Tag Archives: Halo

Halo Fest 2020 – Spartan Strike

I bet you thought this was going to be about Halo 5, didn’t you? Nope! We’re talking about the 2015 sequel to Spartan Assault, Halo: Spartan Strike! As with Spartan Assault, I didn’t know much about Spartan Strike before starting Halo Fest. Less so, in fact, given that it’s not even available for Xbox, sadly having never managed to make the leap from its original Windows and mobile versions. I honestly wasn’t even sure I was going to cover it because of that, but given how relatively small of a time commitment these games are coupled with the fact that both of them frequently go on sale on Steam for literally only a couple of bucks, I decided just to go for it.

“Point holding in the steamy jungles of Gamma Halo.”

So, this is the first time I played a game on PC for this series. That wouldn’t be too notable, but given that it’s a twin stick shooter and I’m playing with keyboard and mouse instead of, you know, twin sticks, it seems pertinent. Actually, the keyboard and mouse control scheme is totally fine; you move, change weapons and grenades, and interact with your keyboard, and target and fire with your mouse. The limited directional movement is a little awkward, but other than the lack of an analog stick for speed (which occasionally resulted in what I assume is a bug where my character would get stuck walking despite there being no way to make him move that slowly on purpose) it’s simple and intuitive enough. In fact, I think I might have preferred it – I felt more like I was playing a hybrid RTS, something like Dawn of War 2, than a twin stick shooter. My only real complaint was an inability to shoot for a few seconds after throwing a grenade most of the time. I don’t know if this was intentional or a bug, but it was jarring in either case.

Graphically, relatively little has changed since the previous game. I think the it looks just a bit more detailed than Spartan Assault, but that may have to do with the more interesting locations these operations are set in than anything technical. Outside of the action, Spartan Strike keeps the combination of motion comic style cutscenes narrated by the Infinity’s AI Roland for each operation while each mission is presented by a map and a text blurb that describes the scenario. While the mission briefings are somehow a step back, losing much of their flavor, the artwork used in the cutscenes this time around is pretty damn awesome. See the Promethean Knight screenshot below for an example. The soundtrack receives an upgrade too. It’s almost like the developers realized they actually hired a competent composer in Tom Salta after the first game’s reviews (and his excellent work on Halo 2: Anniversary) and decided to turn him up in the mix a bit. I found myself really noticing and appreciating a lot of the music here, perhaps a first since 343 took over the franchise.

“Turrets and vehicle weapons no longer overheat. Great for me but not so much for these Covies.”

Gameplay wise, Spartan Strike doesn’t veer too far from what its predecessor did. Only, between the mysterious Lt. Kwon keeping us company Cortana style (seriously, who is this person?) to the missions feeling both a bit more varied and a bit closer to a mainline Halo game in complexity, I actually enjoyed Spartan Strike just a bit more. The only downside to this added complexity is that without any way to save your progress during these missions, despite their relatively short length, dying near the end of one can be frustrating. Of course, there are the conventional changes too: more weapons, armor abilities, and vehicles, not to mention more enemies with the introduction of Prometheans to the mix. Despite all of the complaining I did about them in Halo 4, I actually really like the way the Prometheans and their gear were implemented here. It’s not all good news though. While they addressed something I complained about last time by finally introducing the Warthog to the game, the poor thing feels uncharacteristically slow and handles like a cinder block. Come to think of it, the Ghost is rather slow too, so perhaps this is some kind of a limitation of the engine?

Like Spartan Assault before it, Spartan Strike’s story takes place sometime after the end of the Requiem Campaign from Halo 4’s Spartan Ops and is framed around Spartans aboard the UNSC Infinity using a TACSIM training simulator to experience historical battles, only this time they’re extra secretive ones. OooOOooh! The first episode takes place during the events of Halo 2 while the rest take place around the events of Halo 4. In a big departure from the first game, you’re playing an anonymous SPARTAN-IV rather than a named character. In fact, in the first operation your character is standing-in for the squad of ODST who actually originally took part in the mission. Well, it is a simulation, I guess?

