After watching the an hour and a half long film twice, I have to say 343 Industries did a great job producing this Forward Unto Dawn. the aesthetics, designs, mechanics and storyline were all very engaging. The environment and building structures definitely put the Halo universe into scope. The visuals were pleasing, yet not distracting. So a little introduction about Forward Unto Dawn, it is based in our universe, in the year 2525. On the planet Circinius IV, United Nations Space Command (UNSC) holds the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. It is a military institution named after Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, a Roman General who died in 67 AD. Corbulo was ordered to commit suicide by his emperor, which he did so loyally in the name of the Empire, yelling “Axios!” as he took his own life. “Axios.” Greek for “I am worthy,” is fittingly the motto of the Corbulo Academy of Military Science. The academy is a training ground for young soldiers mainly to fend off the insurrectionists (rebels) from taking over the outer space colonies. The protagonist Thomas Lasky is a part of the Hastati Squad at the academy. The night before Lasky’s medical leave, the academy were hit by the Covenant, a unified alien force with over 8 races. They unite under common worship of the Forerunners, an ancient, super advanced race. In the final moments of the Forerunners’ civilization, they named humanity as its successor, just as the ones who came before did. As a result, in 2525, Covenant began a campaign to eliminate humanity, since humans are an insult to the Forerunners in our very own existence. Forward Unto Dawn captures the events of this alien invasion on Circinius IV.

Forward Unto Dawn has a rather different take on aliens then some movies have, though there is still a vast number of similarities. For one, they are much more advanced than humanity, they are barbaric, and they have come to wipe out humanity. The difference is the possibility that alien races could unite under the same cause as countries do. Even though most of Covenant races have a face and four limbs, they are not necessarily humanoids.  343 Industries said that they design the Covenant to look like animals, drawing features from birds, worms, bears, monkeys and reptiles. Moreover, as advanced as the Covenant are, they still believe in religion. It certainly demonstrates that religion can bring people (races) together, but can also start wars. Overall, I would certainly recommend this film to anyone, it has great potential for a sequel or even a TV show.