I can't play Halo 4 because of Cortana

Not entirely true, but is anybody else really bugged about how they made her seem entirely like a human and then based the story around it? Add to that they had to appeal to the braindead masses and give her huge tits and an hourglass figure, and focus every cinematic on her backside.

Now, being a heterosexual male, I fully appreciate the female form as much as any other guy, but when it is so blatant and out of place it really harms the games integrity in my mind. Every time the camera is focused squarely on her digital rump and she is saying things like "Dont make a girl a promise you cant keep" I forget that I am in the midst of a battle for the survival of the human race, and instead I am thinking "Come on guys, can't you draw me in some other way?"

Why did they make her like a human? Why does she have to do the Blade Runner overplayed card and question her existence? Why can't I just have a straightforward war story with intelligent characters who aren't trying to lighten the mood every five minutes with corny quips? Why does Master Chief care that a computer program that somehow loved him expired? Why are other people apologizing to him about it, like his wife died? What kind of military is this in the future?

"Hey Sergeant, I heard your computer crashed.... I'm so sorry man..."

Was anybody else bugged by this? Otherwise a decent game, but I spent so much time in high school playing Halo I couldn't do more than go through the campaign once on Legendary (which seemed easier than it used to) and play a game or two of multiplayer.

The one moment in Halo 4 that I really liked was when you first come out from the wreckage on the new planet and as you suddenly see a downright awesome view of the landscape an inspiring score is playing in the background. That was a great moment.

“I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

I heard it was pretty nice, and the Cortana parts weren't bad (from some big Halo fan friends), but, humorously, I have a *** friend who just got it, and said he's about to kill her, she's driving him crazy.

I'm friends with someone at 343, I'll pass along the suggestions, of course it may be moot, I wouldn't be surprised if the ending didn't matter, if you catch my meaning.

ICEFANG wrote:I heard it was pretty nice, and the Cortana parts weren't bad (from some big Halo fan friends), but, humorously, I have a *** friend who just got it, and said he's about to kill her, she's driving him crazy.

I'm friends with someone at 343, I'll pass along the suggestions, of course it may be moot, I wouldn't be surprised if the ending didn't matter, if you catch my meaning.

You mean that since she is just a computer program they can find an easy excuse to bring her sexy digital *** back in the next one? I could see that, after all if you give a bear a cookie he's gonna want a hundred more cookies.

Sounds like you have one smart friend who's not so easily amused by digital softcore porno, and recognizes that her sarcastic little quips about serious threats and her instructions when you don't need them don't make the game better.

For instance, in the beginning level she wonders out loud whether the enemy boarding party is just a small search team, and then it is revealed that an entire covenant fleet is surrounding you. At the moment you see the enemy ships, for a split second I was drawn in and I thought "Oh man, I'm gonna have to fight my way out of the predicament, this will be great!" but then Cortana chimes off with a sarcastic remark that just reminds you that you are only playing a game, because no human or robot would be sarcastic in such a dire situation.

If I was Chief I would mute her.

To further air my complaints, I was also really annoyed at how other than all to often comedic reliefs, they tried to make the story as a whole darker, but in style only. One minute they are joking about the armada of enemies who are intent on total human destruction, and the next we got Commander Who Cares making a booboo face about lost soldiers. They also changed the grunts old hilarious voices and expressions to bug-like hisses, I suppose because they thought that wasn't in keeping with the new dark theme.

I also thought the story was inconsistent, without any real drive or goal. I was basically just running through the game following Cortanas orders and keeping my fingers crossed that I might get a thirty minute gameplay spree without her yapping. Overall the story felt like the writers had a list of things they thought might be interesting and just threw them all in together. At one point Cortana questions her existence, and I was thinking "Oh brother, I'm just here to kill Aliens!" but then there is never any follow up on it. What was the point of that?

BIG TIME MASTER wrote: but then Cortana chimes off with a sarcastic remark that just reminds you that you are only playing a game, because no human or robot would be sarcastic in such a dire situation.

Jaded and arrogant due to having taken out legions of covenant before, either that or gallows humor take your pick. while I can see some issues with the way cortana was done I cant say it was enough to actually bother me. sure I can point to things and go that should have been done better but then I am nitpicky

As for no followup on the questioning of cortana questioning her and the chiefs humanity ect I believe that that is being set up to be expanded over the course of the trilogy. as such it does not surprise me that it did not feel concluded.

I heard that they added a lot of character to her, but you feel they didn't introduce it well?

And the " *** " was homosexual, he prefers men, so he has no sexual preference to Cortana, which is why I find this so funny.

MasterChief prefers men?

Nevermind, I reread your post and realize I misunderstood. You were talking about your friend who is *** and therefore see's past Cortanas sex appeal.

I knew I should have avoided this topic. I haven't played Halo 4 yet and now maybe I wont.

