LukeMilo Design

The Halo series has solidified itself, throughout my life, as one of my all time, favorite Sci-Fi universes. It's worlds, races, heroes, villains, & lore have become legendary and ubiquitous in video game culture. However, as often is the case when art meets business and the yearning of the corporate overlords reaches that of an elder vampire's bloodlust for virgin neck flesh, a once clear & calculated narrative and playground can become mired in pigeon-holed canon charred by far too many cooks putting their various touches into the once perfected recipe. 

Thus, I think it's time we step out from the weight of previous Canon and begin anew. I have an idea for a reboot/retooling of this aging franchise that might allow for some creative storytelling that, while pulling from fan's prior knowledge of the lore and universe, doesn't require all the details to exactly line-up with where the story is going. These shrouded references and intentionally swiss cheese-like gaps in the backstory will hopefully lend to intrigue and contemplation rather than a hunger for memberberries (though there's some utilization of those when called for).

Without further rambling, I give you my pitch for a new Trilogy in the Halo universe!

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Firstly – this is a RPG akin to the likes of Fallout. Picture 1st & 3rd person gameplay, switchable at any time by the player to best fit the scenario. In the fallout and Elder Scrolls games I find myself following my character from behind when I'm out in the open spaces of the world to take in the scenery and play as if I'm watching my character traverse through the landscape, then switching to 1st person when I get in the action (combat, conversations, etc) as to experience the story 1st hand and take control of the narrative. This would work well here also as the combat would likely be a pretty heavy mix of melee and gunplay.

So, we open on the world of Sangheilios. A young Sangheli warrior named Sierra after a legendary warrior of old (could be male or female - as you create your own character) is in training with their superior (could be a relative; uncle, elder brother, father or father-figure). He trains in a hunt of a tiger-like creature native to the Sangheili home world. Along the way we get to know bits of Sangheili tradition and the relationship between the mentor and his trainee.

As you progress through this initial area, the 1st of the Open Zones becomes available for the player to take smaller side quests that teach you the mechanics of the world and let you scout for some early-game gear. You learn more about the Sangheili and get some slight hints at how the galaxy has progressed in recent decades. There's hints at passed heroes (like the arbiter we know from previous games). In this game, the Sangheili have (as they did in Halo 5) split off from the Covenant and become their own, isolationist faction in their corner of the galaxy. 

Eventually the main quest takes you to Sierra's time to perform a writ of passage in every Sword's ascension to ranking member of the legion. Like that of a Predator (or a Spartan - the Greek kind) one must go offworld in search of a powerful foe, slay it, and return with its trophy as proof of your success in battle. In this case, your superior has heard tale of an unknown warrior who has taken up hold on a nearby world that is known to be a highly dangerous planet, filled with deadly flora & fauna. Sangheili hunters and merchants have been going missing in that sector and as of yet, no one knows why. Tales of a ghost in the Lionos Jungle regions of the planet are being whispered around the quadrant.

You board a shuttle headed for the planet Homoios and land at a trading outpost in a mountainous region of the planet that looks down on the vast Lionos Jungle. There you encounter local factions, trade for better weapons, upgrades & armors, take side quests that immerse you in the world and level up to the point where you can go in search of the 'demon in the jungle'

You progress to the initial jungle areas and people there tell stories of an ancient warrior's ghost that haunts the lone mountain that rises out of the Lionos Jungle. No one ventures that far in anymore as no one who has made the journey has returned in years. Once you journey into the main part of the jungle you get a 'there's no turning back once beyond this point' note from the game - alerting you that this next section is the beginning of the endgame. What follows is a more linear metroid-prime like, lonesome and somewhat terrifying puzzle & combat heavy part of the game. You'll use what you've learned throughout the game to metroid-vania your way through complex and dense sections of jungle. You'll battle big creatures as bosses as well as swarms of smaller enemies in tight jungle pathways that create tense battles.

Eventually you make your way to the jungle area just below the foothills of the great mountain. There you find the wreckage of a strange ship (though one that's familiar to the player - just not the protagonist). Inside this UNSC pelican you find a breastplate with a tag on it in white lettering [Sierra 117] (there's those member berries I was talking about)... Confused and puzzled as to why your name would be inscribed on a breastplate all these lightyears away from your home, you feel an uneasy sense you're being watched. Just then, a cloaked warrior wielding an older form of Elite energy sword attacks with striking speed and toughness.

You duel it out in what's a highly challenging boss-fight sequence complete with God of War(2018)-like, Baldur Fight, scripted intermittent cutscenes that make the whole thing feel thoroughly cinematic and climactic. Both of you beat each other to what feels like the brink of death when finally you come to a stalemate holding blades to each other's throats. In your exhausted state you manage a desperate "Who are you?" - the warrior's reply, "I'm John, and I need your help".

John brings you back to his lair in the mountain where he shows you his research on a rogue AI threat that has been amassing incredible power and has constructed huge rings that she intends to use to destroy all of the life in the Universe. He tells you he's been waiting for a warrior strong enough to carry out the task of defeating 'her' as he's too old and nearing the end of his days. He gives you a ship and his laser sword and an arm bracer with the same 'Sierra 117' inscription on it and a communicator chip placed inside so he can feed you intel on your mission.

He sends you off-world to begin the journey to take her down, telling you to seek out an artifact on an ancient world that will help destroy the rings. Your ship ascends into the atmosphere and as you breach into space, the sun shows from behind a distant moon and the endgame title card fades in above the glorious space-scape: Halo - The Book of John.

That's the end of game 1. The following game has you exploring a Promethean planet and megastructure in search of a promethean library in which you get lots of new/revised lore & the meguffin with which to take down Cortana's new creation: The Gauntlet - a space-faring megastructure consisting of 5 Halo rings forming a 'hand' that acts as her Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe. During this game, John dies, his final messages being left for you, but also for Cortana, his long, lost love. You also find bits of his history and deeds in the promethean library.

The final game is an epic, planet hopping adventure akin to that of Mass Effect 2 in which you must return to Sangheilios with your Sierra 117 arm bracer to show your long-astranged tribe that you've become a full fledged Sword and in your return, ackrew a team of warriors, technicians, & pilots to take a promethean ship to the Gauntlet, land on it and infiltrate and ultimately destroy it. Throughout that game, recordings of John's interactions with Cortana are played via your old comlink and the memory of John and Cortana play out as a means for which you break through to Cortana. As the final missions progress, you begin to break through to her and bits of her old self shine through the hardened shell of her corrupted AI. She arms the Gauntlet and its launch is beyond the stage where she can undo her deeds. But, she falters and becomes her old self again, and in the final moments aids you in destroying the megastructure. You and your whole team are aboard the Gauntlet as it destructs into a supernova-like explosion. 

Cortana says to you as the fire begins to envelope you and her in the core chamber of the Gauntlet. "Rest now warriors, our fight is finished. Now we sleep, per chance to dream. And for all that remain – go forward, unto dawn". The Gauntlet explodes and in the aftermath of the fiery death a sun rises over Earth, and Sangheili. The Iconic piano notes strike with that incredible, silence-piercing gusto and the credits roll.

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I know these are sloppy, unfinished ramblings - but they came to me this morning on my pre-work run and I felt the need to share.

What do you think? Is there a way Halo becomes relevant again? Is it beyond saving? I would love another generation to play in this world and this sandbox. I think there's a little more left to say and with an RPG twist on the whole thing, I think it could be an incredibly engaging game series.

Let me know your thoughts <3