Halo Legends

Halo Legends Review

Video Games are growing rapidly as a medium, and in turn the games are growing larger in their own respects. An example of one of these franchises is Halo. While to many it's just a series of shooter games, it actually has a complex story arch and an incredibly vast universe. Halo Legends explores this aspect of the series through animated shorts. These shorts vary from more serious and dramatic pieces, to more light-hearted shorts. While there is certainly room for improvement, Halo Legends can certainly hold its own as a great staple of the Halo franchise. Each short is directed by a different director that is well known for their skill in animation. The project was led by Frank O'Connor, the creative head of the Halo Franchise. Some of the other directors include Shinji Aramaki, Hideki Futamura, Toshiyuki Kan'no, and Yasushi Muraki. The shorts feature many voice actors, including Josh Grelle, Greg Ayres, Luci Christian, and David Matranga.

Halo Legends allows the viewer to explore the expanse that is the Halo universe from multiple different perspectives. These perspectives vary from an Arbiter struggling with the conflict between his beliefs and the beliefs of his superiors, to a squad of ODSTs (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) following a Spartan on a mission to take out a prophet.

None of these scenarios seem too far-fetched. They all feel at home in the Halo universe, and for the most part it seems as though the directors did their research. Having different directors for each short was the right call. It gives each short a distinctive voice, and makes each perspective feel unique. Something else that I enjoyed about the shorts were the animation styles. Each short has its own distinct style of animation, to help create the unique atmosphere of each short. The animation is beautiful in its own respect, but it also helps accomplish the goal of setting the atmosphere quite effectively. One short, The Duel, fell short in this. The animation itself was fine, but there was a filter over the whole short. This made the short look blurry, and it became annoying to watch after a while. A creative decision that I feel was intelligent was the decision to use the pre-existing Halo score instead of writing new music for the shorts. It helped make the shorts feel more at home in the Halo universe, and gives the viewers who are familiar with the Halo franchise a greater emotional response. That, and the Halo score is some of the greatest music ever written. An issue that I had with the film was how some of the directors ignored integral aspects of the Halo lore. I have previously stated that the directors did their research, which is a statement I stand by, but there were a few moments that left me puzzled. The most obvious examples of this are when certain characters interact that could never have been able to interact based off of the previously established lore.

All in all, Halo Legends is a great film. The directors took great care in producing stories that fit well into the Halo cannon, and it holds up as an animation regardless. That being said, there were some creative decisions that were detrimental to the overall quality of the film. While my opinion may be biased, I would give Halo Legends a solid 7.5/10.

Content: Most of the Halo Legends movies give a very poor representation of the Halo universe.(based on the books& games) Of the 7, origins one and two are the strongest, giving a good background story. The package has nothing to do with halo, but is an excuse to show off nice graphics. Odd one out is ridiculous. The Babysitter is third closest to the story. Spartans do not talk during missions, and do not try to be cool. The story represents this well, although it is unlikely the spartan female is so feminine looking. Prototype is nice story wise, but unrelated to halo. The dual storyline may or may not be close, but I found it the least interesting to watch. Graphics: The package is the strongest in this respect. Origins 1 + 2, the babysitter, prototype and the package have similar graphics which are in line with Japanese anime. They look average. Odd one out and the dual are the least strong in this respect. Music: Origins one and two stand out as true halo music. The rest are generally good but not exceptional. Overall: Overall disappointing. I would have liked to see stories which represent the Spartans as they truly were. Highly professional soldiers who put the mission before everything else, who do not say cool stuff, but have above all an inner strength which allows them to win. They do not look like heroes(being in that armor after brutal modifications), except for their physique. The anime is reasonable, but nothing exceptional.

If you've only played the video games, this series of shorts is a great place to start learning more about the Halo lore in a comfortable way.

The animation variation in each of the shorts is enough of an excuse to watch them calmly.

On the other hand, if what you are looking for is a story that has a direct impact on the narrative of the games, you will not find it here. They are isolated stories that, although they complement the lore, do not alter it in any way and may even fall short if you have read the novels of the HALO saga.

I played a fair few Halo games in my gaming days (mostly Combat Evolved, Halo 3, ODST, and then Halo: Reach), but I have to be honest: I never really got into the story or background all that much for any of them. Maybe I should've, because the first two parts of Halo Legends proved very interesting, and made me appreciate the universe and backstory of this series a great deal more.

