By Jack Nachwalter | November 26, 2022
The "Master Chief" in Halo Series.
Ah, the Hollywood video game adaptation. Responsible for a few good things and hundreds of awful ones. It’s safe to say that since the release of the Super Mario Bros. movie in 1993, Hollywood still hasn’t quite figured out how to make a good video game adaptation. While there are tons of recent movies and TV shows I want to talk about, the one piece of entertainment media I really want to talk about is the Halo Series on Paramount+. Initially, I wanted to review the series like any TV show. But the more time I spent thinking about it, the more I realized this series warrants a whole other kind of discussion. The Halo video game series has been a part of my life for nearly two decades. So expect me to get a little more passionate about discussing why this show fails more than any other historical video game adaptation.
The Halo series production story is filled with delays, cancellations, and general development hell. There have been as many filmmakers attached to a Halo project as the completely underwhelming Uncharted movie. Initially following the release of the smash hit Halo 3, Hollywood was looking to bring the video game juggernaut to the big screen. Peter Jackson headed the first genuine attempt at putting Master Chief in theaters. Jackson was set to serve as executive producer for a pitched Halo Movie, with Neil Blomkamp being tapped to direct. Blomkamp hadn’t made a feature film up to that point in his career, but he did direct the Landfall live-action trailer for Halo 3, so he seemed like a sound choice. However, several snags prevented the film from beginning production. Eventually, Jackson approached Blomkamp (or vis versa) about using the assets built for the Halo Movie and repurposing them for a different story. Instead of a Halo live-action film, we got District 9, a sci-fi film based on the short film Blomkamp had made years prior. While fans might have been disappointed with the Halo Movie being dropped in favor of a different story, that disappointment was mute compared to the astronomical praise District 9 received when it was released in 2009. With over $200 million grossed worldwide and four Oscar nominations (including best picture), District 9 was a massive success and is still considered one of the best sci-fi films of all time.
So, where to go with Halo now? The Halo TV Series began its development in 2013, but in the meantime, there were other attempts to create the first true live-action Halo story. The two most well-known attempts were the live-action mini-series Halo: Forward Unto Dawn and Halo: Nightfall. However, both series were small-scale and failed to attract the larger Halo fanbase. As Paramount continued working on the Halo Series, the video game franchise itself began to fade from the popular spotlight it had for years. Franchise creator Bungie had left Halo to 343 Industries following the release of Halo: Reach in 2010, and to say the video games have been a mixed bag since 343 took over is an enormous understatement. Still, the show's production continued, and the series finally began filming with Kyle Killen and Steven Kane heading the project. With the backing of 343 industries, a massive budget from Paramount, and one of the most lore-filled franchises in video game history, all seemed right as rain. However, it didn’t take long for worries to rise in the fanbase. First, it was announced that the series wouldn’t be a direct adaptation of the source material, preferring to create its canon dubbed “the silver timeline.” Then it was announced Master Chief, the icon of not just Halo but the Xbox console for years, wouldn’t be voiced by Steve Downes (who has played the character since the franchise’s inception), but instead, he would be played by Pablo Schreiber. Still, with how long it has taken for fans of Halo to get a proper live-action adaption, there was a willingness to give the showrunners a chance to do their own thing as long as they respected the source material. And this has all led up to now.
Promotional Image of the cast of the Halo series.
So why did I start this with a history lesson on Halo adaptions? I think it’s integral to understand how this show came to be. What we got in the Halo Series was seen by its showrunners as the “best” way to adapt the video game. Of all the possible Halo movies, TV shows, etc., this was the one that Hollywood decided was the best to go with. After having watched the show and stewed in it for several months now. I can confidently say the Halo TV Series released on Paramount+ is one of the worst adaptations I have ever seen in my entire life and easily the worst video game adaptation. Now, I know what you might be thinking; how can I say that when movies like Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Far Cry, and Doom exist? At least those movies felt like they had some monogamy of respect for the source material. Even those movies (especially Far Cry, which might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen) tried to honor the games they came from. It’s apparent to me (again, a die-hard Halo fan) that the showrunners for the Halo Series had no respect for the source material and had no interest in creating a show for the fans. Every change Killen and Kane made from the original games to the series was the worst choice possible. This isn’t a “Halo TV Show”; it’s a crappy Syfy original series with a Halo skin. How? Well, let’s break this down piece by piece.
