Game Stooge

FEATURE: Why America Embraced Master Chief

• Scribbled on September 19th, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
• Filed in Features, Microsoft Xbox 360, Shooter

[In time for the midnight launches of Halo 3: ODST, enjoy this article.]

There has been never been a phenomena in the United States like the Halo series, and in particular, its hero, Master Chief. While there have been crazes – the Pac-Man craze, the Pokemon craze, the Mario craze – they have never had the presence or popularity that Master Chief has had. There’s never been a Mario wax figure at Madame Tussauds. There’s never been huge four-city bashes at this level – heck, few films have had this sort of advance mania (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace comes to mind.) While Super Mario Bros. was a low-budget stinker directed by some no name scrubs (and the less said about The Wizard, the better – “He touched my BREAST!”), the planned Halo movie is being backed by an Oscar-winning director and producer in Peter Jackson.

The question is – why? Why has Master Chief captured the imagination? What sort of magic synergies have elevated Master Chief in America to icon level? This article shall explore why, and find that there actually is no mystery to Master Chief’s success.

He’s Made in USA

What do Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, Pac-Man and Solid Snake all have in common? They’re all Japanese-born. They’re icons, all right, but in Japan. They all have a Japanese flavor, even the seemingly Italian Mario and the indeterminate Western-bred Snake. Master Chief is born in the U.S.A. He comes from the wellspring of minds of Bungie, a Seattle-based developer. His name, John-117, is rife with Judeo-Christian meanings in a Judeo-Christian country. The philosophies of Halo do not share the same spiritual energies that Japanese games do. While Japanese games tend to run towards Gaea theories, American run towards the more Puritan ideas of hard work and sacrifice. The “Believe” campaign is stressing the Master Chief/Jesus symbology even more, portraying “Master Chief as Savior of Humanity.”

It is interesting, however, that there is a nod to Japanese sensibilities in Halo. Master Chief’s name, for instance, is in the long tradition of such Japanese titles as “Prince of Space” and “Space Chief”. Bungie, after all, did made the anime homage ONI, so they are somewhat influenced by Japanese heroes.

Master Chief is a Soldier

Master Chief is, first and foremost, a soldier. His rank is, in fact, named after the naval rank Master Chief Petty Officer. He works for the United Nations Space Command, and he goes to war for freedom of the whole of human race. It’s not unimportant to recognize that Halo debuted just two months after the 9/11 Tragedy in 2001.

And if there’s something that post-9/11 America loves, it’s the soldier, and despite the reverence which Master Chief’s fellow squadmates show John, Master Chief fights alongside them. He’s both elevated and humble, and he always tries to do The Right Thing. He wreaks vengeance on those who would subjugate us. He is the epitomy of pureness.

But it goes even beyond that. Master Chief is faceless. He’s the Unknown Soldier. He’s the Everyman. Since his face has never been seen (yet), he represents the player. The only thing that is known is that Master Chief is male – otherwise, he could be any race or nationality. This allows the player to identify with the character because they can imagine themselves as the hero. There’s also a mystery to him as well, due to his facelessness. The biggest shock that could ever happen in a Halo game is not Master Chief’s death – it’s his unmasking.

Halo is a First Person Shooter

First person shooters are an American genre. For years, on console systems, games were either platform jumpers, maze games, roleplaying games, or scrolling shooters, for the simple reason that consoles simply could not handle the processing power required for first person shooters. Since console systems were basically originating from Japanese companies like Nintendo, Sega, and Sony – the last popular console by an American company was the ColecoVision/ADAM – shooters were unknown. Meanwhile, computer gamers started to get into a type of game called the FPS, by id Software and 3D Realms, for the most part. During those early days, Americans overcame the nausea that first person games that Japanese currently still endure.

First person shooters became popular in Europe as well, but the genre still remains uniquely American. While rudimentary shooters began to pop up on consoles, like GoldenEye, it wasn’t until the Xbox and its hard drive that a true computer-style FPS landed on consoles – and it was Halo.

