Halo Fans, I need some help.

[KTHarHar]

So I've gotten into the Halo series through my youth minister at church. He let me borrow his system and a copy of Halo 2. The game is amazing and I'm now hooked, the only problem is that I'm having a hard time following the story line. I tried to Wikipedia it, but there is too much jumping around for me to understand it. Could someone please do a quick run-down of the first game and how it leads into the second?
Thanks in advance!

(and yes, I know I'm a n00b. Don't need to point that out.)

[I'llturnnative]

Ok, not really a Halo fan, but I'll give it a shot. Humans and the Covenant are at war. The Covenant is a loose confederation of alien races tied together by a single religious ideology. (kinda like the Dominion in Star Trek DS9).

Humans used to have a contingent of genetically engineered super soldiers with special suits called 'Spartans' of which you are the last - Master Chief. nobody knows his name or what he looks like, but that he seems to have a history with a sentient AI called Cortana (not sure if that is how you spell it) and he is entrusted to take care of her when the ship that they are on is overrun my the Covenant in a battle over the Halo ring.

Halo, is a massive weapon in space designed to control and eliminate a plague parasitic species known as 'the Flood.' The Covenant believes that Halo can be their salvation (and ultimate weapon) and feel that they can control it. This, of course means that the humans want it too and when they are both fighting to control it, the Flood (inexplicably kept in isolation on board Halo) are let loose. Hilarity ensues. que wacky music!

I don't think it is an especially good storyline, but what the hell, its a video game.
I hope that helps though, if you have any other questions hit me up. Or if there is anything important that I missed.

[Laurence]

This should help you out...

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

I Like the original Halo, That still works on my Laptop. good story, not yet played any of the other 2 since The second doesn't work on XP (Vista only) and due to current space saving reasons I can't buy an X-box/360 :(

[KTHarHar]

Aw man, I didn't know this was a zombie game. I was wondering what the decrepit, half-eaten things were that were attacking me.

The link that Laurence gave me said that there are multiple Halos. What do they do exactly?
Also why are the Humans involved in any of this at all? Just because they want Halo?

[Matt Gowdy]

The whole human vs. covenant thing actually gets a lot more intense in the second and third games, but suffice it to say, the covenant don't like us. That's pretty much it. Halo 1 is based on the premise of the Pillar of Autumn having to crash land on a Halo ring after a major battle. Antics ensue.

It's not totally a zombie game, in Halo 1, you don't encounter the Flood until halfway through the game.

The halo rings act as a holding pen for the Flood. Essentially they're big Pandora's boxes floating in space. Trigger one and it can essentially wipe out all life in a galaxy or two or three...

[Laurence]

There's the Halo universe, then there is what happens in the games.

In as much of a nutshell as I can I'll try and elaborate on both up to the events of Halo 2.

In the Halo universe, The human race has Expanded onto several planets in the galaxy. At some point on their travels they encounter the covenant. a Nomadic collective of alien races and species. With their own set of Ideas and religions. The humans and covenant didn't exactly see eye to eye. So much so that the covenant made it their goal to Exterminate Humanity wherever it may be.

You Play Master Chief (short for master chief petty officer john 117) , a soldier who was selected at, and trained since early childhood. who wears a special kind of Shielded space combat armour.

The Events of Halo 1 start at The last remaining Major human colony - planet Reach - the surface of which is being "glassed" by a Heeeeyauge covenant space fleet. And only one human ship escapes the planet. The ship hyperspace jumps to a seemingly random location where one of these rings are located (there are more than one throughout the galaxy, 7 in all I think). Because the ship is of inferior spec to the covenant fleet they are more or less waiting for the humans at the other end of the slipspace jump.

The Command is made to abandon ship. And the escape pods as well as the ship itself Crash lands on the ring's surface.

Throughout the course of the first game, it is established that the ring was built by an ancient race (the forerunners). AND it is of huge importance to the covenant. (although in the first one, it never elaborates on why) As the game continues. the Flood is discovered on the ring. This turns anyone who comes into contact with them into some kinda space Zombie. El Chief-o learns though the monitor of the installation/ring (that blue orb that you'll see a lot more of in the second game, 343 guilty spark) that the ring(s) was built to safely contain the flood. and by containing the flood,that means to take out their food source. And to take out their food source. All sentient life in the galaxy is to be destroyed, ergo without any food the flood would be "contained". (the reasons for this are unclear)

The Chief and his onboard AI Cortana (originally transferred from the human ship's computer network), after learning this, resolve to destroy the ring. And they do this by blowing/overloading the reactors on board the original human ship that crash landed on the ring's surface. Battling hoards of covenant and flood en route to doing so.

The Chief escapes the ship and the ring by the skin of his teeth and that concludes the events of Halo 1.

Then the events of Halo 2 start. An awards/rememberance ceremony takes place on board an earth orbital defence station after the events of the first halo. Concurrently a covenant "elite" is being brought to face the The 3 covenant prophets (in effect, their rulers) He's being branded as a heretic with the mark of shame, and being sentenced to death because he was the commander of the covenant fleet in the events of the first halo who failed to "stop the destruction of one of the sacred rings"

Over the course of the game, the prophets get this marked Elite to become "the arbiter", undertaking tasks given by the prophets that would still be suicidal in nature, that the prophets are convinced that they will surely result in his death. Also in the course of the game, It becomes apparent that the activation of the "sacred rings" will bring forth the "great journey that will lead us into the devine beyond, and all who are unworthy will perish!!". This is the same thing as the "containment" discussed in the first halo.

That's one of the appeals of halo's storyline to me. The Irony of an arrogant and superior master (albeit alien) race consumed by ignorance and delusional blind faith that ultimately will result in the death and destruction of everyone/thing in existance. I'm hugely surprised a church minister gave you this to you to play. That reeks of Irony in itself methinks... :P

[KTHarHar]

haha yeah. It's just a video game though.
I'm actually liking the covenant better than the humans in this game. They are more complex and I noticed that their weapons and architecture in the game are much more beautiful than the human's.
Also, the humans just seem to want to destroy halo because they are pissed that the aliens have it. They didn't consider the flood being there at all it seems.

[Laurence]

I'd recommend that you play halo 1 ASAP. The humans want to destroy the Halo(s) because they know its/their real purpose and what they really do!! :P

Somehow that got lost in translation into a load of religious claptrap which the covenant ended up believing that activating halo's "flood containment", in some perverse way, is their next step in evolution.

[KTHarHar]

Oh! That makes more sense.
Yeah, I gotta get my hands on of copy of the first halo. lol

[I killed Dora with my Hands!]

its realy simple eliens whant to kill everyone and master chief is trying to stop it. thats the basics. there actual books to read if you are interested.

[I'llturnnative]

Except he has to stop them by killing them all!?! I wonder if there is a game where you have to stop a war (inter-gallactic or earthbound) and get points for saving the most lives. That'd be cool.

[King OF Darkness!]

Halo is a game that cant be described! u hav to play it know it!