UNSC Marine Corps/Gameplay
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
The UNSC Marine Corps and its personnel serve as the primary ally throughout most of the Halo games. They also appear in Halo: Reach, but the UNSC Army is the main NPC ally. Halo 5: Guardians is the first game in the main series not to feature them at all in the campaign.
Halo: Combat Evolved[edit]
The Marines appear in the first six levels of Halo: Combat Evolved. Aside from assisting the player in combat, Marines can also be used to provide extra firepower on certain vehicles such as Warthogs and Scorpion Tanks. In-game, they are unable to operate the vehicles themselves, but they are capable of piloting Karo'etba-pattern Ghost, albeit clumsily.
Marines wield MA5B assault rifles as their primary weapon. However, they can sometimes be seen wielding other weapons such as the Sniper Rifle (as seen in the level 'Assault on the Control Room' and 'Halo'), the Shotgun (as seen in the level '343 Guilty Spark'), and even Covenant Needler or Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle (as seen in the levels 'Assault on the Control Room' and 'Truth and Reconciliation') to give them an advantage against shielded enemies. Marines also often utilize Fragmentation Grenades (mainly when Ghosts get near or on a group of Elites) in combat. They are relatively accurate with their weapons, with a hit percentage upwards of 50%.
The Marines' AI is built very simplistically. They will occasionally strafe to avoid fire and will react to the environment within their vicinity by maneuvering around obstacles or rolling out of the way if they are nearby an operating vehicle or grenade. However, they will usually not seek cover and will occasionally be susceptible to friendly fire as they will often get in either the player's or other Marines' line of fire. They are also vulnerable from taking heavy fire as it will render them unable to shoot or move, making them nearly useless on higher difficulties. They also cannot pick up different weapons, Health Packs, or additional ammunition.
Performance-wise, Marines can be very effective in helping the player dispatch a horde of enemies, depending on the chosen difficulty. They can quickly defeat Grunts, Jackals, and in groups, a Minor Elite. However, they will easily be overwhelmed if facing against Hunters or higher-ranking Elites. Marines are also very ineffective when facing against the Flood, and will often take heavy if not total casualties. A single stray Pod infector is enough to lead to the Marine's demise; if the creature attaches itself to the soldier, it cannot be shaken off and will instantly kill him.
Marines are conscious of fratricide. After you have killed two humans of any type, the rest of the Marines in the campaign level will attack the player. If one kills Captain Keyes, or any other members of the bridge crew, in the campaign level The Pillar of Autumn, Cortana will lock the doors and summon a squad of invincible Marines to kill you.
They also go "berserk" when they have taken too much damage. When down to one last bit of health, they will scream something (such as: "I'll take you all on!" or "Who wants a piece of me?!") then rush in a straight line toward the nearest enemy and fire in extended bursts (5-7 round burst as compared to 2-3 round bursts). This is usually the last thing they ever do, as they are badly wounded by this time and the lack of any melee attack (or the use of full auto with an assault rifle) and running-in tendency makes them very vulnerable in the close-range combat, and often end up getting killed after going "berserk". If a "berserk" Marine survives a fight, he will calm down and simply return to normal.
Halo 2[edit]
In Halo 2, the Marines have undergone major improvements from Halo: Combat Evolved.
The most drastic change is their higher health pool. They can now outlast against multiple hordes of enemies than they did in Halo: CE, making them much more reliable in the long-term. However, they can still be killed quickly if an enemy is using very powerful weapons, in particular Type-1 Energy Swords wielded by Elites. While the health bar for the Marines are no longer visible while riding on vehicles, a visual cue is implemented to detect their condition; if a Marine is wearing a helmet, it can be shot off to expose their head.
Marines can now perform stealth kills by meleeing sleeping Grunts and will even attempt assassination kills if they catch the enemy unaware. However, they lack the brute strength to kill Elites in this manner. Also, they are now able to take cover behind walls, corners, and obstacles with their backs up against them when under fire, something the players themselves are unable to do.
The player is now given the option to swap weapons with Marines. This is done to maximize their effectiveness against multiple enemy types (plasma weapons against Elites or Rocket Launcher against enemy vehicles), or to have one of them transport a "third" weapon if the player has to use it later on in the level (incidentally, weapons wielded by the Marines never consume ammo even when they fire). However, they will never accept an empty weapon, and cannot wield Brute Shots and Energy Swords. Marines also lack the ability to dual wield (although dual weapons can sometimes be found next to their corpses in certain levels).
In terms of performance, Marines can still dispatch Grunts and Jackals with relative ease, and will clear out a swarm of Drones in squads. Against Elites, if the player equips them with the appropriate Covenant weaponry, they can quickly emerge victorious against Minors to even Rangers, especially on higher difficulties. However, they will still struggle if facing against Brutes, higher-ranking Elites (SpecOps, Ultras, Honor Guards), and Hunters.
Marines are more adept with vehicles. Aside from the Ghost, they can now operate the Warthog, the Wraith, and the Scorpion. However, they lack the new ability to board vehicles like the player.
Although their friendly fire incidents have decreased, contrary to popular belief, Marines do use fragmentation grenades in combat (more likely when betrayed), albeit quite rarely.
The Marines are far more interactive, sometimes speaking to each other while in combat, taunting their enemies and wield a greater variety of weapons. As in Halo: Combat Evolved, the Marines are aware of backstabbing, and will attempt to kill you after you kill a few of their comrades. The number of Marines that can be killed before the others turn against you oddly seems to vary depending on the weapon used and the way they are shot.
Changes from Halo: CE to Halo 2[edit]
- Players can now swap weapons with their marine allies.
- Marines now have the ability to melee.
- Marines can now drive vehicles smoothly.
- Marine armor is green color based rather than grey.
- Marines' helmets can pop off if shot with a direct hit.
- Marines no longer have the green screen over their eye.
- Marines have significantly more dialogue lines.
- Marines respond to and react to one another's speech in non-scripted ways; if one marine cracks a joke another one will laugh.
- Marines seem to have about 75% more health.
- Marines are able to flip Ghosts.
- Marines now have less chance to have friendly fire with other Marines when they are in the line of fire.
- Marine's Health bar can no longer be seen when mounted on a vehicle.
- Marines are no longer stunned every time they are hit.
Halo 3[edit]
Marines in Halo 3 have undergone very small changes from Halo 2. They still retain their large health pool to withstand multiple hordes of enemies, and will utilize stealth to take out a sleeping Grunt by meleeing them (although they would normally resort to kicking).
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