Our fight continues, as the Master Chief and the Arbiter both continue their respective campaigns, each doing what they believe to be best from their perspective. The war between Humanity and the Covenant rages around them.
With a new Halo ring in play, how will both champions of their people react to the efforts of the other.
See, I told you I would hijack that damn Wraith, and how.
We spoke a little bit about it in the last update, but I like getting this glimpse of Covenant culture through the lens of a secondary protagonist. Additionally, it’s a smart move to avoid framing them as if they are evil, seeking to destroy humanity just because it would be fun. They have their own reasons, goals, and purpose, and as far as they’re concerned we’re the monsters and the aggressors out for their blood.
I don’t intend to say “It makes me think” because:
- I’m super late to this party and that’s probably an ice cold take even by my standards.
- By this point in my life, I’ve already played Spec Ops: The Line, Undertale, and so many other games the lampshade the senseless violence in video games to death. I’ve heard it all before.
- It wasn’t exactly genius or highbrow even back at the time.
Despite all that, it is still refreshing to acknowledge that our enemies aren’t mindless monsters. Even if we still need to stop them, and ultimately kill them, they are not acting with malicious intent. Seeing Master Chief being called “The Demon” by the rank and file who only know him through the carnage visited upon them at his hand is a welcome touch. Likewise, seeing the Covenant’s religious fanaticism being manipulated by forces outside their control adds that extra level of sympathy that humanizes them, especially since I accidentally did a genocide at 343 Guilty Spark’s behest and got a non-standard game over in the process last game.
For someone like me, who only knows Halo lore in the abstract, it was quite a pleasant surprise.
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