Microsoft Backs Master Chief

It doesn’t hurt that Master Chief also has a behemoth backing him up. The television commercials, the parties, and the hype – it costs money, which Microsoft has more than enough of. Microsoft is also the master of marketing, and wise in the way it chooses to sell its product. They won’t oversell Master Chief – you won’t see Master Chief Bathing Suits or Master Chief Barbeque Bibs – but they will sell to the people who count – the hardcore fans. Microsoft has its M.V.P. Program, which keeps it grounded with the common gamer, but also has its expertise on a corporate level as well.

Comparing Marathon with Halo is apt. Marathon was as much a revolutionary first person shooter as Halo, but on the wrong system for shooters (the Mac) and without the resources of Microsoft. Halo in anyone else’s hands would have been just another great shooter, which brings us to the next reason..

Halo is a Great Game

None of this would matter if Halo were just a good shooter. The fact of the matter is, the Halo series stands alone with Half-Life as the greatest shooters ever made. The first Halo was so good, while it was winning every award known to man, people went to extremes to play online multiplayer, making Gamespy’s Tunnel program popular beyond belief. Halo 2, despite the “problems” (only being discussed three years after the fact), is still one of the hottest online games for the Xbox 360, and possibly the main reason Microsoft acquiesced on backwards compatibility for its new system. Halo 3 has just received a 37/40 “Platinum” review from the FPS-phobic Japanese publication Famitsu. There’s a reason people know who Master Chief is, and not Parker (the hero of Red Faction).

It Could Have Been You, Duke

It might have been someone else, though. Back in 1996, the Great FPS Debate began when Duke Nukem 3D and Quake were released. While Quake clearly had the better technology, Duke 3D and its primitive Build engine captured the hearts of many gamers. Duke, an unrepentent macho Army of Darkness-quoting (”Come get some!”) blonde commando, was quite the character. He made Roddy Piper’s tossaway line from They Live! immortal: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all out of bubblegum.” While the technology itself was fairly pedestrian, the game wasn’t, full of strange and wild weaponry, such as the freezer, shrink rays and the ultimate in humiliating defeat – the Mighty Foot. It also offered terrific multiplayer, making laser tripwires the ultimate in strategy. It had all the tools to make Duke America’s icon, Master Chief before Master Chief, only with more personality.

Then 3D Realms started on Duke Nukem Forever.

Duke Nukem’s chance of being a star vanished, and id’s choice of protagonist – silent, personality-less ciphers – ruled the day, with no stories backing the Quake and DOOM games. It wasn’t til Gordon Freeman came around before first person shooters had an actual plot (with apologies to System Shock.) But his image was too wimpy (a bespectacled assistant scientist?), and Valve’s constant long development time scotched any chance of Gordon becoming as mainstream popular as Master Chief.

Following in Master Chief’s Footsteps?

The other Big Event Game that Microsoft had for the Xbox 360 was last year’s Gears of War, which shared many commonalities with Halo, a space military-themed shooter with tremendous gameplay and addictive, if less expansive, multiplayer. It also benefited from Microsoft’s publicity machine, with commercials and showcases galore.

Is Marcus Fenix the next Master Chief? It’s hard to say. Master Chief’s sidekick, the glowing blue AI Cortana, was more of a contrast to John’s stoicness than Dominic was to Marcus. While Master Chief is 7′2″, he’s not the football player-shaped character that Marcus is, and the mystery of Marcus is not his identity – he spends the entire game without any head protection (!) – but his past. Marcus is also less “approachable” than John. John will shake your hand – Marcus is more likely to glower at you if you try to greet him.

The corporate synergy is also different. Microsoft owns Bungie. Microsoft has to partner itself with Epic. The friction over multiplayer and Live For Windows was a non-issue with Bungie; the same was definitely not true with Gears of War. There’s nothing Microsoft can do if Epic decides to make Gears of War 3 for another console. Time shall tell if Marcus becomes an iconic figure alongside Master Chief.

(They like him in Canada, too.)

[Originally posted exactly two years ago, on September 19, 2007.]