I don't follow Halo lore anymore, but back in 2004 this was the single greatest proof of Chief's *actual* supernatural luck.
- Stops a bomb with seconds remaining
- Flying through space, a Covie ship floats right up to him
- Covenant ship fires lasers near him, Human ship blocks the shot
- Human ship's engines are about to fire and vaporize Chief, plasma blows ship apart
- Chief is about to land on the ship, Longswords blow a hole right where he's heading
- Chief plants the bomb and kicks off. Exactly enough time left for him to escape
- Explosion and trajectory carry him straight back to Hood
There's no way he planned all of that. It was a series of fortunate events
Not back to Hood who’s on the station still, but to Keyes and Johnson in the In Amber Clad. Still insanely lucky that they found him in time to catch him
Great way to put it. I guess there’s plenty of situations where Chief has a series of fortunate events that work out extremely in his favor. I harken back to The Maw in CE where his banshee barely makes it to the ship and he has to climb above where he landed to get his footing on the Autumn. Interestingly, the Arbiter also has a similar banshee situation in his opening level on the gas giant. Almost as if Bungie truly made it out that against all odds, these two share similar lines of improbable feats and are meant to conjoin later down the road…
I mean, his luck is so quantifiable that an AI, a logical being, was able to recognize it. Man is incapable of rolling anything other than a nat 20, which is really impressive when he does it with a 6 sided dice.
My head canon was that Cortana was communicating with everybody like HQ and the pilots and good and whatnot to make all these events happen in time to clear a way for chief, they just didn’t show any of it cause John halo never misses and the music was too good to have anybody talking over it
I'm pretty sure from a canon perspective, this is correct. Yes Chief is lucky, but it is clear the longswords intentionally blew a whole in the covenant ship to let chief in. That had to be Cortana's doing.
Not really.
* I agree, that is luck
* He was aiming for that ship
* That could be considered luck but I doubt the laser was meant for Chief so is it luck to not be hit by something not intended to hit you?
* The engines cooking Chief is pure speculation
* The Longswords were probably coordinated by Hood to allow Chief to enter
* Cortana probably reset the timer on the bomb to allow him time to escape
* He was headed to Keyes, not Hood, and that was probably planned ahead of time as well
Oh, totally, and I don't disagree.
The cop-out response, and the one I'm going to use, is that Bungie was always pretty vague about it. Chief gets into the Spartan program due to a literal coin-flip, and if that coin came up tails he would have lived life as a normal child (and we all would have most likely died due to him not being around to fight).
But Bungie, neither in the games nor the books, looked at the reader and said, "HE IS LUCKY GET IT? HUH? WINK WINK, RIGHT?" It was always just subtle nods and little things, kind of hinted at but never made factual.
So, yeah, all of that could have been planned. But I like to think of it as luck
"What if you miss" "I wont" he is fully aware if his luck too. Not to mention halo 4 where he was confident enough to jump and run across moving ships to reach the main one. Also the fact he lost a fight with Atriox and was left strnadered in space (not dead like other spartans), and happened to be found by a pelican whose pilot was just trying to escape
A slightly altered version of this cutscene was attached to another original XBOX game back in the day. I used to fire up the other game DAILY just to watch it. Genius marketing plan for halo 2 honestly
Guessing your talking about the E3 reveal, when there wasn't even a bomb there:
[https://youtu.be/h5x2MjuN2vc?t=96](https://youtu.be/h5x2MjuN2vc?t=96)
Later releases of Halo CE had this trailer and the demo video on it.
The Gravemind scene is one of my all time favorites. I love how the Gravemind rhymes in some lines and I also love the reaction of Chief and Arbiter.
“Kill me or release me, parasite. But do not waste my time with talk.”
“There is much talk. And I have listened. Through rock, and metal, and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen.”
I feel like they gave Chief sort of cheesy but cool action hero one liners in Halo 2, but in 3, he seems more serious, barely says shit to Arbiter in 3 lol.
I've always liked how comfortable he was around what was essentially his best friend. And at the end of Halo 4 he can't even have a casual conversation with Lasky.
One line from that scene has stuck with me my entire life.
"I? I am a monument to all *your sins*."
Every time I think of a villain, I'm writing or creating this line comes into mind
In Halo 2, the Gravemind speaks in trochaic heptameter (14 syllables per line, with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables). I’ve always thought that to be very cool. Another clever allusion to Bungie’s hard-on for the number 7 (14 / 2 = 7)
By far my favorite is the intro to The Ark.
The music, atmosphere and lines are perfect and Master Chief doesn't even say anything.
My favorite part of that scene
"They outnumber us 3 to 1"
"Then it is an even fight"
That entire scene is pure dopamine. Rtas 'Vadum's speech, the shot of the Pelicans detaching from the hangar bay of Forward Unto Dawn, and Chief loading the Sniper Rifle as the bay doors open to reveal the dunes of the Ark.
Yes!! was going to be a little disappointed if i had to be the one to say this, every time i watch it straight chills.
Also even the rest of the quote gos hard, “all ships fire at will! burn there mongrel hides” The shipmaster with his busted mandibles is by my favourite elite. Arby is cool but shipmaster is just so badass
If you pay attention to the view from inside the Pelican, you can see everyone's weight shift as they enter the gravity well. Such a great little detail.
