Man, We Could’ve Had a Mega Bloks Halo Game?!

It’s a couple of days after Christmas, and what better time to talk about two of my favorite things, Xbox and toys? So here’s a short little something for you.

Recently, I was thinking out loud on some forums I frequent:

“While I’m not exactly clamoring for more LEGO games, I think I might be able to make an exception for a Mega Construx (nee Mega Bloks) Halo game in a similar vein that tells truncated versions of the stories grouped together in one package. (Part of that is that I really like the aesthetic, and want to get some of the mini-figs.)”

As it turns out, in the long, long ago of 2013, 343 Industries (stewards of the Halo brand) and developers at N-Space were working on just such a thing! PtoPOnline goes into more detail about the whole thing here:

And here is PtoPOnline’s follow-up, which is mostly comprised of raw gameplay:

An orange Spartan with stealth capabilities is even one of the main playable characters — that’s right up my alley!

While I don’t know if the story would have ultimately retold the original chapters as I’d hoped or would have been an all-original narrative, this really appeals to me either way. It is a bit LEGO-y, true, but at the same time, it kind of has to be — to create a Mega Construx game without a building element would be like creating a Hot Wheels game without driving, and I don’t think there would be many people here for it.

At the same time, while being similar to LEGO games, it has its own sort of unique flair to it as well. It even looks a little tighter in some ways than Traveller’s Tales’ traditionally loose long-running series.

Aesthetically, I appreciate that the characters don’t look like LEGO people, but more like… I hesitate to say “chibi” forms, but proportionally, I’m reminded more of some styles of Mega Man, for instance.

While the project was sadly cancelled, that isn’t to say that it couldn’t be picked up again in some way someday — at least, as long as Mattel holds the license to make Halo toys as part of their Mega Construx brand. A couple of years ago, 343 Industries stated that as a result of the “positive support and feedback” to the above videos, a game “along these lines” could still happen.

As I’ve noted in the past, the Halo franchise has been a tricky one for me to get into. While I enjoy much about it, first-person shooters have just never really clicked with me very well (my current interest in Halo Infinite notwithstanding), but this? This looks right up my alley.

With any luck, 343’s “exploration” of “projects beyond their main game development” will hold a broader appeal that works for people like me, just as this project seemed to.

Finally, I realize this is very “welcome to last week,” but if it gets any discourse stirring again, I’ll happily be a little slower about it.

Thanks for reading!

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David Oxford is a freelance writer of many varied interests. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.