Gameplay

Terminal (Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary)

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

"Are you ready, Reclaimer? This is how my story begins."
343 Guilty Spark in the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary terminals teaser.[1]
The most common form of design for Terminals across the campaign.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary features a Terminal accessible to the player in each level. Unlike the text-based terminals of Halo 3, the Anniversary terminals feature animation, music, sound effects and narration by 343 Guilty Spark and a handful of other characters.[2] The terminals also have connections to the story of Halo 4 and The Forerunner Saga.[3][4][5] After the player accessed the terminal in the campaign levels, the terminal can be watched in the game's main menu, in the "Extras", similar to the cutscenes in Halo Wars.

The graphics and audio for the Terminals were produced by The Sequence Group,[1] while most of the writing was done by 343 Industries Managing Editor Kevin Grace.[6]

Just like skulls, terminals cannot be seen or accessed in Classic mode.[7] They can be seen and accessed on any difficulty and in Co-op mode. Once unlocked, the terminals can be viewed via Halo Waypoint. Starting from Series 7, Halo: The Master Chief Collection allowed unlocked terminals to be viewed from the Extras menu.

The Terminals[edit]

Terminal One
The first Terminal in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary campaign level The Pillar of Autumn.
The terminal in the bridge of UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

Campaign level: The Pillar of Autumn (video-guide)
The terminal is one of the computer consoles located on the left side of the Autumn's bridge. All of the console's screens flash "INCOMING MESSAGE" in red, and a crewman is standing beside it instead of manning the console.


The discovery of Halo becomes even more mysterious when the Pillar of Autumn receives a very familiar greeting.

{Cutscene}

The exclusion zone surrounding Installation 04.

[044657.04.21.21.34.56]

The screen of a communications terminal on the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's bridge is shown. The screen experiences graphical glitches, then changes to a Forerunner map of star systems in the local area of the galaxy.

The seven Halo rings are shown on screen. The fourth ring is highlighted. The ring's location is indicated in a cluster of stars.

  • 343 Guilty Spark: "Your continued presence will result in most unpleasant countermeasures. I must insist that you immediately change course and return to a minimum safe distance of one light-year."

Zoom into the highlighted area of space. The UNSC Pillar of Autumn is shown to be well inside the 0.5 light-year radius of the exclusion zone around the installation. The ship is circled by a red line, and a 30-second countdown begins.

  • 343 Guilty Spark: "This has served as your one and final warning."

Guilty Spark begins to scan the structure of the Pillar of Autumn.

<Pillar of Autumn - Data Acquisition

1345.99.331.1 - 1390.33.124.6

Remote Access Limited>

  • 343 Guilty Spark: "I have activated defensive systems, and you now have thirty seconds to return to the minimum safe distance of - wait. Curious..."

Historical data taken from the Autumn's systems are briefly displayed: a group of prehistoric humans around a fire, a citizen of ancient Greece, the Egyptian pyramids, a shot of an 18th-century city around the time of the Industrial Revolution, a soldier in World War II, an atomic bomb blast, Neil Armstrong standing on the Moon, the International Space Station, humans testing an unknown device (possibly a fusion reactor or Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine), an orbital defense platform, and a SPARTAN-II.

  • 343 Guilty Spark: "Curious, indeed! After all these years..."

SUSPENDED

CLEARED

The lock-on circle surrouding the Autumn changes from red to green.

CONFIRMATION

4-000002

CLEARED TRAJECTORY

A trajectory for landing on the ring is displayed.

WARNING

YOUR TRAJECTORY HAS NOT BEEN ADJUSTED

PLEASE LOCK IN NEW TRAJECTORY

Spark analyzes the Mark V MJOLNIR armor, as well as its human occupant.

  • 343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings, humans, and welcome to Installation 04! Ignore prior warnings, and please continue. I have disabled defensive systems to allow your approach, but you must not exit your ship once you have arrived at the designated landing center. This ring contains significant dangers, and even with your assumed legacy, I must verify the presence and pitch of your geas before allowing full access. We have much to discuss, humans."

343 Guilty Spark himself appears on-screen.

  • 343 Guilty Spark: "I have been away far too long. You have been away far too long."

Trivia[edit]

  • Terminal 7's description is a reference to the Latin saying quis custodiet ipsos custodes? ("Who watches the watchmen?").
  • Captain Keyes' mental struggle as he is slowly assimilated by the Proto-Gravemind is an adaptation of a passage from Halo: The Flood. Several additions are present to integrate the scene with more recent canon - specifically, memories of his daughter, Miranda, and her mother, Dr. Catherine Halsey.
  • The Installation monitors' gathering aboard a Lifeworker vessel over Installation 00 is adapted in the novel Halo: Silentium, which further expands on 343 Guilty Spark's assignment to his installation.
  • A five-character code in Forerunner script appears briefly at each terminal's end, excluding Terminal 11. The characters correspond directly with the Latin alphabet. In order from the first terminal, they are as such: "343GS", "HALO4", "SPARK", "FLOOD", "EARTH", "DEMON", "RINGS", "ARRAY", "HUMAN", and "HAVEN".
  • The input screen is based on the holographic control spheres seen inside the relic on Harvest and at the Apex Site on Trove from Halo Wars, as well as from Halo Legends: Origins.
  • In the 11th terminal, Kig-Yar are seen with the Heretics, despite not appearing with them in Halo 2.
  • The Covenant ship briefly seen in the 11th terminal is likely Ascendant Justice, the ship captured by Master Chief immediately after the destruction of Installation 04.

Appearances[edit]

Characters



Gallery[edit]

Sources[edit]