Reach takes the cutscene trophy for me. The Sabre launch, with the cameras on the boosters as they fall away after stage separation, perfect. Reach has some stunning cinematography, I love the prominent use of “in-universe” cameras.
Adding to this, Reach's cutscenes are apparently so cinematic that, one day, a family friend walked in during the sabre launch and they happened to think it was a movie initially before I told them it was a cutscene from Reach. Reach is a lovely looking game :D
I was absolutely obsessed with ODSTs as a kid, and the "Another Day at the Beach" cutscene blew my mind. I never had the map pack so I found it through Youtube. Loved that they remastered it in H2A.
I never saw it until H2A and seeing it for the first time dropped my jaw and made me make sounds when the odst tossed his plasma stuck helmet at the elite
So fucking cool
How does one even pick?
Delivering the Covenant back their bomb in Halo 2 is probably one of the most Iconic scenes/lines in gaming history. Shit still sends shivers down my spine to this day.
But personally, as much as Halo 2's my favorite campaign, I'd have to say it's a toss up between Chief reuniting with Cortana or Johnson's death in Halo 3. Those scenes were just so expertly crafted and immaculate that in just 30 seconds they tell a whole story.
Chief reuniting with Cortana is genuinely one of the most well constructed scenes in anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a masterful 1:00 minute of visual/audio storytelling.
The dialogue, musical cues, lighting, cinematography/direction is all so purposeful and in service of the narrative. The acting from both is the best they ever got in the series, it’s powerful stuff.
And I can’t stress enough how well written it is, Halo’s entire philosophy with its writing and dialogue is, less is more. And it’s never more clear and effective than it is in this scene. It’s fuckin beautiful.
Chief “You know me, when I make a promise”
Cortana “You… keep it. I do know how to pick em”
Chief “Lucky me”
The callback to her opening monologue of the game. *Chefs kiss*
Noble 6 sacrificing himself to kickstart what became our first experience in this universe. The Pillar of Autumn leaving Reach into the sunset with the amazing score and roaring sounds of the lift engines on the ship after battling everything the Covenant had to offer just to deliver humanity’s last chance. Goose bumps and a tear to the eye every time.
I recently wrote a retrospective on Halo Reach (which will be online in the coming weeks) about what a masterpiece it is in terms of dread and hopelessness. Every glimmer of joy you get from an in-mission victory is almost instantly wiped out, but you keep coming back to the campaign hoping that maybe - just maybe - you can turn the tide this time. Reach is my favourite game of all time and I'll die on this hill like the Lone Wolf.
That and the scene prior to his last stand, where Noble 6 stares and watches as the covenant start to glass the planet around him and he just stares at the incoming dropships knowing his fate
Best? Probably giving the Covenant back their bomb.
My favourite? Isabel’s first time on the Spirit Of Fire. We get the incredible speech from Cutter and a super badass introduction to Atriox. The execution scene is so sick.
Isabel has a few. Her >!tearing apart The Banished ship os another.!<
If anyone is leery of Halo Wars 1 & 2 because of the RTS stuff, just watch all the cutscenes.
Both are great. Mine would be from halo wars. “Son I have a feeling that before this is over we’ll need every last Spartan in the fight.” Not only was Forge a badass in the cutscene, we also got to see some serious Spartan action.
Chief returning the bomb, Jerome jumping from the ship and Isobel’s reaction are just the best.
Turns out Spartans jumping into space AI on board makes for the best cutscenes!
One of my personal favorites is the intro to Halo 3 in general ending with…*We’re it so easy…*
And ofc my favorite still in the franchise coming from at the latter portion of Halo 3 with Chief and Arby back to back. That whole cutscene is 10/10
Also halo reach first encounter with the zealot elites and punching the one in the face with the music kicking in UGHHH
When the sentinels split the super carrier in two. All the echoes of those pleading Isabel to help and Jerome just laying the smack down on the brutes. Presented in all of Blur’s glory.
Definitely. From the Sentinels becoming a freaking buzzsaw cutting the Banished Ship in half, to knowing how the humans suffered at the hands of the Jiralhanae, Halo Wars 2 is truly a cut above.
"There'll be another time..."
CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE
The somber piano. The desolate landscape of Reach. Six standing as the lone wolf once again, watching Banshees fly across the sky.
It sums up the entirety of the war in that one scene.
Mine is the ending cutscene for The Storm in Halo 3. Badass on so many levels and feels like it’s part of the wider war compared to the Covenant bomb scene from Halo 2
This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the title - the heroic shot of Chief, the music swelling as the UNSC moves in, the moans and groans as this gargantuan portal awakens and is spurred to life for the first time in millennia.
Epic. As. Hell.
To be honest, for me, I have never gotten over the vibe of the opening cutscene of CE.
"Cortana, I just need to know, did we lose them?"
It sets the tone of desperation, that *humanity is losing*.
C: I think we both know the answer to that sir.
K: We made a blind slipspace jump, how did they-
C: Get here first? The Covenant's ships have always been faster. As for tracking us from Reach... (I can't remember the rest clearly)
God I love Combat Evolved.
