Halo 4 will start exploring Master Chief as a character more, apparently

[repeating integers]

Hello, it's me again, your resident annoying Halo fanboy.

http://www.oxm.co.uk/36611/bungie-man-surprised-by-how-much-halo-fans-missed-master-chief-in-reach/

This article says many things, I'll let you read it - for me, the most exciting thing is the title of this thread. Frank O'Connor, member of 343 industries, was surprised at how many people missed the good ol' Chief in Reach - and have decided to do a bit more with his character in Halo 4.

The most relevant part:

"He's a man of few words, and I think it's important to stick to that premise for an FPS. Some people call them 'ego shooters', but for an FPS I think if your character is yabbering all the time then you're going to get annoyed with it.
"If it's propelling the story forward and helping you understand your place in the universe, then brevity is important and I think the Chief handles that well.

"The thing is, people are interested in him - it's time to start exploring him as a character a little more, but you can do that with actions rather than words. It's all about how he behaves, and the choices that he makes."

I mostly agree with him, and his style for exploring the character (I WOULD get annoyed if he suddenly started yabbering on) - but I'm worried about whether they'll be able to pull it off properly. Characterisation was never Bungie's strong point, and 343 industries is made up of ex-Bungie employees. As much as I love the series, I'm sceptical - what "choices" will they give the Chief to characterise him more? I can't really see it.

What do you guys think? How would you like to see them characterise the Chief? Also, obligatory "haters not welcome" warning.

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

I'm extremely sceptical. Given Bungie's apparent lack of expertise in the character development department, it seems to be the wrong thing to do. Plus, it's much too late for any kind of characterisation to occur, the Chief having been around for three games already without having any development whatsoever. In my own honest opinion, they should deal with the issues of character development earlier in the timeline, i.e. during the training of the Spartan-II's in Fall of Reach. This has just made me even more wary of Halo 4.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Shit, gotta be quick about this before the thread blows up with comments of "how can you characterize a walking refrigerator" or whatever it is people say about the Chief.

I love the idea. I love the Halo series and MC, so the more the explore him, the better. Hopefully they dive into Cortana maybe going rampant. That'd be cool.

 

[repeating integers]

Shit, gotta be quick about this before the thread blows up with comments of "how can you characterize a walking refrigerator" or whatever it is people say about the Chief.

I love the idea. I love the Halo series and MC, so the more the explore him, the better. Hopefully they dive into Cortana maybe going rampant. That'd be cool.

Yep, I expect those to come in pretty quickl-

Exploring the character of a tumbleweed. I see.

I expect him to talk and his helmet to come off by either the end of this game, or the next one.

...Did you do that on purpose?

 

[Josh123914]

Exploring the character of a tumbleweed. I see.

I expect him to talk and his helmet to come off by either the end of this game, or the next one.

Doubt it, if that was going to happen, they would have done it before Bungie jumped ship,(I'm willing to bet before they left there was a short list on what cannot be done with the series,(No helmet removal, no racing game spin-off, etc.)) and not when the series has kind of drifted into obscurity because of the lunar-eclipse that is CoD in the FPS genre.

 

[wooty]

So...by exploring chiefs character what they actually mean is they're giving chief a character.

I've usually stood alone on this issue of FPS characters, chief doesnt have one, gordon freeman doesnt have one, soap doesnt have one....yet everyone falls in love with them. Tres bizzare no?

 

[Sixcess]

Keep him strong. Too often writers seem to think the only way to humanise a strong, iconic character is by making them weak, flawed and self doubting, and laying it on too thick. To give an example - is there anyone who prefers the moody, angsty Superman of Superman Returns to Christopher Reeves' version?

There's a lot that can be done to explore the character of someone who has essentially dedicated their entire life to combat and war, and it can be done without making them a gung ho ass. Captain America is, on the surface, the most shallow my-country-right-or-wrong character ever created, but he's never ever written like that.

