Sometimes I should never be surprised that someone would come out of nowhere and present to a film studio yet ANOTHER film or yet a TV Show adaptation of a video game. If you know like I do, games that turn into film are kind of a hit or miss and as track records show… these can be more misses than hits. Now don’t let me scare you away from actually watching this show because in my opinion (for once) “Halo” the TV series is not as bad as I thought it my probably be, I just set my standards pretty low just to protect my heart from other disappointment because I am a big fan of the series video game in which you can play on Microsoft Xbox.
For those who don't know what “Halo” is, military science fiction video game and media franchise created by Bungie. The franchise is currently managed and developed by 343 Industries, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The central focus of the franchise builds on the experiences of Master Chief, one of a group of super soldiers code-named Spartans, and his artificial intelligence (AI) companion, Cortana. The original trilogy centers on an interstellar war between humanity and an alliance of aliens known as The Covenant. The Covenant, led by their religious leaders called the Prophets, worship an ancient civilization known as the Forerunners, who perished while defeating the parasitic Flood. The eponymous Halo Array are a group of immense, habitable and ring-shaped superweapons that were created by the Forerunners to destroy the food source of the Flood (which is every sentient life in the galaxy), but which the Covenant mistake for religious artifacts that, if activated, would transport them on a Great Journey to meet the Forerunners.
Ok, It’s a lot of information for you there… but that is the jist so far for what the basics of the story is and it is still evolving since the game is still going on with it’s sixth installment of the main story “Halo Infinite”. The TV Show is beautifully captured with the look, feel and some of the story from the game, but as always most writers and filmmakers like to change portions of the story… Some are good and some are pretty questionable. The biggest one is that in the game Master Chief, who is the main protagonist you play, always keeps his helmet on. He is a faceless character throughout the game and is only recognizable by the distinct combat armored suit that he wears. While in the TV series, Master Chief (Played by actor Pablo Schreiber) for the majority of the show always has his helmet off and produces a little bit more emotion into the character than expected. Not to say making a person have feelings in a TV series is bad but it was something new and unexpected from someone like Master Chief who never had feeling like a normal human being. He was more militarized in his thinking and always stayed true to his mission.
The show also diverts to other storylines with Dr. Catherine Halsey who is the antagonist of the show (other than the Covenant). She has shown throughout the series that she is a liability to the USNC and the human race to only lookout for her own self ideology’s of what our place in the universe should be. Captain Keyes and Marendia Keyes who are Halo’s favorite characters are in the series. We also get a glimpse of different and new characters only in the series. In the game there where more Spartans then the four that are featured in the series including a rouge which was something that hasn’t been seen before in any of the games which I found was a great idea from the writers an a teen freedom fighter who helps Master Chief unlock his lost human emotions was a decent character but was probably the weakest of all the cast.
By far I enjoyed “Halo” the series and definitely would recommend at least you watch it once and give it a chance. Season 2 has already been green lit, so it can either go one of two ways… be better than season 1 or crash and burn. I very hope it’s the latter.
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