Review by: Meghan Watt

Through varied art styles and direction, Halo Legends tells seven stories, from the history of the Forerunners to silly, off-canon romps that barely fit within the Halo universe. But while the animated collection will satiate a fan's hunger for more Halo, that satisfaction is fleeting.

Halo Legends is what the Animatrix was to the Matrix, a collection of animated shorts designed and written apart from one another. The first DVD of the two-disc set is broken into eight chapters. Origins I and II, the first two episodes, are an admittedly dull pair of flashbacks narrated by Cortana (not voiced by Halo's Jen Taylor). They illustrate the history of the Forerunners, the fight against the flood, and the extinct race's fateful choice to create and activate the Halos. For fans who need a review, the “Halo – The Story So Far” chapter on the Special Features DVD is far more interesting and incredibly thorough. The other six stories are a mix of adventures, some within Halo's canon and others that take quite a few artistic liberties.

For example, The Duel follows the story of an Elite Arbiter in what Franchise Development Director Frank O'Conner calls “medieval Elite society.” Based on the Japanese tale of Musashi, The Duel delves the Elite code of honor and how the Arbiter becomes the role we now know it to be. The opportunity to sympathize with an Elite is a welcome reversal in perspective. However, the samurai armor and robes, the Japanese music and the traditional sword duel should probably be taken with a grain of salt. O'Conner says it’s a “compromise of art and history.” But for Halo fans that aren't familiar with the Halo canon in its entirety, it provides more questions than it does answers. Thankfully, the commentary is there to tell you if, in fact, Elites have wives and whether ancient Elite history actually resembles feudal Japan.

If you find The Duel to be rather strange, then nothing can prepare you for Odd One Out, a wacky, off-canon short involving Spartan 1337 (get it?), a dinosaur and a genetically altered Brute named Pluton. Directed by Dragon Ball Z's Daisuke Nishio, this chapter is actually quite amusing. However, about halfway through, it devolves into a drawn-out Dragon Ball-esque fight between 1337 and Pluton. On the more serious side of anime, The Prototype also devolves into repetitive action. But since the protagonist fights in a giant mech, it's a tad more excusable.

Looking at only the aforementioned short stories, Halo Legends doesn't have much to offer. The histories are either boring or laden with strange artistic liberties, and the action is more anime than Halo. Covenant weapons and UNSC equipment make appearances, but the fights still don't seem to take place within the Halo universe.

Homecoming and The Babysitter, on the other hand, take the opposite approach. Touching on the Spartan II program, Homecoming features two alternating stories: a Spartan trainee's past escape attempt and her present life as a Spartan. Finally, viewers get some tried-and-true Halo action, complete with needlers, Pelicans and UNSC soldiers. At the same time, the story elaborates on a topic mentioned in the novels but missing in the video game saga. For Halo fans in any part of the spectrum, this chapter is a treat.