Halo 4 Story Spoilers and Speculations

exYle said:
Maybe the future games will feature a Mendicant Bias-type storyline for Cortana.
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Considering Mendicant and Offensive's story seems to be neutered...

I'm really hoping that the librarian isn't the only other Forerunner left out there. It's always been unexplained why tr Forerunners didn't make use of their own Shield Worlds, and I hope Bear can give us a satisfying answer.
 
I thought Cortana needed some kind of terminal to show up, in the ending she was like her own entity, in that hard light shield part in the end, she was just there.
 
miladesn said:
I thought Cortana needed some kind of terminal to show up, in the ending she was like her own entity, in that hard light shield part in the end, she was just there.
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She's pretty clearly just manipulating the material of the light bridge to create a hard light avatar. It probably only works because she never leaves the material of the bridge.
 
miladesn said:
I thought Cortana needed some kind of terminal to show up, in the ending she was like her own entity, in that hard light shield part in the end, she was just there.
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The hardlight shield is a data field as well. Basically she put herself into a self-contained energy field that once it dissipates so does she. It was the actual storage medium that she was on.
 
MC is going to go batshit crazy. He lost what kept him sane. His companion to quell his 'sociopathic' tendencies is gone.

Probably not.

Or if they make another Cortana she won't be the same.

"Remember that time we saved the Galaxy?"
"Noo?"
 
malfcn said:
MC is going to go batshit crazy. He lost what kept him sane. His companion to quell his 'sociopathic' tendencies is gone.

Probably not.
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Yeah, he won't. It's unlikely that he'll ever be allowed to have any agency or opinions beyond his generic need to save the world that he was programmed with.
Plus, a few of his friends of over 30 years are still around, so I think he should manage without his computer girlfriend of 3 months.
 
SpOps ep 3 trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOUrWBY535c&feature=plcp

"[...] something on the planet [Requiem] is studying you". -- Halsey.

The only clue:

jKxOfkrOcExrX.png


I don't recognize that emblem.
 
I don't think that's supposed to be a Forerunner avatar, just some kind of computer thing indicating a signal or location.

But if it is, it isn't any avatar we know about currently.
 
BigTnaples said:
That trailer looked awesome. Looks like things will finally start ramping upward soon.
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finally? its 10 episodes, of course they cant go into full force too early.
ep 1 introduced the set-up and characters, ep 2 already introduced the "mcguffin"/threat.

ep 3 seems to be very interesting and there are still 7 episodes left.
 
On the subject of Chief going loco, is the UNSC treating chief like shit going to be a continuing theme? Combine this, Cortana's "death", and not having an enemy to fight, Chief may very well lose his shit trying to figure out who's the machine or whatever he said at the end.
 
Buddermilk said:
On the subject of Chief going loco, is the UNSC treating chief like shit going to be a continuing theme? Combine this, Cortana's "death", and not having an enemy to fight, Chief may very well lose his shit trying to figure out whp's the machine or whatever he said at the end.
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I thought it was really weird the Marines Chief saves in Mission 4 weren't all surprised by his appearance. Sure there are more Spartans now, but this guy is a legend--practically a living God, and they shrug him off. Military brass being jerks is par for the course, but I feel like they missed time to really make the Chief feel different.

(Which is one area where the armor redesign actively hurt the story.)
 
S1kkZ said:
finally? its 10 episodes, of course they cant go into full force too early.
ep 1 introduced the set-up and characters, ep 2 already introduced the "mcguffin"/threat.

ep 3 seems to be very interesting and there are still 7 episodes left.
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I suppose you're right.
 
My speculation:

Ur-Didacts mind has complete control of Bornstellar's body. Leaving Bornstellar's mind trapped or suppressed? What if Bornstellar's mind is held in Ur-Didacts body?
 
Buddermilk said:
On the subject of Chief going loco, is the UNSC treating chief like shit going to be a continuing theme? Combine this, Cortana's "death", and not having an enemy to fight, Chief may very well lose his shit trying to figure out whp's the machine or whatever he said at the end.
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Oh yeah, he's going to flip the next set of three switches all angry-like.
 
