✅ Subscribe: ru-vid.com 🖱 Support the channel: www.patreon.com/ben_plays_games I've got a much larger analysis of Halo: Combat Evolved in the works, similar to this video but covering the entire game. So, do keep an eye out!
I cannot believe how though I came across the marines and jackals in 343 guilty spark I never really put it together until you spelled it out that what had clearly happened was a desperate retreat until they saw each other, then heard the flood, exchanged a glance, and from that decided to fight in desperate last stand.
@@BenPlaysGames that would be cool as a recording, or you come into a room with marines and jackals back to back blocked off by glass and then you see them die
Their helmet cams would tell all if they were recovered. If they ran into each other by surprise in that maze, they might not have even had time to talk it out but just fight the Flood together until the end.
And I was thinking about this last night. After playing it again. In the Halo universe, the Covenant chose the Sang-heli as sort of captains for their troops was their loyalty and combat tactician capabilities. However, the Jackals are seen as nothing more than that. Jackals. So the fact Jackals, of all things, fought with UNSC Marines as a last stand? Shows how the Flood truly are a horror.
I feel I should mention that the books after the fall of the Covenant state that the jackals had the easiest time joining and living in human society. That spot in Guilty Spark shows that perfectly. They’re a lot more like us than any of the other species.
In Cole Patrol, Jackals happily gave modified plasma rifles to insurgents. I think they wanted Earth’s location, but never got it. Since the insurgents were fighting the UNSC, the trade went well for the Jackals, until the Prophet of Regret found out.
Their introduction in halo 3 was perfect how it was. Unlike in Halo 2, where we thought the Flood defeated, we already knew at the start of Halo 3 that the Flood was growing out of control. They managed to infect High Charity and were certainly going to try to make their way to Earth, it was only a question of when. 343 Guilty Spark and The Oracle are reminiscent of horror movies while Floodgate is more of a zombie apocalypse movie. If not for the Elites glassing Voi, Earth would have almost surely fallen
The stakes were really high at that moment, and that's one of my favorite moments in Halo 3. As the Shipmaster said "One single Flood spore can destroy a species." and a Covenant corvette loaded with that crap just crashed on Earth. Even if the ship was detonated, the Flood would still spread, overtaking Earth in days, hours even. Makes me wish there was a horror spin off where your a marine/ODST in the middle Voi, you just witnessed the Flood cruiser crash and are now in a desperate bid for survival as both civilians and your own marine brothers are consumed by the parasite. That would be a really cool game.
It'd be interesting but the battle against the Flood didn't last very long because they were able to destroy the hive and glass the area quickly. Time was of the essence
@@windrider2190 actually that was a covenant cruiser. The same class as the truth and reconciliation in halo ce. The scales were just off as already seen in halo ce and in the mission the covenant, when the shadow of intent "distracts" the covenant by bombarding the shield with plasma torpedos. The CAS class carrier is supposed to be 5.3 km long. Only halo 2 and halo 3 odst had the actual sizes of ships as they are in the lore.
9:14 not to mention that the marine combat forms and the insane marine were the men you just fought alongside in the previous mission, with triumphant music and exciting cheers.
What would put icing on would be to put 3 to 4 Marines to follow the chief at the start through out the mission, and show construction workers near the start where u first fight the flood
I love floodgate. One ship crashes and suddenly the area is over run. How did they get such a big amount of combat forms so quickly? We just finished clearing that area. Everything we just killed in the previous mission has given the flood the advantage.
Halo 2's biggest failing with The Flood was by minimising the danger of the infection forms. In Halo CE, the sheer number in the waves of the infection forms made them something to keep an eye on as they could overwhelm you, especially shieldless. And Halo 3's ability to infect a lot enemies or allies in real time made them much more dangerous and disturbing in gameplay. But Halo 2 had neither of those. The "swarms" of infection forms were pretty sparse, posing no danger on their own. And while it was cool they could re-animate already infected, dead bodies, this also never poses much of a threat since it happens so infrequently and often the bodies will already be destroyed through the natural progression of gameplay (Rockets, grenades, shotgun, Energy Sword etc...)
