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Much as we love the game, and as much as we give credit to the dialogue and its creators, there nevertheless are a few lines in Halo that consistently elicit groans from sharp-eared Story enthusiasts. Stalwart geezer Miguel Chavez checks in with his impressions of one of these lines.
Miguel Chavez (bs@bungie.org) writes:
"I'll try Sir. But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down."
Can we finally lay this to rest? On the one hand there are the realities of making a 'cinematic game' have a smooth and continuing rhythm. If the marines did encounter a door that was truly locked down with a visual equivalent of everything but the kitchen sink, the whole cutscene would've been much lengthier and tedious. But the whole point of that sequence is to GET YOU inside so you can see the terrible fate that awaits our fellow marines, and scare the bejesus out of you in the process.
Secondly, who's to say Covenant tech is not all that plain to see to the naked eye? The door could have the most massive encryption/krazy glue seals known in the universe. But covered under the nice smooth finish of Covie-Plastic(tm).
And finally... let's go over what he says again. If you break it down to the essentials, and then work it back up again to with a little extra length, it may better read like this:
"I'll try to open this door, but I'm looking at what the Covenant *WORKED* pretty hard to lock it down with, but since I'm saying it in the past tense and the verb is WORK, that doesn't mean they actually SUCCEEDED. But still, it's the most I've ever seen them *TRY* to lock one door down. Shouldn't be a problem with this mini-Cortana-like device I just happen to have here next to my smokes. Have any pancakes, btw?"
Okay, okay, we won't give Pandor... er, Mendoza a hard time about the apparent difficulties with the door anymore. I suppose it would have been nice after all if the Covenant had tried a little harder to lock it down. You know, with the virulent scourge of the galaxy behind it and all. Then again, it's not like the Covenant are known for their sense of galactic responsibility, right?
-mnemesis
