Halo 3
Mythic difficulty started in Halo 3. It was essentially defined as Legendary difficulty with all skulls on (LASO). The game creators, Bungie Studios, thought it was impossible to complete the game on LASO, but at the time of this writing there are 42 individuals throughout the world that have proven them wrong.
However, in order to prove that one had completed the game, there were additional requirements added to Mythic. Online scoring became required to verify that all skulls were, indeed, activated, and that the player had started from the beginning of the level (scoring only worked if you played from the beginning of the level). In addition, when playing cooperatively, one of the most detrimental skulls, "Iron," changed behavior. Instead of disabling checkpoints so that if the player died they had to start from the beginning of the level, it merely reset players to the most recent checkpoint should one of the (up to 4) players die. The decision was made that this was not in the "Spirit" of Mythic, and the zero-deaths requirement was also added.
So, in Halo 3, the full definition of "Mythic" was:
- Legendary Difficulty
- All Skulls Active
- Online Scoring Enabled
- Zero-Deaths
The definition changed for ODST. Scoring was no longer limited to just games that started from the beginning of the level, so saved films (through the theater functionality) became required for verification. (It was already a common practice to provide saved films anyway; why would anyone NOT want to save and share their accomplishment?)
So, the requirement set for ODST is as follows:
- Legendary Difficulty
- All Skulls Active
- Online Scoring Enabled
- Zero-Deaths
- Must Start From Beginning of Level (verified via game film)
Halo: Reach
In Reach, the definition didn't really change from ODST.
- Legendary Difficulty
- All Skulls Active
- Online Scoring Enabled
- Zero-Deaths
- Must Start From Beginning of Level (verified via game film)
In the first three games where we played Mythic, there are some common themes. The general idea appears to be that the challenge is to play from beginning to end of a level, with zero deaths, and with game options configured to put you at maximum disadvantage. We included requirements for seemingly cosmetic skulls (I Would Have Been Your Daddy) and redundant skulls (Blind & Fog) to make the definition easier by saying "All Skulls." This worked because there were no skulls that gave you an advantage.
Thus, there was never really an issue requiring all skulls. After all, it didn't change the game settings whether you had Fog or IWHBYD on or not, as far as we can tell, so we put them on anyway. So what does this mean for Halo 2 "Mythic" and the upcoming Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary?
Going Forward
If we go by the standard definition we use for the other games, then all skulls need to be active. However, this seems to violate the "Spirit" of Mythic, because some of those skulls provide advantages to the player (Envy in Halo 2, for example. Or Bandana in CEA). This, to me, is grounds to change the definition from "all skulls" to "all detrimental skulls," in order to keep with the Spirit of Mythic. We've already distanced ourselves from the LASO moniker by adding additional rules to ensure maximum challenge, and I see no reason we should include skulls that are counter-productive to that goal. However, there are many who argue that the definition cannot be changed or complicated further in the interest of consistency and clarity to the general population. I disagree with this, as we do have a community site for Mythic where we can officially list what game settings and requirements there are for Mythic in each game, avoiding ambiguity.
Even more controversial is the fact that in CEA, you only get access to one of the skulls (Grunt Funeral) if you preorder the game. This skull causes grunts, the most common and easily killed enemies in the game, to explode after death as if they were a plasma grenade. This raises two questions: Do we require it? Do we ban it?
It seems obvious that we should not require it, as it would alienate any players that either cannot preorder or decide to buy the game at a later date. Less obvious is whether we should ban it or allow it as an optional skull. In all previous games, all players that undertook Mythic were on equal ground, with their luck, skill, strategy, and determination being the only factors in their success. With an optional skull that not everyone will have, that changes. Some players will have the advantage of having that skull active while others will not. Why is it an advantage? In most encounters, there are several grunts, a handful of jackals, and a few elites (typically 1-3). In that scenario, half-to-most of the enemies are easily killed with a headshot weapon, and the other half are severely damaged, if not outright killed by the resulting detonation of the grunts' bodies. Sure, if you're in close quarters you have to be more careful, lest a dead grunt be the end of you, but there are very few encounters that don't allow you to distance yourself from your opponents.
It is my opinion that the Grunt Funeral skull should be forbidden for Mythic. Not only does it give the player an advantage, but it gives them an advantage that is not available to everyone who undertakes the Mythic challenge.
The biggest challenge for Mythic regarding Halo 2 and Halo: CEA, is the lack of a theater function and lack of online game stats. Because of these two issues, we cannot verify that a player's run was legitimate. Even if they record themselves setting the skulls and then playing through the level, it's entirely too easy to edit a video to look like the real thing, especially with loading screens that fade to and from black. For this reason, "Mythic" in these two games is, in my opinion, a personal challenge ONLY and we cannot credit players with completing it.
*"Skulls" in the Halo games are game modifiers that can be activated to change the game's mechanics in some way.
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