking of that level, (none / 0)

        I had the Soft-Hack thing, forgot the name, but anyway there was a Hacked Profile that was named "War of the Worlds." And I must say, I haven't had that much fun since my first experiences of Unreal (Tournament and the Story-based games). You start off where the Tank, 'Hog, and that other crap is, but wait, there's no vehicles... It's just you, a bunch of Marines and a flood (lawls, pun) of Elites running right at you, of all colors, too. You have to try and advance through the whole bridge while trying to survive going through wave after wave of Covenant, Ghosts, and I think Banshees and Wraiths. If I can get around to it maybe I can show you guys through a short video.

        And about the 7.27 FFF video, I"m getting around to it. Just got back from vacation so I'm still getting settled in. And plus next week is going to be insane! First (Tuesday) I got Bioshock, then (Friday) I'm going to OzzFest to see at least 3 of my favorite bands, for free I must add, and then on Monday I start Tech which then leads to School a few days after that.

        GO BETHEL PARK BLACK HAWKS!!! 14-0 WPIAL CHAMPIONS!!! STATE CHAPS INCOMING!!!

        by Grymm on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:55:37 PM EST

        [ Parent ]

    •  i do (none / 0)

      the exact same thing once in a while i will play of couple of levels in halo 2 its just so boring compared to halo 1 and the multiplayer was really good but there were still room for improvements i think halo 3 will be exceptional and i don't think bungie will let us down

      by amato18 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 08:39:02 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

  •  Ya Halo 1 (none / 0)

    co-op was awesome...on Assault on the Control Room there is a way to get a Banshee by shooting up at a ledge with the Rocket Launcher and if you can get it, you can have a blast flying around. You can go into the crevice inside the control room and there are guys down there! scared the crap out of  us though!

    by SweetTea023 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:49:47 PM EST

    •  I (none / 0)

      was talking about Halo 2, but my brother and I did Assault on the Control Room in H1 at least 100 times together.  We managed to both get banshees once at that part, and we would not go any further, we just flew together for like an hour.  It was awesome.

      I'm feeling California and looking Minnesota.

      by heeyoh2 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:51:58 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

  •  lol (none / 0)

    nick your kinnda a pussy then lol. Well i think I'm the only one who likes the multiplayer

    "Look, when I was a kid, I inhaled frequently. That was the point." Barack Obama

    by Wangler1316 on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 06:52:18 PM EST

  •  woah (none / 0)

    a little to attached-much?

    PSN GamerTag : Gaming_Colt

    by GamingColt on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 07:37:07 PM EST

  •  Gacky, SweetTea and Papi (none / 0)

    You all three make both valid and in some cases(Papi) emotional points.

    Gacky, your detachment to the H2 story was expected due to the feedback of the gamers from Halo 1 CE. Gamers wanted more multiplayer depth and barely anyone gave feedback on the story to Bungie. (From what I seen on their website) So Bungie responded to their users and focused on the multiplayer as their base for the game. So your response is expected.

    SweetTea, as far as Bungie being a great story teller...I think the problem that most of the "Halo Haters" have isnt so much the story itself, but how it is presented to them. There is too much of a large scale focus in the Halo universe. A great story "teller" would focus on smaller aspects of a story back-building to a climax. Something Gears is doing and that Halo has not done at all. Halo has delivered mass info on a large scale(in the games only, not comics,novels,ect) and left the details on the wayside. Which leaves a lot of gamers detached from the story's focal points.

    Papi, dont cry. All good things must come to an end. If he doesnt die, then his perils mean far less and he eventually becomes a forgotten soldier. If he does, then you can enshrine him as a true Hero of humanity. From the looks of it H3 will deliver for you what you are already preparing for. Just remember to keep a box of tissues on hand for your final journey as John Spartan 117.

    Thats my peice

    by Thumb on Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 12:43:55 PM EST

    •  Great points, (none / 0)

       Thumb!

      "Gears2 has legs, and they go all the way up!"

      by 3Suns on Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 05:16:20 PM EST

      [ Parent ]

    •  Actually, no. (none / 0)

      The reason Halo 2 appears to have the multiplayer focus is simply because Halo 2's single player was scrapped 9 months before it was supposed to launch.  This is why the shipping product looked TOTALLY different from the huge, gorgeous E3 2003 video shown.  The Xbox simply couldn't handle it.

      They had to make new models, a new engine, and scale the environments down.  The multiplayer details had been worked out from the start, so it's likely they just needed the engine re-buff by the time they decided to re-do everything.

      P.S.  Gears had a story?

      ~MS

      NXE FTW!

      by Major Silva on Fri Aug 17, 2007 at 01:13:47 AM EST

      [ Parent ]

  •  For the Greater Good (none / 0)

    Hey Papi,

    I have the same connection to MC as you, but I am not ready to throw in the towel at the end of this fight.  I like to think that the MC has to end the threat of the Flood and the Rings, but there will still be more to the story of the Spartan Program, including John-117.  My money is...he don't go in a blaze o'glory just yet.

    John-117 is a faceless hero, and that is why it is so easy to attach yourself to him in the game.  When Halo came out, shooters were single player FPS.  Now, we see the advent of xboxlive, Gears, and a flood of multiplayer variants that allow more than one person to immerse themselves into a game-campaign experience.  I think that after H3, Bungie is going to branch into the co-op genre of big adventure.  So, maybe it won't just be John-117.

    As for the H1 to H2 story hate.  I think it all stems from the fact that we came to a conclusion of sorts in H1, but not in H2.  Instead we were cut short...too short.  Yes, we were all ready to throw our controllers at the end of H2...cause it didn't feel on parr with what we experienced with H2.  That is something I would truly like to hear Bungie confess to.  My opinion was there were some XBOX360 shennigans involved.  Any takers?

    Don't go into the light MC!

    Ready to finish all the Fights!

    by Damn Boris on Thu Aug 16, 2007 at 04:52:49 PM EST

Comments Disabled | 27 comments