Halo is currently in its second season at the moment and there’s still a lot of negativity that surrounds the show itself. I understand this article will likely navigate that hate towards me in this but try to keep it friendly, I don’t mind a debate at all about it.
One thing to note is that I do get some of the dislike towards the show. It’s vastly different to the video game counterpart. In the series, Master Chief removes his helmet frequently and in fairness, he has it off more than he has it on. It makes sense that this will rile up fans of the games.
People often compare this show to The Mandalorian. In that show, Din Djarin has only removed his helmet on 3 separate occasions across 3 seasons. This is why people get their back up and I get it, to a degree.
For me, the Halo games were good. That’s it. Halo 3, Halo Wars, and Reach were the only memorable ones for me. Others probably had a better experience than I did and that’s okay, we’re all entitled to our own opinions.
See for me, I remember playing the Halo games and I was only 14 when 3 came out. I always wondered why Chief never removed his helmet but I loved that game nonetheless. It was the first game alongside FIFA that my parents bought me for Christmas, it was that Christmas I first got an Xbox 360.
Whilst the games are what they are – the show tells a better story. Most of my friends who I’ve spoken to say the same thing; Halo in the games universe hasn’t been good for a long time. Halo 4 and 5 were forgettable and the latest Halo Infinite game was beyond boring.
People are going to go in on me for that comment but understandably the games have had years of lore to build up their version of canon. The show is only in its second season.
Don’t get me wrong, the show certainly has its flaws but it’s not in the way that people think. Season 1 being centered around Kwan was a bad move and I’d like to see more of the Spartan suit itself.
On a general scale though, we see a different side of Master Chief which is what I wanted back when season 1 was launched. I’ve seen comments saying that Last of Us could do it (meaning they could follow the games almost down to a T), why couldn’t Halo? The thing is, Last of Us is designed to be that story-driven game – it’s a spectacle. Halo isn’t. It’s a shooter first story second. At least that’s what it feels like.
The show has to change things to make it more story-driven with a deeper narrative. We know aspects of the game live on in the show, the fall of Reach, Arbiter’s likely eventual turn, and others are still in the show but they’re just told a slightly different way.
More than anything, the Reach episode for Halo was one of the most cinematically beautifully shot episodes on TV for a while. It was action-packed from minute 1, even to the point it drew my wife back into the show itself after she lost interest (she never played the games so watching this blindly).
If you walk into this show expecting it to be just like the video games then, of course, disappointment is going to follow shortly after. If you go into this thinking it’s a different timeline, a different universe (which it is), or a different spin on the story then you may look at it with a different outlook. Of course, you may still dislike it and that’s okay. It’s important to go into these shows with an open mind.
I never thought we’d get a live-action Halo TV show and honestly, I feel like it’s getting better with each episode. It’s becoming more akin to the game’s counterpart the more it goes on, especially this season.
I’ll be honest, if Chief never took off his helmet and stayed in the suit constantly – I don’t think I’d like it all that much. I prefer to see emotion. A hot take here, but I even wish Din Djarin would remove his helmet more than he does.
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