To be honest I don't ow why so many people don't like the level cortana. It is the best flood themed level. It is disgusting, confusing, has a lot of variety, is overwhelming and makes you anxious. Everything the flood should feel like. Some say the level design looks bland and boring because it's only one color grading but I disagree. There is quite enough change I. The colors to not make it boring. Especially the cutscene when you reclaim cortana. It has the best lighting of the whole franchise, which only might be beaten in some moments by halo infinite... Which is 15 years later. But not only the graphical aspect is impressing, also the story which is told in the bits and pieces before and after the mentioned cutscenes, but especially within the cutscene.this cutscenes is the culmination of 6 years and 3 games of halo. The music, the spoken wirds, everything just brings back memories and tells you why it was so necessary, important and inevitable to go to the very heart and brain of the infestation and save cortana. She is no every day AI, she is your guardian angel, the only friend you maybe have and most likely the only "person" who really understands what you were going through. The only person who lives through what you lived through. I love the level cortana as much as I hated it completing it solo on legendary. Even worse completing it solo on LASO. But still... I love playing this level just to see this cutscene
"It followed me home" is one of the more haunting titles of any level, with the darkened brooding skys and threat on the horizon harkening back to a childhood fear of kidnappers, stalkers or murderers lurking all around at night. This takes that fear and makes it real.
Man I remember being like 11 playing this the first time and getting really uncomfortable when that title showed up. Was terrified of the Flood in Halo 2 and really wasn’t looking forward to fighting them again. “It followed me home” just holds a lot of weight. Like an animal that’s been tailing you for days and you never knew.
@@himbolover69 So true, and just the concept of having just seen what the Flood did to the Covenant's main city gives this ominous vibe that nothing is sacred or safe, and that even Earth - in spite of it surviving the Covenant War up to this point - could have lost everything in an instant if Africa hadn't been glassed to prevent the spread. The idea that a zombie plague could take control of a slipspace capable ship and throw it like a hail Mary football to Earth is nightmare fuel. Any survivors post-Halo 3 must have had constant dread of zombies flying into atmosphere via random slipspace jumps seeing as it had happened once before. Even if unfounded, that fear was likely never quenched for those who saw that ship flying in, knew what it meant, and lived to tell the tale. Likely never looked back up at the sky the same way again.
I got chills just from reading that. The implied horror and all. Also because I became nostalgic of that one mission where you jack a giant mech in SC2 WOL
I actually like the french title for that level better "Devine qui vient diner ?" or "Guess who's coming over for diner ?", with the very clear implication that you're the main course and the marines are the appetizer.
6:30 This segment is funny since “Cortana” is actually the cut second half of “Floodgate”. Bungie didn’t have time to create an infested High Charity for Halo 3 therefore they moved the rest of the ship onto that mission. It also explains why “Cortana” is architecturally nothing like High Charity and instead is a Covenant cruiser. In addition, you blow up “High Charity” just like Miranda ordered for the crashed ship- blowing the engine core.
It's a strange one, as it's very clearly only half a level but equally I love how short and snappy the end mission is, so I really like what we ended up getting too.
That does make a lot of sense but there are a few similar areas in Cortana that you briefly visited in High Charity in Halo 2, you can see the ruins of the Mausoleum of the Arbiters in one of the earliest points in the levels, and you find Cortana in the destroyed inner sanctum of the hierarchs that you see in several cutscenes in Halo 2 and breifly pass through on your way to the dreadnaught.
@@bubbajoe117unless the thing is actually a widely spread rumor I imagine they used the planned 2nd half as a shortcut to have most of the work done for them and if they had anything done prior added them in where they could to try and make the level feel as much as High Charity as possible
3:54 You mentioned it, but I don't think emphasized in nearly enough. This is the most terrifying level in the entire series when looking at it in a grander scope. By all accounts, this very likely could have been an extinction level event equal to the Halo Array. Without the arrival of the Shipmaster, there would be no way for humanity to contain the Flood. The Flood with access to billions of infected and a new, true home world with space fairing technology, could have easily consumed the entire galaxy. Looking at it on a smaller scale is just as terrifying. Keep in mind, ONI has covered up the existence of the Flood from anyone outside high command. Imagine the same terror and confusion the marines felt on 343 Guilty Spark, except instead of small group coming out from underground on a strange space station on the other end of the galaxy, a multi-kilometer long ship of them teleport in out of nowhere and directly invades your home world in the middle of the already hardest fought battle in human history.
I wish the Flood had won so we finally got an infected Spartan in a campaign level. Would have ruined the rest of the game though! I'll get my infected Spartan boss one day...
I'll be honest, I think it's a really good level. I heard a few say it's too short, but honestly? Short flood levels are the best because the flood usually overstays its welcome when fought for too long.
It's an awesome mission but man more encounters along side some Marines and elites would've been awesomer! Lol That's just my personal taste though, I tend to enjoy each of the flood levels even the library to an extent
I agree, although maybe one new environment at some point would have been nice. That would also help with the backtracking. Similar how on Keys you leave the Covenant cruiser for a bit
The length is a massive plus for me. It keeps a quick pace and you're always moving forward, so it never becomes a drag like other Flood levels have a tendency to do. For me, it's the most playable Flood centric mission in the series and the one I'd use as the template for future Flood levels should they ever make a return.
@BenPlaysGames yeah absolutely I think it and 343 are the perfect flood levels, really. Though I think 343 sorta drags near the end just waiting for spark to appear, it never really occurs to me when playing because the level is just that good Or maybe it's just because nowadays I like to try and speed through the missions as fast as possible idk
I still remember that massive spike of adrenaline when I read "it followed me home" and instantly knowing how bad things were and how high the stakes were. I'll always love flood gate because it sets the stakes even higher then they were.
Fun Fact that I just recently learned: When you're watching the first marine get transformed by the flood, you can see that the flood actually makes him snap his own neck as the final part of his tranformation, and that's why Human Flood Forms have their heads hanging off to the side
There are some great compilations on UA-cam of all the different Flood transformations. They're really well animated by Bungie so definitely worth checking out.
The best feeling in the level is arbiter meets up with the elites and THEY DONT IMMEDIATELY DIE to the flood right next to their drop pods and you fight alongside them to make your way to the ship together as allies now and martys fantastic score swells in the background. E.P.I.C. I wish you didnt need to skip a cutscene to save the elites and they were a little more durable like they were in halo 2 instead of being very brittle
I feel some of them dying elevates the level The elites would willingly sacrifice their lives to stop the flood on another homeworld where they don't have any stake in. Because one single flood spore is all it takes
I feel like a unintended glitch might have been part of the problem, because you can see their shields take significant damage as their pods open, I don't know if it's fall damage or the little explosion of the pod popping open but I think that's why those elites are so hard to save specifically. I mean don't get me wrong Halo 3 elites have nothing on Elites from 2, or even CE, but they can still be competent allies.
I managed to keep most of them alive, which is fairly rare by my standards as I usually let any allies fend for themselves! I roleplay as a fairly selfish Master Chief, I guess.
The Elites look and sound so corny in Halo 3 compared to their original design from CE or even 2. But I agree, saving them to fight alongside you on this level is always a top priority for me and I rarely end up succeeding.
I love this level. I feel it is the best backtrack due to the environmental storytelling. It has a great escalation in enemy design. It is pretty spooky throughout its runtime. It has its own vibe and I wish Cortona felt more like this misson
I never understood why people hated this mission, the encounters are fun and engaging, the flood are handled well, the moment when elites drop is awesome, overall it’s short and sweet
Ben another BANGER. Fun fact, Miranda's lines about blowing up the ship to destroy the city was the original goal of the mission AND the interior of the crashed ship is im pretty sure part of cut areas from the cortana level that they reused for the inside of the ship to save on time.
Actually it's the opposite, Cortana is a cut area from Floodgate. That's why you end up blowing up High Charity's engine core, because it was the original mission in Floodgate.
Thanks Minimal! And yeh, there was definitely meant to be more, with Cortana even having a fight against the Gravemind at its end. Would have loved that.
Halo 3 was my first Halo game, I was 12 years old when I played it. Prior to this mission, I felt a general sense of confidence and comfort when fighting alongside the marines, they were always brave, tough, and even humorous in the face of danger. But when this level started, and you hear them panicking and screaming over the radio, I immediately felt a sense of dread. I hadn't played the previous Halo's yet, and didn't know what to expect. When I finally saw the Flood, well...let's just say 12 year old me was not prepared...
An excellent level, I still remember going into it fresh thinking about it from a narrative standpoint that we already knew what the Flood's goals and capabilities were.. the devastation they bring, and now they're on earth.. It sent chills down my spine, especially knowing if we didn't take care of every last bit of it.. well, as the shipmaster once so elegantly said, "A single Flood spore can wipe out an entire species."
@@BenPlaysGames oh yeah, the Flood was spreading like wildfire.. I can only imagine what it was like in the places we couldn't see. All those civilians, animal life.. horrific to say the least. Oh, and nevermind whatever they learned about us through their assimilation.
I loved the idea of fighting through the level prior not know with hindsight that the next level everbody left behind and every fallen enemy would be overcover by the flood the next level its great a real standout for me 😊
This level has some of the best atmosphere in the trilogy, the contrast between the storm and floodgate is enormous, something that hasn’t been address ( in the games) is the half crystalized African continent on earth as it would serve as a fantastic place to develop a story there. Great video as always
You make an good argument, and despite the geometry not changing that much I still think Two Betrayals is way more fun. What I don't get is anyone hating this level. Even if you don't like it's too short to be irritating. Good to see a new upload! By the way, I had an idea: how about analysing multiplayer levels? At least some of those you have experience with. If one is not enough content (tho, I certainly think it *could be*) you could do a list of them, for example the ranked levels in Infinite (as you seem to have a lot of experience with).
Glad to see you reviewed this level today, Ben. I actually like this level a lot due to its brevity. It never feels like a slog, and the newer graphics really showcase how horrifying the Flood are with their transformation.
If dead bodies and allies didn't despawn Floodgate would have been amazing to see the carnage you left behind get back up and fight again. Add in the possibly of having a large Marine ball at the end of the first half only for it to slowly get picked apart in the second half, watching Marines and Civilians with no context about the Flood freaking out over the whole situation, and possibly running into Covenant stragglers that got left behind.
I always take the gravity hammer at the start of floodgate because before the "crazed marine" there is an area a small group of flood will spawn and I can just use the hammer against the wall to get rid of them.
I honestly didn't mind this level gameplay wise. But the story is amazing, the Flood are literally on earth. The whole story is absolutely incredible and does the Flood justice. And the Elites showing up, marking the level's halfway point, was really cool, especially fighting alongside them against the Flood. Definitely an amazing level with one of the best stories and atmospheres of all Flood levels.
I believe there was a cut mission between The Storm and Floodgate, which I think goes a long way in explaining your feelings about how Floodgate feels like the second half of The Storm, and it also explain's Miranda's plan to blow up the flood ship not actually occuring or being mentioned again!
I wouldn't say I looked forward to Floodgate, but I never dreaded it either. To me it always felt like a story-bridge between The Storm and The Ark. It could easily have been a cinematic, but I appreciate the player agency.
Floodgate was a good flood level but it has some competition for "the best". While a lot of them were confusing or tedious (The Library, Cortana), the Halo series did have a few quality flood levels. Quarantine Zone in Halo 2 gave you the most diverse vehicle vs vehicle combat the franchise has ever seen. The Covenant in Halo 3 is quite possibly the best level in the entire Halo franchise and fighting both against and alongside the flood was kinda amazing, Halo from Halo 3 was a solid ending, and Two Betrayals from Halo CE felt so much more somber than Assault on the Control Room now that you had 3 separate armies (flood, sentinels & covenant) that all wanted you dead as you made your way through the snow alone.
Only bad part of this level is when you open the final gate on legendary and theres a dozen pure flood forms shooting needles at you and the level grinds to a halt to become a gears of war horde map for 10 minutes
Re: pacing and placement, I did think it was a bit odd to suddenly have the Flood cruiser drop in unannounced (unless there were foreshadowing cues I missed). Having the unknown incoming bogey be part of the former missions' objectives may have helped with that. But otherwise, with respect to the pacing, experiencing the exhaustion and hopelessness of fighting the Flood after fighting so hard to the anti-air objectives only to be picked up by the arrival of the Elites and renewed hope did a lot to put us in Chief's (and humanity's) shoes.
It definitely does feel shoved in there a bit, which I think is probably the case given its length and reuse of assets. A classic case, I'd guess, of Bungie struggling for time and chopping/cutting things.
