I've never liked the live-action Halo 3 "believe" commercials. It was a clever idea, adding realism to the fantasy world of Halo by having its veterans reminisce like they were on the History Channel. That was the problem though, they were needlessly adding tragic elements to their fake war simply to make it seem like it had the gravitas of actual war. There's nothing fun about doing that, and it's a cheap trick emotionally, so I resented them for doing it.
Now, with a new game out, came a new chance to carve some live-action spots out of their mammoth advertising budget. I didn't have high hopes, since some people really seemed to love the old ads and I assumed they'd keep the theme. Thankfully, I was wrong.
What I love about the ad (yes, I'm cheating and using the extended version, but the TV spot is still really enjoyable) is that they managed to let their fantasy world stand on its own, and didn't try to prop it up with the tragedy of actual war. I have no issue with someone trying to add weight to their fictional world and characters, and here it's done perfectly, with no words and an extremely short running time.
We have a soldier with a bomb, darting across the battlefield towards and enemy ship. It's not a idealized charge either, it seems frantic and desperate, like this is Humanity's hail-mary pass at the end of the battle. Halo 3's ads made the war seem desperate and unpleasant by having elderly actors tell you it was desperate and unpleasant, with the underlying message being, "this guy's age and dialogue should be making you think of World War II, because that's how desperate and unpleasant you should think it is, like World War II." This ad shows you, and by doing that instead of relating it to the real world it allows the context to stick to Halo, and not veer into a reprehensible allegory.
The soldier is taken down and out, but the bomb continues to tick and the enemy ship continues to assault the city. The screen goes black, like everything is over, only to come back with a fellow solider standing over her. Without pause he grabs the bomb, picking up the desperate mission she can't complete, and heads for the ship. On-board we see many more enemy troops preparing to head to the surface and crush what is left of the humans below. The soldier tosses the bomb and we see the ship explode; maybe not evening the odds, but possibly staving off annihilation.
Then, my favorite part really, we pull back to a wide shot of the planet's surface, where we see numerous similar explosions erupting. This wasn't the final epic battle, it was just one of hundreds happening all over the planet. THAT is epic.
Well done to the creators of this ad. I don't even own an X-Box and I still stop the fast-forward on my Tivo every time it comes on. Kind of amazing that I care more about the two nameless (okay Kat is the first one, but you wouldn't get that from the ad), faceless Spartans and what they do in 30 seconds than ANYONE or ANYTHING in the multiple hours of the Star Wars prequels. Nice job George Lucas, but even nicer job to the Halo promotional team.
