It has been my experience that, in video games, grenades don’t do much past the easiest difficulty. Anything above Normal and all enemies just jump out of the way. This might be a problem for many people, or maybe I just suck, but I did find a game franchise that actually does grenades well……..at least for the most part. Halo is a game about the human race fighting an amalgamation of several alien species that calls themselves the Covenant. The story centers around a genetically augmented human dubbed Master Chief (due to his rank of Master Chief Petty Officer). This franchise has done well with grenades over the years having an arsenal that ranges from sonic grenades to firebombs, but my favorites would have to be the Sticky, Spike, and classic Frag grenades.

 

 

THE FRAGMENTATION GRENADE

While the Covenant use cool plasma and energy based bullets for their weapons, the Human military force, UNSC, still only uses metals with the exception of the Spartan Laser. Although such technology is primitive to the higher alien species, the frag grenade will always be deadly and frightening. Like the name implies, it shoots out fragments that damage the body.

 

 

The weakness for this grenade is that it doesn’t really work on higher rank aliens such as Elites or Brutes, who know better than to stand still when they see a nearby human grenade. It can also be unpredictable to a novice such as myself. It is also very difficult to gauge how far the grenade will bounce when you don’t really use grenades very often.

 

 

The grenades in Halo have a respectful range of damage and can be extremely useful when fighting large groups of grunts or jackals. The advantage to this grenade is that you can aim for people around a corner by bouncing against the nearby wall diagonally so that it ends up next to the player or group of players that you would rather not continue to live. It is also probably the best grenade that I have seen for taking down massive Hunters. You can toss it under them and have it roll far enough past their feet that it will be able to damage its back, a Hunter’s only weak spot. That is the best use I usually have of it.

 

 

THE PLASMA GRENADE

The plasma grenade, commonly referred to as a sticky grenade, is the base grenade for Covenant troops. It got this nickname from being able to stick to pretty much any surface once activated or thrown. It is most often used by suicide grunts who activate the grenade and run toward you. It is not extremely rare to find an Elite who will brandish this grenade. The range is fairly good as well and creates an explosion of blue electricity, which I find visually pleasing.

 

 

There are not many weaknesses to this grenade, the only one that readily comes to my mind is its lack of mobility. Unlike the frag grenade, this grenade cannot really bounce and can’t be used to kill people around corners.

 

 

In my opinion, the pros far outweigh the con for this grenade. Its greatest strength is probably its sticky precision. It can be used in any difficulty of the game to tag higher ranking aliens. Not even an Elite General can avoid a sticky grenade when taken completely by surprise. Even if they see you coming and sidestep, the sticky grenade is still the ideal grenade for taking out single, powerful opponents (that aren’t the nearly impenetrable Hunters).

 

 

THE SPIKE GRENADE

This Brute-only grenade is a combination of a fragmentation and plasma grenade, in theory anyways. The idea behind it is that the spikes on the grenade will attach it to anything it lands on, which then act as projectiles in the sequential explosion. Unlike the recurring frag and sticky grenades, this grenade reached its final appearance (so far) in Halo 3.

 

 

This grenade shares all of the faults of the plasma grenades and then some. It cannot really bounce off of objects so it might not be ideal for fighting Hunters or fast vehicles. It also has the least damage dealing power of the three grenades. The thought behind this is that the Brutes, a very war-like and ruthless race, would like to finish off the prey themselves, but I think I would prefer a powerful grenade.

 

 

The only use that I think would be good for this would probably to stick slower moving vehicles, like a loaded Warthog or Wraith. It would not be ideal for Elites since it is not usually an automatic kill, although it will hurt like hell.

 

 

LAST AND LEAST: THE PULSE GRENADE

In the new Halo game, they introduced the Prometheans, a new fighting force. With the introduction of a new enemy, they had to give out an entirely new class of weapons, which included a new grenade. This grenade is my least favorite grenade. It explodes and releases a circle of deadly weird orange stuff (I have no idea). This sphere which is reminiscent of a killball will remain in place for several seconds.

 

 

It cannot really stick to people so it can’t be used for assassinations, it does not send out fragments to kill people, and it is very easy to dodge since its effective berth is easily visible. I have never killed with one, never been killed by one, and I have never seen anyone who has been killed by the grenade. This grenade is probably the only annoying thing about Halo 4 that I have seen.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

All in all, I am pleased with the way Bungie, and later 343 Industries, have made their grenades so that they are useful to gamers like me who can’t really boast about 90% accuracy. I have had hours of fun playing custom games with only grenades as weapons and have come to appreciate these weapons in games.

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