It's the best Flood level for precisely that reason, it's super atmospheric and can be blasted through in ten minutes, which is a good length for a Flood heavy level.
Even as someone who typically hates having to fight the flood, floodgate gate was probably my most replayed level after completing the campaign. ("Cortana", however, I avoided like it was an actually parasite.)
It is a great level, i honesty do wish it lasted a little longer. Well paced and never felt super overwhelemd or annoyed by the flood like i do immediately after in Cortana.
I like, or at least dont mind, the cortana scenes. They give you small breaks and add the mystic vibe of halo 3. It was smart for bungie to have them as substitute for long loading sequences like in half life. That way larger levels didnt have to be splitt into multiple scripted segments like in halo 2. It also helped with generating larger ai battles, which meant less corridors, arenas and setpieces. This made the game feel less linear unlike halo 2. But for some reason halo 4 also had this issue while reach didnt.
No. Fighting the flood on High Charity in Halo 2 is THE BEST flood level. Half of that level is being fought with Chief's helmet light as the main source of illumination which just makes it so creepy. (seriously, play that shit alone in the middle of the night in a darkened room, some of the combat form roaring ambushes in the dark will legit give you jump scares). Having the action vs the Flood periodically interrupted by more Elite vs Brute combat is great, and the best part (for me and anyone who loved the Halo 2 version of Brute Shot) is that you can power your way through doing melee strikes with an out-of-ammo brute shot almost as well as you can with an energy sword, only you have infinite hits with the brute shot.
Floodgate to me feels like filler, only because it is my go to level for speedrunning, but it always amazes me how they left the cut level dialogue in "The flood its spreading...save this town or risk the entire planet" in the beginning Still a great level. This video has shown me a new light to this level I havent considered
I dont mind back tracking in this level since its so different from the last mission. Theres also the horror aspect of the trail of dead covenant bodies you left behind being the perfect feeding grounds for the Flood.
I think it’s interesting the beginning audio wasn’t updated “overload it’s engines, destroy the city”. Wasnt it supposed to be a longer level or a second level where they destroy the ship? I know the game had to change the story a bit for development
Nice video! IMO Floodgate is decent gameplay and pretty good visually, but somehow I think Cortana is decent gameplay and amazing visually! so between the two it is my preferred H3 level with Flood.
Does the first half of Halo 3's final mission 'Halo' count as a Flood mission? If so, it'd probably get my vote as 2nd best Flood level, mainly thanks to some brilliant and disturbing dialogue from the Gravemind. I feel like the Halo series never really used or concluded the Flood as well as it could have done. Sure we defeat a Gravemind at the end of CE, and even more spectacularly at the end of 3 albeit in the same way, however it felt massively overshadowed by finishing the fight with the Covenant. I don't think I actually really registered that I had vanquished the Flood at the end of my first playthrough of 3! I'd be very onboard in seeing what 343 could potentially do with a game focused on the Flood.
The Flood from 3 do make a return in Halo Wars 2 DLC and it is canon. Also other than the new Endless species, The Flood is still the worst threat out there. its stored on every Halo ring.
I’ve been replaying Halo CE and the problem of the flood overstating their welcome is always on the library and two betrayals I think it was good on 343 and the maw
I've personally always felt that (aside from 343 Guilty Spark) Quarantine Zone was the best flood level, especially with its inclusion of the vehicular flood and what I think is a pretty cool environment. That being said, I do like Floodgate well enough. I definitely agree that its length is a big part of this. I find flood fun to deal with, but they can easily get repetitive over longer periods of time. And this mission being so brief (plus having the pure forms) definitely avoids that. And I definitely agree that them overruning earth looks pretty cool. But I also agree with people who say this level kind of feels like filler. Because that is kind of how I've always felt about it too. That it's a level that, while enjoyable enough, if it had been cut before release I probably wouldn't have noticed anything was missing. Edit: Basically, the way I'd put it is... I'll sometimes sit down and think "Today, I want to replay The Covenant" or "Today, I want to replay Tsavo Highway" or "Today, I want to replay The Ark." But I don't think I've ever sat down and said to myself "Today I really want to play Floodgate again." Even though I think the level is not objectionable. It's overall pretty fun and brief enough that the flood doesn't get stale. But it's also not a standout for me. Whereas I love 343 Guilty Spark and Quarantine Zone.
Stuff like this makes me wonder just how good Halo could have really been if Bungie had the time to put out their full story just exactly how they wanted it presented. They still did really good but just IMAGINE
There are a lot of pros and cons with floodgate, and the way the flood are used from that level onwards, like the storm is a good level great area for battle and then you have floodgate which is kind of the same level just a more destroyed version the flood appear at the end of the storm then floodgate Is the time to fight the entire level is nothing but flood but like halo 1 and halo 2 once the flood make there presence then your stuck with them for the rest of the game but in halo 1 the level the flood appears on is levels 343 guilty spark, the library, two betrayals, keyes and the maw halo 2 the flood appear on the level the orical, the sacred icon, quarantine zone, grave mind and high charity and halo 3 the levels floodgate, the covenant, cortana, halo the thing is each halo game has the flood included for only 4 or 5 levels and they seem always appear mid level what makes halo 3 a bit odd is you have the mission floodgate after that you have the ark and that level has no flood included then you have the covenant and then again the flood don't appear until almost the end of the level the one thing I will say about the flood in each game the flood do get uglier and uglier
there is an elite corpse at the end of this mission that looks like rtas vadum, practically the same model bc it had the missing mandibles and that always confused me
Love it or hate it, remember this, one single flood spore can destroy a species. I for one quite enjoy this mission very much. the flood is best used in short bursts so the flaws in their combat encounters don't have enough time to be noticed as boring or bothersome.
Idk two betrayals, Keyes and the maw beat it for me for one simple reason Solid Flood vs covenant fights I don’t mention the halo 2 ones because they are pretty weak.