"Halo 2's biggest failing with The Flood was by minimising the danger of the infection forms" Yeah, until you play in Legendary. Infection forms in Halo 2 are much harder to hit than they are in the other two games, and they are much more damaging as well. Halo 2 definitely, without question, has the most capable and dangerous flood of any Halo game.
Loved the subtle easter eggs in Halo:CE like the rock music in the pelican like in Predator. Or the elite with its chest ripped open like in Alien. Made the intensity incredible
@@ethereal_synapse I wish they stuck to that to some degree. The UNSC's art had a very industrial military look (metal grates, black yellow caution bars, metal plated vehicles), contrasted with elegant looking AI. Their style seems to have been muddied over the years, at times looking like Mass Effect in newer games
@@justinnyugen7015 that’s exactly why I loved the early games. It made humanity seem very grounded in terms of technology, like the time setting could actually be obtainable. I’m not a fan of the late transformers look that 343 has given the game.
@@ethereal_synapse Some of the Marines in 4 and 5 look more like Power Rangers esque where they are wearing nerf foam body suits and are the weirdest colors for combat troops, such as, white, bright lime green and light blue. A real head scratcher for sure
My favorite Flood level would definitely be 343 Guilty Spark. The mood it sets is truly amazing, gameplay is great with perfect passing. My favorite part is definitely how it’s implied that Marines and Jackals got so desperate that they worked together. The next level the Library is thematically beautiful how it shows just how terrible the Flood are. But gameplay wise it’s the absolute worst part of the game, only ever play it one or with multiple people. Something that’s pretty funny is that I originally thought that the Flood were zombie plants. The reason is because their “eye stalks” look like leaves, their limbs/claws look like roots, and the Gravemind looks like a giant plant. I also thought that they had leaves on their shoulders (clearly this was just my brain seeing something that isn’t there).
Completely agree, 343 Guilty Spark is one of my favourite levels of all time! I actually did a video on it if you haven't seen it already, although I must say it is one of my older ones so the audio quality and editing is a little lower than my more recent videos. Can definitely see the plant thing too!
Honestly Gravemind in the original Halo 2 release is pretty laughable because he just looks like a Venus Fly Trap crossed with Petey Pirahana. They really did a good job in anniversary making him much truer to what was most likely originally envisioned by Bungie.
Same, the ambience and location is one of the key points for me when it comes to the flood. The sounds that echo through that level as well as the fog, empty locations and weak resistance makes it memorable. I would also give some credit to high charity, the dark halls infected by the flood and the sounds you hear is something that sticks with you.
I feel bad for any marine that has to go up against the flood. Their weapons are ineffective, but in halo's 1 through 3 anytime marines fight the flood it is almost always when the marines get ambushed. The poor dudes get ambushed all the time. I can't think of a time when marines don't get ambushed by the flood. That sucks so much man.
@jakethesnake3593 Yes one Heretic Elite asks another if there's been any word about the lost Brothers. The other responds that no. Then they tell the Grunts to stay there and they'll call for them later. Then the Grunts complain about the Elites.
Halo 3 was my first FPS Floodgate was also a secondary favorite level back in 10 year old me's brain I recently got MCC, played CE. got excited when I recognized the scene's opening (I'd watched lore videos tons of times) and I WAS DELIGHTED with how the creep factor still felt fresh even after I'd had the game spoiled and I had spent my first experiences of Halo's Flood through 3 I'm excited for 2's flood introduction Tho I'm worried that I'll have a hard time with it lmao I'm using a keyboard and it's giving me hand cramps
I want the flood to be in infinite because they're the reason halo's story is the way it is but at this point I don't think its gonna happen cause the game already has been given a teen rating so probably no either no flood or they toned them down a lot.
The lore has basically proven that all Halo Rings hold flood in containment, I assume the new Halo's being built do not. However because we are on Zeta Halo, if you know the lore, the Flood are there.
343 Guilty spark was such any amazing way to completely pull a 180 on the games tone and surprise twist to the seemingly basic badass human vs advance alien race conflict.
Not sure why, but I always like the Flood in Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2 more. They felt weaker and less threatening in 3. I also just realised that the flood is only fought in four missions in Halo 3: Floodgate, The Covenant, Cortana, and Halo. There is also less emphasis on what I found to be the most interesting feature of the flood: the three or four way combat between humans, covenant, flood and sentinels. It gave earlier games a nice frenetic energy and strategy at times.
