Warning! Spoilers ahead for Halo, episode 1.

While the new live-action Halo series has seen fans of the games complaining about Master Chief taking off his helmet, the weirdest thing about the iconic Spartan is actually his voice. Streaming on Paramount+, the first episode of Halo sees the UNSC and their Spartan soldiers in the early days of the Human-Covenant War with Master Chief John-117 beginning to uncover the secrets that will lead to the discovery of the powerful Halo rings. However, it may take audiences a while to get used to Master Chief’s voice when compared to the classic Halo games.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

In Halo episode 1, Master Chief is leading the Spartan unit known as Silver Team as they intercept the alien forces of the Covenant on the colony world of Madrigal. As they engage the Covenant warriors known as Elites, the battle looks as though it’s been pulled straight from the Halo games countless gamers have grown up playing. However, John-117’s voice is not the same as the Master Chief Halo players are used to (who was voiced by Steve Downes).

In Paramount’s Halo, Master Chief is played by Pablo Schreiber. While there’s arguably nothing wrong with the voice he uses as John-117 per se, it’s certainly different. The biggest notable change is that it’s less gravelly when compared to Downes’ voice, which is to be expected seeing as how the actor is younger. However, it also sounds like Schreiber is attempting his own version of a Batman voice (especially when wearing his helmet). That said, audiences will likely get used to the new voice over time as the season continues.

The majority of the complaints about Halo’s first episode are largely focused on the controversy with Master Chief taking off his helmet. However, that isn’t all that egregious when considering the novels and the new medium of a streaming series as opposed to a first-person shooter video game. In comparison, John-117’s voice is much stranger. Furthermore, Schreiber’s voice is ironically much less forced and sounds more natural when Master Chief takes his helmet off near the end of the premiere episode (the lack of modulation certainly helps).

See also  10 Great Comedies You Forgot Were Directed By Women

Again, it’s not that Master Chief’s new voice for the Halo series is bad. It’s just different and is going to take some time for viewers to get used to. While fans and gamers might miss Downes’ voice which they’ve heard for just over two decades, here’s hoping change can be embraced as Pablo Schreiber brings his own take (and voice) to the character. It’s also a nice consolation that the series’ version of Cortana will have the same voice actor, Jen Taylor, when she debuts in future episodes of Halo.

Halo releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

The Mandalorians Are More Like The Sith Than Disney+ Tells You

About The Author


Kevin Erdmann
(2511 Articles Published)

Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

More From Kevin Erdmann