Locke appears here as a leader of a small ONI squad who fail to stop a Covenant terrorist attack on the remote colony world of Sedra. Much as Forward Unto Dawn introduced the character Thomas Lasky ahead of his video game debut, Nightfall acquaints viewers with ONI Agent Jameson Locke (played by Mike Colter) prior to his appearance in Halo 5. The impact of that change is minimal, as there are no extra scenes inserted and the transitions between episodes are still pretty noticeable.Įssentially, Nightfall serves as a prequel to the upcoming Halo 5: Guardians. The only difference between the original web series and this Blu-ray cut is that the five episodes have been edited together into one continuous film. Feel free to check those out if you missed them: It eventually needs to do more with the concept of stranded space marines, and it needs to try harder to make us care about said space marines in the process.I'll stick to a general, spoiler-free review of the core Nightfall film, as I've already tackled in-depth reviews of the individual web episodes. Did Scott actually steer the project in this direction, or is it more a case of writer Paul Scheuring telling the story he thinks viewers want from a Halo series that features Scott's name? The distinction is important in the sense that Nightfall can't simply coast by on its similarities to films like Aliens and Pitch Black. There's definitely an Alien/Prometheus vibe to the show now given the hostile, barren landscape and the notion of space marines being picked off by a relentless alien nemesis. Will we learn Aiken's full back-story, or is this show merely teasing at something that's meant to be a focus in Halo 5? Even more than with the first episode, I'm extremely curious to know how much input producer Ridley Scott actually had into Nightfall's story. The question is how much Nightfall will actually delve into that mystery. There's a promising mystery there given everything we know about the Spartans says that they never retire and never have normal lives of friendship and attachment. Aiken is a former member of the Spartan program who somehow was allowed to leave and seek out a more normal life on Sedra. Locke points out the character's big hook here. On the Sedran side, only Aiken stands out as a character with potential. As the situation on the Halo grows more dire and more lives are lost, this flaw will continue to drag Nightfall down. They don't really have personality traits or a good group dynamic going. All we really learn about these characters is that they're hardcore soldiers who only care about each other don't respect the Sedran military. Locke and his team are so wooden and so generic that I don't feel anything as they begin falling before the wrath of the Hunter. The danger Nightfall faces is the fact that it's quickly turning into a survival-driven action/horror story, yet it's tough to care about most of the characters. If the visual side of things improved in this episode, the story still has quite a ways to go. But given this show's status as a free, web-based project rather than a Hollywood movie or even a broadcast TV project, the special effects are respectable enough. Sure, there were still plenty of shots where it was obvious a character was standing against a green screen. The dark lighting and terrain probably help in terms of pulling off more outlandish special effects. They also made for a more convincing and visually ambitious enemy than the lone, poorly rendered Elite. It was a novelty just to see the worms unleashed and not confined to their usual armor-clad, Fuel Rod Cannon-wielding mode from the games. This foe made for a much better action sequence than the previous episode's Elite chase. The troops squared off with another iconic Halo enemy this week in the form of a hive of Hunter worms. Thankfully, the first-person perspective shots were used sparingly rather than becoming a gimmicky crutch. It was cool to see the HUD displays in their helmets and their suit computers scanning environmental objects in a way very reminiscent of Halo 3: ODST. Again, the look and feel of Nightfall became much more Halo-y as we saw the troops suit up in full battle gear and begin their mission. And the idea that the the ONI troops have a ticking clock on their hands in terms of the scorching temperatures daylight will bring certainly adds tension to their mission. It's interesting to see such a familiar landmark from the games so fundamentally changed. Now the broken Halo is scorched by the neighboring sun and a treasure trove of dangers for our heroes. Gone are the lush, green valleys and flowing rivers of the old ringworld. The setting in this episode shifted away from the planet Sedra and to the remains of the Halo installation Master Chief destroyed in the climax of the original game.
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