The obvious starting point for this discussion on Halo Series' failure as an adaptation is the universe itself. The universe initially created by Bungie was an instrumental piece to Halo’s success; the mystery behind the Halo rings, the rich lore of every creature, and the questions raised were fundamental building blocks to Halo’s image. A group of talented writers handled all elements of Halo’s universe with extreme precision. It’s no secret that Halo’s writing under 343 has failed to compare to Bungie, but the blueprints for much of the magic were still there, which is why it’s genuinely unique how the Halo TV Series at every turn changes the Halo Universe for the worst. I’m about to get very Halo nerdy but stick with me. I promise it’ll make sense. The dilemma in the early Halo games is that an ancient race of superpowered beings called “The Forerunners” left all their technology for humanity to inherit. While humanity is unaware of this, “The Covenant” (a religious alliance of alien species) is built on beliefs that the Forerunners were “gods.” When the higher-ups in Covenant (The Prophets) found out humanity was meant to carry on the Forerunners' role in the galaxy, they decided they needed to wipe out humanity. This was done to keep the other alien races in the Covenant ignorant of the truth, so the Prophets could use the Forerunners' technology to achieve God-like status. So in the most superficial sense, Halo is about Humanity vs. The Covenant in a race to control Forerunner technology. In my opinion, the central conflict was still the linchpin for Halo’s success. In the years following the first Halo game, the lore was expanded in books, comics, and spin-offs, all of which flushed out the world but still kept in line with its fundamental rules. Humanity is the reclaimer.
Now, for me and other Halo fans, I was okay with some changes to the source material for the TV show. I would be an idiot for expecting a perfect one-for-one adaption. Adapting any video game to a different medium is hard as hell, so I was prepared for slight deviations. But Kane and Killen decided to mess with the very foundation that made Halo special. In the Halo TV Series, humanity is not the reclaimer. Instead, there are select “chosen ones” who can use Forerunner technology, with the Master Chief (played in the show by Pablo Schreiber) being one of them. Incredibly, the writers decided to go with a science fiction chosen-one story instead of sticking to a fascinating and concrete set of rules (which, mind you, are incredibly easy to follow). There are thousands of examples of chosen-one stories already; it’s not exciting or original. It’s stupid and ruins one of the most fundamentally interesting things about Halo’s universe. Master Chief was never the chosen one; it was humanity. When the Prophets found out about the truth behind humanity being the Forerunner reclaimers, they quickly tried to snuff humanity out. Should the truth about the Forerunners and humanity reach the other races in the Covenant, their entire belief system would crumble. This plays out in Halo 2; we see how the Prophets trick the other alien races into believing a lie. There’s a reason why Halo 2, in particular, is considered by many as one of the best-written pieces of science fiction media ever. Yet all of that is thrown away in the show. Not only is humanity not the reclaimers, but in the TV series, a human in the Covenant, Makee (played by Charlie Murphy), is also a chosen one. Now I will talk more about that later, but for now, I’ll say that the Covenant having a human in their society, chosen one or not, is a complete spit in the face to the rules of the Halo universe.
Master Chief and The Arbiter from Halo 3, released by Bungie in 2007
Speaking of complete spits in the face to the Halo fans, let’s talk about Master Chief or, as he is called in the Halo TV Series, “John.” Right off the bat, Pablo Schreiber doesn’t play Master Chief. He is nothing like the Master Chief, who became an icon for the video game industry. He shares the same name, the same armor, and somewhat the same mannerisms, but this is an entirely different character. Now I don’t bear any ill will to Schreiber, for what he’s given to work with, he does a fine job but fails to play the “Master Chief.” When adapting Halo, Master Chief was always going to be one of the most complex parts to accurately transfer from video games to live-action. Master Chief was created as a vessel for the player to experience the story. While Bungie added bits and pieces to Chief’s personality to make him more compelling, ultimately, he is a cyborg badass who exists so the player can shoot aliens. Chief has minimal personality in the first Halo game outside of being “the last Spartan” and his interactions with Cortana (played in the games and series by Jen Taylor). He was still a great character. But he was mostly just a vessel for the player, much like Doomguy (Doom), Gordon Freeman (Half-life), or William J Blazkowicz (Wolfenstein). It was Halo 2 that first put the players in the shoes of a character with personality and depth: Thel Vadam, better known as “The Arbiter.” Halo 2, splitting the story between playing as Master Chief and The Arbiter, remains one of the most innovative choices in video game history. With Chief, you have a soldier's duty first, morally set in stone, and know what he has to do. On the other hand, you have the Arbiter, a disgraced Elite commander due to failing to stop Master Chief from blowing up the Halo Ring at the end of the first game. He’s guilty-ridden and defeated, yet remains steadfast in his belief of “The Great Journey.” The Great Journey, the Forerunners, is part of a twisted tale spun by the Prophets to remain in power. Arbiter starts to see the Prophets' lies as the game goes along. When Arbiter starts questioning the truth, the Elites are banished, and the Covenant itself falls apart. Arbiter is the heart and soul of Halo way more than Master Chief. I’m not saying that makes him much better than Chief; it’s a different character, one who would be much better suited to a live-action adaptation.