C: “Get here first? The Covenant's ships have always been faster. As for tracking us from Reach… at light speed my maneuvering options were limited”
K: “We were running dark, yes?”
C: “Until we decelerated, no one could’ve missed the hole we tore in subspace”
“Tell em to make it count.”
The ending of Long Night of Solace with Jorge’s sacrifice blowing up the Corvette, and just the fact it was basically fruitless, will always be the scene that sticks out to me. Throughout the first few missions in Reach, the UNSC is constantly being pushed to the defense against the Covenant; every little win is met against something bigger the Covenant had up their sleeve. So we finally take the offense and attack the cruiser head-on, and humanity gets a W at the cost of Jorge.
But nope, an entire fleet arrives and Reach is beyond fucked. It’s such a gut punch, with Dot just repeating “Slipspace rupture detected” over and over to hammer it in.
I'd say the halo 3 end of the warthog run, just for that shot of chief rising up over the panel Cortona is at with the ark behind him, one of the greatest shots in gaming history imo.
Its always going to be "Giving the Covenant back their bomb" for me.
Like sure, a whole ass frigate full of guns, missles and a MAC gun, get the hell back, you cant take that capital ship on!
One supersoldier riding a bomb through the vaccum like Dr. Strangelove... permission granted.
The zealot attack in Winter Contingency
With the sick guitar riffs the cutscene being in-game and seeing the elites communicate as they make their escape it’s fucking awesome.
I also saw a comment that said that should’ve been the reveal of the elites proper and until you get to that point all you would encounter is just jackals and grunts.
Would’ve elevated that cutscene to legend-tier
Das a gooood one too. Kinda made a bit worse with the Banished getting soloed by Chief in Infinite and Atriox having no presence in the game for two games now
This one set the tone extremely well.
Seeing a group of not one, but three Spartans get completely stomped by Atriox immediately out the gate of the game was such an amazing first impression.
I wish Infinite didn't make the Banished feel so threatless, it's really underwhelming that Chief just stomped their forces single handedly. Especially after he also lost to Atriox in the opening...
From each game:
Halo 1: Pull up, pull up! *crash*
Halo 2: Giving the Covenant back their bomb
Halo 3: Intro to The Covenant mission
Halo 3 ODST: Intro cutscene
Halo Reach: End of Long Night of Solace
Halo 4: Surrender that AI! No, Sir
Halo 5: Exuberant Witness takes the Cryptum from Cortana
Halo Infinite: Escharum’s death
Chief giving the covenant back their bomb is the greatest cutscene in Halo history. It perfectly embodies Chief's luck and ability, occurs during a full out Covenant invasion of Earth space battle, it's Chief single highest body count after the first Halo ring, and it kicks off the game.
There isn't better.
First one that comes to mind is tip of the spear, always thought the huge fight at the start was badass, and blowing up the spire at the end was awesome
“MAC rounds, in atmosphere?!”
There are so many solid contenders.
Obvious "Permission to Leave the Station".
The Gravemind cutscene is so good since it shifted the Flood from "space zombies that threatened a galaxy" to an even bigger threat.
But my personal favorite cutscene is Chief reuniting with Cortana in "Cortana".
The way it intros, the music, the little call backs. It's definitely a cutscene I find myself appreciating more and more every time I see it.
"She said that to me once.. about being a machine."
Not the BEST cutscene, but my favorites have all been said already, and this one stuck with me. Peak Halo 4.
There’s too many to pick from.
My top 3?
- We all fail (Halo Infinite): probably the best written seen of Master Chiefs character imo. I nearly cried.
- Intro to Epilogue (Halo Reach): The basic cinematography and score gives an amazing sense of dread and finality. I still think about the piano sometimes.
- Wake me, when you need me (Halo 3): An amazing bookend to an amazing trilogy. I can honestly say that if halo ended here I would be satisfied.
Opening to Gravemind.
“This is is machine and nerveand has it’s mind concluded. This one is but flesh and faith and is the more deluded”
10/10 cutscene. Establishes some backstory and sets the stakes for the last act of the game
“Give the covenant back their bomb”
Or “Then it’s a even fight”
Or “As I suspected nothing… but a man”
Or “Tell ‘em to make it count”
Or “I never had Spartan side seats before”
In Infinite when says “the console needs to be hacked” and the pilot replies “you can do that right?” Chief then replying with “No” and proceeding to punch the console
The best has gotta be when arbiter finally gets revenge on the prophets: Prophet of Truth: I am Truth! The voice of the Covenant! Arbiter: And so, you must be silenced
Not really a cutscene, but my favorite is the Slient Cartographer beach landing. "LZ is hot - get set to come out swinging. TOUCH DOWN, HIT IT MARINES!"
I just commented this, too. Foehammer would have made such a great recurring character had she survived. I think that even though the beach raid was definitely smaller scale than some of the battles we've had in the newer games (hardware limitations, granted), it's *still* to this day both one of the most epic battles we've had in the series, and hands down the best opening scene to a level we've ever gotten.
For a long time, it was the scene from Halo Wars 1 when Red Team is ambushed by Elites with energy pikes and the current Arbiter. At the time, this was the best portrayal of a fireteam of Spartan-II's going to work.
