Tuckerscreator
(4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
08/30/2016 00:00:00
It seems The Worf Effect is Reed's go-to cliche, because by the end of the first level, he has Jul 'Mdama whacked with little effort in a cutscene to show how dangerous and skilled' Locke is.''
He also seems fond of Informed Flaw, as there's at least three times where we hear someone say something akin to "Jul 'Mdama is a terrible leader" (Locke in the first level, an Elite in an intercepted comm in the first level, and Linda in the second level) without actually showing his flaws.
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Game Good; Story Bad
As far as the gameplay goes, I'm pretty satisfied. There are a few flaws and hiccups, of course, but the focus on this review is going to be the story itself.
First, the advertising campaign you saw? The one which made this seem like it'd be one of the most original and unique stories in the franchise, that promised mysteries to be solved and provoked your interest in "The Greatest Hunt in Gaming History"? It's all bullshit. There's no mystery. The "mystery" is solved by the second level. The "hunt" ends on the fifth (of 15). It's about as close to false advertising as you can get without being punished for it.
Second, the guy who wrote this, Brian Reed, possesses the dubious honor of writing both Spartan Ops and Halo: Escalation 8-10, both of which proved divisive at best. Recall in the latter when Black Team (a Spartan-II squad of four) was killed off in a fight off-screen to show off how dangerous the Didact was? It seems The Worf Effect is Reed's go-to cliche, because by the end of the first level, he has Jul 'Mdama whacked with little effort in a cutscene to show how dangerous and ''skilled' Locke is. Not even a bossfight for the Covenant Supreme Leader? Warden Eternal gets his bossfights. They even added Jul as a bossfight in Warzone. Why was it so hard here?
The biggest issue, of course, is Cortana (Spoiler ahead, of course). Now, for anyone not in-the-know on the EU, there actually is an established precedent for her behavior, one which ties her in not just with the Didact in Halo 4, but even other AI going nuts. In short, this is never touched upon. An exciting Myth Arc potentially established by the Forerunner novels has been hinted at nowhere whatsoever in the last two games, despite ample opportunity. Cortana's behavior, as it stands, seems completely out-of-character with no hint at an explanation otherwise. If there were, one might say "Wtf Cortana is bad now?! Hm, there might be more to this... I'll have to get Halo 6 to find out..." As it is, it's just a random Face–Heel Turn, and if it is explained in Halo 6, I can imagine overwhelming accusations of it being a cop-out designed to justify a bad decision in Halo 5.
Finally, there's the sense at the end of the game that you didn't really do anything. Cortana's plan is now underway and your involvement meant nothing to stop it. For all intents and purposes, it's Filler.
In summary, Good:
Bad: