343 Industries has proven that Spartan Ops can be great with Last week’s Episode Six. Episode Seven blows it out of the water, propelling Spartan Ops to new heights. This is a story worth watching. With only three episodes left for season one it was time for an invasion, Promethean and Covenant forces boarded the UNSC Infinity forcing all planet-side Spartan teams, including Crimson to return and defend their ship.
This week’s opening cinematic was particularly awesome. With tension rising between Dr. Halsey and Captain Lasky regarding her dealings with the enemy, Halsey’s thirst for knowledge once again got her into trouble. Most new fans to the series may see Dr. Catherine Halsey as a war criminal, but those who have been with the series since Nyland’s “Halo: Fall of Reach” can sympathize with her. Especially when she finds out that Capt. Lasky was keeping the fact that the Master Chief was alive, a secret from her. For her it was as if she learned that her presumed dead son was still alive.
You can read more about Dr. Halsey and the Spartan 2 program here.
http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Catherine_Elizabeth_Halsey
If the story was the candy coating of this week’s episode, then the five missions were the creamy center. Crimson’s task rips them from a planet-side firefight back to the Infinity which is under heavy assault from combined Covenant-Promethean forces. The first mission provides some much needed variety and throws in a single Mantis in for good measure. The remaining four missions take place on the Infinity itself, and here’s where things get a bit nostalgic. One mission makes your team clear a hanger bay of incoming Covenant troops, and then tasks you with disabling Covenant warheads set to blow up the Infinity. If you are familiar with Halo 2, then you may have felt like you were playing “Cairo Station”. The one downside to these missions was the repetitive back-tracking, the only stain on the elegant tapestry of Episode 7.
Spartan Ops is heading in a great direction, and moving ahead with all thrusters to Season One’s inevitable conclusion. With only three episodes left for this season and Season 2 an uncertainty, I have high hopes for the conclusion of Spartan Ops, and what it may hint at for Halo 5.
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