IGN gave the Halo TV show a 7/10. Master Chief takes off his helmet in episode 1.
The Original Review
“This is an adaptation willing to take some risks, and those risks tend to pay off.”
Let's run the numbers. IGN gave Halo (2022) a 7/10. IGN gave Halo Infinite a 7/10. IGN gave Gotham Knights a 7/10. IGN gave Battlefield 2042 a 7/10. The range of IGN's scoring system for big-budget licensed properties spans from 6.5 to 7.5, which means that in IGN's mathematical universe, a game that killed a studio and a TV show where Master Chief removes his iconic helmet in episode one occupy the same critical address. The math ain't mathing.
The 'risk' the review is celebrating: Master Chief, a character whose defining trait across 20 years of source material is that he NEVER removes his helmet, removes his helmet. In episode one. The Halo encyclopaedia exists. The novels exist. The animated shorts exist. Every single piece of Halo media has spent two decades building the mystique of a man you never fully see. Paramount spent their budget undoing this in 47 minutes and Jesse Schedeen called it a risk that 'tends to pay off.' A risk that pays off would be an unexpected casting choice. Unmasking Master Chief in the cold open is a risk in the same way that opening a surgery with 'let's see what happens' is a risk.
For context: IGN gave The Last of Us Part II a 10/10. They gave Elden Ring a 10/10. They gave Cyberpunk 2077 a 9/10 on launch day while it was crashing on consoles. The floor for a major franchise property appears to be 6.5. Halo (2022) landed at 7 — a show that created an entirely separate 'Silver Timeline' because the writers knew the lore well enough to understand their version was incompatible with it, but not well enough to write a version that wasn't. The show was cancelled after two seasons. IGN's review is still up. Seven is forever. Sponsored by the number 7.
