I must say, this was quite a surprise. About a decade ago, Halo: Combat Evolved revolutionized how games, specifically first-person shooters, should be played. What followed was a succession of sequels, each being better than the last one. Inevitably, a movie was not far away. With the possible live-action movie postponed by companies fighting over it, this anime was created help satisfy fans and keep them waiting for the live-action film. It does its job well.In a style similar to "Batman: Gotham Knight", Halo Legends consists of several action-packed episodes, each made by a different studio, having its own unique artwork/animation, and basically revealing a certain aspect of the Halo universe. The episodes are Origins Part 1 and 2 (history of the Halo universe), The Dual (how the Arbiter became a title of shame), Homecoming (the horror of the Spartan II program), Odd One Out (a ridiculous non-canon episode), Prototype (the first Spartan armor), The Babysitter (ODST-Spartan rivalry), and the Package (Master Chief and company go in to retrieve a heavily-guarded package).Odd One Out is the only flaw in this movie. Everything else is excellent. Beautiful animation, wonderful music, awesome action scenes, and great stories. This is as good as the games. Fans will most likely enjoy this and so will you. In the words of the Master Chief, "... we're just getting started," because soon enough the live action movie will arrive.

Other reviewers here have gone into the plot details each of the 7 animated stories so I wont bother. Halo Legends is a mess. From the beginning of the film up to the point where I pressed the stopped button (halfway though story 3) it's mess.The story telling (narration) is painfully, painfully slow. The Anime is just simply awful. Halo Legends had the look and feel of Ulysses 31 [1981] A great animated cartoon in it's time but released as it is today would look dreadful because technology and animation techniques have moved on clearly the artist/animaters involved in Halo Legends haven't. I just couldn't connect or relate to anything I heard or saw in Halo Legends because the look and narrative pace is so wrong. I gave Halo Legends a go because I'm a fan of the games and thought the story from the games was impressive sci-fi so hoped to learn more about the Halo Universe.I learnt that Anime feature films suck. (and the technique should only be used on the cartoon network) Halo Legends is a blatant cash in that was made without care or love.Avoid at all costs.

I am the biggest Halo fan you can find out there I have read all the books, played all the games, and RvB is my lifeblood. This was the most terrible 2 hours of my life. I will give you a summary.Origins parts 1 and 2 (2/10 stars): This was all a bunch of Anti-war we should live in peace with people who want to kill us Propaganda. The first part was okay but the second part would not stop the Propaganda.The Babysitter (3/10) This was wasn't nearly as bad as the Origins but it was still pretty bad. The premise was a bunch of Helljumpers getting over there hatred of Spartans.The Duel (1/10) There is no words to describe how bad this one was. If you insist on renting this just skip this one.Homecoming (3/10) This was about how the Spartans were turned into Spartans. It was interesting but the Animation style and story telling was terrible.Prototype (6/10) Prototype is about a Sarge, who 3 years ago lost his entire Squad and is now dies holding the Covenant off to allow his squad to escape.Odd One Out 1/10 This is a parody short and not considered Canon thank goodness Just skip it there is nothing funny about this short.The Package (10/10) Finally the only good one of the group. The Package is about the Master Chief and 4 other Spartans securing a package from the Covenant. The entire episode is CGI and it is an Awesome battle. From space dogfights to firefights its worth RENTING this to just watch this one.So in Summary the only good one is the Package.

7.5The first thing I want to say is that I'm a huge Halo fan. There are certainly bigger fans out there, but Halo is close to my heart, has been in my life for almost a decade, and any more Halo love in my life would make me really weird. I guess that's why they call it, "love", huh? Halo Legends is a collection of 8 animated shorts drawn and created by 6 different studios. Origins I & II - These are by far the best episodes of the bunch. Part 1 and 2 are different in their animation style. However, not only is the animation style excellent, with its simple edges, bright colors and very good use of lighting/tone. Origins sports, like most of the other episodes music ripped straight from the games. This, in conjunction with Cortana's narration and familiar voice, makes for a very fan-pleasing episode. According to the commentary, there is a lot of imagery here, such as what the forerunners look like, or what their world looks like, that is not canon and only exists in Cortana's imagination, if you will. Still, seeing these images and also seeing some of the Covenant's races in their primitive state is very exciting. If Halo fans were to get anything out of Halo Legends, it would be Origins.The Duel - This is my least favorite episode of the bunch. I usually don't like to criticize other people's work. A lot of the time, it is usually lack of rapport and/or misunderstanding that leads me to not enjoy or dislike a certain work. However, I found The Duel to be very boring. I also was not a huge fan of the artistic style, which happens to be the most unique one out of the bunch. I greatly enjoy seeing the back-story of the Covenant races, but I felt that this was an Elite take on Japanese samurai storytelling. The only thing worth noticing here is the style, which employs a filter of a sort to make everything look watercolored.Homecoming - Exactly what I expected out of Halo Legends. Although not my favorite, I would very easily recommend this one to someone. It is exactly as I expected, and it is actually pretty good. At first glance, it might seem to take place in a random anime-style universe. However, as soon as you see a Spartan, you know what's going on, and it actually makes sense.Odd One Out - One thing that differenciates traditional western animation from eastern animation is the tone. A lot of the western stuff is comedy. A lot of the eastern stuff is dramatic. Serious stuff. How many western, adult cartoons can you think of? How many eastern animated comedies can you think of, that are strictly for kids, and have minimal to no violence? Well, Odd One Out is such. I guess. There's fighting in it, for sure. But it's not done in a way that I would be afraid to show it to my kids. In fact, even the animated style resembles something that is kid-friendly. Some might be turned off by this, but to them I say, have you ever seen Red vs. Blue?Prototype - This is one that hooked me in from the start. From the cinematic title, to the stylish, atmospheric setting, and the melodramatic intro, I was convinced that this might be the best offering on the disc. However, it was, to my taste, permeated with action, and lots of explosions. Sounds good, right? Well, again, this is my taste. And I prefer gab over guts, any day. Still, it is a good episode. Highly recommended for those that love niche aspects of Japanese culture, such as mechs.The Babysitter - Like Homecoming, this is similar to what my expectations were going into Halo Legends. This one also happens to be my second favorite of the bunch. The Babysitter tells the story of a group of ODST's sent on a special mission: assassinate a Covenant Prophet. Wow, pretty crazy, huh? There's only one catch. A Spartan soldier is going to not only accompany them, but lead the whole operation. I won't say anything else, but given that these are short stories, averaging at about 15 minutes or so each episode, they did a good job. A good story was told, using a good art style. Many scenes were shown that ground you in the Halo universe, not to mention some very intense scenes.The Package - This is second runner up for least interesting episode in the package (the disc). This is the only episode that sports 3D animation. There is nothing wrong with this style of animation. The reason that I do not like it, is that it is all substance, and no style. What you basically have is a famous piece of Halo History, where the Master Chief and 4 other Spartans board a Covenant ship to rescue Dr. Halsey, the A.I. that Cortana is based on. It also includes the first encounter between the Arbiter and the Chief. (I am not sure if this bit is canon or not.) All it is, is essentially 5 Spartans literally running and gunning. I did my fair share of that in the games.Halo Legends is ultimately a mixed bag of works, all taking place directly in the Halo universe. Ultimately, I'd recommend Halo Legends to any hardcore Halo fan. If you hate anime, but love Halo... well, you might as well give it a shot. If you love anime, but don't like Halo, you might enjoy these short stories, but it would be better if you knew some back-story before going into it.