“Guess whose back!”

That being said, given that the story we’re actually focused on (the one being told via these simulations) takes place out of chronological order, I’ll go over the plot here. While I try to be somewhat vague with these summaries they do still contain spoilers, so skip the next paragraph if you want to avoid them.

The Story: In 2552 during the Battle of New Mombasa ODST squad Alpha-Five recovered a Covenant datapad containing details about a Forerunner artifact called the Conduit. Using the information on the datapad to track down the location of the Conduit, the team were able to eliminate a Sangheili Field Master and his retinue and acquire it. In the process of Alpha-Five transporting the artifact to safety, the Prophet of Regret’s carrier, the Solemn Penance, executed a low orbit slipspace jump over the city to devastating effect with the squad lost and the Conduit presumed destroyed. Five years later, researchers aboard Ivanoff Station detect what appears to be the Conduit’s signal on the surface of Gamma Halo. In response, the UNSC dispatches a SPARTAN-IV Headhunter to investigate. Discovering that Jul’Mdama’s Covenant faction is also on Installation 03, the Headhunter tracks the Conduit to a Forerunner facility called the Altar where the Covenant are using it to open slipspace portals to allow their Promethean allies to invade the ring. After a number of fierce skirmishes, the Headhunter is able to recover the Conduit and safely transport it off of the ring. Not long after, an urgent message is relayed from scientists at an ONI research facility in New Phoenix. The Covenant had activated the dormant slipspace portal the research facility was built around, with Covenant and Prometheans now pouring into the facility and surrounding city. Researchers believe that by using the Conduit they may be able to force the portal closed. Rushing back to Earth, the Headhunter is able to work with UNSC forces on the ground to secure access into the facility and ultimately halt the invasion, although the Conduit was once again lost in the effort.

I don’t have too much feedback to give about the story this time around. It’s fine. While there are aspects I don’t love (such as the Conduit’s all too convenient ability to teleport itself) I personally like that they’re trying to wedge the story into the existing events we know and love from the mainline campaigns, even if it does feel a little contrived at times. I mean, after enjoying Spartan Ops I’m definitely up for any inclusion of Jul’Mdama’s Covenant faction! I also believe this is the first time we’ve seen Spartan Headhunters featured in a game. Neat. As with Spartan Assault’s story, it’s really nothing too groundbreaking and while it might not do much to expand the Halo universe, it at least feels appropriately Halo-y and (as far as I know) doesn’t wreak havoc with the existing canon.

“Obligatory tank screenshot. This time, starring the voluptuous M850 Grizzly.”

Finally, I have to mention Operation E: Brother’s Keeper. This the last operation in the campaign but it can only be unlocked by beating every mission in the game with a gold star rating. As with Spartan Assault, there is no difficulty level in Spartan Strike, rather you’re awarded a different star rating at the end of each mission depending on your score. The easiest way to ensure a good score is by earning medals, and the main way to earn medals is by chaining kills. Considering this is a game all about mowing down masses of enemies, that’s not a huge ask. The first time through the campaign I got gold stars on probably 65% of the missions, and half of the ones I didn’t, I was extremely close to. Irritated by needing to replay missions to progress, I almost didn’t bother with the last operation at all, but not focusing so much on the “Assault Ops” challenges I found that most of them were a cakewalk to get gold on the second time around. Those that weren’t, I just spent my pool of otherwise unused credits on “score boosters” for. The operation itself though? The action was fine, but instead of a “real ending” or some kind of epilogue, the story was an odd, pointless retread of the rest of the campaign. Maybe if it were a hidden bonus rather than taunting you from the mission select menu I wouldn’t have cared quite so much.

