: So, across all the Halo games, we never really got to fly the Pelican. In
: Halo Reach, it was available as an easter egg, an awesome bonus for
: hunting down those triggers. But when it came to dogfights over the Ark or
: blasting apart Scarabs or puttering around New Alexandria, we always had
: something else to fly.

: I think this is because the cockpit of a Pelican is a poor fit for the Chief.

: The primary use of a Pelican is to deliver hardware and meat shields when the
: Master Chief needs them. Someone need a Warthog? We deliver. Need
: reinforcements? Drop the hangar doors, and we'll park them in there.
: Running low on ammo? Be sure to stock up with those drop canisters. And
: how many levels end with the Chief stepping into the blood tray to be
: carried to the next level?

: Yes, Pelicans do CAS*, but it's supplementary to their main role as troop
: transport. Tellingly, when it came time to take to the skies, we had
: Hornets and Falcons to fly. Hornets and Falcons are more 'traditional'
: Halo vehicles, because they can carry passengers who help you fight. And
: when we're out of targets, we land and continue fighting, leaving the
: passengers to fend for themselves unless they can keep up.

: *Close air support. Don't leave home without it.

: Now, I know that y'all have been reading this article thinking "What
: about Halo 4? What about Shutdown?" And I'm getting to that.
: When we got to fly an 'alleged' Pelican, it was... different. And, many would
: say, unfulfilling. The Pelican was used solely for the transport of one
: man; there was nothing it had to do that distinguished it from a Falcon or
: a Hornet with a crate of firearms lashed to the deck.

: I think that the, ah, the Pelican was included solely as fanservice, and the
: developers at 343i really struggled with finding something to do with
: it. Eventually, they had to modify it into something it wasn't to make it
: (relatively) interesting to fly. They gave it a boost function so players
: wouldn't get bored flying from one tower to the next. There were these
: sideseats stuck on there like tits on a Sangheili, because... I don't
: know. I just don't know.

: So, if Pelicans deliver troops and support them, can the Chief fly them? Can
: you imagine, as the Chief, dropping off a squad of troops to take a
: Forerunner installation and then supporting them from the air? Let them do
: most of the fighting? The Chief is built to lead, to fight for others.

: To tell the truth, I can see this being a game of its own. As a Pelican
: pilot, you could drop off a squad or two and a Warthog, and then order
: them to their destination. Gun down enemies, direct troopers to cover,
: call down artillery, even fetch supplies the groundpounders can't reach.
: It would be a very Halo style of RTS, that's for sure. Perhaps it could be a
: mobile game centered around a character people care about, like Foehammer?

: Another situation where I can see us flying a Pelican, as the Master Chief
: even, is in a crisis when there isn't anyone to fly a Pelican, and it has
: to be us who take out a dropship and retrieve scattered troops and
: abandoned supplies. Only, Halo 4 was the perfect opportunity for it, and
: nothing even remotely similar took place. I think it's safe to say that we
: won't be seeing the Chief behind the yoke of a Pelican, or doing anything
: fundamentally different from what we've already done in the past four
: mainline games.

: Thoughts?

I think New Alexandria is the perfect Pelican level - especially because the Falcon is essentially a Pelican modified for fun gameplay.

But it was really neat to jump in and launch a real Pelican in that Halo 4 level, but it was also almost immediately disappointing with what they threw at us. We finally get a Pelican in the game, and it's in a level with no troops, nothing to fly through or between really, and almost stationary Phantoms who don't shoot at you until you're extremely close! I don't think it was necessarily the Pelican's fault, but the level design.

I've flown Pelicans and Longswords in custom Halo CE maps that were a lot of fun. :)