I need to dial back a bias i have in order to answer this correctly. Years ago, like, almost 20 years ago now, i decided that halo ce was all it needed to be, that halo 2 and any other sequel was blood-from-stone money grubbing trash.
So i need to put that aside and think of Halo's expanded universe as something more than mediocre militaristic proxy us marine culture ham, and so i... I...
I can't, I'm sorry, you might be able to perceive the single fat battlescarred tears shed behind those oh so badass glare proof visors, but i can't.
My thoughts on Halo's story? Well i liked how he escaped the pillar of autumn, i like how a bunch of hapless marines also survived to be confetti in later firefights, i liked how that giant metal plated cave was not a natural formation (introducing me to the concept of criticising computer games) i like how commander keens (that was his name right?) got away but then got captured and shoved into a congealed gelatinous cube, i like how that robot went homicidal-crazy and tried to kill you and how you outsmarted him and got away. I like how the zombies died from shotgun blasts to the stomach and could generally be danced around. I like how Master Chief (not "MC") was gruff, short and clipped with Cortana. I like how Cortana was a star trek computer analogy with an attitude but little more. It was the best fps I've ever played on a console.