Rather than issuing a DMCA takedown, however, the team at 343 Industries (Microsoft' internal Halo developer) contacted ElDewrito and, according to the fan-team, said: From the sounds of it, things like textures and asset packs from the game made their way to the internet, where the "ElDewrito" team found and used them in their fan-made resurrection of the game.Īs you can imagine, Microsoft wasn't exactly pleased about it. Microsoft canned the Russia-only, free-to-play Halo Online back in 2016. The Xbox-maker has requested that a fan-made version of Halo Online stop production. Fans got what they wanted, but at what cost?Ĭheck out our list of the best video game movies of all time.Microsoft takes copyright violations as seriously as Nintendo does, it'd seem. It subverts expectations by giving us a fleshed-out, humanized version of Master Chief, only to end season one on a major cliffhanger where that humanity is stripped away.
The Halo series successfully tells a new story in a familiar universe, arguably the best way to approach a video game adaptation. This kind of storytelling feels like a best of both worlds scenario: we get to see our favorite game worlds on television, while showrunners have room for creativity when it comes to telling stories in those worlds.
We know the upcoming The Last of Us TV series has plans to do something similar – the story set to "fill things out and expand, not to undo, but rather to enhance" the games, according to co-creator Craig Mazin's interview with the BBC (opens in new tab).
Going forwardĪdapting a video game can never be a one-to-one scenario, as it just won't translate, and showrunners or movie directors face the difficult task of striking just the right balance between the new and the familiar. And that's not something we should celebrate. Ultimately, the villain of this series (Halsey) wants Chief to be the same way so many fans want him to be: without humanity. I've watched you fight for yours, and I believe it's a cause that's right." That the season ends with John gone and the cold, calculated killer that is Master Chief standing in his place, starkly contrasting everything the show has taught us thus far. Halsey wants to eliminate from your species is precisely the thing that makes you special: your humanity. "I was also designed to learn John,” she responds. In the finale, Chief asks Cortana why she refused Halsey's orders to take over his executive functions.
Halsey's snare, learn about his kidnapping and brainwashing, and teach other Spartans how to be more human.
After all, we've seen John untangle himself from Dr. When he rises after taking a gravity hammer from Atriox to the chest, he is the Master Chief so many fans were asking for – but it's not a triumphant moment, it's a tragic one. John allows himself to get knocked out cold and (seemingly) die so that Cortana can take control of his body and brain. Brilliantly, after fleshing out his tragic backstory and giving him a love interest, the Master Chief we expected from the games makes his appearance at the season’s very end.
From the moment the series unmasked John-117, the debates began, with detractors longing for the more stoic, silent, and masked version of Chief from the games. It’s a bold choice and one that many fans of the Halo franchise have taken issue with. The complexity of the universe in which the games are set allows the series to unmask Master Chief and make him John, giving Pablo Schreiber tons of room to inject pathos into a character who has previously been little more than a totem for balls to the wall masculinity. Instead of giving us a recycled version of the "good guy Spartan vs bad guy Covenant" story seen in the games, Paramount Plus' series sheds light on the problematic nature of the UNSC (a view that only those who read the tie-in books were previously privy to). After the first episode, I wrote that the Halo TV series is braver than the games, and I stand by that statement after watching the finale.