Yeah, I agree about the overall aesthetic of Halo being quite different from Aliens. Maybe it' s specifically that the Sergeant character is such an obvious cut and paste.
Perhaps one of the main hangups with games versus novels and films, is that in great novels and films (and this does not apply to action films and other blockbusters so much), the characters have to change significantly in some way. They go through some kind of growth, usually emotional growth.
With games, the main character has traditionally been somewhat of a blank slate, the " hero" archetype, that is meant to allow the player to envision themselves in that role. They usually have some defining characteristics of personality, but not so much that the player feels that the main character is a fully-developed character, because that would interfere with their immersion.
And in games, the character development has not involved emotional growth, but merely the accumulation of items and the increase of skills and abilities. But Master Chief, or Marcus Phoenix or whoever, is never going to change in their outlook in regards to war, interspecies (race) relations, etc. They begin the series with one outlook and motivation and they' ll finish the series with the mission accomplished. Maybe the only high profile game that I' ve seen this type of character development in is the Metal Gear Solid series, in which Snake seems to be critically analyzing his view of war and his role within it. Of course, that' s an expression of Kojima' s own reflections on his role in the marketing of war as entertainment, and his developing and changing perspective...
< Message edited by Zoy -- 9 Aug 07 18:12:50 >