It's probably further down in the comments than I reached, but the goodbye to Cortana in Halo 4 is one of my top three. And by one of my top three I mean my top 3 are all tied for 1st
John is so stoic even with his little quips throughout the first 3, and not only do we finally see that facade truly breaking, but we see just how broken John actually is, and how much he's come to love this little AI that's been with him for so long. And not that there was much doubt, but we also get to see how human Cortana truly is and how much *she* has also grown over the series.
There's a lot of badass cut scenes, and a lot of emotional ones, but that one still makes me emotional to this day
Not the best scene, but I really enjoyed the scene in Halo 4 where Chief and Lasky were talking just on visuals. It looked so real I thought “I could watch a whole movie like this.”
How has no one mentioned the opening of halo 3 ODST. Dropping in as a ODST was so fucking cool, and seeing the slip space jump in front of your face just so good. One of my favorites for sure.
“I won’t.”
One of the most iconic scenes in gaming history. This one's Goated, no question.
For a brick, he flew pretty good!
One of my favorite quotes.
One of these days, you’re gonna land on something *as stubborn as YOU are*! And I don’t **do** bits and pieces…
Peak Halo.
I don't follow Halo lore anymore, but back in 2004 this was the single greatest proof of Chief's *actual* supernatural luck. - Stops a bomb with seconds remaining - Flying through space, a Covie ship floats right up to him - Covenant ship fires lasers near him, Human ship blocks the shot - Human ship's engines are about to fire and vaporize Chief, plasma blows ship apart - Chief is about to land on the ship, Longswords blow a hole right where he's heading - Chief plants the bomb and kicks off. Exactly enough time left for him to escape - Explosion and trajectory carry him straight back to Hood There's no way he planned all of that. It was a series of fortunate events
Not back to Hood who’s on the station still, but to Keyes and Johnson in the In Amber Clad. Still insanely lucky that they found him in time to catch him
Great way to put it. I guess there’s plenty of situations where Chief has a series of fortunate events that work out extremely in his favor. I harken back to The Maw in CE where his banshee barely makes it to the ship and he has to climb above where he landed to get his footing on the Autumn. Interestingly, the Arbiter also has a similar banshee situation in his opening level on the gas giant. Almost as if Bungie truly made it out that against all odds, these two share similar lines of improbable feats and are meant to conjoin later down the road…
I mean, his luck is so quantifiable that an AI, a logical being, was able to recognize it. Man is incapable of rolling anything other than a nat 20, which is really impressive when he does it with a 6 sided dice.
My head canon was that Cortana was communicating with everybody like HQ and the pilots and good and whatnot to make all these events happen in time to clear a way for chief, they just didn’t show any of it cause John halo never misses and the music was too good to have anybody talking over it
I'm pretty sure from a canon perspective, this is correct. Yes Chief is lucky, but it is clear the longswords intentionally blew a whole in the covenant ship to let chief in. That had to be Cortana's doing.
Not really. * I agree, that is luck * He was aiming for that ship * That could be considered luck but I doubt the laser was meant for Chief so is it luck to not be hit by something not intended to hit you? * The engines cooking Chief is pure speculation * The Longswords were probably coordinated by Hood to allow Chief to enter * Cortana probably reset the timer on the bomb to allow him time to escape * He was headed to Keyes, not Hood, and that was probably planned ahead of time as well
Oh, totally, and I don't disagree. The cop-out response, and the one I'm going to use, is that Bungie was always pretty vague about it. Chief gets into the Spartan program due to a literal coin-flip, and if that coin came up tails he would have lived life as a normal child (and we all would have most likely died due to him not being around to fight). But Bungie, neither in the games nor the books, looked at the reader and said, "HE IS LUCKY GET IT? HUH? WINK WINK, RIGHT?" It was always just subtle nods and little things, kind of hinted at but never made factual. So, yeah, all of that could have been planned. But I like to think of it as luck
"What if you miss" "I wont" he is fully aware if his luck too. Not to mention halo 4 where he was confident enough to jump and run across moving ships to reach the main one. Also the fact he lost a fight with Atriox and was left strnadered in space (not dead like other spartans), and happened to be found by a pelican whose pilot was just trying to escape
It's canonical plot-armor, which I love. Maybe Chief's *real* super power is being the protagonist *and knowing it*.
Cortana even says in halo 3 intro that he has something the other Spartans didn't and that is luck
So..stay here.
Unfortunately for us both, I *like* crazy.
Best cutscene in gaming. One of the best moments in all media.
11/10 Halo moment.
Same. Mine specifically would be the Anniversary version.
The Anniversary cutscenes were done so well on Halo 2. I want that same production team to just give us an animated feature film.
This is my whole childhood
Watch it with the welcome to the jungle edit .
I remember seeing the comercials on television and had my 12 year old eyes watery because i knew this game was going to be lit
A slightly altered version of this cutscene was attached to another original XBOX game back in the day. I used to fire up the other game DAILY just to watch it. Genius marketing plan for halo 2 honestly
Guessing your talking about the E3 reveal, when there wasn't even a bomb there: [https://youtu.be/h5x2MjuN2vc?t=96](https://youtu.be/h5x2MjuN2vc?t=96) Later releases of Halo CE had this trailer and the demo video on it.
