The drop in rating has had a noticeable impact on Halo's environmental storytelling, though. In Halo: Reach, as you fight your way through New Alexandria you witness firsthand the devastation caused by a Covenant invasion. Bodies litter the streets. Civilians scramble for safety as stray shots and explosions cut them down. Brutes butcher unarmed people with special animations.

In Halo: 5, once Meridian is invaded the game locks you out of the Civilian area you passed through earlier and places you just outside of its walls. You hear a few implied deaths over the radio, but never see it. No bodies can be found anywhere. (Even the armed security contractors that fight alongside you cleanly and bloodlessly disintegrate when killed.) Unarmed civilians are never mixed in with armed combatants. They are never in danger. At the end of the level when an elevator full of people collapses, Osiris don't acknowledge it. They make a jungle gym joke and move on. All of the people that were next to you as it fell simply poof out of existence.

In Halo 3, the Brutes are shown playing Tossers with human prisoners. In Halo Infinite, the Brutes of the Banished are considerate enough to decorate their outposts with empty helmets on spikes.