Cortana talks a lot. Leave the exposition and character exploration to her, and let the Chief react to it with action, not words.

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

Shit, gotta be quick about this before the thread blows up with comments of "how can you characterize a walking refrigerator" or whatever it is people say about the Chief.

I love the idea. I love the Halo series and MC, so the more the explore him, the better. Hopefully they dive into Cortana maybe going rampant. That'd be cool.

Yep, I expect those to come in pretty quickl-

Exploring the character of a tumbleweed. I see.

I expect him to talk and his helmet to come off by either the end of this game, or the next one.

...Did you do that on purpose?

haha! Yeah. I couldn't care less about Halo. BUT when I hear "characterize Master Chief" all I can think of is "give him a monologue and remove his helmet."

At least I made it in before it happened! Haha.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

So...by exploring chiefs character what they actually mean is they're giving chief a character.

I've usually stood alone on this issue of FPS characters, chief doesnt have one, gordon freeman doesnt have one, soap doesnt have one....yet everyone falls in love with them. Tres bizzare no?

No voice, no identity? The identity becomes you. People love themselves. Hence, when a silent protagonist is given a distinct personality people are abhorred at how the developers don't see the character the way they do.

But yeah, pretty odd.

...

*Goes back to writing Fanfictions of Chrono from Chrono Trigger*

 

[enzilewulf]

O'Connor once told OXM that "there's a lot of stuff Call of Duty does beautifully that we should do better". 343 Industries isn't afraid to tamper with Halo lore to make the best game possible.

Now that statement alone scares the shit out of me. Why does it seem like every other FPS that isn't call of duty now wants to copy Call of Duty's tactics. No. Stick to the halo version of the halo games. The fact that your even making another one after Halo 3 is what makes me sad. Bungie did a awesome job with Reach and it was a good way to end a legendary series. End it where they want to end it.

I am not going to do the whole MW3 thing that most people did saying it sucked ass before it even came out, but I don't think this is going to be a good game. At all. I don't like the fact that 343 is so eager to continue a ended series. Halo 3 and Reach were great games and I came to respect them even more that they decided to end their series. To me thats how it should stay. I know I must not buy it but Halo is what really got me into the whole FPS along side the old (and good) call of duty's. I already lost one series and it seems like we are going to see it happen with Halo. If that is the case I guess I will just not buy it. Yet I am deeply sadden by this statement alone.

 

[Burntpopcarn]

Doubt it. Master chief is about as exciting and interesting as a brick.

 

[ranger19]

As someone who was slow to come to the Halo franchise, but loves the heck out of Reach (still playing it!), this really interests me.

I mean, the idea of Master Chief on his own might not be the most exciting character, but he does have a character - not unlike Samus had a character despite not doing much talking in early Metroid games.

However, what really interests me about this is that he will be with Cortana - and their relationship is one that could be potentially fascinating. Cortana, a sometimes mother figure/sometimes love interest/sometimes pet or AI or partner - has such a strange relationship to the chief, and could potentially be really fun to see explored.

Sure, I have my doubts that any of this will work too, since Bungie/343 hasn't yet been known for deep characterization, but one can hope.

 

[Zeckt]

I loved Reach for its gameplay, but let me just say I could of cared less about any of the team and mostly found myself laughing whenever they died. Master chief could take off his helmet to reveal captain smiley for all I care, It's only about the gameplay.

3 halo games, master chief was a blank slate with awesome gameplay. It's going to be near impossible to change that and I'll just find myself rolling my eyes at any attempts of "drama".

 

[Zhukov]

Then after that they can start exploring the equally rich character of Master Chief's left thumb.

I got nothing against the 'Chief, but he's just there to shoot stuff. Master-class in characterization he is not. If they want a complex or interesting character at the helm of a Halo game (not a bad idea) then they should just come up with a new protagonist.

As always, I must admit that I do like the idea of Cortana throwing a Durandal. That could maybe-just-possibly-conceivably make a Halo game narratively interesting for a change.