After that, the remaining five shorts are a bit of a mixed bag, as is to be expected from an anthology film, but I generally found more good here than bad. The most memorable of the bunch, beyond Origins, is probably the wacky very anime-esque episode following Spartan 1337. That one was actually pretty funny, though I can imagine it annoying series diehards, because it kind of makes fun of the Halo series in general.

Halo Legends fluctuated between the most and least seriously I've ever taken a piece of Halo media, and for that, I have to hold a weird amount of respect for it.

I watched these as a long-time Halo fan who's managed to get a solid OD of Halo life. I've read the books and seen all the extra content, I've debated back and forth with other fans and, more to the point, I've kept my sense of humour.

I loved Legends from end to end, although I despair a little at some of the people who can't seem to get the different aspects of it.

Origins; Solid work with a good director and a great narrative. Although for people who've read the books and seen the time lines before, it's nothing new.

The Duel; Showing signs of some of the great samurai movies of history, the change in depicting the Elites from vicious enemies to honourable warriors over the course of the games is only strengthened in this short. I loved the style, and I'm a die-hard fan of the 'one strong man against an army', why else would I enjoy Halo so much?

Homecoming; What's with all the hate? If you've ever even tried to pick up the books you'll know that this is pretty much another variation on the kind of thing that happened. The Spartans in training really were just angsty kids. Despite the size of Daisy in the flashbacks, she wasn't any older then eleven or twelve at the time. And that kind of thing does have a very hefty effect on you, regardless. The Spartans did escape, they did try to run away, and they most certainly experienced those emotions. So despite the slightly clashing styles in animation between characters and background, I loved it, heck I nearly teared up.

Odd One Out; Now this was just funny. What a mish-mash of classically over-done, completely over-the-top anime clichés! Super powered kids, dinosaurs, a stupid lead character who comes out on top in the end... Throw in a few internet memes and you've got the kind of stupidity that made 'Imma Chargin My Lazor!' funny in the first place (and don't pretend that you missed that bit, if you were watching it at all you'd have seen that face). Heck, even the Spartan's call-sign was '1337'. All of you claiming to be serious fans, just why? Why think that nothing about Halo could be funny? Don't tell me that you didn't stick the original game on easy and chase Grunts around with a pistol to make them squeal. It's literally just Halo for the Lulz. Secretly I have the opinion that most of you are people who would describe themselves as 1337 online too.

Prototype; Okay, yes, I know it's a cliché plot, and the characters do seem very... familiar. On the other hand, the easter-eggs hidden among both the fight scenes and the flash-backs are worth finding for some classic references. But again, the Halo universe thrives on just this kind of heroism, one person staying behind to hold them back? Using powered armour? And he's an inscrutable, seemingly emotionless man who's a veteran of hundreds of battles? Are we not drawing parallels between 117 here, instead of some other characters named so far? Babysitter; Again I say what's to hate? This is exactly the kind of situation that Spartans were deployed in. It's exactly how they were viewed, and exactly how they would have acted, and how others behaved towards them. I've been waiting for a decent rendition of how the Spartans had to interact with others, the games, especially the early ones, showed the ODSTs as far too helpful. The other marines weren't scared, they were impressed, and the military brass was altogether too happy to see them. The Spartans were freaks, as unlike the rest of humanity as the Covenant were, to some, with their green armour and faceless visors... Read the books kids, they might just open your eyes and shut some mouths.

And finally The Package; Brilliant, utterly brilliant. The spin-off game Halo Wars showed a couple of cut-scenes, highly rendered and beautifully directed, of what it was like having three Spartans take on the Covenant directly, including a fantastic case of direct hand-to-hand combat. This gave me the same feeling; the Spartans were unstoppable when they made their move, and particularly when they were led by 117, they never failed. Even if it killed them, they never failed. Plus, cameos are awesome.

I rate this highly, because I, much like the guys at Bungee (remember them, game creators?), have watched these shorts and not seen insulting values, but different and open takes on what the Halo universe has to offer. I've laughed with the funny stuff, and appreciated just how tragic the Spartans' lives really have been, and that's all there is to it.