The combat between multiple factions is definitely where The Flood shine for me. I remember 13 year old me being blown away when I saw the Covenant and Flood battling it out in the snow on Two Betrayals (even if the rest of it was a fairly lazy backtrack)!
I've been playing Halo CE for god knows how many years and I've replayed 343 Guilty Spark countless times and I never even put two and two together when it comes to the dead marines and jackals lying next to each other. Just another superb analytical tidbit from this channel.
This is bloody good mate. I think you said enough after 11 mins and the test could of been a deeper second vid. Basically the first 11 mins being a video the actual intros of each game with great analysis. Love it tho
Thanks for the support dude! I did think about making two videos, but unfortunately there's a lot less in general to cover during the second halves of The Oracle and Floodgate than there is during 343 Guilty Spark!
I believe that floodgate has similar levels of detail when it comes to flood missions. In the opening area you can see a bunch of marine squads being cornered by combat forms.
I love how in 343 guilty spark whenever you crosshairs disappear and it has a little phrase throughout the game it’s probably something funny or dumb but in 343 guilty spark all it says is “the flood” adding more horror to the already terrifying situation.
I just found your channel and before this video was even over I added dozens of your other videos to a playlist and I’m going to binge every one of them. You’re extremely underrated.
Thanks Norty, always appreciate the support. They're essentially just space zombies, but with a little more personality - I can't wait to see how they're integrated into Halo Infinite.
One of my favorite things about the flood in Halo3, on your way to the AA gun you meet some dockworkers and an entire platoon of injured marines, and on your way back it’s as the flood are invading you get a sense of how non discriminatory the terror of the flood are
I really like the Bungie/Assemble studios era with how the flood was introduced and also the stages. Halo CE: Had that 343 mission introduction, latter on you see they are capable of using power weapons like Rockets and also camouflage & creating a proto Gravemind using Captain Keyes. Halo 2: Had the flood introduction in the installation in the gas planet near the rest of Alpha halo. Latter on you see the flood can revive bodies, operate vehicles, create floodbiomass and also a Fully Gravemind but also use the logic plague. Halo 3: Shows how the flood can operate star ships similar to the vehicles in Delta halo, also you can see the hive in the ship, the pure forms and transform immediately hosts into combat forms, also the evolution of a Keymind in high charity after consuming the entire city. Halo wars: Had the quickest introduction showing in the anders signal cutscene the external part of the shield world covered with flood, also the early introduction to pure forms and flood base structures and spores that can turned your armies into flood units, also a Proto Gravemind in a critical state near a full Gravemind and how they can turned entire planets into flood blight lands.
Agree completely, I don't find the flood the most entertaining enemy to actually fight, but the way they're introduced is usually always very memorable. Assuming they're in Infinite, I'm really excited to see what happens with them in that game - the semi-open world structure could make for something really different from what's been done previously. Personally, I'd love if they were introduced and the problem got worse over time. At first you'd meet small pockets of them here and there, but as the game went on they'd appear much more in the open world areas to indicate how quickly the infection was spreading. May be a bit much to ask, but one can dream!
Fighting the Flood in Halo Wars was a ton of fun because if you sent an underpowered group out into the blight lands, or made a single untimely mistake in directing them, they would be destroyed and turned into flood themselves. I hope 343 can deliver a good flood experience in Infinite
9:16 the biggest thing for me in halo 3 for the first encounter with the flood, and this was after the long wait where i read all the books and learned all i could about what the flood is and can do, when i saw that ship my first thought and words were "no! not them! not on earth!!" brought tears to my eyes when they started the glassing
How it feels fighting the flood in Halo 2 and 3 is like the Alien films after 1 and 2, you've dealt with it so you feel more experienced, and less scared. They really do suffer from this "Horror film sequel" effect and you just know what to expect. They just feel... there, especially in Halo 2. It reminds me of the last 2 Mazerunner films/books. Scorch Trials takes place soully in the deserted areas and focuses quite a bit on the cranks. Death Cure features them.. but they kinda just feel like they're there, and the characters act that way too, they are familiar with it. It is like losing that 'new thing' feeling, be it new clothes, new car, new phone. Sooner or later you're going to be going "Yep that's just my phone/car, I know it inside and out".