So despite enjoying my time with the game slightly more than with Spartan Assault, I’d ultimately have to come to the exact same conclusion about it. That is, Spartan Strike is a decently executed, reasonably fun game that isn’t a bad way to spend 5 or 6 hours, especially if you particularly enjoy twin stick shooters and/or are a big Halo fan. However, at the end of the day it and its predecessor were more like experiments than an essential parts of the franchise. Now, at long last we move on to Halo 5…

Halo Fest 2020 – Nightfall

Halo: Nightfall is a live action digital series that was released as part of the Master Chief Collection in late 2014 as a promotional tie-in with Halo 5. I’d never seen Halo: Nightfall and knew only the scantest details about it before watching the feature length movie version for this post. While the parallels with the previously covered Halo: Forward Unto Dawn should be obvious, Nightfall feels a lot more like a legitimate movie that was chopped up to make a series than a series of separate shorts that were edited together to make a movie and, despite having similar budgets, Nightfall also features a lot more effects, more notable actors, and was produced by legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott’s production company. It’s certainly equally as ineffective as a tie-in to the game it is associated with, though!

“Alpha Halo, a little worse for wear after Master Chief’s visit.”

That is, Halo: Nightfall was supposed to be something of an origin story for Jameson Locke who we’d come to know as Spartan Locke, one of the main characters featured in Halo 5. The problem is that by the time we meet Locke in Nightfall he’s already pretty much the same character we get to know in-game, and while it’s not a bad introduction to him, we definitely learn a lot about who he is in the sense of his personality and values, there’s not much else there, nor is the overall story significant to the plot of the game either. That said, since it is a side story let’s just dive right into spoiler land! Skip next two paragraphs if you want to avoid a somewhat vague plot summary and some random but specific nitpicks.

The Story: Lieutenant Commander Jameson Locke and his four-man Office of Naval Intelligence team operating on the colony world Sedra track an Elite Zealot to the center of Sedra City where it detonates an unknown device. The device unleashes a never-before-seen element deadly to humans, resulting in a large number of casualties. Investigating, the ONI team discovers that the Elite acquired this element from smugglers who harvested it from a semi-intact fragment of Installation 04. Orbiting close to a sun, the ring fragment’s surface reaches extreme temperatures when directly facing it, making only short visits during its night cycle possible. Locke and his team devise a plan to head to the fragment, arrest any smugglers they locate, and, as it’s believed to be the sole source of the element, destroy it with a Havok nuclear warhead. The team is granted use of a slipspace capable Sedran Colonial Guard ship to make the journey, but only under the condition that they’re accompanied by members of the Sedran military. Arriving at the fragment, the joint team quickly locates the smugglers but are attacked by a swarm of Lekgolo, killing several of them and downing their ship before they can extract. With no way to call for help and only the smugglers’ small ship left intact, the team decides to complete their mission and journeys on foot to retrieve the warhead. With their numbers dwindling as they’re pursued by the Lekgolo, the group eventually has to shed most of their technology when they learn that the Lekgolo can track them by it. With time running out of time and desperation setting in, Locke’s remaining two agents take the rest of the team by surprise, taking a hostage and making their way back to the ship to save themselves. With few options left, the commander of the Sedran team, Colonel Aiken, a former SPARTAN-II who lost his only child to the terrorist attack, volunteers to manually detonate the warhead while Locke and Macer, the only other surviving Sedran soldier, attempt to intercept them. The pair reach the smugglers’ ship just in time to witness the Lekgolo finish off the last of them and swarm the now powered-up ship. Aiken begins to activate the warhead, drawing the Lekgolo away and giving Locke and Macer the window they need to board the ship and escape the fragment before it is obliterated.

“Locke, James Locke. Our protagonist.”

