Halo Spartans in 2D

The latest installment in the Halo franchise, the ODST, should be out today and in the hands of fans just as fast. The Halo universe took off with a bang after the success of the first iteration, with the development of the future series and novels inspired from the game universe. Halo 3 had the biggest hype around it, and Master Chief left the computers and consoles and made staggering appearances in TV commercials, putting a marine in the worst possible situation: public relations. With all the Halo hype that has been going around lately, it looks like an animated version was the only thing missing. So, an anime was made.

Making use of the story of Halo 3: ODST, Halo Legends follows the adventure of a squad Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, an elite military unit, as it receives a special member: a Spartan. Now, if the ODST are an elite squad, then the Spartan would probably rank up as an end-game boss. The Babysitter trailer, aired on Spike TV, gives away a short 5-minute piece of footage, composed of several shots that portray the grounds of the story but also a bit of action.

The main purpose of the OSDT isn't full-scale war but more of recon missions, so the action style has moved from gun-blazing through endless hordes of enemies to a more restrained engagement. To our surprise, in the preview, our Spartan does not enter the fray gun blazing when things go astray, but in hand-to-hand combat, with amazing moves, well beyond the laws of psychics. Our Spartan forgets he's in the biggest and heavyset armor available to the Homo Sapiens and flips, flicks, and twirls through the air like a circus performer. Not sure where exactly in boot camp he picked up those skills, but at least they look flashy.

It might be a nice change of pace from the head shooting and face-smashing but just how successful it will be remains to be seen as the series advances its plot. The show will start airing sometime early next year, as fans eagerly await to see for themselves whether it will be any good or another spin-off failure.