The Halo franchise has been one of the best gaming franchises in history. It has had one of the biggest influences in the history of the first person shooter genre since the first game came out in 2002.
The series revolves around a cybernetically-enhanced supersoldier named Master Chief. Throughout the series he helps defend the Earth from various threats in the distant future (all of the games take place either during or after the year 2552).
The Halo series has also had subtle allusions to various religions, including Christianity. Today I wish to focus on a couple of allusions: a species called the Flood, who appear in nearly all of the games, and the Ark, which appeared in Halo 3.
The alien species known as the Flood have been seen in some capacity in every Halo game up to date. They are a parasitic species that prey on any and all sentient life. They reproduce by eating a life form. When they do this, they infect said life form with a virus that mutates the host into another Flood organism. As they spread around the galaxy they infected numerous organisms and threatened the existence of everything in the Milky Way.
To counter this threat, a people that that has long been extinct known as the Forerunners created a giant structure called Installation 00. One of its functions was to be a safe haven for all creatures in the galaxy from the threat of the Flood. This is why this structure is also referred to as the Ark.
This is why I believe this can be construed as an allusion to the Great Flood in Genesis. As instructed by Yahweh, Noah built the ark to save all of the creatures of the Earth from the flood that Yahweh would unleash upon the Earth, destroying everyone and everything that wasn’t in the ark. Likewise, the Ark in Halo 3 was created to protect all life in the galaxy from the parasitic Flood.
However, I also believe there is more to the Ark than this. While it is able to protect life, it also has the ability to destroy all organic life. The other purpose of the Ark was to create, repair, and control a series of seven giant rings known as the Halo Array. The Forerunners made these rings with the knowledge that, once they detonated, they could destroy all organic life that is inside the blast radius, including the Flood. This is why its other purpose was to preserve life in the galaxy.
I believe that the Ark may also be an allusion to the Ark of the Covenant. In the text, anyone who touched the Ark of the Covenant would instantly die. It was, in a way, a weapon of mass destruction (such as in the case of Jericho). In the Halo series, the Ark had the power to cause the destruction of all people. Also, the Ark of the Covenant was worshipped by the Israelites as it was a relic from God that housed the Ten Commandments. In Halo, the Ark was worshipped by a group of aliens called the Covenant who worshipped anything made by the Forerunners.
Halo has been considered a one of the greatest franchises in the history of gaming. While it may not look like it upon the surface, it has been influenced by various religions, especially Christianity.