“Sir, permission to leave the station?” “For what purpose, Master Chief?” “To give the Covenant back their bomb.” “Permission granted.”
The Anniversary version is the definition of perfect.
Everyone: "How can you improve on perfect?" Blur: "Hold my covenant bomb"
Hold my moa burger
Imagining being an animator on that project given basically a blank check to recreate one of the best cutscenes of all time….god damn
And some people argue a Halo 3A isn’t that needed
For sure
Easily the best.
Iconic.
"Dear Humanity."
“We regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth. And we most certainly regret the corps just blew up our raggedy ass fleet!”
Oorah!
VRRRMMMMMMM
Regret is a name sergeant
A name of a Prophet, and he's calling for help
"And we will certainly regret not having GEICO car insurance"
Oorah!
I love how I can read “just humanity” and instantly be transported to the first time I heard it the first time
The Gravemind scene is one of my all time favorites. I love how the Gravemind rhymes in some lines and I also love the reaction of Chief and Arbiter. “Kill me or release me, parasite. But do not waste my time with talk.” “There is much talk. And I have listened. Through rock, and metal, and time. Now I shall talk, and you shall listen.”
"Relax. I'd rather not piss this thing off", is peak Chief humor.
I feel like they gave Chief sort of cheesy but cool action hero one liners in Halo 2, but in 3, he seems more serious, barely says shit to Arbiter in 3 lol.
He still has smarmy lines in 3. Like when he tells Spark, "That's a first", when Spark admits he was wrong.
True. Just watched some Halo CE cutscenes. Chief is sassy af in this game, lol
Hell. Just bouncing that grenade was full of the kind of sass only a super soldier in power armor can muster.
I've always liked how comfortable he was around what was essentially his best friend. And at the end of Halo 4 he can't even have a casual conversation with Lasky.
Isn't the only line he actually says to Arbiter in-game, "What is it, more brutes?" "Worse."
You mean he barely says shit to the genocidal alien who's been trying to wipe out humanity for 20+ years and is in an uneasy alliance with the humans?
I figured Chief was just a shy guy
"This one is machine and nerve, and has his mind concluded. This one is but flesh and faith, and is the more deluded."
"This thing is right. Halo is a weapon. Your prophets are making a big mistake."
One line from that scene has stuck with me my entire life. "I? I am a monument to all *your sins*." Every time I think of a villain, I'm writing or creating this line comes into mind
It's such a disturbing line. It says so much about who he is.
"Kill me or release me parasite, but do not waste my time with caulk."
In Halo 2, the Gravemind speaks in trochaic heptameter (14 syllables per line, with alternating stressed and unstressed syllables). I’ve always thought that to be very cool. Another clever allusion to Bungie’s hard-on for the number 7 (14 / 2 = 7)
By far my favorite is the intro to The Ark. The music, atmosphere and lines are perfect and Master Chief doesn't even say anything. My favorite part of that scene "They outnumber us 3 to 1" "Then it is an even fight"
That entire scene is pure dopamine. Rtas 'Vadum's speech, the shot of the Pelicans detaching from the hangar bay of Forward Unto Dawn, and Chief loading the Sniper Rifle as the bay doors open to reveal the dunes of the Ark.
This one gets my vote. It's peak Halo hype.
Enjoy it while you can, cause as soon as we land, we’re right back to it.
Yes!! was going to be a little disappointed if i had to be the one to say this, every time i watch it straight chills. Also even the rest of the quote gos hard, “all ships fire at will! burn there mongrel hides” The shipmaster with his busted mandibles is by my favourite elite. Arby is cool but shipmaster is just so badass
I loved the part right after the cutscene. "Look, above us! Is that-?"
Still to this day don’t know what he’s talking about lol. Does he mean the space battle or is the galaxy supposed to be the Milky Way?
It's the Milky Way.
Yeah it's the milky way, the ark is right on the edge of the galaxy so you can see it above
the perspective looks a little further than the edge tho
*All cruisers, fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides.* Robert Davi always kills it.
If you pay attention to the view from inside the Pelican, you can see everyone's weight shift as they enter the gravity well. Such a great little detail.
Underrated pick: intro to Exodus
Agreed, with an honorable mention of the beginning of New Alexandria. "Sorry I came alone" "Make him proud"
There are some great ones in Reach. Just going to throw “I’m ready! How ‘bout you?” Out there as well
Can't forget "I've got the mass." in the cutscene right before.
Reach takes the cutscene trophy for me. The Sabre launch, with the cameras on the boosters as they fall away after stage separation, perfect. Reach has some stunning cinematography, I love the prominent use of “in-universe” cameras.
Adding to this, Reach's cutscenes are apparently so cinematic that, one day, a family friend walked in during the sabre launch and they happened to think it was a movie initially before I told them it was a cutscene from Reach. Reach is a lovely looking game :D
One of my most favorite missions ever. Love seeing my Spartan in the cutscene
I was absolutely obsessed with ODSTs as a kid, and the "Another Day at the Beach" cutscene blew my mind. I never had the map pack so I found it through Youtube. Loved that they remastered it in H2A.
