: If I have read the new novels correctly, they haven't even been defeated.
: Even after the activation of the Halo rings. Because they are the Flood
: (again, if I've been reading correctly). If the Flood do not return in a
: significant manner, I think that is a disservice to the franchise.

: "Oh the Flood isn't fun to fight." Well, get a new Game Designer.

The Flood are by far the coolest zombies in my opinion. Fighting against them in a game, however, is a disservice to their potential. Halo 3 was a fantastic step in the right direction with the pure forms' ability to morph into whichever form was necessary for the fight at hand.

Throughout the three games we encountered the Flood, though, the standard forms weren't anything special after the first few engagements. They quickly lost all ability to creep and scare the living fuck out of you. Infection forms weren't worth the bullets, combat forms were just ordinary armed infantry with little tentacle-y bits growing out of what used to be their cute abs, and carriers were big blobs of meh. I can understand that the engine probably couldn't handle whatever Bungie had planned for them, but now, I can't imagine any excuse not to make them frightening, vicious and overwhelming as fuck.