Improving on the Halo 4 Campaign.

[Peter Seferian]

Hello, this is a question for 343.

 

 

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the campaign of Halo 4, I felt that I missed out on a lot of the story elements that were present in the novels. I had read Cryptum, but not Primodium or Glasslands at the time I played the game, so things in the story such as Infinity or the Storm Covenant didn't make much sense to me. I remember watching 343's panels before the release of Halo 4 in which they stated that even if you didn't read the novels, you wouldn't feel lost during the campaign. However; elements such as the Storm Covenant are never explained. Chief asks only one question during the first mission and then the subject is never brought up again. Since Chief and Cortana have been isolated in space for nearly six years, wouldn't it only make sense for them to be constantly questioning everything around them? About why the Covenant have returned? Or, why didn't the crew of the Infinity explain this to them? My main problem, however, was the Didact. After reading Cryptum, I had a pretty good idea about who the Didact was. But when he appeared in Halo 4, Chief and Cortana seem to automatically know who he is and don't seem at all phased that this is the first forerunner they have ever seen. Moreover, his backstory and motivations are really only explained in the terminals which aren't directly connected to the main campaign, leaving them unclear. I feel that 343 assumed that everyone had read the novels before playing the campaign and that they would be able to jump right in and understand everything that was going on. Although the novels do provide players that read them with a bonus when playing the campaign, it shouldn't take the experience away from those who hadn't. Since we are all put in Chief's shoes, we should be given an explanation of the events that happened prior to the campaign the same way Chief should have been given an explanation after spending years in Cryosleep. Despite these flaws, I thorougly enjoyed Halo 4's campaign as well as the novels I had read after playing the campaign. I hope 343 can improve upon these issues in Halo 5: Guardians now that they have a game under their belt.

[Guts]

Well if you are thinking we are 343, we are not. This is a fan forum. Halo Waypoint is the official site. The Storm Covenant is explained but not very well in the first mission. I honestly do not see where and how you are getting confused. The Didact's backstory is explained in the terminals and there is nothing wrong with that.

[Silent Orbis]

I actually see where you're coming from. I was actually pretty confused. It's all a matter of keeping up with the lore -- which I'm not really that much of a lore person. That's the only issue I see with the Halo campaigns in general -- It's relies too heavily on lore.

 

Anyway, as Hexter said above, we aren't 343industries. Their official site is HaloWaypoint, we are just the 343i community. And you're welcome to stay.

[I_Make_Big_Boom]

I do agree that Halo 4 relied too heavily on outside material to flesh the story out. I myself wasn't very phased by this since I read up on the lore before Halo 4 came out.

 

Anyway I can give you brief information on how the Storm came to be, and how Chief/Cortana knew who the Didact was (be warned that I don't know this 100%):

 

The Storm Covenant are a fraction of the mainline Covenant who were stationed on the Elite colony world Hesduros. They have been out of contact with the main Covenant for some time, and didn't know about the Great Schism. Some of the armor the Storm have represent Hesduros organic architecture, like the Zealot Elites armor, and ship interiors. The Jackals there are also a sub-species of the Jackals we see in the previous games (like the Skirmishers and Brutes in Reach).

 

Jul M'dama was an Elite captured by some humans and taken to the Shield World Onyx (or Trevelyan). The humans allowed him to walk around, and he ended up finding some ancient ruins (maybe Precursor. I'm not sure). A Hurogok (Engineer) then stumbled upon him, and Jul forced him into opening a portal to Hesduros.

 

Once there he came into contact with the Storm Covenant, and spoke with the Keep Keeper there (again I'm not sure that is actually what happened), who told him about some ruins near the Keep. Jul then explored the ruins and found a map to "The Didact's World", Requiem: knowing full well who the Didact was. So he manipulated the Storm and became their leader: going on a holy mission to find and unleash the Didact on Requiem. He was known as the "Didact's Hand".

 

After finding Requiem they orbited it for 2 years since it would not open for them... until the Forward Unto Dawn drifted towards it.

 

Finally Chief and Cortana know who the Didact is since... well Jul M'dama was at the Cryptum when it opened. He's the Elite who neeled, and the one who shouted "DIDACT!", so Cortana, or the Chief might have heard him and picked up on it. It's reaaaaally easy to miss Jul the first time (like I did). And if they didn't hear it Cortana already has extensive knowledge of the Forerunners (as seen in the Halo: Legends: Origins) so she would most likely know who the Didact was anyway.

 

Again I don't know this 100%. Feel free to correct me.

[Peter Seferian]

Oh, my bad guys. I think I just assumed the admins were from 343. Anyway, I'll post this on there just to raise my concerns. I'm all caught up with the lore now so it makes a lot more sense. I think you should be rewarded from reading the novels, but again, it shouldnn't take away from the general fanbase's experience. In response to Hexter, in case my point wasn't clear enough, I already knew who the Didact was. It just didn't make sense to me that Chief and Cortana seem to know who he was as if meeting the first forerunner after 100,000 years was just another day at the office. They don't even really have any interactions with him besides the final duel.

[depressant]

They probably mentioned him in the books, though I haven't read them and I think they're not entirely connected with the Halo games. As for the Storm Covenant, they're a rouge group of Covenant who didn't know about the Schism (As Hell Verruckt said), and made their armor and weapons out of scraps, which is why they look different.

 

Hope this helped, and happy Halo-Ween!!