Master Chief gets “Board” in the new Halo Board Game

Master Chief has faced down an artificial intelligence with universal genocidal tendencies, ruthless warring alien races, and viral life forms. And ultimately, he prevailed. All to save a little-known place called the universe. (You can thank him later.) Yet, there may be one foe that could prove to be…too primitive…for the Chief to handle: the board game.

B1 Games and Genius Products have recently announced the Halo Interactive Strategy Game, which is set to hit stores this September. The designers aim to recreate the intense first-person shooter experience through modular game board design (think Diablo’s randomized dungeons) and an interactive game -nhancing DVD (a la Atmosfear). While many familiar game elements from the series are to be included (such as campaign, multiplayer, characters, vehicles, and even the music), is a board game format really the place for Halo?

Now, I’m not insinuating that board games are bad. In fact, I love them. Just a week ago I found myself pitted against friends over a game of The Settlers of Catan. Scheming, manipulating, forming and breaking delicate alliances; all for a single piece of grain to build a city and claim victory as friends toss cards across the tabletop, verbally slinging what I can only assume were words of admiration. Which sounded vaguely like f-bombs and other obscure obscenities. Regardless, a well-designed board game can bring friends together for an evening well spent.

I digress. What are my implications, then? That the idea of a Halo-inspired board game is a bad idea? Well, kind of, yeah. I know many of you may be thinking, “Well, Warcraft and Starcraft have been made into board games!” Yes, but my retort is this: both were based off strategic games that are essentially already played on a virtual game board. A relatively easy transition, if you think about it. Just substitute the animated laser fire or arrows for a pair of dice, and on-screen units become the pieces on the game board. But the idea of transitioning a FPS, a genre where running-and-gunning tends to overshadow the idea of any real strategy, to a board game? While I’m sure possible, it seems almost too uncomfortable of a fit. Like wearing Speedos; sure it’ll work, but will anyone really want to see it?

While this is not Halo’s first crossover into a different format, it certainly does feel to be the most awkward. Then again, I was skeptic when I first caught wind of Halo Wars; Halo‘s shepherding into the real-time strategy genre. But after having watched gameplay footage, I was convinced that it could work. Since any sort of video, image, or rules for the board game has yet to be released, perhaps there is still hope that I could warm to the idea. In the mean time, I’ll stick to my regular Halo.