How Halo Sets Up a Perfect Horror Game

Ever since Halo Wars 1 and Halo 3: ODST released in 2009, gamers from around the world have been calling for the Halo franchise to explore other game genres, both in terms of gameplay and story. While 343 Industries has slowly built upon this concept with the mobile games Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike as well as the arcade game Halo: Fireteam Raven, Halo players still want to see more substantial spinoffs titles. One genre that several fans have wished 343 Industries to tackle in Halo is the horror genre. With the recent debut of a new Halo Waypoint Chronicle, Halo: Tulpamancy, and more Halo games expected to be in development by Halo Studios, now is the best time for the developer to produce a Halo horror game.

One Halo Spin-Off Revival Could Take a Page from Helldivers’ Book, But Not in the Way You Think

As the Halo series moves forward, taking some inspiration from Helldivers seems obvious, and there’s no need to be limited to Helldivers 2.

The Psychological Terror of Halo: Tulpamancy Explained

Recently, the Forerunners have returned to Halo Infinite with the release of the new multiplayer event, Operation: Forerunner. Here, players can unlock or purchase a variety of Forerunner-themed armor sets, from the Didact-inspired Sundered Star armor to the return of Halo 4’s Prefect armor. While players can show off their new Forerunner gear in various new multiplayer playlists, Halo Studios has continued to expand on the bygone age of the Forerunners in a particularly bone-chilling Halo Waypoint Chronicle story entitled Halo: Tulpamancy. Set four months after the disappearance of Zeta Halo and two months before Master Chief’s return to the ring, Tulpamancy takes place in a currently unknown area of space simply designated Site Yankee-002-G3.

Here, a team of ONI agents and researchers discover a centamillennia old ancient human ship used during the Human-Forerunner War and the Flood’s initial conquest of the galaxy. In Halo lore, humanity used to be one of the most technologically powerful races in the galaxy, second only to the Forerunners, over 110,000 years ago. This was until humanity lost the war against the Forerunners and were punished with devolution before being repopulated on Halo rings and Earth. Despite the devolution, some ancient human personalities and memories remained within human genes in rare geas or genesongs. These ancient remnants have primarily remained inert for most of modern humanity, until the discovery of Site Yankee-002-G3.

The Flood Horrors of Halo’s Site Yankee-002-G3

After discovering the derelict ancient human ship, the ONI agents and researchers began to cautiously enter and perform tests on the ship. However, several incidents quickly begin occurring among the crew, with several members beginning to sleepwalk around both ships, talk in unknown dialects, and even recall other people’s memories. One member’s body is even hijacked by a geas, forcing them to walk through the ship’s corridors to the bridge and witness ancient terrifying memories of this ancient human’s fight with Forerunners and the two species’ fruitless endeavors to fight Flood-infected Forerunners aboard the ship. The story ends with this crew member discovering that a pocket of ancient humans escaped the Forerunners’ punishment beyond the Perseus Arm of the galaxy due to the Forerunners fearing to tread there.

Halo: Tulpamancy’s title is a reference to the term tulpa, which is a concept from Tibetan Buddhism about a being created by a person’s thoughts via spiritual practice.

Halo’s Potential Psychological Horror Game

Based on the events of Tulpamancy, the galactic horrors of the Human-Forerunner and Forerunner-Flood Wars are still lingering in the galaxy hundreds of thousands of years later. While many fans have called for a game primarily focused on another Flood outbreak in the modern-day galaxy, Halo Studios could go another route with a Halo horror game more akin to the psychological horror found in the popular Dead Space series. Instead of just focusing on the body horror of the Flood, this game could follow a crew of an ONI, UNSC, or even a New Colonial Alliance military vessel discovering another derelict ancient human ship. From here, several members of the crew could begin to act irrationally as they struggle to deal with their geas and their ancient horrifying memories popping in their heads.

In terms of gameplay, this Halo psychological horror game could have gamers play as a normal researcher, marine, or an ODST who begins to witness terrifying ancient visions as they begin to explore the ancient human ship. Here, scenes could be intercut between the modern-day and ancient humanity’s battles against the Forerunners and the Flood, with the player taking part in these ancient battles as well as present-day ones against crazed crew members. Eventually, these psychological events will cause one member of the crew to mistakenly awaken some inert Flood forms, beginning a small Flood outbreak similar to the Necromorph outbreak on the USG Ishimura. These Flood forms won’t be easy to take down, however, as the player is no longer embodying a powerful Spartan or Elite warrior.

Hypothetical Lore Expansion From a Halo Psychological Horror Game

Beyond bringing the Flood back to the forefront in this Halo horror game, this title could additionally answer some long-held questions regarding ancient humanity, Forerunners, and the rest of the galaxy from that era. Halo: Tulpamancy describes these ancient humans as similar in appearance to Denisovans, an extinct subspecies of humans, so this game could showcase how different and diverse ancient humanity was to the one seen in the modern galaxy. Little is currently known about ancient human technology, so this game could introduce a whole new set of weapons and vehicles unlike any seen before. Depending on where this hypothetical game takes its characters, this Halo title could even have players travel to this secret ancient human world to witness an alien yet somewhat familiar landscape.