Disregard

Halo Reach had a "horde" mode called firefight that was really fun because you could customize the hell out of it. I mean you could change any parameter any way you liked it, it was a great sandbox.

Halo 4 has replaced that with "Spartan Ops", which is a cool idea but shouldn't replace firefight as it is completely different and doesn't allow any customization. It's basically a short campaign that is introduced with new chapters each week or so, and you can play solo or cooperatively. My main beef with it is once again the corny characters. Spartans are supposed to be the SpecOps guys of the future, super badasses who know how to handle a fight. These guys are so incredible, apparently, that in the midst of battle they are so totally in control that they are constantly joking and talking trash to each other. Constantly. They never shutup. It's so dumb. Pro's don't act like that! Punks who think they are pro's do. If wiping out the covenant is so simple that you are keeping score against your teammates then why hasn't humanity wooped these baddies yet? Why is humanity constantly on the verge of destruction from the covenant armada if they are so sorry?

One of my favorite shooters was the original Ghost Recon. One of the things I really liked about it was that all character dialogue was calm, assertive, and professional. It gave the game a "seriousness" and made you feel like a level headed Spec Ops grunt who, despite the serious situation, knows to stay calm and stick to his training. No jokes or sarcasm from these guys, real badasses are a little too focused on their job. When you took down an enemy they would say something like "Tango down" "Hostile down" "One down" etc. Nothing more than a brief radio transmission to facilitate situational awareness throughout your squad. Halo 4's style is something more like "Woohoo! I just killed 20, how many you got Bravo team? Huh huh huh?"

BIG TIME MASTER wrote:
Why did they make her like a human? Why does she have to do the Blade Runner overplayed card and question her existence? Why can't I just have a straightforward war story with intelligent characters who aren't trying to lighten the mood every five minutes with corny quips? Why does Master Chief care that a computer program that somehow loved him expired? Why are other people apologizing to him about it, like his wife died? What kind of military is this in the future?

"Hey Sergeant, I heard your computer crashed.... I'm so sorry man..."

Was anybody else bugged by this? Otherwise a decent game, but I spent so much time in high school playing Halo I couldn't do more than go through the campaign once on Legendary (which seemed easier than it used to) and play a game or two of multiplayer.

The one moment in Halo 4 that I really liked was when you first come out from the wreckage on the new planet and as you suddenly see a downright awesome view of the landscape an inspiring score is playing in the background. That was a great moment.

I think many of your answers lie within the books, but I'll be happy to summarize them.

I don't think she really questions her existance rather she is worried about her existance due to life slowly coming to an end. Cortana is a smart A.I., which means she learns and thinks like a human, plus she was made from a little part of her creator Dr. Hasley. So being raised by Dr. Hasley, who was some genius and also arrogant, she of course became arrogant and ****. Cortana prides herself on her intelligence and knows that is what she was made to do. Furthermore, as a smart A.I. she would begin to develop many other human characteristics, such as feelings of romance or attraction (odd yes, but it adds to the "Think themselves to death" idea.)

Now why does Master Chief care about Cortana. For the same reason he cared about the spartans under his command. They were comrades in arms and developed bonds of brother/sisterhood. They cared for each other well-being. Not to mention Cortana is based off Dr. Hasely, who pratically became John's mother after he was abducted to become a Spartan II. Dr. Hasley told John to make sure to take care of Cortana, because she held valuable data, and because Cortana was made after herself. So when Cortana died, John lost two things. The first and most important was someone who had fought along his side for years and was responsible for saving his butt time and time again. The second being, which he mentions in the game is how he failed one of Dr. Hasley's requests of him. So yeah he is feeling depressed and even other humans can get the vibe.

Another thing is what you see are Spartan IV, who aren't like John. They get the choice to enlist and I think are just regular marines with special armor and some augments. Does it seem odd? Yeah, but if you are in a war wouldn't like someone that cracked a few jokes to lighten the mood and take you away from all the death and destruction around you?

...Wow I feel like such a nerd, but it all comes down to the fact I believe the game was pretty good. Sure they have a few multiplayer issues to balance out, but the story was very amazing and the world was awesome.

So John may want to bang his mom sort of? That's screwed up!

I wish he was just a robot. I'm tired of "emotional" plots.

ICEFANG wrote:So John may want to bang his mom sort of? That's screwed up!

Well no I'm just saying that Cortana and John just share a bond that marines and other soliders share with their fellows.

If I remember correctly, AI's in the halo universe are created, at least in part, from scanns of a human brain. (someone correct me if I'm confusing this with a different series)

That would account for a great deal, her emotional range and interactions with chief included.

(I'm constantly sarcastic in dangerous situations btw, being focused on the concequences is a dangerous distraction and talking helps keep me focused)