NobleGundam said:
My speculation:

Ur-Didacts mind has complete control of Bornstellar's body. Leaving Bornstellar's mind trapped or suppressed? What if Bornstellar's mind is held in Ur-Didacts body?
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if they introduce the bornstellar didact/ ur didact stuff in halo 5, they will need a seperate didact campaign. unless they dont give a fuck about anyone understanding the story.
 
NobleGundam said:
My speculation:

Ur-Didacts mind has complete control of Bornstellar's body. Leaving Bornstellar's mind trapped or suppressed? What if Bornstellar's mind is held in Ur-Didacts body?
Click to expand...

wtf is Bornstellar?

Am I in the Halo 4 thread?

Is this some kind of book lore than less than 1% of Halo gamers is familiar with?
 
As far as Cortana goes, I mean they COULD revive her as a villain and instrument of the Didact but I wouldn't want that. Move on. Get a new AI with new quirks, with a different kind of relationship. I hate revivals or after-the-fact revelations that the player was deceived. They feel cheap and devalue what you already got.

That said, I still don't know how to feel about the Chief/Cortana relationship. I honestly didn't feel any emotion or empathy for the Chief. His last line being delivered without even a slight change in tone from his usual speech ruined it all. Plus it was a corny line.

And then there's how this ties into the man/machine theme. I mean I can see the link but I don't feel it. It's like they want to develop Chief into a character that is cognizant of this duality, but his "man of few words" nature is still getting in the way of this, even if Halo 4 probably has the most Chief dialogue of any Halo game. And body language isn't enough either, though I did think the most humanistic thing I've seen Chief do was rapidly spin his head at The Librarian when she told him that he (humans) was the greatest enemy the Forerunner have ever faced.

I think now that they've got the eyes out there, I absolutely wouldn't mind just seeing Chief's face in the next game throughout. They want to make it more personal right? This is the next logical step, and this is the perfect opportunity. Showing even his eyes was a huge step and it seems like nobody is up in arms and this isn't taboo anymore, so they should just push it all the way.

I can't imagine playing as insane Chief though, it'd be too weird for someone who has been the embodiment of pure good in the series for a decade. I think that kind of stuff would have to be purely restricted to cutscenes, which obviously contributes to creating some dissonance between the gameplay and story, which is usually a bad idea. We already had Chief defy orders for the first time in Halo 4, and maybe it's instead time for him to play a more political role in the UNSC and question the war machine at large with the unique perspective he has to offer. Especially after everyone except Lasky is treating him like any other soldier and not the bad motherfucker who just saved your galaxy for the umpteenth time.

And then there's all the possibilities regarding his Forerunner augmentations... So many variables with regards to Halo 5. And I like that. As much as everyone else it seems is being a Debbie downer on Halo 4, the story and game at large shows promise. Keeping in mind 343 is a new developer, this is likely them just trying to catch their bearings. To be a new dev and to still put out something like Halo 4 is commendable IMO.
 
NullPointer said:
They could go all Spec Ops and have him deteriorate as you play.
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They could, in an alternate dimension where they aren't stuck making Master Chief games for all eternity.
Here, however, he still has INFINITE SEQUELS to play the leading role in, so any possible changes to his character will have to remain superficial (or keep reverting to the default state, comic book-style, which would be even worse). Halo 2 had to introduce the Arbiter to give us a protagonist with questionable motivations and views you might not agree with. I don't think that's ever going to happen again, but I'd gladly eat my cat helmet if it does.
 
So having not read the books and only looked at Wikis, is this whole two Didacts thing just a lot of narrative evasive maneuvering required by lack of planning leading to the fact that the Didact is both the villain in 4 and (as established by previous sources) the person who fired the Halos?
 