When 343 Industries took over Halo, they started giving Chief more personality and emotional depth. While it had some excellent moments, it started to go against Chief’s character in the first couple of Halo games. Still, 343 Industries was wise to do it slowly—they added depth to Chief by exploring his relationship with his A.I. companion Cortana. Even though Chief was mainly just a badass for killing aliens, his connection with Cortana was his character's most significant emotional aspect in the first three Halo games. So it was a good choice by 343 to use that relationship to give Chief depth. On the other hand, in the Halo series, the writers decided that Chief’s emotional development would take place over 20 minutes. The Master Chief we see on TV shows has a full plate regarding science fiction character traits. Let’s list them: a tragic backstory, amnesia, anger issues, chosen one, repressed emotions, afraid to open up. I mean, Jesus Christ, I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers decide to give Chief, I’m sorry, “John” god-like powers in season 2. While many people are pissed that Chief has his helmet off for most of the show, I would be okay if he still acted like his video game counterpart. The moments that genuinely infuriate me are when Chief tries to kill Catherine Halsey (the mastermind behind the Spartans) in episode 6. It’s well known that Halsey kidnapped John and other kids when they were little and molded them into Spartans; that’s the case in both the games and TV series. But in the games, Chief doesn’t hate Halsey. He clearly cares about her. While what Halsey did was horrific, she ultimately saved humanity, which Chief and all the other Spartans recognized. The show adds a plot device that Halsey blocks the Spartans' memories, and they are essentially brainwashed to follow her orders. In the games, they aren’t brainwashed; they know that she stole them from their parents, but by the time these kids grow up to be adult Spartans, they don’t care. They become warriors for humanity; their pasts and families are nothing compared to their duty to protect humanity. They recognize that they aren’t brainwashed; they don’t despise Halsey. Is it terrible what Halsey did? Yes, but my god, how many stories have there been about brainwashed soldiers obeying the orders of a mad scientist? There are at least as many stories about science fiction chosen ones (Side note: I know that in the show, they are called “Blessed Ones,” not “Chosen Ones,” but it’s the same thing). Halsey’s relationship with the Spartans in the TV series is another case of interesting lore being replaced by generic science fiction crap.
As I mentioned earlier, the Covenant in the TV series is nothing compared to its game counterpart. A human being not just in, but high up in the Covenant is against their religion, beliefs, and structure. If Makee is already a part of the Covenant, why even bother waging war against humanity when they already have someone who can use Forerunner technology? In the games, the Prophets want to wipe out humanity because they were chosen to carry the mantle of responsibility from the Forerunners and want that power. It also threatens their control/influence over the other races. So if the Covenant in TV series aren’t waging war against humanity to suppress this potential world-shaking revelation, then what’s the problem? Are they fighting humanity because a couple of people are the chosen ones? Humanity in the show doesn’t even know about the Forerunners or chosen ones. They only find out because the Covenant waged war against them. The only explanation I can think of is that Covenant see humanity as an equal to them, and they don’t like that.
In the games, the Covenant would’ve easily destroyed humanity if it wasn’t for the Spartans and their obsession with Forerunner relics. What’s keeping them from wiping out humanity? Aside from breaking the game's rules, a human being, the central character in the Covenant side of the story, is also a lazy choice. If I would hazard a guess, Killen and Kane didn’t think audiences would connect to an alien character, so they decided to add a human to the Covenant instead. As I mentioned, the Arbiter in Halo 2 is as highly regarded as the Master Chief. He is one of the most famous characters in video game history. Bungie proved in 2004 that you could make a nine-foot-tall crocodile an emotionally deep character and showed how that character could transcend into one of the most iconic characters in gaming history. If it wasn’t obvious enough that Kane and Killen didn’t play the games or look at the source material, this should help illustrate just how little they cared about doing the games justice.
Terrible Elite design in the Halo series.
