The Flood. The parasite that feeds off of the fallen. They are an intriguing foe in the Halo Universe. And they were a terrifying addition to the original Halo’s storyline.
Halo 1’s Flood
I have to admit, when I first played through the campaign of Halo: Combat Evolved the Flood scared the crap out of me. They are introduced rather late in the campaign, showing up in the sixth level, 343 Guilty Spark. Up until that point, the game is relatively bright with the exception of the third level, The Truth and Reconciliation. But that level simply takes place during the nighttime. 343 Guilty Spark has an entirely different feel. The music is creepier. The Covenant seem jumpier. Everything is off.
And then, after an extended cut scene showing what happened to the marines you were trying to find, you get jumped. Not by Covenant, like you would have expected based off of the events thus far. No, the doors around you crash open, revealing a whole slew of little round aliens with tentacles. They attack you, exploding against your energy shield and dying to your bullets. But they just seem to keep coming.
Once you are able to escape from that room, you are confronted with larger, humanoid aliens. Where their smaller counterparts are relatively harmless, these ones attack with terrifying ferocity, hitting you with their misshapen limbs. And where the little ones died relatively easily to your hail of bullets, your assault rifle seems woefully inadequate for this larger menace.
After successfully fighting this force off, you find yourself desperately trying to escape from the maze this complex has become. And along with physically attacking you during your flight, the new aliens start shooting you with both UNSC and Covenant weapons.
Soon you discover you’re not the only one they’re trying to kill. You stumble on battles between the Covenant and this new threat. And it’s not the Covenant who comes out on top.
At the end of the stage you meet the level’s namesake, 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of the Halo ring. It is he who tells you exactly what you are now up against: the Flood.
Spark then takes you to a level where your only foe is the Flood. Like the last level, The Library is another maze. And Flood attack you from everywhere. This was just as scary the first time through as the previous level. Luckily you now have a guide who leads you on. Spark also chatters continuously, telling you about the Flood and admonishing you for bring inadequate weaponry. His presence makes the level less unnerving than 343 Guilty Spark was. But it remains creepy nonetheless.
Why The Flood Was So Scary
In Halo: Combat Evolved, everything worked to make the Flood a terrifying foe. They are completely at odds with the weapons and technology everyone has been fighting with thus far. Their music has a really creepy feel to it. You learn that they are zombies, feeding off friend and foe alike. The Covenant, the badass alien threat you’ve been facing before the Flood appeared, is terrified of them.
The Flood’s appearance is also a completely unexpected plot twist. When I went into 343 Guilty Spark the first time, I was completely unprepared for the Flood to appear. Sure, they were foreshadowed throughout the level (and even before if you count the last cut scene from the previous level). But this foreshadowing is rather subtle (at least until the last cut scene before they appear). And it doesn’t prepare you for their creepiness.
But also, for the first time since you were first led to the Pillar of Autumn’s bridge, you are unaccompanied by Cortana, who remained in the control room. You don’t have her comforting chatter to help you through the level. You are truly alone. And that makes this first encounter all the scarier.
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