Flipyap said:
They could, in an alternate dimension where they aren't stuck making Master Chief games for all eternity.
Here, however, he still has INFINITE SEQUELS to play the leading role in, so any possible changes to his character will have to remain superficial (or keep reverting to the default state, comic book-style, which would be even worse). Halo 2 had to introduce the Arbiter to give us a protagonist with questionable motivations and views you might not agree with. I don't think that's ever going to happen again, but I'd gladly eat my cat helmet if it does.
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I'd be fine with future games focused on your custom Spartan IV. Reach's cut-scenes that showcased your Spartan felt much more rewarding and personal than any attachment I've had for the Chief.

The Chief has done his part. It'd be OK if he became an instructor on the Infinity. At least for me.
 
ultron87 said:
So having not read the books and only looked at Wikis, is this whole two Didacts thing just a lot of narrative evasive maneuvering required by lack of planning leading to the fact that the Didact is both the villain in 4 and (as established by previous sources) the person who fired the Halos?
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Could be, but why introduce that when the Bear books revised most of that continuity anyway? Seems pretty convoluted a fig leaf.
 
To be honest, the "emotional" connection that this game was supposed to provide just never clicked with me. Cortana going rampant was more annoying than anything else. And because every single "rampant" moment was scripted, there was no threat or consequence to her not being able to fullfill her role.
They really missed a chance to have her interfere or sabotage you as the player at random moments. (visor malfunctions, hud turned off, standing in front of you obscuring your view, screaming at you, starting to cry whatever)

I have to say I am underwhelmed. The story and characters just never grabbed me as much as I hoped they would. Partly because I felt like just being along for the ride instead of actually learning anything about the story and requiem. I wonder how they're going to explain Cortana coming back in H5. (you know it's going to happen)
 
fabricated backlash said:
To be honest, the "emotional" connection that this game was supposed to provide just never clicked with me. Cortana going rampant was more annoying than anything else. And because every single "rampant" moment was scripted, there was no threat or consequence to her not being able to fullfill her role.
They really missed a chance to have her interfere or sabotage you as the player at random moments. (visor malfunctions, hud turned off, standing in front of you obscuring your view, screaming at you, starting to cry whatever)

I have to say I am underwhelmed. The story and characters just never grabbed me as much as I hoped they would. Partly because I felt like just being along for the ride instead of actually learning anything about the story and requiem. I wonder how they're going to explain Cortana coming back in H5. (you know it's going to happen)
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No, that would just be annoying - like when Cortana/Gravemind interrupted you in 3.
 
ultron87 said:
So having not read the books and only looked at Wikis, is this whole two Didacts thing just a lot of narrative evasive maneuvering required by lack of planning leading to the fact that the Didact is both the villain in 4 and (as established by previous sources) the person who fired the Halos?
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Yes.
I think they also wanted to tell an origin story without having to detail a rise to power in a galactic empire.

NullPointer said:
I'd be fine with future games focused on your custom Spartan IV. Reach's cut-scenes that showcased your Spartan felt much more rewarding and personal than any attachment I've had for the Chief.

The Chief has done his part. It'd be OK if he became an instructor on the Infinity. At least for me.
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Sure. A Metal Gear without Snake would also be nice to have, but that's not really how these things work out.

enzo_gt said:
I think now that they've got the eyes out there, I absolutely wouldn't mind just seeing Chief's face in the next game throughout. They want to make it more personal right? This is the next logical step, and this is the perfect opportunity. Showing even his eyes was a huge step and it seems like nobody is up in arms and this isn't taboo anymore, so they should just push it all the way.
Click to expand...
I didn't care about this "mystery" before, but now I REALLY don't want to see his face. Not after his sad clown routine at the end of this game. I doubt that having a face would do him any favors. It would probably be even harder to take him seriously because he's such a simplistic character, and allowing him to voice his emotions only makes that clearer.
"Is I robot? :(" - Chief, Mr.
 
Flipyap said:
Yes.
Sure. A Metal Gear without Snake would also be nice to have, but that's not really how these things work out.
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Worked out fine with Reach. I can't emphasize enough how cool it is to see your own Spartan in cut-scenes. Master Chief has nothing on that.

And you could also incorporate the party into the story, rather than each player in campaign being a duplicate Chief that's... just there. War has changed. Spartans have faces now.
 
