: This can obviously be done through a number of ways: story plot, design, AI
: behaviour, weapons used and to name a few. But one that's been of
: particular interest to me is the use of language and voice.

: Take Grunts for instance. In Halo 1 - ODST they spoke, taunted, screamed in
: English, and were overall pretty funny. I'd say it's not unreasonable to
: say that it was the comic relief they offered that made them one of the
: more memorable enemies in the series. Aside from bringing the lols, their
: humour made them fun to fight.

: I'd say that the most interest enemies in Halo are the ones that communicate
: with the player, Grunts, Elites, Brutes and the Flood. While the Flood
: doesn't speak per se, their screams and roars are still damn well scary
: and achieve the desired effect.

: Prometheans therefore serve as an exception that proves the rule in a sense.
: I doubt I'm alone in saying that the Prometheans were fairly uninspiring
: enemies to fight in Halo 4. Sure they had their share interesting
: behavioural traits, but despite Kiki Wolfkill's assurance that they wern't
: robots or monsters, they were essentially robot monsters.

: They didn't have personalities. Grunts are cowards that make the player
: laugh. The Elites are proud warriors and battle field commanders. The
: Brutes are barbaric space apes who just want to rip you apart. And the
: Flood are gross, scary space zombies.

: But the Prometheans? They're robot bullet sponges. We had no idea what they
: were feeling, why they were attacking us, or how are actions affected
: them. This lack of character seriously undermined any capacity for them to
: be interesting enemies to fight, let alone build a saga around. Sure 343i
: tells us they're "tortured human souls" but how is this conveyed
: to the player?

: (The change from having the grunts and elites speak English was also a step
: backwards on the same principle)

: What do you guys think?

I'd say you're right in that it played a role, but I think that if you fixed the other issues with the Prometheans we wouldn't really be having a discussion about this part.

On the Covenant side, I really do agree that the Covenant should go back to English; while I appreciate the effort 343 is putting into making the Elites more fleshed out from a societal standpoint that doesn't mean we have to pretend Halo 2 didn't happen. And the Grunts should be funny again!