i love this game to death however i dont think its campaign in execution is as good as everyone makes it out to be

the idea of playing a war that has been alluded to as an absolute disaster in previous games and side material countless times, playing through the campaign knowing full well this is a losing fight and everyone dies and every sacrifice made has zero meaning is genuinely so fantastic and interesting. i think halo reach comes close to living up to it but kinda falls flat due to its runtime. the atmosphere is gloomy and hopeless and the cutscenes are absolutely gorgeous but we never really spend enough time with ANY of noble six to feel any real sympathy for them in the moment the only emotion really evoked from me is the pre existing despair thsts already established from everything else. it sounds amazing explaining the concept in words but i feel the only death i really cared about (except noble six) was jorge's and he was literally the first to die .

i also feel the campaign in level design is quite lame compared to previous halo games, especially 3, and take a lot more of a linear approach rather than the sandbox thst you kinda hopes gets expanded on from halo 3. i assume this was probably to make it fit in with the shooters like call of duty in the time, as shown with other stuff like the addition of sprint but thwts nlt to it's benefit at all i think .

kats death should NOT be as funny as it is it should be a brutal showcase of the reality of war and a reminder to noble six of how badly they really are losing (even though they get plenty literally right before and admit they've lost) but ultimately its just funny as fuck because this game doesnt give us a chance to give any shit about the characters at all and their personalities are kinda shallow jorge is the only one thst really shows much humanity

however i will say that lone wolf is my favourite final mission ever oh my god its sk good in concept AND execution

I finished this around the same time as ODST, so the two impact each other in how I think about them.

Suffers from all the same problems all the other games in the series fall victim to, while buffing out a few others. It's wonderful to see a story set around a squad, as I think this is the more natural structure for the halo universe. Showing a group of soldiers impacted by this war is the story I think the Spartans should be telling. Jorge is far and away the most satisfying of the character stories, and his loss is felt. Sadly, the first 1/4 of the game is spent building Jorge into a character you feel for, while the others are merely background decoration. So when Kat is killed, it feels cheap, lacking any punch.

This game definitely benefitted from the experiments that ODST started. The new powers add a great dynamic change to the missions, squad narrative, and a protagonist that actually speaks are great improvements upon the previous Halo entries.

I still find myself a little lost from mission to mission. We talk to Halsey, then we run around trying to destroy the super carrier (to protect the planet?), then get back to Halsey's mission. It often just feels like a 'go here do this, repeat' and no overarching desire for the characters.