Biggzy said:
No, that would just be annoying - like when Cortana/Gravemind interrupted you in 3.
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It would at least make her condition part of the story rather than just have her voice crackle from time to time.

I generally would love a more interactive way of story telling. In Halo 4 everything related to the story was told in cutscenes, while the gameplay sections were mostly just "flip 3 switches" to get the next cutscene.

I for one am not quite sure how Halo 4 can be the start of a new trilogy. it just feels underwhelming, and they even managed to design an enemy class that is more annoying than the flood. Who would've thought that.
 
fabricated backlash said:
To be honest, the "emotional" connection that this game was supposed to provide just never clicked with me. Cortana going rampant was more annoying than anything else. And because every single "rampant" moment was scripted, there was no threat or consequence to her not being able to fullfill her role.
They really missed a chance to have her interfere or sabotage you as the player at random moments. (visor malfunctions, hud turned off, standing in front of you obscuring your view, screaming at you, starting to cry whatever)

I have to say I am underwhelmed. The story and characters just never grabbed me as much as I hoped they would. Partly because I felt like just being along for the ride instead of actually learning anything about the story and requiem. I wonder how they're going to explain Cortana coming back in H5. (you know it's going to happen)
Click to expand...
Yes, that would be ballsy and impactful... but a vast majority of their audience would freakin' LOATHE it.
It would only appeal to the kind of audience who liked it when your weapons broke in Far Cry 2 and I doubt there's much overlap between those fine people and the crowd who'd rather bathe in a soup made of Doritos and Mountain Dew.

NullPointer said:
Worked out fine with Reach. I can't emphasize enough how cool it is to see your own Spartan in cut-scenes. Master Chief has nothing on that.

And you could also incorporate the party into the story, rather than each player in campaign being a duplicate Chief that's... just there. War has changed. Spartans have faces now.
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Right, but for the Chiefless games to happen the stars had to align in such a way that would force two more games from a studio that didn't really want to make Halo anymore.
 
enzo_gt said:
As far as Cortana goes, I mean they COULD revive her as a villain and instrument of the Didact but I wouldn't want that. Move on. Get a new AI with new quirks, with a different kind of relationship. I hate revivals or after-the-fact revelations that the player was deceived. They feel cheap and devalue what you already got.
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No. The Chief doesn't work with another AI. The Chief is very little without Cortana. 343 would have to build an entirely new, major relationship from the beginning of the second game in a trilogy. That's a significant amount of story that must be dedicated to a relationship that a significant portion of the Halo fanbase will reject outright. It wouldn't even have the emotional and story driving hooks that the Cortana-Chief relationship benefited from.

So you sacrifice all that has been built in four main line games, and the extended universe, for an attempt to show Chief's humanity by him getting over his loss of Cortana? Cortana's sacrifice wasn't significant enough to warrant that kind of character building.
 
So is the Chief still on the Infinity during SpOps or what?

Trey said:
No. The Chief doesn't work with another AI. The Chief is very little without Cortana. 343 would have to build an entirely new, major relationship from the beginning of the second game in a trilogy. That's a significant amount of story that must be dedicated to a relationship that a significant portion of the Halo fanbase will reject outright. It wouldn't even have the emotional and story driving hooks that the Cortana-Chief relationship benefited from.

So you sacrifice all that has been built in four main line games, and the extended universe, for an attempt to show Chief's humanity by him getting over his loss of Cortana? Cortana's sacrifice wasn't significant enough to warrant that kind of character building.
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Not necessarily. The answer could be telling a story of him not getting over Cortana, bolstering development of the Chief as an individual. If there's a new AI and relationship, that doesn't mean he/she would be a replacement. Possibly only for waypoint purposes, etc. I think Cortana's sacrifice is big, now at least we can explore a TRULY alone Chief.

As it stands though, I don't see any way of dealing with the loss of Cortana as being perfect.
 