I may be taking a contrarian opinion on this one, but I feel that Cortana is actually the best level in terms of the Flood and their threat. Let's be clear, it is repetitive, without originality, stuffy and ugly, tedious as all hell, and you are constantly surrounded by an overwhelming number and variety of Flood. It makes the gameplay just miserable. But from a story perspective, all that I just described is perfect. As mentioned in the video, we get to see High Charity, the crown jewel of the Covenant, in pristine condition (if in political turmoil), then under assault by the Flood at the end of H2. Cortana, however, shows us what the end result of the Flood under a gravemind is. That level is a fate worse than death. And it was done to the Covenant's capitol in short order. The level still carries bits and pieces of the old High Charity level design, but it is thoroughly Flood. Now, that city is nothing but a blob of fleshy, slimy sameness under the control of a single mind. With that level, I could truly understand why the Forerunners would create the galactic-level self-destruction of the Halo Array. It is actually not particularly long, if you remember that you simply can't kill all the Flood and run. Much like The Library (I'll defend that one too), it gives the enemy a reason to be called the Flood and rewires the player's brain on how the game should be played. They will eventually overrun everything and conform everyone to the gravemind's will. Even the Master Chief, the greatest/luckiest super soldier, eventually has to run away.
it should have had a few enemies inside the ship honestly.... also i have heard rumors that the original plan was for this to be the start of cortana but they decided to cut that section out as its own level
More specifically, Cortana was the cut second half of Floodgate. This is why the level Cortana looks nothing like High Charity, where it claims it takes place.
I always thought that Halo 3s flood was so easy. In Combat Evolved and 2, you couldn't melee flood. Here, when you melee them, they just fall apart. The shotgun is also no longer necessary to kill the flood (except on Cortana, you really need an Energy Sword or Shotgun to actually complete it in under a month)
I don't think the potential ramifications of this mission ever truly sank in with people playing through the game since it's so rushed, short and fast paced, the Flood actually made it here, the Flood were on Earth, and it's a good thing the Shipmaster arrived and took such drastic measures as he did because the planet had maybe a few hours at best before the situation became entirely unsalvageable and Earth and the human race and in the long-term scale the galaxy were lost. Like i'm just saying, thank god that infected cruiser touched down where it did, because if it did in one of the still mostly thriving metropolitan or industrial areas at any other inhabited location on the planet, and not the abandoned dead wasteland city scape that was the ruins of New Mombasa, there wouldn't have been any containing it, those spores would have been airborne in the atmosphere in no time.
The flood added something to Halo thematically, and it's not like reworking them for people upset with the gameplay is impossible. I don't mind it, but I just can't see anyone hating them for the idea behind them right? It's so terrifying and complex and up to imagination.
i love the level cortana and the library heres why the sentsación of cortana a infested high charity i like the sceneary plus picking a flametrhower and burning those fucking pure forms to the ground in legendary is one of the best things ever and its not that hard people exagerates the difficulty of flood levels i swear and the library cmon man killing fucking bastard that kill all your marines at the end of 343 guilty spark dont you want vengeanse? because i wanted even on legendary just killing the flood whit a shotgun and a assault rifle showing the bastards ho is the real treat they arent we the players are
Two things: 1: I love how Master Chief recognizes the Flood strategy of crashing a ship to start an outbreak, like he saw in High Charity in Halo 2 2: I also really like that whenever the flood is on screen is a serious matter, only grunts say jokes about them, and characters make tough but rational decitions.
“Were it not for the Arbiters council I WOULD HAVE GLASSED YOUR ENTIRE PLANET” In context of how terrifying the flood are, I could understand why the ship master wouldn’t want to take any risks considering one escaped flood spore could have easily ensnared the entire human race on earth
I always say Cortana is the worst level. And this is the 2nd worst level. Alot of my hate for this level stems from the fact that I'm the biggest fan of the way Halo 3 is. The guns dont feel as fun in campaign and the flood especially are boring af to fight. (also the story leaves alot to be desired) In Halo CE and Halo 2 it felt "OH SHIT THE FLOOD" and now it's just, "alright I'm going to gingerly kill all these enemies lalala, grab the gravity hammer lalala" Some of the other reasons it sucks were brought up "short, backtrack" Walk back through the storm and it's exactly the same except you're fighting a much more boring enemy and no cool vehicle sections. There's a dark fog in the level oh wow?!?!! Man this level sucks. The backtracking in Halo CE is an understandable critique but at least it feels challenging and fun and not boring especially in legendary when it should feel like "god damn i'm gonna die!" I think the intro cinematic is exciting but then it was disappointing to see what the flood was)
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Yes or nah?
yes
To be honest I don't ow why so many people don't like the level cortana.
It is the best flood themed level. It is disgusting, confusing, has a lot of variety, is overwhelming and makes you anxious. Everything the flood should feel like.
Some say the level design looks bland and boring because it's only one color grading but I disagree. There is quite enough change I. The colors to not make it boring. Especially the cutscene when you reclaim cortana. It has the best lighting of the whole franchise, which only might be beaten in some moments by halo infinite... Which is 15 years later. But not only the graphical aspect is impressing, also the story which is told in the bits and pieces before and after the mentioned cutscenes, but especially within the cutscene.this cutscenes is the culmination of 6 years and 3 games of halo. The music, the spoken wirds, everything just brings back memories and tells you why it was so necessary, important and inevitable to go to the very heart and brain of the infestation and save cortana. She is no every day AI, she is your guardian angel, the only friend you maybe have and most likely the only "person" who really understands what you were going through. The only person who lives through what you lived through.
I love the level cortana as much as I hated it completing it solo on legendary. Even worse completing it solo on LASO. But still... I love playing this level just to see this cutscene
"It followed me home" is one of the more haunting titles of any level, with the darkened brooding skys and threat on the horizon harkening back to a childhood fear of kidnappers, stalkers or murderers lurking all around at night. This takes that fear and makes it real.
Man I remember being like 11 playing this the first time and getting really uncomfortable when that title showed up. Was terrified of the Flood in Halo 2 and really wasn’t looking forward to fighting them again.
“It followed me home” just holds a lot of weight.
Like an animal that’s been tailing you for days and you never knew.
@@himbolover69 So true, and just the concept of having just seen what the Flood did to the Covenant's main city gives this ominous vibe that nothing is sacred or safe, and that even Earth - in spite of it surviving the Covenant War up to this point - could have lost everything in an instant if Africa hadn't been glassed to prevent the spread. The idea that a zombie plague could take control of a slipspace capable ship and throw it like a hail Mary football to Earth is nightmare fuel. Any survivors post-Halo 3 must have had constant dread of zombies flying into atmosphere via random slipspace jumps seeing as it had happened once before. Even if unfounded, that fear was likely never quenched for those who saw that ship flying in, knew what it meant, and lived to tell the tale. Likely never looked back up at the sky the same way again.
