I’m not talking gameplay wise, I’m talking story wise. What do you think about the back story of why Spartan IVs exist?

Given where the story is, it made sense to make the next-gen of Spartans from existing soldiers. The idea of using children as soldiers, while not new (it’s used all the time in guerilla warfare), is still appalling. We didn’t connect to that with Halo as it wasn’t mentioned in the games. Not until the novels were written did we really know the backstory of how they became Spartans.

With Spartan IIIs, they were similar to SIIs in some respects. Not as enhanced as their predecessors, they still have some augmentations that made them more capable that the regular soldier.

Those two programs were scrapped. Too expensive and controversial was the Spartan II program. The Spartan III program for near the same reasons.

Having the everyday (albeit exceptionally talented/skilled) solider being able to become a spartan gives hope to every soldier who wants to heed that higher call. As gamers we can see ourselves ascending to that higher calling too. The only SII we’ve been able to play as is Master Chief. I think we can agree that he’s a separate entity unto himself.

SIIIs came closer to being individualized. While we can modify our armor, we are still super soldiers to a degree. Something we mere humans can’t yet attain.

SIVs do give us that shot. Only the best of ODSTs and Marines are chosen. Some of us would like to think that we could do that. This helps to personalize the experience for we gamers. With the inclusion of Spartan Ops, we are “growing” along with our character. Now ranking up matters. It’s not just a number. (Well, not to we hard core fans)

I happen to really like the direction this is going. When I first heard it without any explanation, I was like, “huh?” Then after getting some clarification I was like, “oh.” Now it just makes sense in the evolution of the franchise.

-HFFL