Agree completely with this. Halo 2 is especially bad as you said, the whole game feels really poorly thought out compared to Combat Evolved and 3, and the flood suffer a lot because of that.
@@BenPlaysGames They didn't feel as eerie or threatening in 2, 3 fixed it somewhat especially in Cortana, one of my favourite missions in 3, but they'll always feel the most like a threat and a "horror movie creature" in the first game, not just grotesque cannon fodder
I'd definitely also say Halo 2 is way more about the story than the game itself. I played it recently for this video and to get some footage for future videos and I really didn't enjoy the gameplay side all that much, but did thoroughly enjoy the story, especially with the reworked cinematic I'd not seen before.
I love the phrase grotesque cannon fodder! I actually intend on getting a video out before the end of the month looking at the ups and downs of the library and cortana, interesting levels to discuss.
@@BenPlaysGames Same. Up until recently I went back to play the Halo games being much older now, actually paying attention to the stories. And I loved 2s but it felt so clunky gameplay wise, I don't know if it's the MCC or if it was in the original but there's too much auto-aim and as pretty as the new graphics are, it's harder to read, the effects are TOO flashy especially when firing at the elites. I will say I prefer them way more than CE's remaster It's funny how my comments have turned into a little chit chat :D
Even if you add the expansion lore the Flood is the WEAKEST form the Precursors can manifest and that power managed to engulf the galaxy in terror for who knows how long. It even scares the in-universe humans that they are fighting their Gods but were corrupted by their older cousins(Forerunners) being jealous that humans were to be elevated or something higher as the Precursors. Familiar combined with Technological horror is great in Halo.
I must confess, I've never actually played them, although Halo Wars 2 did pique my interest because of the flood stuff - would you say they're both worth playing?
Kinda feel halo wars did a better job in the flood introduction although halo wars 2 had a better development in how the flood threat is. Halo wars 1 played with the players making then believe that the campaign was only human/covenant focused, and then you traveled to that shield world and the nightmare begins, but I will say that the Banished encounter with the flood in halo wars 2 was amazing.
@@BenPlaysGames I didn't see this reply! If you like real time strategy it's highly recommended; the story missions are open-ended and rather intriguing (especially the scarab level)
installation 07 where halo infinite takes place can introduce the flood in such an amazing way, imagine if we encounter a full fleet of banished enemies in a flood research facility underground only to be interrupted by the graveminds (assuming the gravemind survived halo 3) telepathy and it causing the flood to break containment, infect the banished and you have to fight your way out of the facility while the flood continues to spread on the surface and other parts of the ring.
i always hated how in halo 2 the flood just kinda show up. i Think a much better reveal would have been, you walk into the room where the flood and elites are fighting below you but theres a ton more fog down there so you can only hear not see the fight, its gets quiet, then a combat form screams randomly and throws something at the glass and thats when you fall through the glass and the flood are revealed
I think it was a mistake, that rather than leaning heavier into the horror atmosphere in 2 and 3, they went more for the action. They could have simply made the flood themselves more terrifying, closer to how they were in CE, or even scarier. CE has the scariest flood because of how fast they run, and the fact that you can clear all of them in an area, only to have one of the dead ones stand right back up from behind you and attack you when your back is turned, making you jump with fright. Sure 2and 3 they can be reinfected, but it's highly telegraphed, and I wish they still have the mechanic where they get back up on their own, it's so off-putting and can take you off guard. And I almost forgot to mention the spawns, CE has the maddest Flood spawning of all the games. Like how in the Library, they spawn all around you, out of vents and pipes, even dropping down from the ceiling, and always from every direction. It keeps you on your toes, and ensures that you continue to fear them. Halo 2 and 3, they mostly spawn right in front of you, so it's just not as tense
I really like your content. But your narrative is a little too factual. Throw in a joke once in a while. Also, your mic sounds like shit. Do you have Discord? Is there a way to send you one?
Thanks dude! What I would say is that this is a video from when I first started out and is very rough around the edges (was using a laptop mic!). My newer content is far, far higher quality, promise haha. Not got Discord, why do you ask?