I got chills just from reading that. The implied horror and all. Also because I became nostalgic of that one mission where you jack a giant mech in SC2 WOL
Agreed, very creepy. It's a way more unsettling introduction to the Flood compared to 2's The Oracle, which I thought was pretty middling.
I actually like the french title for that level better "Devine qui vient diner ?" or "Guess who's coming over for diner ?", with the very clear implication that you're the main course and the marines are the appetizer.
6:30
This segment is funny since “Cortana” is actually the cut second half of “Floodgate”. Bungie didn’t have time to create an infested High Charity for Halo 3 therefore they moved the rest of the ship onto that mission.
It also explains why “Cortana” is architecturally nothing like High Charity and instead is a Covenant cruiser.
In addition, you blow up “High Charity” just like Miranda ordered for the crashed ship- blowing the engine core.
It's a strange one, as it's very clearly only half a level but equally I love how short and snappy the end mission is, so I really like what we ended up getting too.
That does make a lot of sense but there are a few similar areas in Cortana that you briefly visited in High Charity in Halo 2, you can see the ruins of the Mausoleum of the Arbiters in one of the earliest points in the levels, and you find Cortana in the destroyed inner sanctum of the hierarchs that you see in several cutscenes in Halo 2 and breifly pass through on your way to the dreadnaught.
@@bubbajoe117unless the thing is actually a widely spread rumor I imagine they used the planned 2nd half as a shortcut to have most of the work done for them and if they had anything done prior added them in where they could to try and make the level feel as much as High Charity as possible
3:54 You mentioned it, but I don't think emphasized in nearly enough. This is the most terrifying level in the entire series when looking at it in a grander scope. By all accounts, this very likely could have been an extinction level event equal to the Halo Array. Without the arrival of the Shipmaster, there would be no way for humanity to contain the Flood. The Flood with access to billions of infected and a new, true home world with space fairing technology, could have easily consumed the entire galaxy.
Looking at it on a smaller scale is just as terrifying. Keep in mind, ONI has covered up the existence of the Flood from anyone outside high command. Imagine the same terror and confusion the marines felt on 343 Guilty Spark, except instead of small group coming out from underground on a strange space station on the other end of the galaxy, a multi-kilometer long ship of them teleport in out of nowhere and directly invades your home world in the middle of the already hardest fought battle in human history.
I wish the Flood had won so we finally got an infected Spartan in a campaign level. Would have ruined the rest of the game though! I'll get my infected Spartan boss one day...
@@BenPlaysGamesThat’s my dream too, I want a story about a canonically Flood infected Spartan so bad. It’ll probably happen one day in a book though.
I'll be honest, I think it's a really good level. I heard a few say it's too short, but honestly? Short flood levels are the best because the flood usually overstays its welcome when fought for too long.
It's an awesome mission but man more encounters along side some Marines and elites would've been awesomer! Lol
That's just my personal taste though, I tend to enjoy each of the flood levels even the library to an extent
I agree, although maybe one new environment at some point would have been nice. That would also help with the backtracking. Similar how on Keys you leave the Covenant cruiser for a bit
A very good point - I often found myself asking: "Are we done yet?" and lo and behold, the level ends.
The length is a massive plus for me. It keeps a quick pace and you're always moving forward, so it never becomes a drag like other Flood levels have a tendency to do. For me, it's the most playable Flood centric mission in the series and the one I'd use as the template for future Flood levels should they ever make a return.
@BenPlaysGames yeah absolutely
I think it and 343 are the perfect flood levels, really. Though I think 343 sorta drags near the end just waiting for spark to appear, it never really occurs to me when playing because the level is just that good
Or maybe it's just because nowadays I like to try and speed through the missions as fast as possible idk
I still remember that massive spike of adrenaline when I read "it followed me home" and instantly knowing how bad things were and how high the stakes were. I'll always love flood gate because it sets the stakes even higher then they were.
That "oh shit" moment when the ship appears in the sky is such a great introduction!
Fun Fact that I just recently learned: When you're watching the first marine get transformed by the flood, you can see that the flood actually makes him snap his own neck as the final part of his tranformation, and that's why Human Flood Forms have their heads hanging off to the side
I thought he snaps his neck to kill himself but that does kinda make more sense that the flood do it
I guess they don't want a Jenkins situation
There are some great compilations on UA-cam of all the different Flood transformations. They're really well animated by Bungie so definitely worth checking out.
The best feeling in the level is arbiter meets up with the elites and THEY DONT IMMEDIATELY DIE to the flood right next to their drop pods and you fight alongside them to make your way to the ship together as allies now and martys fantastic score swells in the background. E.P.I.C. I wish you didnt need to skip a cutscene to save the elites and they were a little more durable like they were in halo 2 instead of being very brittle
I feel some of them dying elevates the level
The elites would willingly sacrifice their lives to stop the flood on another homeworld where they don't have any stake in.
Because one single flood spore is all it takes
I feel like a unintended glitch might have been part of the problem, because you can see their shields take significant damage as their pods open, I don't know if it's fall damage or the little explosion of the pod popping open but I think that's why those elites are so hard to save specifically. I mean don't get me wrong Halo 3 elites have nothing on Elites from 2, or even CE, but they can still be competent allies.
I managed to keep most of them alive, which is fairly rare by my standards as I usually let any allies fend for themselves! I roleplay as a fairly selfish Master Chief, I guess.
The Elites look and sound so corny in Halo 3 compared to their original design from CE or even 2. But I agree, saving them to fight alongside you on this level is always a top priority for me and I rarely end up succeeding.
I love this level. I feel it is the best backtrack due to the environmental storytelling. It has a great escalation in enemy design. It is pretty spooky throughout its runtime. It has its own vibe and I wish Cortona felt more like this misson
Also I do feel like The Maw was a decent amount of change.
My favourite is the Flood dropping down on to the marines near the beginning, such a great little scripted moment.
I never understood why people hated this mission, the encounters are fun and engaging, the flood are handled well, the moment when elites drop is awesome, overall it’s short and sweet
Ben another BANGER. Fun fact, Miranda's lines about blowing up the ship to destroy the city was the original goal of the mission AND the interior of the crashed ship is im pretty sure part of cut areas from the cortana level that they reused for the inside of the ship to save on time.