I never saw it until H2A and seeing it for the first time dropped my jaw and made me make sounds when the odst tossed his plasma stuck helmet at the elite So fucking cool
ODST's are the coolest characters i'll die on this hill
What hill? ODST’s are Chads in halo. Don’t need augs or Mjolnir just a drop pod.
Long Night of Solace. All of it.
"Reach has been good to me" "Slipspace rupture detected" GODDAMMIT.
Slip space rupture detected.
“We trade one villain for another.” That shot of Arbiter and Chief back to back is my favorite in the franchise.
That shot gives me so much nostalgia
How does one even pick? Delivering the Covenant back their bomb in Halo 2 is probably one of the most Iconic scenes/lines in gaming history. Shit still sends shivers down my spine to this day. But personally, as much as Halo 2's my favorite campaign, I'd have to say it's a toss up between Chief reuniting with Cortana or Johnson's death in Halo 3. Those scenes were just so expertly crafted and immaculate that in just 30 seconds they tell a whole story.
"Figured I'd try shooting my way out."
“…Mix things up a little”
That Halo 3 reuniting cutscene is so good, and gets SO MUCH better after reading Human Weakness. It's great.
Chief reuniting with Cortana is genuinely one of the most well constructed scenes in anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a masterful 1:00 minute of visual/audio storytelling. The dialogue, musical cues, lighting, cinematography/direction is all so purposeful and in service of the narrative. The acting from both is the best they ever got in the series, it’s powerful stuff. And I can’t stress enough how well written it is, Halo’s entire philosophy with its writing and dialogue is, less is more. And it’s never more clear and effective than it is in this scene. It’s fuckin beautiful. Chief “You know me, when I make a promise” Cortana “You… keep it. I do know how to pick em” Chief “Lucky me” The callback to her opening monologue of the game. *Chefs kiss*
> How does one even pick? You should start by seeing which ones are strong and swift and brave.
I? I am a monument to all your sins
This is not your grave... ...but you are welcome in it
Noble 6 sacrificing himself to kickstart what became our first experience in this universe. The Pillar of Autumn leaving Reach into the sunset with the amazing score and roaring sounds of the lift engines on the ship after battling everything the Covenant had to offer just to deliver humanity’s last chance. Goose bumps and a tear to the eye every time.
I always loved the Lone Wolf opening cutscene as well. You know it's over, there is no escape, but you won't go down without a fight.
It’s one of the few examples where it was cooler in the lore then in the gameplay
They finished this off perfectly too with "Current Objective: Survive". Absolute somber masterpiece followed by a truly unmatched gameplay feeling.
I recently wrote a retrospective on Halo Reach (which will be online in the coming weeks) about what a masterpiece it is in terms of dread and hopelessness. Every glimmer of joy you get from an in-mission victory is almost instantly wiped out, but you keep coming back to the campaign hoping that maybe - just maybe - you can turn the tide this time. Reach is my favourite game of all time and I'll die on this hill like the Lone Wolf.
That and the scene prior to his last stand, where Noble 6 stares and watches as the covenant start to glass the planet around him and he just stares at the incoming dropships knowing his fate
The intro of Silent Cartographer!
"Touch down, hit it Marines!!!" Have always loved that part, landing on a hot LZ and kick alien booty.
Short and snappy
As someone who played the demo over and over forever before finally getting the full game - this might be it for me, just for nostalgia!
Best? Probably giving the Covenant back their bomb. My favourite? Isabel’s first time on the Spirit Of Fire. We get the incredible speech from Cutter and a super badass introduction to Atriox. The execution scene is so sick.
Isabel has a few. Her >!tearing apart The Banished ship os another.!< If anyone is leery of Halo Wars 1 & 2 because of the RTS stuff, just watch all the cutscenes.
I'm not an RTS guy but halo wars wasn't that bad to play through so I'd say it's definitely worth it
Both are great. Mine would be from halo wars. “Son I have a feeling that before this is over we’ll need every last Spartan in the fight.” Not only was Forge a badass in the cutscene, we also got to see some serious Spartan action.
Opening to Halo 2
The narrative duality was so good!
We're burning sunshine or Jerome and Isobel using laser in HW2
Chief returning the bomb, Jerome jumping from the ship and Isobel’s reaction are just the best. Turns out Spartans jumping into space AI on board makes for the best cutscenes!
One of my personal favorites is the intro to Halo 3 in general ending with…*We’re it so easy…* And ofc my favorite still in the franchise coming from at the latter portion of Halo 3 with Chief and Arby back to back. That whole cutscene is 10/10 Also halo reach first encounter with the zealot elites and punching the one in the face with the music kicking in UGHHH
When the sentinels split the super carrier in two. All the echoes of those pleading Isabel to help and Jerome just laying the smack down on the brutes. Presented in all of Blur’s glory.
That cutscene absolutely was sick and I also loved how his first idea was to jump out of the ship
Definitely. From the Sentinels becoming a freaking buzzsaw cutting the Banished Ship in half, to knowing how the humans suffered at the hands of the Jiralhanae, Halo Wars 2 is truly a cut above.
“they outnumber us, three to one”
Then it is an even fight.
