It has now been 2 months, since March 23, 2022 to be exact, that the TV series Halo The Series has been broadcast on the Paramount+ platform. In France, it is Canal+ which has recovered the rights and it is possible to see the live adventures of the Master Chief since April 28th. The series, which enjoys a substantial budget and certain ambitions, is the subject of strong criticism from the side of the players, who do not seem to find the atmosphere of video games. Some recognize the challenge and the ambition, but they deplore editorial choices that are too far removed from the original material. The Master Chief’s nude scenes, for example, have been criticized a lot, because in the video games, we never see the face of the Spartan leader, whereas in the series, he does not hesitate to show his buttocks.
Marcus Lehto, the co-creator of the Halo franchise, also gave his opinion on the series, responding to the tweet of a user who asked him about the question, and in particular the strong criticism. For Marcus Lehto, this Halo in TV series is unfortunately not that he did, and he even wonders where all this inspiration comes from. If his first response was strongly retweeted and commented on, he still wanted to tone down his remarks, so as not to overwhelm the project too much.
I didn’t say I hated the show. Some elements are even interesting. I’m just surprised by some choices that have been made and that are quite far from the initial fiction that I made…
If Marcus Lehto is still considered one of the creators of the Halo series, and he is recognized as one of the creative figures of the franchise, from all episodes until Halo Reach, after which he left the company . Anecdotally, his initials (MRL) appear on the bottom of the Master Chief’s boot, as Lehto was in charge of the iconic armor design at the time. He took the opportunity to sign it with his initials. Lehto also worked at Bungie from 1997 to 2012. After leaving Bungie in 2012 in full production of Destiny, Marcus Lehto launched his own studio, V1 Interactive, with which he will develop the game Disintegration released in June 2020 and which unfortunately will not find its audience despite good ideas (the game received a score of 13/20 in our columns) and cause the closure of his studio in March 2021. Hurt but not discouraged, Marcus Lehto was refused by Electronic Arts, which announced the creation of a new studio based near Seattle. Its primary mission: to create an FPS under the leadership of Vince Zampella, another veteran who needs no introduction, having worked on Call of Duty and Titanfall. Let’s hope that the meeting of these two men can give birth to a major project.