Actually it's the opposite, Cortana is a cut area from Floodgate. That's why you end up blowing up High Charity's engine core, because it was the original mission in Floodgate.
Thanks Minimal! And yeh, there was definitely meant to be more, with Cortana even having a fight against the Gravemind at its end. Would have loved that.
Halo 3 was my first Halo game, I was 12 years old when I played it.
Prior to this mission, I felt a general sense of confidence and comfort when fighting alongside the marines, they were always brave, tough, and even humorous in the face of danger. But when this level started, and you hear them panicking and screaming over the radio, I immediately felt a sense of dread. I hadn't played the previous Halo's yet, and didn't know what to expect. When I finally saw the Flood, well...let's just say 12 year old me was not prepared...
An excellent level, I still remember going into it fresh thinking about it from a narrative standpoint that we already knew what the Flood's goals and capabilities were.. the devastation they bring, and now they're on earth..
It sent chills down my spine, especially knowing if we didn't take care of every last bit of it.. well, as the shipmaster once so elegantly said, "A single Flood spore can wipe out an entire species."
It's amazing they managed to prevent the spread at all really, considering how bad things got in such a short space of time.
@@BenPlaysGames oh yeah, the Flood was spreading like wildfire.. I can only imagine what it was like in the places we couldn't see.
All those civilians, animal life.. horrific to say the least.
Oh, and nevermind whatever they learned about us through their assimilation.
I love all the flood levels. I’ve played these games forward and back and the flood are some of my favorite enemies ever
I loved the idea of fighting through the level prior not know with hindsight that the next level everbody left behind and every fallen enemy would be overcover by the flood the next level its great a real standout for me 😊
This level has some of the best atmosphere in the trilogy, the contrast between the storm and floodgate is enormous, something that hasn’t been address ( in the games) is the half crystalized African continent on earth as it would serve as a fantastic place to develop a story there. Great video as always
Nice one dude, and agree, tip tier atmosphere.
this was a classic to play co-op with the boys on high difficulty, great level
You make an good argument, and despite the geometry not changing that much I still think Two Betrayals is way more fun.
What I don't get is anyone hating this level. Even if you don't like it's too short to be irritating.
Good to see a new upload!
By the way, I had an idea: how about analysing multiplayer levels? At least some of those you have experience with. If one is not enough content (tho, I certainly think it *could be*) you could do a list of them, for example the ranked levels in Infinite (as you seem to have a lot of experience with).
Glad to see you reviewed this level today, Ben. I actually like this level a lot due to its brevity. It never feels like a slog, and the newer graphics really showcase how horrifying the Flood are with their transformation.
As you say, it's great fun to blast through and has a really oppressive atmosphere - both perfect for the Food.
If dead bodies and allies didn't despawn Floodgate would have been amazing to see the carnage you left behind get back up and fight again. Add in the possibly of having a large Marine ball at the end of the first half only for it to slowly get picked apart in the second half, watching Marines and Civilians with no context about the Flood freaking out over the whole situation, and possibly running into Covenant stragglers that got left behind.
This levels great. I never think about the level design while playing because I’m so focused on the mission. It’s def an s tier mission.
I really like it, short and sweet.
I always take the gravity hammer at the start of floodgate because before the "crazed marine" there is an area a small group of flood will spawn and I can just use the hammer against the wall to get rid of them.
Many fond memories of this level cant wait to make my way to it again
Do it asap!
I honestly didn't mind this level gameplay wise. But the story is amazing, the Flood are literally on earth. The whole story is absolutely incredible and does the Flood justice. And the Elites showing up, marking the level's halfway point, was really cool, especially fighting alongside them against the Flood.
Definitely an amazing level with one of the best stories and atmospheres of all Flood levels.
I believe there was a cut mission between The Storm and Floodgate, which I think goes a long way in explaining your feelings about how Floodgate feels like the second half of The Storm, and it also explain's Miranda's plan to blow up the flood ship not actually occuring or being mentioned again!
Ben: "A floody good time"
Me: *coughs up blood from the pun*
*gives shaky thumbs up*
My career for a good while was in writing and editing for publications, so always been partial to a ridiculous pun or too!
I wouldn't say I looked forward to Floodgate, but I never dreaded it either. To me it always felt like a story-bridge between The Storm and The Ark. It could easily have been a cinematic, but I appreciate the player agency.
Floodgate was a good flood level but it has some competition for "the best". While a lot of them were confusing or tedious (The Library, Cortana), the Halo series did have a few quality flood levels. Quarantine Zone in Halo 2 gave you the most diverse vehicle vs vehicle combat the franchise has ever seen. The Covenant in Halo 3 is quite possibly the best level in the entire Halo franchise and fighting both against and alongside the flood was kinda amazing, Halo from Halo 3 was a solid ending, and Two Betrayals from Halo CE felt so much more somber than Assault on the Control Room now that you had 3 separate armies (flood, sentinels & covenant) that all wanted you dead as you made your way through the snow alone.
Only bad part of this level is when you open the final gate on legendary and theres a dozen pure flood forms shooting needles at you and the level grinds to a halt to become a gears of war horde map for 10 minutes
I like how "apart from 343" is the wildest unintentional roast i've ever seen.
love how fast it is.
Likewise.
Re: pacing and placement, I did think it was a bit odd to suddenly have the Flood cruiser drop in unannounced (unless there were foreshadowing cues I missed). Having the unknown incoming bogey be part of the former missions' objectives may have helped with that. But otherwise, with respect to the pacing, experiencing the exhaustion and hopelessness of fighting the Flood after fighting so hard to the anti-air objectives only to be picked up by the arrival of the Elites and renewed hope did a lot to put us in Chief's (and humanity's) shoes.
It definitely does feel shoved in there a bit, which I think is probably the case given its length and reuse of assets. A classic case, I'd guess, of Bungie struggling for time and chopping/cutting things.
Thinking back to my most recent playthrough, I think Floodgate is up there as one of my top picks for Halo 3.
Its the soundtrack on this mission when you're first entering the warehouse again, thats what does it for me.
I love this level so much. I'll boot up Halo 3 just to run through this mission and then go about my day as usual lol
It's the best Flood level for precisely that reason, it's super atmospheric and can be blasted through in ten minutes, which is a good length for a Flood heavy level.