Flipyap said:
Yes, that would be ballsy and impactful... but a vast majority of their audience would freakin' LOATHE it.
It would only appeal to the kind of audience who liked it when your weapons broke in Far Cry 2 and I doubt there's much overlap between those fine people and the crowd who'd rather bathe in a soup made of Doritos and Mountain Dew.
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I agree. Such effects would have to be done really convincingly and well designed. It would probably not be worth the effort, not as long as Halo is a popcorn blockbuster first.

I just wish they would've done more with Cortana and her rampancy. As well as integrate the world into the narrative instead of just having beautifull scenery without a shred of history behind it.
Unlike Halo, Requiem just isn't fleshed out as it should've been. Maybe they could've combined that with Cortana running rampant. Her personalities could've provided various accounts about the purpose or lore of the structure you were currently in, mixed with personal biased observations and even misguiding you (with sane Cortana stepping in to correct or stop her crazy side from feeding the chief wrong information)
 
Halsey in the house. Shit is about to get real.

I love this merging of the novels with the game's universe. This is what we need.
 
Zeal said:
Halsey in the house. Shit is about to get real.

I love this merging of the novels with the game's universe. This is what we need.
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what we need, is a compelling story that everyone is able to understand, not just people who read the fucking books. thats just not the right way to do it.

you can please both hardcore fans and "normal" players in terms of story, if you try...
 
S1kkZ said:
if they introduce the bornstellar didact/ ur didact stuff in halo 5, they will need a seperate didact campaign. unless they dont give a fuck about anyone understanding the story.
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Question I've been wondering if 343 is ballsy enough to DO a spinoff knowing a Halo game will focus more on The Forerunners Society and Military side (perhaps Ancient Humans including). Altering the core abit to use Halo 4's Reach 2.0 engine. Playing as a young forerunner warrior-servant and later becoming a Promethean Warrior titled as "Didact".
 
See You Next Wednesday said:
Ugh, what the fuck did I just listen to?
Came to the story point where Master Chief talks to the "librarian".

It was the Matrix Reloaded Colonial Sanders dialog scene all over again.
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they should have left the librarian out of halo 4, because there is now way to explain her character/motives/powers to the general player in a short timeframe.

i can fully understand everyone that hates her scene in the game. the "everything was planned and led up to you!" thing is fucking awful.
 
Gez said:
I dont think she meant it literally.
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doesnt matter. what matters is how it comes across. and it comes across as just another "oh yeah btw, you are the one!" thing. i know how its meant, because i read cryptum. but 99% of all other halo players didnt and probably never will (and they shouldnt have to).
 
S1kkZ said:
i can fully understand everyone that hates her scene in the game. the "everything was planned and led up to you!" thing is fucking awful.
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The only way I can take it seriously is to mean that the Librarian seeded the ideas in humanity that would lead to using Forerunner innovations like specific lines of physical evolution (augmentations), combat skin (mjolnir armor), and ancillas (Cortana, or any paired AI), and not just The Master Chief in particular and Cortana in particular and Space Jesus and puppies and Unicorns.

Looked at it that way, the Librarian was just giving humanity hidden Forerunner tech cheat codes, that humans stumbled and fumbled their way into, thinking they did it on their own. So it could be anyone, it just so happened that the Chief was the first, and one of the few that underwent the most radical and experimental treatments.
 
NullPointer said:
The only way I can take it seriously is to mean that the Librarian seeded the ideas in humanity that would lead to using Forerunner innovations like specific lines of physical evolution (augmentations), combat skin (mjolnir armor), and ancillas (Cortana, or any paired AI), and not just The Master Chief in particular and Cortana in particular and Space Jesus and puppies and Unicorns.

Looked at it that way, the Librarian was just giving humanity hidden Forerunner tech cheat codes, that humans stumbled and fumbled their way into, thinking they did it on their own. So it could be anyone, it just so happened that the Chief was the first, and one of the few that underwent the most radical and experimental treatments.
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thats how its meant. librarian planted the "seeds" so humanity would evolve faster (in terms of technology) and could take over "the mantle" and be ready, if the flood ever returns.
 
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