The Official Halo 3 Discussion Thread

OK, so I just finished playing through Halo 2 once again and I must say, my appreciation for this game has increased tenfold. Sky-high hype and impossible expectations is what really killed this game for many gamers. The gameplay was as fun as ever and the story, albeit incomplete was really quite amazing, especially the last ten minutes that sting directly into the sequel. With E3 just around the corner and a teaser for Halo 3 confirmed to show up, I felt obliged to create this thread and can't be more pumped up right now.

On with the discussion then...

 

On my recent playthrough with Halo 2, I think I might have uncovered a clue as to why Cortana appears to have betrayed Earth to the Gravemind in the end. Before she sent off Master Chief in that shuttle, she said that she would detonate the whole place just like she did in the first game, but as the credits finished rolling, we see that the Covenant's city is intact, taken over by the flood and Cortana not seeming to have any intention of blowing it up. Why?

I believe a possible answer might be that Cortana has been overtaken by another A.I construct while she was in the Covenant Database. I must have passed over this detail back when I first played through the game because it comes up during some of the in-game dialogue so it's very easy to miss when you're going triggerhappy on Brutes and the Flood. Anyways, while on your way to the Forerunner ship, she mentions something about another construct fighting back. Now I don't exactly know whether this A.I construct is Covenant or foreign, as Cortana says she was surprised to encounter such a formidable force in the Covenant Database. And while she's talking to the Gravemind, she seemed possessed, changed - there is a somewhat sinister expression on her face when she stops the Gravemind and says "OK, shoot".

Oh and I had pretty much forgotten the plot point about the rest of the Halo rings that are activated and are ready for remote detonation when Keyes' daughter pulls out the index and prematurely halts the countdown of Delta Halo (that's what it is called, I think...). I loved that part. Halo 3 is going to be one great epic!

 

The story seemed disappointing because of the expectations of gamers. Try playing the game again without hoping the game blowing your roof away with awesomeness, and you'll start to the appreciate the story a lot more. I was pretty bummed because of the whole Arbiter subplot in the game but in my most recent time with the game, I was actually a lot more intrigued to see the Covenant story play out than the humans' (the music in the cutscenes involving the Arbiter is top notch). And let's not overlook the fact that some of the writing in Halo 2 is rock solid, with nary a cringe-worthy line (which is saying a lot for a videogame, especially when MGS3's bad dialogue turned me off so many times that I never played the game for more than an hour in a single setting on my subsequent playthroughs) and the voice acting was perfect.

 

I believe it is against her programming to divulge any information about Earth or mankind to the enemy, I vaguely recall it being mentioned that way in the first Halo.

 

He was worried lest the enemy forcefully extract information from Cortana. I don't think there ever was any fear of Cortana willingly spilling all of mankind's strategical secrets. We've seen in both games that she appears to be quite loyal. Which is why the little epilogue after the credits is such a shocker.

 

I don't know, she looked pretty loyal to me right from the beginning up until the end in Halo 2. Besides, there's also that unresolved part about another "surprisingly formidable" A.I construct in the Covenant database that was fighting back at Cortana. There must be something to it since it was never really explained. Could be an A.I contruct of the Forerunners themselves?

 

But Cortana does say that she was suprised to encounter such a strong A.I, particularly when she quips there was nothing like it in the Covenant Database. Which gives the indication that the A.I MAY be Forerunner built (or at least something foreign). Since the Covenant were using a Forerunner ship as an energy source, the possibility that they got their hands on a Forerunner A.I are as good as any.

 

Well, since it's expected to be only 2 or so minutes long...not much apparently.