While we’re told Sedra is surrounded by conflict and that the Sedrans have this archaic warrior culture (err, they still believe in Valhalla?!) we’re shown exactly none of this. Maybe this was a budget thing, but then why mention it at all? The almost constant tension between the ONI agents and the Sedran soldiers felt more than a little contrived and I found Colonel Aiken’s over-the-top combativeness to be especially unbelievable, even if it is explained by his backstory. Speaking of which, I really don’t buy him as an ex-Spartan. Furthermore, even knowing his backstory, Aiken wanting to sacrifice himself due to losing his daughter is a little lame for reasons I feel best described towards the bottom of this lengthy (and otherwise much more positive) article by Haruspis. Also, why in the hell was getting the Havok right then and there so damn critical? Why not just get out of dodge now and destroy the fragment later? The sad part is that I think the premise of the story actually works on paper, and while it might not have been an amazing Halo movie, it could have at least been much more entertaining if executed differently.

Thankfully most of my issues with the execution are wrapped up in those kinds of details. While some of the CGI is pretty bad, the majority of the practical effects, costumes, and props are quite excellent. The actors are all also mostly good despite being betrayed by the script a bit, with a pre-Luke Cage Mike Colter giving a typically solid performance as Locke. Another likely budget related letdown is the rather boring filming location in the latter part of the movie. While I get that the place they’re at is supposed to be destroyed, I can’t help but imagine how cool it would be if it resembled the games more closely. Speaking of the games, the soundtrack is another letdown. I’m sure it’s fine, but I literally remember nothing about it, and that really isn’t good enough for a game franchise whose soundtrack has always been a huge part of the formula.

“The combined team on the fragment. Love those ODST helmets!”

I feel like I’m being quite negative here, but Halo: Nightfall isn’t that bad. It’s entertaining enough to watch through once, sure, but it earns the “entirely skippable” I tagged Spartan Assault with and then some. In fact, unless you’re really curious about it and/or just have to consume everything Halo related, I’d suggest skipping it. At least I still liked Locke by the end of it so maybe that at least bodes well for my playthrough of Halo 5 when I eventually arrive there. Maybe? In any case, like Forward Unto Dawn before it, Nightfall still fails to deliver on a strong effort to make Halo a crossover success. At this point our only remaining hope is the 2022 series, and skepticism already abounds about that one.

A quick extra mention goes to the “Second Stories” bonus content that was released on the Halo Channel as something of an in-universe version of the after-episode shows that have been popularized with some of the bigger television series in recent years. While these shorts do contain interesting details that help fill in some gaps in the story, I can’t say they impressed me much. Still, they’re definitely a very notable but easily missed part of Nightfall.

Halo Fest 2020 – Spartan Assault

The Story So Far: 6 months after the Didact was defeated the UNSC Infinity embarks on a mission to return to the Forerunner Shield World Requiem and reclaim it from Jul’Mdama’s rogue Covenant faction. As part of a massive combined force, including over 300 SPARTAN-IVs led by Commander Sarah Palmer, Spartan fireteams engage in various operations on Requiem’s surface. During one such mission, fireteam Crimson recovers a mysterious Forerunner artifact. Later investigating it aboard the Infinity, head engineer Dr. Glassman appears to be disintegrated by the artifact. In his absence, Dr. Catherine Halsey is temporarily released from custody after being arrested for war crimes, including her role in the SPARTAN-II program, and brought onboard to continue the investigation. During her research, Dr. Halsey begins communicating with an unknown entity who she eventually pieces together is Jul’Mdama himself. Caught in the act, Halsey is placed back into custody though not before reaching out to Jul’Mdama to offer her assistance with unlocking the Librarian’s AI imprint. As a result, combined Covenant and Promethean forces lay siege to the Infinity, appearing to abduct Dr. Halsey in the process. Brought to the Librarian’s shrine, Halsey is able to unlock and enter it before Jul’Mdama can intervene. ONI learns of Halsey’s betrayal and orders her assassination with Commander Palmer departing to handle it personally. Captain Lasky orders fireteam Majestic, who are already on Requiem, to rescue the doctor instead. The Librarian shows Halsey another artifact called the Janus Key, which can provide the real time location of all Forerunner technology, and gives it to her in hopes that it can be used to propel humanity’s evolution forward. Pulling her out of the shrine, Jul’Mdama snatches one half of the Janus Key from her just as Palmer and fireteam Majestic arrive. In the ensuing chaos Halsey passes the other half of the Janus Key to Majestic, Palmer wounds her, and Jul’Mdama absconds with her. As his fleet begins to jump away, Jul’Mdama deactivates the slipspace anchors holding Requiem in place, pulling it into a nearby sun. The Infinity is able to free itself from the artifact’s hold and jump away just in time.

