Examining Halo's Scariest Mission

343 Guilty Spark is my favourite mission in Bungie's Halo Combat Evolved and quite possibly in the entire Halo franchise, mainly because of the brilliant way it tells the horror story of Master Chief and the Covenant discovering the Flood.

Not only is 343 Guilty Spark scary, it is also wonderfully designed and packed with clever details from start to finish, which make it the Halo Combat Evolved mission few Halo fans will forget in a hurry.

In this video, I take a look at everything from 343 Guilty Spark's level design and gameplay to its story, scary setting and horror atmosphere, to try and explain why it's so brilliant, while also drawing comparisons to The Silent Cartographer, Assault on the Control Room and other Halo Combat Evolved missions.

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#Halo #HaloCombatEvolved #MasterChief

Contents:
00:00 - Intro
00:24 - Previously On Halo Combat Evolved
01:28 - Details In The Swamp
06:53 - Discoveries In The Facility
10:52 - Flood Everywhere
15:05 - Allies At The Exit
16:29 - Anniversary Issues
17:22 - Halo Combat Evolved's Best Mission

[TheMartyODonnell]

Somehow I just found this video and your channel. I have a lot to say about this mission (also my favorite) but maybe I should start up my discord again and talk there.
One thing I love is that the title of this level makes absolutely no sense at all until you’ve actually completed the entire nightmare.

[sleepshouter]

I just realized that in the 2 missions where Cortana isn’t with you, you don’t get any waypoints because she’s the one who places them.

[johngrimlock]

I remember getting lost in this level and seeing the marine's and jackal's bodies together. That genuinely spooked me

[GrippeeTV]

I’ve always found it hilarious we just left Cortana alone lol, like the story would’ve been soooo different had a random elite just walked by that room, gone “wort wort wort” and stolen her 😂

[MGBULT]

Never knew about the dead marines when you go back up the elevator, guess this game still has some surprises all these years later

[gabrieldavid]

Jackal: Never thought i'd die side by side with a human
Human: How about side by side with a friend?
Jackal: Aye, i could do that

[BTHG]

Bungie: “this is a science fiction game where you kill aliens as a badass human”

Also Bungie: “let’s left field scare these fuckers with zombies midway through the game with no warning”

[Centurian]

I would like to also note that every Covenant patrol encountered within the facility has their weapons trained on doors that lead deeper inside before you engage them.

[SickBoyOC]

What made the mission hit so hard was it was a really well kept secret. Nowhere in the game's advertisement, game booklet, box art, NOTHING hinted at the floods existence. 343 Guilty Spark is such a surprising and sharp shift in tone. The game has gone on long enough up until this mission that it seems you pretty much know what you're up against for the rest of the game. Bungie keeping the floods existence a tightly kept secret until you face them is what truly makes the atmosphere, tone, and reveal memorable.

[Neerus]

Your marines getting picked off one by one while you’re desperately trudging through that swamp was some next level nightmare as a kid

[CodeStew]

Another detail about the second elevator that descends, it also introduces infected humans as well revealing what happened to the human bodies.

[Gingrman-mxsp]

Typically in horror games, the player character has few or no ways to fight back. Bungie did a great job here. You have the best equipment available, and are a super solider, but still feel the sense of doom and desperation, even as you hold down your trigger.

[davocal]

Hello All. Tim Dadabo, the voice of 343 Guilty Spark. Thanks for this video. Of all the games, this one was the 'deepest' I had to go to dig out his emotions for the storyline, so I'm glad you both loved AND HATED it so much! Until we meet again, Tim Dadabo.

Oh...want a Cameo? Look me up. I'm there!

[IvanVladVodka]

Holy crap, I've been playing this game since 04 and I never knew that marine bodies would spawn if you go back up the elevator into the swamp, crazy

[SheosMan]

Something you missed, is that once you do take the elevator down, into the facility, that first batch of Covenant you find are all facing the wrong way. They're all looking TOWARDS the door, with their backs to the elevator, not as if they're guarding a weapons cache, as you were sent here for, but as if there was something deeper inside, something they don't want to get out.

[lohnjanders]

I remember begging my dad to let me play this as a kid, seeing as how it had an M rating, and he finally let me play it, but he had to sit in to make sure it wasn't too inappropriate. And right before this mission started he fell asleep on the couch, and the whole time I was glancing over at him, worried he would wake up and see what was happening on screen. lol great memories

[sokfrm]

i think the scariest part of this mission was finding out that the reason why there was blood splatters all over the walls of one of the elevators was because they were throwing bodies down the shaft

[TheFacelessStoryMaker]

I love how the group of Marine and Jackal bodies together isn't something the game forces you to see annoyingly. It's just there as environmental storytelling that those Jackals and Marines knew the Flood was the bigger threat and fought against them together. And after the cutscene of Jenkins we see "Unexpected Halt WND/INCAP/KIA?" So his suit knew Jenkins was wounded and incapacitated but because of the Flood infection. It couldn't tell if he was alive or dead....

[Justin-ocuu]

Time for an overview of one of the best gaming twists ever.

[manuelacosta]

Sorry to say I missed the Marines and the Jackal's last stand playing this as a kid. Very poignant. Everything else was unnerving especially the initial 'allied' blips. Bungie was brilliant in turning their own game on its head, demolishing the whole invincible power fantasy by putting you in an eldritch survival horror nightmare.