So, am I the only one who thinks that Halo -- the original game -- is basically just a Conan The Barbarian story set in space? Consider...
The story opens with a small group fleeing from an enemy army after a (presumably disastrous) battle. Among their number is a man of enormous vitality and fighting skill.
During their flight, they stumble on an ancient structure built by a dead and vanished race. Pursued by enemy soldiers, they take shelter inside...
...only to discover that some horrible eldritch threat dwells there, and has been released/awakened by the explorations of the enemy soldiers.
Fighting ensues until eventually everyone is dead except for the exceptional warrior, who manages the narrowest possible escape. The ancient structure is destroyed during/by the final confrontation.
Seriously: Halo is a Swords and Sorcery tale, only with plasma guns in place of swords and Warthogs in place of horses. Oh, and a genetically-engineered Spartan in ultra-tech armor instead of, well, Conan.
Isn't there a name for that kind of thing? The Edgar Rice Burroughs/Leigh Brackett "science fantasy" stuff? I'm trying to remember but it's not coming to me.
ReplyDeleteI've heard "genre alloy" before, but "science fantasy" sounds pretty good as a description. Though in this case, I'm just pointing out that it's a classic swords'n'sorcery plot with a science fiction setting pulled over it.
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