Halo Ep 1 Review: Jen Taylor & Shabana Azmi's series makes an effort to break the video game adaptation curse

Halo

Halo Cast: Pablo Schreiber, Jen Taylor, Shabana Azmi

Halo Director: Steven Kane, Kyle Killen

Halo Streaming Platform: Voot

The first Halo game was released on the original Xbox almost 20 years ago, and Microsoft just released Halo Infinite, the sixth instalment in the video game franchise. The science-fiction military media franchise has become a video game industry juggernaut. And, given the difficulties of transferring video games to cinema and television, much alone critical acclaim, the odds are stacked against the studio. While the current game, Halo Infinite, was highly reviewed, there just isn't the same level of passion for the franchise that existed back when the original Xbox and Xbox 360 were released. So, is the Halo era over? Is the TV programme ushering in a new era for the franchise?

The first episode answers both questions with a resounding "no," while also providing some entertaining sci-fi entertainment. Our narrative begins on the colony planet of Madrigal, where the downtrodden locals represent a sector of mankind that has openly defied the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), which Spartans like Master Chief serve. Here we meet Kwan Ha (Yerin Ha), the young daughter of the local resistance leader, who is going to experience a very terrible day as extraterrestrial invaders attack. That invasion introduces viewers to the Covenant, a multi-species coalition of non-human invaders united in their struggle against Earth's heathens by religious zealotry. When blazing beams of death rip through Madrigal's woodlands and convert their first human victims into nothing more than crimson fog, they arrive in an abrupt rain of guts and blood – yeah, Halo isn't afraid to go gruesome. The tide only changes when Master Chief and his merry band of Spartans arrive to rescue the day. It is here that Halo demonstrates its devotion to the games, with Chief and his Spartan unit exchanging fire with the Covenant in a fierce ground fight.'

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Halo stars Jen Taylor and Yerin Ha discuss what fans will love about the sci-fi series

Even if the graphics during the action sequences seemed a little awkward at times, I was ready to ignore it provided the series presented a compelling narrative. It seemed in the first episode that this would not be the case. The first episode mostly served the purpose of presenting exposition to those who had never heard of the Halo series. While it may be a little unclear at first, things quickly pick up around the conclusion of the first episode. However, except for that one heroic landing from Master Chief that we've all seen in the promos, the first episode doesn't provide anything fresh or fascinating to the Halo audience.

However, by the conclusion of the first episode, we've seen Schrieber's face and know more about Master Chief (aka John 117) than many players did in the first three video games combined. Schrieber, like Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian's Din Djarin, portrays Master Chief as austere, dispassionate, and a man of few words. When his meeting with a Covenant artifact alters things, the storyline of the Halo games deviates considerably. As John-117 learns more about his origins, he shields a little girl called Kwan Ha. This sets him against the Covenant, commanded by Admiral Margaret Parangosky (Shabana Azmi) as well as the UN Security Council leadership and scientist Dr. Catherine Halsey (Natascha McElhone). Halsey is keen to get her hands on the relic because it would aid her blossoming Cortana project.

There's a lot going on in this first episode, and I haven't even touched on Halsey's daughter Miranda (Olive Gray); the cloning experiment, which presumably has something to do with Cortana; or Makee (Charlie Murphy), a Covenant-raised human. However, the first episode of this series felt as far away from the video game as possible while hinting at the possibility of eventually getting there. A show like this can only function with character development and a lot of narrative exposition, which may be forgiven if the show is at all fascinating. I don't see enough in the early episode to justify investing in a full season, but maybe there's something in the next eight episodes that will alter my view. For the time being, Halo does not compare to any of the other sci-fi or fantasy series on the market and is yet another lousy video game adaptation.