Halo fans looking for something to hold them off until this fall's release of Halo: Reach may have found what they’re looking for with DC and Warner Bros. release of Halo Legends: A collection of anime stories in the Halo universe.  The majority of the stories are excellent with the animation equally so. That, along with the inclusion of some awesome special features makes this a great addition to any Halo fan’s collection.  

First off, I’m going to admit up front that I’m a huge Halo fan.  Ask me to prove it and I’ll show you the tattoo.  Halo captured everything I loved about gaming and mixed it with everything I loved about science fiction. Halo redefined FPS storytelling and multiplayer for the console world and it singlehandedly propelled Microsoft’s Xbox to household name status. Never has a gaming series garnered so much attention as this one.  Its solidity in the gaming industry is further increased with this release.

Overview

DC and Warner Bros. new creation, Halo Legends, like the Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight before it, foregoes a feature length Anime in favor of a bunch of smaller separate stories within the universe created by the subject material. Here, we have seven separate stories with “Origins” having two parts. They are: The Duel, Prototype, Homecoming, The Babysitter, Odd One Out, The Package and of course, Origins I and II. Each is done in a different animation style and direction with themes from the Halo universe.

Highlights

“The Package” is obviously the showcase of this disc and once you see it, it’s hard to argue otherwise.  It’s done in a computer generated animation style similar to Pixar’s many creations and is far better looking and detailed than the rest of the lot.  It partially retells the events that occur at the end of the Halo: Fall of Reach book where the few remaining Spartans attempt to recover Dr. Catherine Halsey from a Covenant ship. It’s the only episode where we really get to see Mater Chief whoop some ass and it’s a rush to watch.

Players of the main series of games will be happy to know that “Origins” I and II continues the story after the events in Halo 3, albeit slightly. It’s told from Cortana’s view as she watches over Master Chief while he’s in cryo sleep and retells the story of the Forerunners and how the Halo series arrived at its current state.  It’s incredibly deep and as a longstanding fan of the series, it was a breath of fresh air to see this episode feature the longest and most detailed storytelling of the lot.

“The Duel” is also worthy of note.  It takes place a long time ago before the current war between the Covenant and humanity and features an arbiter who refuses to accept the Covenant religion and is forced to fight because of it.  It’s presented in a watercolor painted style that looks amazing in motion.  What that said, watching the arbiter tear up the Covenant troops puts it right up there with watching Mater Chief do the same.

Most of the other stories feature solid animation and story, but a few are a bit lacking.  “Odd One Out” was by far the worst of the lot.  The black sheep of the Spartans, #1337, falls out of a Pelican and lands on the strange planet Cronkee.  It features the worst animation of the lot along with a story that makes absolutely no sense in the Halo universe. The additional characters are annoying and loud and serve no real purpose.  The pet Tyrannosaurus Rex is just one example. I would have been fine if this was left out of the collection altogether.

Special Features

Halo Legends on Blu-ray come as a single disc collection containing the feature, commentary track, and a few very robust featurettes:

• Feature Commentary by directors Frank O’Connar and Joseph Cho
• Halo: Gaming Evolved featurette
• The Making of Halo Legends featurette
• Halo: The Story So Far featurette

“Halo: The Story So Far” is a quick and dry storytelling of the entire Halo universe timeline and was by far the wet dream of this collection for me.  It’s narrated by Frank O’ Conner but also features the author of the Halo books, Eric Nylund.   It provides the entire back story on the halo rings and the Forerunners, the forming of the Covenant, the Spartans program and humanity’s eventual alliance with the Elites. It’s a must-see for Halo fans and provides tons of details on the continuing Halo universe.  It’s hard to believe the amount of thought and detail that went into creating what was just a video game at the time.

The “Halo: Gaming Evolved” featurette runs about 22 minutes and talks about the Halo franchise and what it’s become.  It starts from the very beginning when Halo was first announced years ago and where they plan to take it.  It features quite a few guest stars including the previously mentioned Eric Nylund and Xbox Live’s Major Nelson.  “The Making of Halo Legends” featurettes can be watched as a whole or individually for each of the stories.  Most of them talk about the art style they chose to use for each of the episodes. It’s worth watching through as a whole, but you won’t find yourself repeatedly viewing them.

The commentary track is also worthy of note.  Frank O’ Conner is the Halo guru, and hearing tidbits from his vast amount of Halo knowledge was awesome. He really does a great job contributing here. Had I not listened to his commentary or watched the other special features, I wouldn’t have appreciated some of the less notable stories as much.   Knowing why characters were highlighted in a particular episode or how they fit into the canon of Halo was foreign to me until I found out more in the special features.

Overall

The problem with collections like these is that they are generally a mixed bag.  Halo Legends on Blu-ray suffers a little from the same fate.  Episodes like The Package, Origins and The Duel are amazing, while the rest could be forgotten.  The special features are incredible and are a large part of why this collection rocks on Blu-ray.  Ultimately, this is a great addition to any Halo fan’s collection and features some great additional content to compliment the games as well as the books and comics available. 

ComicsOnline gives Halo Legends on Blu-ray 4.0 out of 5 sticky nades.

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