Halo on Paramount+

[d-dave]

I've been watching the new Halo series the past three weeks.  Generally, I've enjoyed it.  I look forward to each new episode to see this different story for Master Chief.

I've seen a TON of complaints about the show online, and a lot of it centers around the deviation from Halo cannon in a lot of ways.  As a fan of the games, but far from an expert, I'm not totally sure about some of the more esoteric complaints.  Generally they almost all derive from seeing the Chief with his helmet off.  I get that in a game, that's easy, but in a longer form media like a series, you need human characters to drive it forward.  Master Chief had to become John.

I know some folks won't like it, and that's fine.  I'm enjoying the production values, the art, the characters, and the fact that while this is Halo, it's not xbox Halo.  If that makes sense.

[jayboogieman]

I watched the first episode a few days ago when Paramount had it on their YouTube channel. I thought the acting was fine for the most part and the special effects were ok generally. I thought the covenant forces looked a little too cartoonish at times though.

Seeing a group of teens getting killed was surprising since you don't generally see kids or teens getting killed in American TV shows even when the shows were originally made for Showtime or HBO. Cortana looked more like a clone, which was an interesting take too.

Overall, there was enough there to hold my interest and make me want to watch at least a few more episodes. Between Halo and the Star Trek stuff, Paramount might be worth subbing to for at least a few months.

[d-dave]

21 hours ago, jayboogieman said:

Between Halo and the Star Trek stuff, Paramount might be worth subbing to for at least a few months.

I will say that Star Trek stuff has been fun!  Some better, some worse, but overall I've enjoyed it.

We watch a fair amount of CBS shows, so it was just cheaper to get it, and I've found a few things I like on that as well.

[NCTHFL0567]

Your review is the first general positive review I've read on this. 

[LinvilleGorge]

I just remember everyone was obsessed with Halo the video game early in my college days. I just couldn't get into it. It's like... uh, this is just 007 Golden Eye except featuring aliens and laser guns and we played so much Golden Eye back in middle school that I'm just over it.

[Zaximus]

I think show is decent so far.  It's not going to win awards but it's something to zone out and watch here and there.  When you make a TV show of such a loved game you just aren't going to win people over completely.   I would say that this show probably has a good chance of not getting a season 2 although Paramount has actual stream numbers and whatnot so they'll be able to judge better.  

[d-dave]

19 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I just remember everyone was obsessed with Halo the video game early in my college days. I just couldn't get into it. It's like... uh, this is just 007 Golden Eye except featuring aliens and laser guns and we played so much Golden Eye back in middle school that I'm just over it.

Man, that was my freshman year of college...  

But I always enjoyed Halo more.  Cooler story/universe, and the shooting experience was lightyears better than Golden Eye.  And warthogs

[jayboogieman]

7 hours ago, Zaximus said:

 I would say that this show probably has a good chance of not getting a season 2 although Paramount has actual stream numbers and whatnot so they'll be able to judge better.  

Season two has already been given the green light.

[jayboogieman]

56 minutes ago, d-dave said:

Man, that was my freshman year of college...  

But I always enjoyed Halo more.  Cooler story/universe, and the shooting experience was lightyears better than Golden Eye.  And warthogs

Halo's scifi setting always did more for me than any of the other shooters. I don't game much anymore, but I've been playing Cyberpunk 2077 lately. It's setting won me over the same way despite the game's flaws.

[Zaximus]

1 hour ago, jayboogieman said:

Season two has already been given the green light.

This is good.  Gives them time to flesh out what they want to do.  People sometimes forget that it takes 3-5 episodes for a show to really find its stride usually.  

[d-dave]

1 hour ago, Zaximus said:

This is good.  Gives them time to flesh out what they want to do.  People sometimes forget that it takes 3-5 episodes for a show to really find its stride usually.  

How dare they not have my immediate investment!  I'm a 21st Century Digital Boy!  I have no time for patience!  =P

Really, I just very interested to see how the characters develop.  I really dig most of the effects, but it gets really funny when they start running low on budget/time.

[SmokinwithWilly]

On 4/12/2022 at 11:00 AM, LinvilleGorge said:

I just remember everyone was obsessed with Halo the video game early in my college days. I just couldn't get into it. It's like... uh, this is just 007 Golden Eye except featuring aliens and laser guns and we played so much Golden Eye back in middle school that I'm just over it.

Proxy mine battles were the shiznit. 

[Cullenator]

A Plague
A broken government
Recession
Mass shootings
The first season

 

Have we not suffered enough?

https://geeky.parade.com/video-games/halo-season-2-stream-date

Quote

The second season of the TV show based on first-person shooter Halo will begin streaming on Paramount on February 8, 2024.

That’s according to Paramount’s YouTube channel, which seemingly leaked the date itself ahead of an official announcement. The entire first season of Halo was briefly available to watch for free on YouTube, but has since been hidden.

 

[d-dave]

Hrm...  I'm not sure how I feel.  I do love Halo, but my appreciate for the first season has wanned quite a bit.  At first,  I appreciated the different take.  You can tell Paramount poured cash all over the production because it looked fantastic by in large.  But when you sit down and think about the story and how divergent the characters are, how awkward it was...  Yeah, not great in retrospect.  

Will I watch the second season?  Probably at some point.  But there's been a LOT of good scifi that came out that I'd rather rewatch (like Andor).