When it was first announced that 343 Industries had taken over the Halo franchise and a new saga of games (trilogy at the time) would follow Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, it was met with widespread applause as fans desperately wanted more. Bungie left a legacy that both Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians have struggled to live up to, though,and despite appearing to be a promising return to form for the series, Halo Infinite has already gone through its fair share of mishaps from an underwhelming gameplay reveal at E3 2020 to lengthy delays.
Halo Infinite is one of the most anticipated releases of 2021, and there’s a lot riding on the success of the latest entry for Microsoft, 343 Industries, and the franchise as a whole. With impressive new Halo Infinite screenshots, the return of Bungie veteran Joseph Staten in a leadership position, and an additional year of development, 343 Industries is in a strong position to turn it around and make Halo Infinite as good as it needs to be.
But one problem with being a spiritual reboot that still follows existing continuity is there are a number of lingering storylines from Halo 5: Guardians that need to be cleared up. Whether it’s a one-off line or major story beats, 343 Industries can’t ignore the existence of Locke, the whereabouts of Fireteam Osiris and Blue Team, or Cortana’s plan.
Halo 5: Guardians was a largely divisive game for a number of reasons, but one of its biggest issues came down to the games new protagonist, Spartan Jameson Locke. After debuting in the critically-panned live-action digital series Halo: Nightfall, fans weren’t expecting that Locke would be the main star of the Halo 5 campaign, leading twelve of the game’s fifteen missions with the Master Chief and Blue Team only playable in three. Combine that with minimal in-game backstory, an unrelatable demeanor, and a lack of impactful character moments, Spartan Locke quickly became one of the most disliked characters in the franchise with fans crying out for the return of John-117.
Despite saving Master Chief and Blue Team at the end of Halo 5: Guardians and heading back to the planet Sanghelios to reunite with Commander Palmer, Halsey, and the Arbiter, Locke is nowhere to be seen in any of the Halo Infinite marketing. At this time, the only mention of Locke so far came from a now-deleted image of upcoming Mega Bloks figures that included the Banished War Chief Escharum with Locke’s helmet on his armor like a trophy. Whether this means that Locke is going to die in Halo Infinite or its just a random Spartan helmet with no significant meaning, 343 Industries needs to address the whereabouts of Spartan Locke, even if it’s a one-off comment confirming he’s retired and never coming back.
One of the most exciting aspects of Halo 5: Guardians was the inclusion of Blue Team, Master Chief’s own fireteam that had been entirely reserved for the books up until that point in time. Formed during the Spartan-II program, the current Blue Team lineup includes John-117, Linda-058, Kelly-087, and Frederic-104, although a number of other Spartan’s have been on the team over the years with credits including the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the Battle of Onyx-2553, the Battle of Earth during the events of Halo 2, and the Fall of Reach. At the end of the Halo 5 campaign, Blue Team were last seen exiting the Cryptum of Genesis where they were being held by Cortana before Locke and Fireteam Osiris arrived.
Like Master Chief and Blue Team, Spartan Locke was accompanied by a fireteam of Spartan-IV’s throughout the Halo 5 campaign called Fireteam Osiris. Made up of new and old faces including former ODST Buck (played by fan-favorite Nathan Fillion and last seen in Halo 3: ODST), Fireteam Osiris was formed during Halo 5: Guardians to carry out classified missions such as locating the Master Chief. And just like Blue Team, while the Master Chief and Locke were seen on Sanghelios at the end of the campaign, the members of Fireteam Osiris were last seen saving Blue Team on Genesis. While it’s been revealed that Buck has since left Osiris to reform Alpha Team, very little is known about the current status of both fireteams.
With Halo 4, 343 Industries wanted to tell a more personal story about the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana, and explore the reality that an AI’s life is finite and rampancy was fast approaching. For all the criticism Halo 4 received when it came, to the game’s multiplayer and Spartan Ops modes, the campaign was largely praised for its mature storytelling, characters, and level of emotional depth. Fans were losing a beloved character that had been impacting players and the industry for over a decade so it was incredibly important that her death was meaningful. Fast forward to the events of Halo 5: Guardians in 2015 and not only was Cortana suddenly back, but she was also the game’s key villain.
At the end of Halo 5, Cortana escaped Genesis and Fireteam Osiris in a Guardian with the ultimate goal of disarming the galaxy and bringing about an era of peace through force. In the Legendary ending, a new Halo installation is seen orbiting above an unknown planet and Cortana can be heard humming in the background before the screen fades to black. Where things get a little confusing is that Halo Infinite has its own primary villain in the form of the Banished; so what does this mean for Cortana? Will Cortana be behind the new threat, an additional threat not unlike 343 Guilty Spark, or simply tossed out in the soft-reboot? Cortana’s return always cheapened the personal story of Halo 4, so while the storyline does need to be cleared up, it would be no big loss for that villain to disappear.
Halo Infinite launches fall 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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