Thoughts on Halo Nightfall?

I didn't really see anyone talking about it in the forums, so I thought I'd bring up the subject. What did everyone else think of the Halo Nightfall episodes?

I'm assuming everyone here has watched them, so... Spoilers inbound!

Going into it, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I thought it started off with some potential in the first episode, but then I felt like everything became really straight-forward and predictable for most of the other 4 episodes.

I was disappointed that there weren't more elites and other familiar enemies fighting the group. This is Halo, after all - there should have been some friggin alien battles! And the idea of Hunter worms sounded neat at first, but then they were kind of more powerful than an actual Hunter in its armor and were kind of like worse than the Flood lol. Idk, they didn't really explain what those things were very well.

They didn't explain what the deal was with that disease that made everyone's veins turn black, either.

I thought the 'second stories' were an interesting concept, and did add some depth to this story that was created within the Halo universe. But I thought watching most of them was kind of boring, and like most of what was being talked about in them didn't really add much to the main episodes or matter much overall. It seemed like most of them were meant to increase the viewer's feelings of severity, and that's about all. My favorite second stories were the ones where we saw more of the colonists and ONI prior to the events of them going to the Halo shard.

As much as I liked the refreshing new perspective from the colonists' side, seeing the way some ONI soldiers truly operate from the inside, I couldn't help but feel like it was all very glum. When I think back to Halo 3 ODST, I seem to remember a much more likable bunch in Buck and his crew, under ONI. The group of ONI soldiers in Nightfall were some really corrupt, with the exception of Locke. I get that Halo has always taken the time to show the realities of war and the deaths of many characters, but it has always mixed that with a lot of other things. Nightfall did not.

Tonally, I don't think it felt like Halo. Visually, I think they did a decent job. I'm not sure if anything that happened in Nightfall will really matter in the grand scope of Halo 5, but I think the main thing to take from it is the concept from the last episode - a soldier can could live to kill, or die to save lives.

I actually had a little theory that I came up with before Nightfall began, about how this story might pertain to Locke's story in Halo 5 after he becomes a SPARTAN. I wonder if Master Chief has become difficult to find because he underwent a similar procedure to Randall and had his Mjolnir armor removed? A part of me wanted to question whether Randall could actually be Master Chief, but then Chief doesn't have an English accent. And if Master Chief is dead, they've gotta find a way to bring him back pronto! O.O;

It was entertaining enough, I looked forward to the new episodes. It was short. But I guess I feel like I still don't really have enough information to know how this ties into Halo 5, or why it really matters yet.

What did everyone else think?

I'm not into it...I wanted to be.

I saw Hobbit 3 today and I feel like there are better things to watch that I need to catch up on is part of the problem.

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EDIT: I watched the first episode and I got bored to be honest. I don't think it's very compelling.

@Ovirew: Yeah I didn't mind it... it was a low budget mini-series so I didn't have high expectations. I agree it didn't explain things very well, but I guess that'll come in Halo 5.

My biggest gripe though is that we learnt very little about Locke himself. Since he is a big part of H5, I would've liked to have learnt a little more about him.

I'm liking it so far but I only watched the first 2 episodes, I was busy watching The Walking dead recently. So far the story is good and I like the props, the assault rifle looks the same as in game. The actors are overall pretty decent. Will comment more once I watch the rest, but this is definitely a show I want to keep wathing.

Yeah I fully agree, would have been nice to get to know the character of Locke better. I thought it was especially strange how he angrily squashed the one worm at the end of episode 2 or so. Like I'm not sure what that was supposed to show as far as his personality, if anything. Maybe it was meant to make you question whether he is a killer or a saver.

To me personally, ONI/ODST/UNSC soldiers in general isn't what interested me about the Halo series. Spartans and specifically 117 are what make Halo the series it is for me (Yes, I know Spartans are part of the UNSC). This series so far is a bunch of people going on a hike on a blown up Halo ring getting attacked by worms. It's dumb. The plot is dumb, the lack of character depth is dumb, the enemies are god damn worms, and this show is a 5/10. Give me a show where 117 kicks the ever living piss out of the Covenant, then it will be worthy of the Halo title imo. And Forward into Dawn started as below average but got really good at the end. I'd like to see a continuation of that in a TV series.

*The new species they introduced in the first episode just looks like a normal guy with a halloween mask, should have been a junkie Human who didn't know better.

*People firing shots in a mall, and no one notices.

*a 7 foot tall elite waltzes into a crowded mall, completely undetected by people.

*the weapons they shoot in the show sound and act strange. (assault rifle shoots 1 shot at a time for example)

*while watching the show, some second screen experience bull crap pops up in the middle of the screen several times an episode. It completely breaks what little focus and immersion the show can muster out of me.

I will continue watching it though since they are establishing a new character into the games.

I've only watched the first two episodes so far. imo it's not as bad as the complaints I'm reading online.

That's how I felt watching the first episode and seeing the previews for the next episode. The next episode started and I turned it off. It's just not compelling TV. My standards are high for TV, I don't just watch whatever is on the boob tube.

There are better TV programs on the air right now from The Americans to Fargo to Hannibal to Marco Polo to Tyrant to Breaking Bad to 24, etc. Even the Flash is better because it's staring the main character, The Flash. It's tough to watch this when it's dealing with a bunch of characters I don't care about. It's the same reason I don't like Marvel's Agents of Shield or Gotham. I like Batman, not Gotham. I wouldn't read the comic and the TV is very disappointing. It's a bunch of characters in Shield and Gotham I don't care about involved in dumb stories. They try to draw the fans in by involving the universe, but then they make a lame show and it's just hard to watch. I'd rather play Halo.

On the flipside, I know others will take anything related to their favorite things and may be more welcoming but I just feel that life is too short to settle. I would love a great Halo TV show, but I won't just watch anything they put out.

I watched the first episode last night. It didn't really appeal to me. I understand what they are attempting, but I think they were too focused on the name HALO and not the universe of Halo. I am going to stick to the books. They are more insightful and more in-depth.

Boring characters and just all around campy. I watched 2 or 3 episodes and didn't bother continuing. I'll finish it someday...