I enjoy the escalation of the Flood, but I will say that some of the new abilities that they were given in later titles don't make sense in retrospect. The Flood being able to suddenly pilot vehicles does make sense in the context of Halo 2. They weren't organized in Halo CE yet. They needed a Gravemind to provide them with intelligence, and it's what they were trying to build with Keyes. The Flood being able to endlessly revive downed Flood corpses kinda does not though... That seems like something that would have come very much in handy as a technique in the original Halo game. I'm sure there were hardware limitations that prevented them from making this work, but it does still feel like a big, "Huh?" moment. Even more so is the Flood forms ability to just straight up hijack living and dead bodies in Halo 3. They didn't do that before! I think it's less of an issue of the forward iterations being weird and more so that the later installments showed just how limited they were with what they were working with. I assume the Flood were likely always meant to behave the exact way that they do in Halo 3, otherwise their acquisition of combat forms made no sense in the prior two games. I also think it's a big shame that they scrapped the Flood Juggernaut form from Halo 2. My understanding is that the Juggernaut was actually supposed to show up when you were looking through the glass on Oracle which is quite terrifying. The reason that scene was there *was* to frighten you, but not with just the mere concept of the Flood overwhelming a group of elites. It was to show you the brand new form overwhelming a squad of Elites, and I think the dialogue even supports this? If I recall correctly, there's dialogue from an Elite acting surprised about seeing something down below. You could assume that this person just never saw the Flood, but I think the real reason for the surprise was supposed to be the Juggernaut form. That would have certainly been quite the frightening introduction similar in style to the way the Flood were first introduced in Halo CE.
In halo 2 you have a bunch of double levels. "The oracle" is really just the second part of "the arbiter" and in that level you get severals hints towards a possible flood presence.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason why there are no elites is because it was a way for bingos to have the jackals and grunts stay in their run away faze I say this because ce’s campaign was made in just a few weeks right before release, hence how the second half just feels like doing the first half backwards
O want a game or small story where a usnc team and covenant team have to work together against the flood as far as they know there all thats left of the planet and they know they have to stop the flood at all cost form getting off world
Im really glad theyre not doing anything original with Infinite because they failed to make a compelling third faction, or even to make a compelling covenant force, So just lionize the spinoff games main antagonist that was written way better than anything 343 could have done, and drudge up the main conflict the originals hinged on and vanquished within the trilogies peak, thereby diminishing the resolution of that trilogy. Why make new ideas when you can just steal and ruin old ones?
I can never stop wondering what Jason Jones and his team had in mind / could have come up with for the levels after library, if given more time before release. As a kid, I was fascinated by seeing different aspects of the ship from Truth and Reconciliation in Keyes, and the wide open spaces from the same map used in Assault on the Control Room made an amazing cinema to really experience the Flood fighting the Covenant. So, it worked for me as a kid, I loved it , but I still really wonder. I mean, it's blatantly obvious that the point in the game whereby a new deadline was imposed upon Bungie (in order to release in concurrence with the original Xbox and be held as the game of the year) was when they had just finished or were finishing the Library, it's the last unique map in the Campaign Side note - Anyone else ever wonder endlessly as a kid why there were no more marines after 343 Guilty Spark? My best guess has always been that the flood carrier forms render them useless, the 5 marines u're typically given die within 1 encounter from those things
if you mean in halo 3, I think I was well executed. they did the hinting at them coming up twice, once subtly because we had no idea what it was, and then totally not subtle just to say ha, remember those relentless monsters you hated last time? well, they are about to come at you again. so I liked that in 3 they went another direction and just went, oh and by the way the flood are here, fight them right now
On the other hand, you get to watch them overwhelm a squad of marines led by none other than the absolute Hardass Sgt. Johnson, adding to the perception of them as a threat.
@@NoHandle44 but you do only see infection forms and when the combat forms start busting in at you after the first wave of infection forms it's like whoa shit.
Cant agree with your first statement though thr flood is just zombie game play wise. Not iconic enemy material in my opinion. The covenant is much more iconic like the demons of doom.
If my Bionicle OC (who's an energy being encased in armor) was with Chief during the level 343 Guilty Spark, and after noticing the lack of Elites during the beginning, he'd say one of the following. "Stay alert, Spartan something's not right." "Keep your head on a swivel, there's something wrong here, Spartan." And after spotting the Flood. "What in Karzahni are those?"" "By the shadows, what creatures are these?"
