Halo Universe vs Starcraft Universe
So, finishing Halo 3 this weekend made me think about how similar the Halo and Starcraft universes are. Coincidentally, I’m also going back and playing through the Starcraft campagain this month and it’s downright uncanny how close the two universes are. Here’s a bunch of similarities:
Both games are bases in a sci-fi future. In both games you have the human space marines fighting a three-way fight against a technically superior alien race as well as a mindless, parasitic race of aliens being controlled by some kind of overmind intelligence creature. Also, Halo was originally a RTS game like Starcraft and Starcraft flirted with a third person console shooter called Starcraft: Ghost.
The similarities don’t stop there. In Starcraft the Xel’Naga created the Zerg and the Protoss. In Halo the Forerunners created the Halos and the Flood Gravemind alludes to being “a monument to the sins of mankind” which seems to imply that possibly the Forerunners created the Flood as some kind of weapon, but it got out of control and the Halos had to be created.
Other stuff, in the Halo universe, the Covenant have the high priests, elites, brutes, grunts, etc. and they are setup in a kind of caste system that seems remarkably similar to the Protoss templars, warriors, etc… Also, it seems that the Covenant elites and the Protoss warriors both have a kind of honor code that allows them to have respect for the bravery of the humans in battle.
Not to spoil too much of Halo 3, but when you fight the flood in a Covenant ship that was overtaken by the Flood Gravemind, the ship interior reminds me a lot of the Zerg building design. It’s very organic and gross looking. It looks alive.
Of course all of these similarities probably have a lot to do with many of these ideas already existing in the sci-fi genre. I mean, if you look at Starship Troopers, Aliens, Predator, Alien vs. Predator, and many others these themes and story elements exist all over the place, almost to the point of cliche. Are these similarities a bad thing? I don’t think so. Both Starcraft and Halo are very excellent games. If they weren’t as great as they are, I wouldn’t have noticed or cared that they are so similar.
So, did I miss any similarities? If I did, leave a comment!
June 15th, 2008 at 5:08 am
the Elites and Protoss also have similar anatomy (except for the head) if u look at their hands, their feet, and their double jointed legs. btw, the forerunners didn’t create the flood, the flood was a galaxy devouring parasite that came from another galaxy and landed on a planet. Forerunner survey teams accidently encountered the flood, and the whole race was erased by one chance encounter between an unknown infested planet and a survey crew
June 29th, 2008 at 1:13 am
The Covenant ship was like infested Terran command centers. The Elites became Covenant religious exiles just like the Dark Templar were Protoss religious exiles. Also similar to the Protoss are Elites’ use of energy blades and cloaking. In Halo 3, flood forms evolve from different host species, just as the Zerg does. Terrans in Starcraft and Humans in Halo get infested in similar ways. Both games have a flying unit named the Banshee. Both have a supernatural heroine that get taken by the enemy (Cortana and Kerrigan) and an unconventional, gun-slinging hero that gains importance through his quick wits (Sgt. Johnson and Jim Raynor). Both games have the alien race form an alliance of necessity with the humanoid race in order to overcome their common enemies (Protoss and Terran vs Zerg, Elites+Humans vs Flood). The warp flyers of Starcraft II are eerily similar to Halo Sentinels. Similarly, SCII Colossi are similar to Halo Scarabs.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
One minor similarity I wanted to address. The entities Gravemind/Overmind are both incredibly similar beyond their names. Both are connected to all their minions, although in different ways, and have absolute control over all of them.
As for the Sci-fi similarities you speak of, I believe it has to do with the mentally of the writers. The Covenant, or the superior alien race, represent the great adversaries and challenges we face abroad in life. Where as the the Flood, or the parasitic lifeform, represent the internal struggle within ourselves or even the root of all evil. After all, without the flood there would have not been any halos, which means the Covenant may have never formed. And most importantly, the Forunners might have still been alive.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Halo copyed stacraft because starcraft came out first end of story!