With 343 Industries continuing to grow Halo as a full “transmedia” franchise, more of the type of spinoffs Microsoft first tried with Halo Wars seemed inevitable. Unlike Halo Wars though, 2013’s Halo: Spartan Assault wouldn’t be limited to a niche genre on a single platform; Spartan Assault was an easy to pick up and play twin stick shooter that was eventually available for Windows and iOS mobile devices, Xbox One and Xbox 360, and Windows. I’m not sure whether Spartan Assault’s sales actually reflected being both more approachable and more available but, given that it was quickly followed up with a sequel the following year, it seems likely.

“While the gameplay is a little repetitive there’s plenty of variety in the maps.”

I can’t say I have any particular fondness for twin stick shooters myself but these kinds of genre spinoff games are always intriguing to me. Still, never much of a mobile gamer, Spartan Assault flew completely under my radar and I honestly didn’t know that it was released on anything other than mobile devices until spotting it in the Xbox Store just a few years ago. Indeed, it’s that version I played for this playthrough; the Xbox One version on my Series X. Notably, this also marks the first time I’ll be covering something entirely new to me as part of Halo Fest 2020 and that remains the case from here on out. Kind of weird given how rooted in nostalgia this whole thing is, eh?

Spartan Assault actually does a fairly good job at taking a great deal of the core Halo formula and cramming it into a twin stick shooter mold. You play as a single Spartan wandering around on foot spraying down Covenant forces en masse with a variety of weapons. Included are staples like your Mjolnir armor’s recharging shield and a two weapon limit, with many of Halo’s iconic weapons showing up, and even armor abilities making a prominent appearance. One of the bigger twists to the genre is the lack of unlimited ammo, though scavenging from weapon racks, ammo crates, and fallen enemies should keep that from ever being more than a minor inconvenience. You’re sometimes given a UNSC Scorpion or Grizzly tank (though oddly no Warthogs) and hijacking Ghosts and Wraiths is an option as well. Overall, it all feels sufficiently “Halo”.

“Everything is better with tanks!”

Developed as a mobile game first, each mission takes no more than 10 or 15 minutes to complete, with many clocking in closer to 5 minutes. Between that and the lack of anything more than simple objectives like “destroy this emplacement” or “hold this point” there really isn’t a ton of challenge here. While there is a stripped down but otherwise familiar skull system, there isn’t any kind of selectable difficulty level either. Instead, the challenge is in earning a star rating based on your score at the end of each mission. In most missions earning a bronze star is effortless, though you’ll need to intentionally chase as many kill streaks and multikills as possible to get beyond that. The other way of doing this is via in-app microtransactions in the form of score boosts and temporary special weapon unlocks. Thankfully, these microtransactions (and indeed chasing high scores in the first place) can be easily ignored if you prefer, and purchasable with in-game experience points if you’re desperate to use them without laying down cash for the privilege.

Graphically Spartan Assault doesn’t come close to representing what the Xbox One can do. While serviceable, I’d argue that the Halo game it shares the most in common with, Halo Wars, shows a much higher degree of polish. The soundtrack fares better, with the original Halo trilogy’s soundtrack being an obvious influence. It’s just a shame you don’t get to hear more of it. A bigger complaint I have is that certain button assignments and other UI choices make it obvious that the controls definitely don’t appear to have been designed from the ground up with a gamepad in mind. That’s not to say they’re horrible, but they never clicked with me in a truly satisfying way which is kind of make or break for a twin stick shooter in my opinion. I also find it shocking that, despite being a common feature of both the Halo series and this entire genre, the campaign completely lacks cooperative play. There was a mini cooperative-only campaign that introduced a Firefight-like wave defense mode against our old friends the Flood added to the console releases, but even that lacks local co-op. Definitely a huge missed opportunity.

