Halo Wars Guide

Why ‘The Flood’ won’t work as a playable faction

When people think of the various different races in the Halo story, The Flood no doubt springs to mind, and when expansions to the Halo Wars game is considered, people seem to suggest implementing The Flood as a third set of Leaders.

For every person who suggests this there’s a person rejecting it, so I thought i’d write about why I don’t think it would work.

For a start, The Flood were more of a ‘by-species’ in the Halo storyline, the war was between the humans and the Covenant essentially, The Flood were just this inconvenient force which threatened both sides of the war. There’s no personality with The Flood, they’re just parasites and the game would have no character if you could play as them.

Secondly, who would you play as? What units would you use? The Flood worked in the story by infecting other organisms, such as Marines, Elites etc. The weapons would be the same as UNSC mostly, as you see in the Halo Wars campaign and skirmish maps; they don’t have their own set of weapons. To my recollection there has been no instance in the Halo story where The Flood have commanded or used a vehicle, so how would that work in Halo Wars?

In essence The Flood is far from a playable faction, they are like the Forerunners, a supporting civilization to the true war between humans and Covenant. They can never be used in the same way as current leaders in Halo Wars.

When it comes to game expansion, Robot are also limited in what they can do and how much they can add. The game can only handle so much work before the console starts to be stretched.

When i think about it though, i always think there is room for at least 1 more leader. Sergeant Johnson could always come in to play, but then the demand comes for a new unique unit, super unit and leader power. I can’t think of another covenant leader to come in to the game as a 4th; Jackals and Grunts haven’t enough personality in the game to be a leader, nor the status. It would either have to be another Elite, Brute or Prophet to take the role.

A 4th leader would also start to unbalance the game, mainly with UNSC. Anders is queen on Air, Forge is king of armour, and Cutter is king of infantry; so who would the 4th leader rule?…

other interesting posts

• Map Guide: Frozen Valley
• Chieftain Brute Rush
• A complete guide to the Halo Wars units
• Map Guide: Beasley’s Plateau

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