Personally, these aren't the things I like hearing from writers, and especially those in the business of military science fiction. There are so many invigorating tales 343i could have done within the confines of the lone superpower's most powerful warship without taking the easy route for a video game and have a bunch of dull explosions, bringing nothing to the table in an already illogical and half-assed story. From a gameplay perspective, the only exciting encounters aboard Infinity were in the hangar and the server/whatever room. The rest was a repetitive romp through a tiny fraction of the ship.

I honestly don't think 343i knows how dull some jobs in the military are. Captain Lasky, by virtue of his status, isn't going out on scouting runs planetside, nor is he kindling his nostalgic spirit by jumping in a strike fighter and flying a combat air patrol. He gets to sit on the bridge running a warship full of 17,000 fleshy meatbags, attend meetings with senior officers who will delegate his word to each corner of the ship and, on occasion, walk amongst the crew gauging crew morale and discipline.

I'm not doubting that the sneaky Promethean that snatched Halsey wasn't essential to the story, simply I'm wondering why they needed such a costly diversion to get her. This "invasion" of Infinity by hundreds of Covenant and Promethean soldiers seems so futile when they could have done a better job being all stealthy and stuff. No warnings that active camo'ed Sangheili have seized the engine room or Knights are soon to translocate themselves right onto the bridge. That would have excited me more than an overly dispersed enemy. A threat that's backed against the wall, yet has all the advantage despite their odds.

Furthermore, if they were so keen on giving Captain Lasky something fun to do, I would have engaged him in some administrative dealings that led him to discovering a great deal of his Fleet crew are ONI informants or a few have been dealing with or are in league with the Insurrection, even trading information to the various warlords, such as Jul 'Mdama, controlling the Covenant's remnants.

What I find most displeasing with the boarding of Infinity, Halsey's capture notwithstanding, is that it had almost no mentioned effect on the ship and her crew afterwards. No hints towards crew morale sinking or a drop in combat effectiveness. They thought of this grand idea for a episode and yet it has no lasting impact on anything but a single solitary individual when we know damn well that its so much more complicated.

The story of Spartan Ops season one seems to have been shaped by events "once foretold by the ancients" rather than by complex, interesting characters who have so much to offer a lively universe. Developing a story as you proceed isn't necessarily a terrible occurrence, but one that ultimately doesn't lend itself well to an episodic journey that meshes so much ancillary content from leagues of different sources.