“The dryness of the mission briefings makes sense in context.”

Taking place sometime before the Infinity returned to Earth after the end of the Requiem Campaign (as described above) Spartan Assault is framed around a TACSIM training simulator that lets Spartans experience historical battles. The campaign covers the events of the Battle of Draetheus V, and follows the exploits of SPARTAN-IVs Edward Davis and Sarah Palmer. A motion comic style cutscene (similar to some of the ones we’ve seen in the terminals of earlier games) narrated by the Infinity’s quirky AI Roland sets up each operation, while each mission therein is presented by a strategic map and a couple of paragraphs of text that dryly describe each scenario.

Given that this is a side story that actually takes place out of chronological order, I’ll go over the plot here. While I’m fairly vague in these summaries they do still contain spoilers, so skip the next paragraph if you want to avoid them.

The Story: A splinter fleet of Covenant forces led by Sangheili Merg Vol appeared over the research colony of Draetheus V and launched an assault on its moon, X50. Spartans Edward Davis and Sarah Palmer rallied the UNSC defense, fortifying its primary research facility as well as setting up anti-air defenses to target incoming Covenant dropships. While successful in slowing the attack, Meg Vol’s fanatical forces still quickly overwhelmed them and established a solid foothold on X50. Spartan Palmer departed for Draetheus V to assist with its defense which soon escalated to targeted strikes against Covenant officers and an organized counter offensive resulting in a large armor engagement in which both sides suffered great losses. Meanwhile Meg Vol’s true goal became clear as it was discovered that X50 was not a natural moon but a massive Forerunner structure capable of building and destroying entire planets. With the support of the UNSC Eminent Domain and its marines, Spartan Davis was able to fight through the Covenant’s lines to the Forerunner control structure. UNSC technicians successfully disabled the weapon, though not before Merg Vol had already begun to unleash its devastating power against Draetheus V itself. Back on Draetheus V, Spartan Palmer’s efforts shifted to assisting with the evacuation of the planet, commandeering numerous Covenant troop carriers. With Meg Vol still at large on X50 and not being able to contact Davis who had been killed in action in a ferocious Covenant counterattack, Palmer headed back to X50 to hunt for the rogue Covenant leader. After a vicious battle, Palmer subdued and killed Vol. With his faction now leaderless and in retreat, the survivors were able to evacuate the system.

“He’s no Master Chief, but Spartan Davis did save an entire planet.”

Spartan Assault’s plot retreads a lot of familiar ground, especially on the heels of playing through Halo 4 and its Spartan Ops campaign. I can’t say it adds very much either; I’d personally hoped to learn a little more about Sarah Palmer given that she was already an established character but, as was increasingly the trend, 343 saved that for elsewhere. Still, the details of Palmer’s heroics during the battle of Draetheus V are certainly impressive and surely contributed to how she ended up as the Commander of Spartan Operations on the Infinity. Overall, while not all that significant to Halo’s overarching plot, the story of the Battle of Draetheus V at least doesn’t feel out of place in the canon.

In the end, Spartan Assault feels like a fairly typical budget spinoff game. It’s decently executed and relatively fun to pass the time with, but ultimately a fairly mediocre experience for anyone who isn’t a big fan of the twin stick shooter genre (who I’d imagine would have a heap of their own criticisms beyond the ones I brought up.) Still, as a unique experience within the franchise that’s quite quick to play through, it was an enjoyable enough diversion. I wouldn’t say you should avoid it, but it’s entirely skippable.