Sad fact is that last scene where Lord Hood see Miranda and Chief is probably his last time seeing them.
Even as someone who typically hates having to fight the flood, floodgate gate was probably my most replayed level after completing the campaign. ("Cortana", however, I avoided like it was an actually parasite.)
It is a great level, i honesty do wish it lasted a little longer. Well paced and never felt super overwhelemd or annoyed by the flood like i do immediately after in Cortana.
I like, or at least dont mind, the cortana scenes. They give you small breaks and add the mystic vibe of halo 3. It was smart for bungie to have them as substitute for long loading sequences like in half life. That way larger levels didnt have to be splitt into multiple scripted segments like in halo 2.
It also helped with generating larger ai battles, which meant less corridors, arenas and setpieces. This made the game feel less linear unlike halo 2. But for some reason halo 4 also had this issue while reach didnt.
I can't wait for the Halo 3 legendary play through!
Next week, likely Wednesday for the first one.
I recall marty talking about taking a less is more attitude when making the soundtrack for the halo games
No. Fighting the flood on High Charity in Halo 2 is THE BEST flood level. Half of that level is being fought with Chief's helmet light as the main source of illumination which just makes it so creepy. (seriously, play that shit alone in the middle of the night in a darkened room, some of the combat form roaring ambushes in the dark will legit give you jump scares). Having the action vs the Flood periodically interrupted by more Elite vs Brute combat is great, and the best part (for me and anyone who loved the Halo 2 version of Brute Shot) is that you can power your way through doing melee strikes with an out-of-ammo brute shot almost as well as you can with an energy sword, only you have infinite hits with the brute shot.
Floodgate to me feels like filler, only because it is my go to level for speedrunning, but it always amazes me how they left the cut level dialogue in "The flood its spreading...save this town or risk the entire planet" in the beginning
Still a great level. This video has shown me a new light to this level I havent considered
I dont mind back tracking in this level since its so different from the last mission. Theres also the horror aspect of the trail of dead covenant bodies you left behind being the perfect feeding grounds for the Flood.
I always loved the elite backup scene, I think the elites in general were very underwhelming in Halo 3 (including Arby and Half Jaw) );
One of the rare occasions I actually managed to keep my allies alive.
I think it’s interesting the beginning audio wasn’t updated “overload it’s engines, destroy the city”. Wasnt it supposed to be a longer level or a second level where they destroy the ship? I know the game had to change the story a bit for development
Yeh it was meant to be joined with Cortana, so you would have done the engine part during the second half if it was one long mission.
Whenever I play MCC and the challenge is to complete any mission on Legendary under 20 minutes, Floodgate is my go to mission.
Nice video! IMO Floodgate is decent gameplay and pretty good visually, but somehow I think Cortana is decent gameplay and amazing visually! so between the two it is my preferred H3 level with Flood.
Thanks Panda! Maybe don't watch my video on Cortana haha.
Absolutely loved this mission. One of the bright spots for Halo 3 to me
Me too, everything from The Storm onwards especially, apart from Cortana, is fire.
Babe wake up, Ben Plays uploaded a video!
Cheers for always watching dude!
I just realized there is no 3 way Human be Covenant vs Flood combat in Halo 3. I definitely missed that in Halo 3.
Does the first half of Halo 3's final mission 'Halo' count as a Flood mission? If so, it'd probably get my vote as 2nd best Flood level, mainly thanks to some brilliant and disturbing dialogue from the Gravemind.
I feel like the Halo series never really used or concluded the Flood as well as it could have done. Sure we defeat a Gravemind at the end of CE, and even more spectacularly at the end of 3 albeit in the same way, however it felt massively overshadowed by finishing the fight with the Covenant. I don't think I actually really registered that I had vanquished the Flood at the end of my first playthrough of 3! I'd be very onboard in seeing what 343 could potentially do with a game focused on the Flood.
The Flood from 3 do make a return in Halo Wars 2 DLC and it is canon. Also other than the new Endless species, The Flood is still the worst threat out there. its stored on every Halo ring.
I’ve been replaying Halo CE and the problem of the flood overstating their welcome is always on the library and two betrayals I think it was good on 343 and the maw
I've personally always felt that (aside from 343 Guilty Spark) Quarantine Zone was the best flood level, especially with its inclusion of the vehicular flood and what I think is a pretty cool environment. That being said, I do like Floodgate well enough. I definitely agree that its length is a big part of this. I find flood fun to deal with, but they can easily get repetitive over longer periods of time. And this mission being so brief (plus having the pure forms) definitely avoids that. And I definitely agree that them overruning earth looks pretty cool. But I also agree with people who say this level kind of feels like filler. Because that is kind of how I've always felt about it too. That it's a level that, while enjoyable enough, if it had been cut before release I probably wouldn't have noticed anything was missing.
Edit: Basically, the way I'd put it is... I'll sometimes sit down and think "Today, I want to replay The Covenant" or "Today, I want to replay Tsavo Highway" or "Today, I want to replay The Ark." But I don't think I've ever sat down and said to myself "Today I really want to play Floodgate again." Even though I think the level is not objectionable. It's overall pretty fun and brief enough that the flood doesn't get stale. But it's also not a standout for me. Whereas I love 343 Guilty Spark and Quarantine Zone.
Stuff like this makes me wonder just how good Halo could have really been if Bungie had the time to put out their full story just exactly how they wanted it presented. They still did really good but just IMAGINE
Imagine if they had six years to work on one of their games like 343 did with Infinite...
I love this level
Snap!
Another "flood transform" stage is arbiter and oracle from halo 2. The heretic releases the flood to stall for time
There are a lot of pros and cons with floodgate, and the way the flood are used from that level onwards, like the storm is a good level great area for battle and then you have floodgate which is kind of the same level just a more destroyed version the flood appear at the end of the storm then floodgate Is the time to fight the entire level is nothing but flood but like halo 1 and halo 2 once the flood make there presence then your stuck with them for the rest of the game but in halo 1 the level the flood appears on is levels 343 guilty spark, the library, two betrayals, keyes and the maw halo 2 the flood appear on the level the orical, the sacred icon, quarantine zone, grave mind and high charity and halo 3 the levels floodgate, the covenant, cortana, halo the thing is each halo game has the flood included for only 4 or 5 levels and they seem always appear mid level what makes halo 3 a bit odd is you have the mission floodgate after that you have the ark and that level has no flood included then you have the covenant and then again the flood don't appear until almost the end of the level the one thing I will say about the flood in each game the flood do get uglier and uglier
ODST has a crazed marine as well
Bro kills the marine a little scared of aliens , but not the horrified suicidal marines who fear the flood...
there is an elite corpse at the end of this mission that looks like rtas vadum, practically the same model bc it had the missing mandibles and that always confused me
What is it? More brutes?