Now I could go on and on about all the characters who look like fan fiction parodies compared to their video game counterparts, but that would take ages. But looking at all the ways Kane and Killen changed elements from the game for the worst, why did 343, Paramount, or whoever decided this was the Halo story they had to tell? Out of all the Halo stories and proposed adaptions, why did they decide this version would be the definitive Halo live-action adaptation? The excuse that this version is the most “streamlined” or “comprehensive” for modern audiences is utterly bogus because Halo already has a vast audience. If you walk up to a random person who has never played a video game and ask them to name one, I will wager that Halo and Master Chief are some of the first ones that would come to their mind. The Halo series, at its height, was the most significant thing ever; it revolutionized gaming. The writers didn’t have to simplify the story because they already had their audience. The showrunners ruined Halo’s story for an audience that doesn’t exist. If the Halo lore in the games were too complicated, it wouldn’t have been as popular as it is. I believe there’s a good chance that the Halo series we got was originally just some random ass science fiction channel program that decided to slap a Halo coat of paint on because they knew no one would care otherwise.
Before the show came out, showrunner Steven Kane was interviewed by Variety, where he was quoted saying, “We didn’t look at the game,” says Season 1 showrunner Steven Kane (“The Last Ship”). “We didn’t talk about the game. We talked about the characters and the world. So I never felt limited by it being a game.” If you were to look up the definition of a red flag, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this quote as an example. Hollywood’s attempts at adapting video games have, 99% of the time, been massive failures because they don’t look at the games. They treat adapting a video like you would a book. You can’t just read the dialogue and plot. You have to play the games and be immersed in the universe to see what works and doesn’t. No Halo fan on this planet hasn’t played at least one of the games. Nobody becomes a video game fan because they read the plot synopsis or watched all the cutscenes on Youtube. They are fans because the experience of playing video games is a unique type of experience. Seeing a rich video game universe through your eyes is essential to a video game’s success.
Yet, the Halo series only looked at the essential elements of the Halo story without truly understanding why people loved them. Arcane: League of Legends on Netflix is the perfect example of a video game adaptation done right. Not only did Riot Games (the developers behind League of Legends) take such a central role in the show’s development, but they understood why people love League of Legends. The dozens of Champions of League of Legends are the main thing people connect with, so the show did the right thing in taking some of these characters and writing interesting stories for them. There is much more to Arcane’s success than just that, but for me, getting the characters right was the key element to get right with the adaptation, much like how getting Halo’s universe right was essential to the series' success. Mind you, I don’t give a shit about League of Legends, nor has Arcane made me want to play it, but my god, is it good. I wish Halo fans could get their version of Arcane, but with 343 at the helm, it seems unlikely.
"John" in the Halo series.
I haven’t even touched on all the filmmaking shortcomings plaguing this show. The Halo show splits its time between “John” and a character named Kwan Ha’s plight to free her homeworld, Madrigal, from ONI (the secret military organization of the Halo universe). While it’s nice not to sit through the showrunners lighting the Halo lore on fire for the whole runtime, Kwan’s entire side-plot is uninteresting filler. We are never given reasons to care about Madrigal or her people. The show's first scene is the Covenant killing Kwan’s people, but we don’t know why they are or why Kwan’s people hate the UNSC (the military in Halo) so much. In the games, they mention how the Spartans were initially created to fight human resistance fighters before the Covenant declared war on humanity. Smartly, the games (not even Halo 4 or Halo 5) try to focus on the UNSC or ONI’s fights against the resistance because it’s not remotely interesting. Like the chosen one and brainwashed soldiers cliches, space military vs. space freedom fighters has been done a million times in other science fiction media. While I appreciate that Kwan’s side plot feels much smaller than the main story, they don’t invest the proper time in setting up reasons why I should care outside of the scene where all of Kwan’s family is killed by the Covenant. By the way, wouldn’t the UNSC being in control of Madrigal make it so the Covenant would be less likely to attack? Kwan’s people, in the beginning, talk about how oppressive ONI and the UNSC are but don’t see how having them on Madrigal could help keep them safe. Even after the Covenant kills everyone, Kwan doesn’t realize that it’s much more complicated than “freedom good, military control bad.”
