A gushing love for Halo 3 transcribed.

by Leviathan , Hotel Zanzibar, Wednesday, August 28, 2013, 22:51 (4103 days ago) @ HawaiianPig

But, you seem to think they pulled it off? I'm curious. If you don't mind, could you elaborate on the parts of the story that you thought did this? Maybe I'm forgetting things that should have stuck out to me more.

For me, Halo 1 introduced the universe and gave us a nice self-contained story. Halo 2 built the universe into a deeper and engaging world with many new characters and motivations to side with or to oppose. It ended in a string of cliffhangers. The table was set. Halo 3 was about watching that table explode and the oppositions and allies meet in epic combat. I was looking for the Return of the King, not a whole new set of questions and expositions. I wanted the scope to be pushed and that feeling of back-against-the-wall fighting recaptured. And yet, besides Chief leaving Cortana behind on High Charity, Halo 3 had almost all the personal, emotional scenes that really affected me in the trilogy.

There are not necessarily surprising twists or turns in the story, but actions and subtle tells combined with perfectly suited art and audio direction that connected me directly to much more than what they might seem to appear to be in a simple script.

Examples:

-The introduction - building up both Cortana's and the UNSC's need for the Chief, as well as Sgt. Johnson's friendship. Chief has always been a force of nature for the UNSC and a symbol of hope for humanity, but I felt that much of those elements were lost in the romp through an empty Mombassa. But here with a squad tasked with finding and reviving the fallen Chief, and the group guarding him like he's a dying angel (with stirring music to match) - all of that really grounded me into Chief's vital role in a sacked Earth. He felt more like a super hero in Halo 2's early Earth levels, and the danger of the threat of invasion wasn't there as much as in the game's previews. Now it was finally here! "Reinforcements are on the spoke."

-The wounded soldiers astonished to see a Spartan alive in Crow's Nest. This was the kind of little stuff I loved in the Halo 2 E3 demo, but never seemed to translate to the final game. Instead we got a lot of David Cross and wisecrackers (which I still enjoyed in their own right). Now we were finally starting to see the importance of the Chief as a symbol as the world falls apart around him. Truth's transmission highlighted this again. "Does he always mention me?"

-The music and Lord Hood's voice and words will always stir me into battle at the end of Tsavo Highway. "Okay, I'm ready to defend Minas Tirith now."

-The atmosphere, the storm, the crater, the legion of Covenant, the crashing Longswords, and the loud booms of the Scarab and the AA gun will always make the Storm one of my favorite levels. The feeling of desperation has rarely been matched in another game for me. This was finally my chance to fight for Earth, alongside civilian workers no less, on a literal precipice at the end of the world. New and classic musical themes, especially the whole level revolving around "Brothers In Arms" recaptured that feeling of fighting alongside brave GI Joes that I had felt years ago on Halo. The cinematic at the end is just the cherry on top. I made weird, unmanly gasps when a ridiculous number of Longswords flew over my head, followed by three frigates unleashing their MAC cannons.

-The cinematic at the end of Floodgate has some of the most emotional and subtle bits that speak volumes to me. When Lord Hood asks if Chief trusts Cortana and he immediately answers "Sir, Yes, Sir." I had a shiver of goosebumps up my spine. That is probably one of the highlights from the entirety of Halo cinematics for me. Then seeing the Elites and UNSC trade weapons was a nice little scene that conveyed their union shortly and sweetly. And at the very end we see Lord Hood leaving Miranda and Chief behind. The red lighting of the Pelican troop bay really accentuates the somber mood and as the hatch closes we see Hood flinch a little. A sort of distrust and despair in what he's allowed them to do.

-Johnson's sadness at losing Miranda and being forced to activate the destruction of the galaxy. Especially when Chief reaches them and looks over at Johnson holding Miranda.

-The subtle reveals of Truth's knowledge of the Forerunners and what the rings really do (along with Contact Harvest) made me very happy because (while it is still highly interpretable) I felt that I had been right in my theory: Truth WOULD ascend to a "god", because he knew the Ark would lower the rest of the galaxy beneath him, leaving him a king with an army of fools with no one to match him. "But that secret dies with all the rest."

-Cortana's reunion with the Chief was VERY personal for me, and straddled that perfect line of friendship and maybe a hint of something more that I thought suited those two characters best.

-"Send me out with a bang." couple with the stirring violin and Chief's stoic looks... I couldn't enjoy the awesome Maw Run sequel the first few playthroughs because I was too somber from losing the un-loseable, my Johnson. The cinematography and music and Cortana's last line as Forward Unto Dawn attempts to escape is also very emotional for me. "Were it so easy" and "Wake me when you need me" continued to be great emotional farewells to these characters.

These scenes are mostly all centered on one or two short lines of dialogue or a few simple actions, and coupled with perfect scoring, cinematography, color, and lighting, they said so much more to me than if they added in a whole heap of dialogue explaining every little thing. Looking at his storyboards, this has much to do with Lee Wilson (and Marty O'Donnell and everyone else, of course). Coupled with the large-scale vehicle battles I wanted, the classic tunes revisited, and a brilliant and touching Forerunner story that revealed more about them while somehow still keeping them vague and mysterious, was all I ever wanted in a Halo game, especially the concluding Halo game (in many ways). The only thing I perhaps wanted a bit more of was exploring and defending an Earth city... which I just happened to get in Halo 3's expansion pack: ODST!

Of course, I also looked forward to Halo 3 with optimism, delight, and curiosity and I'm sure that colored my initial experiences. As I'm sure Cody's months of cynicism will color his experience with Destiny.

If you guys ever want to fall in love with Halo 3, play sometime with me and Padraig. Our excitement combined will infect you.