Worse.
"IT FOLLOWED ME HOME...."
The flood it's spreading all over the city
Excellent line.
Love it or hate it, remember this, one single flood spore can destroy a species.
I for one quite enjoy this mission very much. the flood is best used in short bursts so the flaws in their combat encounters don't have enough time to be noticed as boring or bothersome.
Idk two betrayals, Keyes and the maw beat it for me for one simple reason
Solid
Flood vs covenant fights
I don’t mention the halo 2 ones because they are pretty weak.
I may be taking a contrarian opinion on this one, but I feel that Cortana is actually the best level in terms of the Flood and their threat. Let's be clear, it is repetitive, without originality, stuffy and ugly, tedious as all hell, and you are constantly surrounded by an overwhelming number and variety of Flood. It makes the gameplay just miserable. But from a story perspective, all that I just described is perfect. As mentioned in the video, we get to see High Charity, the crown jewel of the Covenant, in pristine condition (if in political turmoil), then under assault by the Flood at the end of H2. Cortana, however, shows us what the end result of the Flood under a gravemind is. That level is a fate worse than death. And it was done to the Covenant's capitol in short order. The level still carries bits and pieces of the old High Charity level design, but it is thoroughly Flood. Now, that city is nothing but a blob of fleshy, slimy sameness under the control of a single mind. With that level, I could truly understand why the Forerunners would create the galactic-level self-destruction of the Halo Array. It is actually not particularly long, if you remember that you simply can't kill all the Flood and run. Much like The Library (I'll defend that one too), it gives the enemy a reason to be called the Flood and rewires the player's brain on how the game should be played. They will eventually overrun everything and conform everyone to the gravemind's will. Even the Master Chief, the greatest/luckiest super soldier, eventually has to run away.
unless I'm doing a full play through of CE or halo 2, flood gate is the only flood level i'll happily play by choice
it should have had a few enemies inside the ship honestly.... also i have heard rumors that the original plan was for this to be the start of cortana but they decided to cut that section out as its own level
More specifically, Cortana was the cut second half of Floodgate. This is why the level Cortana looks nothing like High Charity, where it claims it takes place.
I always thought that Halo 3s flood was so easy. In Combat Evolved and 2, you couldn't melee flood. Here, when you melee them, they just fall apart. The shotgun is also no longer necessary to kill the flood (except on Cortana, you really need an Energy Sword or Shotgun to actually complete it in under a month)
I don't think the potential ramifications of this mission ever truly sank in with people playing through the game since it's so rushed, short and fast paced, the Flood actually made it here, the Flood were on Earth, and it's a good thing the Shipmaster arrived and took such drastic measures as he did because the planet had maybe a few hours at best before the situation became entirely unsalvageable and Earth and the human race and in the long-term scale the galaxy were lost.
Like i'm just saying, thank god that infected cruiser touched down where it did, because if it did in one of the still mostly thriving metropolitan or industrial areas at any other inhabited location on the planet, and not the abandoned dead wasteland city scape that was the ruins of New Mombasa, there wouldn't have been any containing it, those spores would have been airborne in the atmosphere in no time.
The flood added something to Halo thematically, and it's not like reworking them for people upset with the gameplay is impossible. I don't mind it, but I just can't see anyone hating them for the idea behind them right? It's so terrifying and complex and up to imagination.
People really aren’t thinking of the implications of this level, like the flood is ON Earth, humanity’s last planet at this time
I did have a floody good time
Mission accomplished!
i love the level cortana and the library heres why the sentsación of cortana a infested high charity i like the sceneary plus picking a flametrhower and burning those fucking pure forms to the ground in legendary is one of the best things ever and its not that hard people exagerates the difficulty of flood levels i swear
and the library cmon man killing fucking bastard that kill all your marines at the end of 343 guilty spark dont you want vengeanse? because i wanted even on legendary just killing the flood whit a shotgun and a assault rifle showing the bastards ho is the real treat they arent we the players are
I bet Ben likes to play games.
Damn straight.
Hey Ben, I made a short little edit off of this video.
Like or dislike it doesn’t matter if we are playing halo I’m getting the skulls and there’s a skull here so we’re playing it
based video once again 👍
Cheers sans!
ah yes library was peak
Two things:
1: I love how Master Chief recognizes the Flood strategy of crashing a ship to start an outbreak, like he saw in High Charity in Halo 2
2: I also really like that whenever the flood is on screen is a serious matter, only grunts say jokes about them, and characters make tough but rational decitions.
“Were it not for the Arbiters council I WOULD HAVE GLASSED YOUR ENTIRE PLANET”
In context of how terrifying the flood are, I could understand why the ship master wouldn’t want to take any risks considering one escaped flood spore could have easily ensnared the entire human race on earth
I'd actually never put together two and two regarding Chief having seen the Flood do that before. Pretty cool!
There are people that don't like Floodgate?
I always say Cortana is the worst level.
And this is the 2nd worst level.
Alot of my hate for this level stems from the fact that I'm the biggest fan of the way Halo 3 is. The guns dont feel as fun in campaign and the flood especially are boring af to fight. (also the story leaves alot to be desired)
In Halo CE and Halo 2 it felt "OH SHIT THE FLOOD" and now it's just,
"alright I'm going to gingerly kill all these enemies lalala, grab the gravity hammer lalala"
Some of the other reasons it sucks were brought up "short, backtrack"
Walk back through the storm and it's exactly the same except you're fighting a much more boring enemy and no cool vehicle sections. There's a dark fog in the level oh wow?!?!!
Man this level sucks. The backtracking in Halo CE is an understandable critique but at least it feels challenging and fun and not boring especially in legendary when it should feel like "god damn i'm gonna die!"
I think the intro cinematic is exciting but then it was disappointing to see what the flood was)
SAVE THE MARINES AND ELITES!!
why do people still care about this dead series
Because it's awesome. Or, used to be awesome.
Centered crosshair in halo 3 🤮