Regardless of the sizeable mixed fan reaction to the show, according to Paramount+, it’s the most streamed show in the platform's history. Now I’m not one to call others liars, but considering Paramount didn’t bother to give out exact viewership numbers, I’m a little inclined to call bullshit on that claim. Still, it seems like the show is relatively popular, and many viewers and critics call the disgruntled fanbase’s concerns “unjustified.” One piece I found by Alexander Eriksen of Game Pressure.com called “Fans Divided Over New Halo Show, but What Exactly Were They Expecting?” simplifies the fanbase’s criticisms to five points “1. Chief takes off his helmet and shows face 2. Kwan has a stupid haircut 3. The creators of the show said they didn’t play the games 4. There is some lousy CGI 5. The live-action Cortana looks awful”. Simplifying the criticism done to these five “vague” issues is incredibly shortsighted and poorly worded. The Halo series' most significant problem is how they fail to capture the feeling of the games. Social media has made it easy for the loud minority of “haters” to be looked at as the whole of the fanbase. Just because several Twitter accounts say that “they hate Kwan’s hair” doesn’t mean that it is one of the show's most significant issues. People who like the Halo show seem to highlight these minor problems as the only issues with the show to deflect criticism. There is even more of this in the article, with Eriksen also saying, “when the games were never about super deep storytelling. Again, what do fans want out of this show, actually?” The fans wanted a show that paid respect to what makes Halo’s special. Thinking the story doesn’t matter in a video game adaptation is the exact reason why most video game adaptions fail. Filmmakers fail to see how much impact a story can have when you are experiencing it as a player. The storytelling and universe are what make Halo unique. Halo 2 is a game where the story mainly appeals to me. When adapting a video game, you have to consider the removal of people “playing it,” so it is even more important to nail the story and feel. The Halo series failed to do any of that. All the criticism in shallow articles was summarized as “people don’t like Master Chief removing his helmet” because any well-worded criticism would be too much to make clickbait articles about.
Well, if the show fails in writing and story, at least the action is good, right? While’s Halo story is crucial to its success as a video game, the combat encounters and gameplay are just as vital. Since video game adaptions take away the ability for the players to, you know, play the story, the action and exciting moments should at least carry some essence of what makes the gameplay so good. While the Halo TV Series tries to pay homage to the games during action sequences, it doesn’t save them from being poorly done. Several times the camera goes inside Master Chief’s helmet to give audiences a first-person view, but when it does, the textures become less detailed and smooth. I was amazed at how bad the CGI looks for a show that reportedly cost over $100 million. The Spartan armor looks fantastic, but it loses all weight the second they add CGI. The Covenant as well is very inconsistent in terms of its CGI. In some scenes, it looks excellent, but in others, it looks incredibly bland, lacking any detail. Also, I can’t believe I'm saying this, but the show’s violence is incredibly distracting. Despite the Halo games mostly being rated M for mature audiences, they are surprisingly tame in terms of violence; some blood spatters there, and sure a lot of concepts and horror elements of the games are very dark, but nothing too crazy. For some reason, the showrunners felt like the show would be better with a ridiculous amount of violence. People explode from single shots of plasma pistols; there’s blood all over, and children get slaughtered. I’m very numb regarding violence, but it’s very distracting in the show. Halo was never known for violent gameplay, so I’m confused why the show decided to go so hard on the gore.
Halsey (played by Natascha McElhone) in the Halo series.
I know that most of this comes down to discussing the differences between the Halo video games and the show, but I can’t bring myself not to compare. One is significantly better than the other. I could talk even more about the changes—the Elites (the Covenant’s equivalent to Spartans) in the TV show act more like alien monsters than honorable warriors they are in the games. The Spartans act like mindless drones rather than protectors of humanity, especially during the opening scene. The Forerunner artifacts are in random sand tombs rather than mysterious high-tech structures. I haven’t even mentioned Cortana once because thinking about how they ruined her look makes me want to lie down and cry. I don’t want to say that it’s wrong if you like this show or everyone involved doesn’t care. It’s clear many people put their hearts and souls into this series, and I’ve seen plenty of people say they like the show. That’s great, but as a hardcore Halo fan whose childhood is intertwined with this franchise, I cannot generate anything but contempt for the showrunners who so obviously didn’t give a single shit about making a good Halo show. They wanted to do whatever they wanted and used the Halo IP to get people like, “Oh hey, I know Halo, I’ll watch that.” At least if the show was good and well made, I could at least appreciate it, even with all the dumbass changes they made, but it’s not good. It’s generic, boring science fiction at its worst. It’s hard to believe that 343 decided this was the first “real” live-action Halo story worth making. Regardless of how you feel about 343’s games on things for certain, they sure as shit know how to piss off the fanbase. Also, that sex scene, I don’t want to talk or think about ever again. Paramount+, I hate you.
Bibliography:
Eriksen, Alexander. “Fans Divided Over New Halo Show, but What Exactly Were They Expecting?”. Game Pressure.com, March 28th, 2022, Article. {https://www.gamepressure.com/editorials/fans-are-divided-over-the-new-halo-show-but-what-exactly-were-the/zd562}
B. Vary, Adam. “More Than $90 Million and 265 Script Drafts Later, ‘Halo’ Is Finally a TV Show”. Variety.com, 2022, Article. {https://variety.com/2022/tv/features/halo-series-paramount-plus-master-chief-1235205361/#}
Comments