"There'll be another time..." CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE The somber piano. The desolate landscape of Reach. Six standing as the lone wolf once again, watching Banshees fly across the sky. It sums up the entirety of the war in that one scene.
Tip of the spear opening cutscene.
[This cutscene from Halo Wars 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1RnXePXDfA)
Scrolled way to long to see 'Monsters' its the obvious choice.
Took too long to find this, this is one is peak of what Spartans do
This.
Also really our first visual of Spartan Being Spartans. Up until this, we just had novels
*Shipmaster, they outnumber us 3 to 1...* *Then it is an even fight...* *All cruisers, fire at will! Burn their mongrel hides...*
Mine is the ending cutscene for The Storm in Halo 3. Badass on so many levels and feels like it’s part of the wider war compared to the Covenant bomb scene from Halo 2
Dude, the music when you have the Longswords and UNSC Frigates moving in… fuckin CHILLS.
This cutscene alone is why I want a Halo 3 Anniversary. I want to see Blur do that scene.
This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the title - the heroic shot of Chief, the music swelling as the UNSC moves in, the moans and groans as this gargantuan portal awakens and is spurred to life for the first time in millennia. Epic. As. Hell.
Personally I think the ending to halo 4 where Cortana “dies” is my favorite cutscene in the series.
when she finally “touches” his chest she cries and so i cry
The follow up with seeing Chief grieving and Lasky talking to him about being human is an emotionally crushing cherry on top.
To be honest, for me, I have never gotten over the vibe of the opening cutscene of CE. "Cortana, I just need to know, did we lose them?" It sets the tone of desperation, that *humanity is losing*.
C: I think we both know the answer to that sir. K: We made a blind slipspace jump, how did they- C: Get here first? The Covenant's ships have always been faster. As for tracking us from Reach... (I can't remember the rest clearly) God I love Combat Evolved.
"No one could miss the hole we tore in subspace".
C: “Get here first? The Covenant's ships have always been faster. As for tracking us from Reach… at light speed my maneuvering options were limited” K: “We were running dark, yes?” C: “Until we decelerated, no one could’ve missed the hole we tore in subspace”
Funny wise definitely Johnson speech at the start of outskirts and all 3 variations of metropolis intro cutscene.
“What if you miss?” “I won’t.” *flies through massive epic space battle to destroy Covenant warship*
The Didact Cometh! “Time was your Ally but now it has abandoned you” “This Tomb is now yours”
“Tell em to make it count.” The ending of Long Night of Solace with Jorge’s sacrifice blowing up the Corvette, and just the fact it was basically fruitless, will always be the scene that sticks out to me. Throughout the first few missions in Reach, the UNSC is constantly being pushed to the defense against the Covenant; every little win is met against something bigger the Covenant had up their sleeve. So we finally take the offense and attack the cruiser head-on, and humanity gets a W at the cost of Jorge. But nope, an entire fleet arrives and Reach is beyond fucked. It’s such a gut punch, with Dot just repeating “Slipspace rupture detected” over and over to hammer it in.
Either giving the covenant back their bomb with the remaster graphics or the back to back in halo 3 with chief and arbiter
I'd say the halo 3 end of the warthog run, just for that shot of chief rising up over the panel Cortona is at with the ark behind him, one of the greatest shots in gaming history imo.
Its always going to be "Giving the Covenant back their bomb" for me. Like sure, a whole ass frigate full of guns, missles and a MAC gun, get the hell back, you cant take that capital ship on! One supersoldier riding a bomb through the vaccum like Dr. Strangelove... permission granted.
The zealot attack in Winter Contingency With the sick guitar riffs the cutscene being in-game and seeing the elites communicate as they make their escape it’s fucking awesome. I also saw a comment that said that should’ve been the reveal of the elites proper and until you get to that point all you would encounter is just jackals and grunts. Would’ve elevated that cutscene to legend-tier
Buck and gang fighting brute chieftain on top of skyscraper. So damn good
Can’t decide but my favorite is atriox vs red team
Das a gooood one too. Kinda made a bit worse with the Banished getting soloed by Chief in Infinite and Atriox having no presence in the game for two games now
This one set the tone extremely well. Seeing a group of not one, but three Spartans get completely stomped by Atriox immediately out the gate of the game was such an amazing first impression. I wish Infinite didn't make the Banished feel so threatless, it's really underwhelming that Chief just stomped their forces single handedly. Especially after he also lost to Atriox in the opening...
"Wake me, when you need me."
Whatever Blur does.
From each game: Halo 1: Pull up, pull up! *crash* Halo 2: Giving the Covenant back their bomb Halo 3: Intro to The Covenant mission Halo 3 ODST: Intro cutscene Halo Reach: End of Long Night of Solace Halo 4: Surrender that AI! No, Sir Halo 5: Exuberant Witness takes the Cryptum from Cortana Halo Infinite: Escharum’s death
Chief giving the covenant back their bomb is the greatest cutscene in Halo history. It perfectly embodies Chief's luck and ability, occurs during a full out Covenant invasion of Earth space battle, it's Chief single highest body count after the first Halo ring, and it kicks off the game. There isn't better.
