Halo and the Five Aspects of Gaming

The gaming franchise that both jump started my love for video games and left the most lasting impression on me is definitely the Halo series. It is a first person based shooter that  allows you to step into the armor of the perfect soldier, Master Chief, as he fights for humanity’s survival against the apocalyptic religious sect known as the Covenant. Halo has a rich history, deep characters as well as an intricately woven plot. The series really challenges the user to consider the scope of their actions as they play the game. When applying the five aspects of gaming to the series, one can see how morality plays a central role to the game:

1.) Authority/Respect

There is an immense amount of authority and respect in this series. For one, Master Chief himself is a Spartan, the highest rank of soldier present on the battlefield. He is accompanied by Cortana, an artificial intelligence (A.I.) hologram in the form of a female; Cortana has access to all the data available to the human race. On the enemy’s side, there are the Prophets, who direct the soldiers of the Covenant in the corrupt ways of their “religion”. In addition, there are two alien races that play a crucial role in the series, the Elites and the Brutes. The Elites are commands by the Arbiter, which is a sacred position in the religion, while the Brutes are led by Tartarus.

2.) Sanctity/Purity

Due to the Covenant being a religious sect, albeit a corrupt one, Halo proves to be a solid example of sanctity and purity in gaming. The Prophets constantly have their soldiers searching for artifacts central to the religion (e.g. the Halos) and are greatly disturbed when said artifacts have been “contaminated” by mankind’s presence. The Covenant also holds that the Prophets are beyond reproach, which is why it is a powerful scene when the Arbiter sees through the lies of the Prophets and allies the Elites with the humans.

3.) Care/Harm

As with any game that depicts war, Halo relies on a careful balance of care and harm both in and out of the narrative. Outside, there is your basic health. In Halo, your character has an overshield over the health bar, which will start flashing red after you take enough damage, indicating that the shield needs to recharge, and the player is now vulnerable; if the player continues to take damage without the overshield, they will die and need to either respawn or restart the mission depending on the game mode and settings. Inside the narrative, Master Chief’s relationship with Cortana is a prominent source of care in the game. He carries her physical computer chip in his helmet and works diligently to ensure both of their safety, even coming to rescue her from the Flood Gravemind in the heart of a Covenant battle cruiser. On the converse, Cortana takes care of Chief, helping him navigate through complex environments and hectic situations.

4.)Fairness/Reciprocity

Fairness is one of the most prominent aspects of Halo, especially in mutliplayer modes, as the developers elected to give the player the choice of who to damage (i.e. friendly fire: [ON] off). If you shoot the enemy players and focus on the objectives, your have a great shot at being successful and progressing relatively quickly through even the toughest circumstances. However, if you shoot your teammates, they can shoot back, and the A.I. will as well. When you fight alongside the Arbiter and shoot him enough times, he will pull out an energy sword and stab you (this outcome is very difficult to achieve, as you have to be the only one damaging him and he will not do it if accidentally hit while engaged by the enemy). In addition, if you betray your teammates in multiplayer, after killing the same teammate twice in a row, the teammate will have the option to boot you from the game. In terms of level design, the weapons are spread out evenly, with light, assault based weapons evenly distributed in both spawn areas while power weapons are center of the maps, encouraging teams to work together in order to acquire them. Finally, the player has the option to leave the game at any time by simply pressing the start button and selecting the option. This is not encouraged however, and players who leave to many games in a short period of time receive a ten minute timeout from multiplayer matchmaking.

5.) Loyalty/In-Group

Similar to fairness and reciprocity, loyalty plays a strong role in Halo. For example, the Arbiter choosing to lead his race away from the Covenant was a huge swing and demonstration in loyalty, because while the Elites broke their ties with the Covenant, they did so because the Prophets had ordered the Aribter to be secretly executed, an attempt which he thwarted with the help of his loyal companions. In addition, Master Chief provides a great example of loyalty when he accepts the truce between the Elites and humans, despite his many prior combat instances with the former.

In summation, Halo has something for everyone, the explorers would be enthralled by the intricate designs of every level, the Killers would love the thrill presented in the multiplayer modes. Socializers would revel in the ability to converse with other players over Xbox live. Achievers would enjoy pursuing the long list of Xbox achievements and attempt the new, daring challenges that the platform releases over Xbox Live daily. This franchise truly has something for everyone.

I am a competitive achiever and explorer who enjoys discovering new ways to excel in games while adhering to my own sense of style. Along these lines some games I would enjoy that are similar and different from Halo are games from the Call of Duty, Madden, and Pokemon series.