: Look at how awkwardly Buck is trying to hold his weapon at the low ready. his
: left arm is extended about as far as it can go. Imagine him trying to aim
: it... The armor is simply too bulbous; I predict tons of clipping, which
: by now is just poor design. Artists should know better. Then again,
: remember the visors from Halo 4 (assuming the helmet even had a visor)?
: Some artists are just given far too much freedom to be stupid, and yet a
: higher up at 343 looks at it and nods approvingly.

: It hurts my head trying to wrap my brain around that... Quality control is
: ded. D-E-D, Ded.

: At least they are improvements to Halo 4's armor, but that's not saying a
: whole lot...

: Still, I'm somewhat happier with the S-IIs armors, even though they could
: have a bit less 343 all over them, nameen? Also, are we still going with
: Chief's armor being Nanomidichlorian in design, or wat? You'd think they'd
: give him an improved set after removing it in Halo 4 (like they did for
: him in Halo 2)...

Every Halo title has always had clipping. I remember Reach being especially terrible in that aspect. None of it ever bothered me though, because I liked Bungie's art style and it's a friggin game, after all. The fun lies in the fantasy and *just* enough grounding that it seems like it could actually happen.

The one thing I keep noticing over and over and over is how cosplay friendly the new stuff is, from a movement perspective. I've worn mine enough times to know, that in real life, a full set of body armor like that ain't gonna protect you from squat. You have no range of motion. But you look cool!

I'm not saying that 343 did their designs with cosplay in mind (it is to laugh), BUT I DO FEEL that they took notes from that community and made the armor more believable to the world we currently live in, hence why most of the torsos are so naked looking, while the extremities and shoulders are more bulky.

I had a lengthy conversation with LionHeart about where I see 343 drawing inspiration and I can most cohesively sum it up like this:

Bungie's Halo was about World War 2.
(Big set pieces, mega battles, 2 clearly defined sides of "good" vs "evil", ends justify the means)

343's Halo is about Vietnam, or the current 'War on Terror'
(Proxy wars, shadow ops, spheres of influence, politics, grey morals, no clear enemy)

Essentially, I see a lot of parallels in the news with 343's offerings. Perhaps not a social commentary, but clearly a source of inspiration.