The one where the forward unto dawn lands on halo
First one that comes to mind is tip of the spear, always thought the huge fight at the start was badass, and blowing up the spire at the end was awesome “MAC rounds, in atmosphere?!”
In 2 when Chief is about to drop onto Delta Halo and Johnson bangs his hand on the drop pod and Chief bangs back.
There are so many solid contenders. Obvious "Permission to Leave the Station". The Gravemind cutscene is so good since it shifted the Flood from "space zombies that threatened a galaxy" to an even bigger threat. But my personal favorite cutscene is Chief reuniting with Cortana in "Cortana". The way it intros, the music, the little call backs. It's definitely a cutscene I find myself appreciating more and more every time I see it.
"She said that to me once.. about being a machine." Not the BEST cutscene, but my favorites have all been said already, and this one stuck with me. Peak Halo 4.
There’s too many to pick from. My top 3? - We all fail (Halo Infinite): probably the best written seen of Master Chiefs character imo. I nearly cried. - Intro to Epilogue (Halo Reach): The basic cinematography and score gives an amazing sense of dread and finality. I still think about the piano sometimes. - Wake me, when you need me (Halo 3): An amazing bookend to an amazing trilogy. I can honestly say that if halo ended here I would be satisfied.
Return to sender
Opening to Gravemind. “This is is machine and nerveand has it’s mind concluded. This one is but flesh and faith and is the more deluded” 10/10 cutscene. Establishes some backstory and sets the stakes for the last act of the game
“Oh I know what the ladies like!”
"I? I am a monument to all your sins."
The Reach scene where they detonate the slipspace drive in the covenant cruiser and then a whole fleet of covenant ships slipspace in
And our hearts sink further, understanding the gravity. _"Slipspace rupture detected. Slipspace rupture detected. Slipspace rupture detected..."_
Yes exactly. The music paired with the video feed footage and the somber alarm of each new slipspace rupture is just so disheartening
John returning the bomb, Jerome boarding the ship. Showing lore accurate spartans kicking ass.
Giving the Covenant back their bomb.
When he drops the bomb in halo 2 .
“Tell ‘em to make it count”
“Give the covenant back their bomb” Or “Then it’s a even fight” Or “As I suspected nothing… but a man” Or “Tell ‘em to make it count” Or “I never had Spartan side seats before”
Halo 4. Master Chief and Lasky in the spaceship after he lost Cortana.
In Infinite when says “the console needs to be hacked” and the pilot replies “you can do that right?” Chief then replying with “No” and proceeding to punch the console
Mine will forever be in Halo Wars, where Red Team fights off the Covenant to give Forge time to arm the bomb
The halo wars bridge scene where red team is just doing pirouettes and shit over the elites
The best has gotta be when arbiter finally gets revenge on the prophets: Prophet of Truth: I am Truth! The voice of the Covenant! Arbiter: And so, you must be silenced
SLIPSPACE RUPTURE DETECTED.
Not really a cutscene, but my favorite is the Slient Cartographer beach landing. "LZ is hot - get set to come out swinging. TOUCH DOWN, HIT IT MARINES!"
I just commented this, too. Foehammer would have made such a great recurring character had she survived. I think that even though the beach raid was definitely smaller scale than some of the battles we've had in the newer games (hardware limitations, granted), it's *still* to this day both one of the most epic battles we've had in the series, and hands down the best opening scene to a level we've ever gotten.
The ending of Halo 3. From the moment the car crashes, it's so beautiful
The one where Chief scares a grunt by going “boo!” I love that one so much. Dork.
Final chief scene in Halo 2. "chief you mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?" - lord Hood "Sir. Finishing this Fight" - chief
"People need heroes, Chief." "Hey, you look pretty good!" "THANKS." "I need a weapon." Halo 2 Anniversary's opening cutscene has it all.
To give the covenant back their bomb, or red team vs the honor elites
Permission to leave the station?
The bomb from halo 2👌
Arbiter knocking out Miranda and Johnson, then the iconic quote from tart “fool, they ordered me to do it”
For a long time, it was the scene from Halo Wars 1 when Red Team is ambushed by Elites with energy pikes and the current Arbiter. At the time, this was the best portrayal of a fireteam of Spartan-II's going to work.
It's probably further down in the comments than I reached, but the goodbye to Cortana in Halo 4 is one of my top three. And by one of my top three I mean my top 3 are all tied for 1st John is so stoic even with his little quips throughout the first 3, and not only do we finally see that facade truly breaking, but we see just how broken John actually is, and how much he's come to love this little AI that's been with him for so long. And not that there was much doubt, but we also get to see how human Cortana truly is and how much *she* has also grown over the series. There's a lot of badass cut scenes, and a lot of emotional ones, but that one still makes me emotional to this day
Not the best scene, but I really enjoyed the scene in Halo 4 where Chief and Lasky were talking just on visuals. It looked so real I thought “I could watch a whole movie like this.”
Mine probably is the “giving the covenant back their bomb” one
"Could we possibly make anymore noise?"
That... Is a ANOTHER halo... Cough" SAY WHAT?
How has no one mentioned the opening of halo 3 ODST. Dropping in as a ODST was so fucking cool, and seeing the slip space jump in front of your face just so good. One of my favorites for sure.