Why do you suppose Bungie made a whole new story and created a whole new spartan team for Halo: Reach?
When Reach was first announced I assumed it would follow most of the original spartan II’s on their various missions surrounding the invasion and fall of reach, keeping Master Chief as the main character, and lead as it did right into Halo 1. Instead, Bungie made a whole new group of spartan III’s and alternate story line solely for the game, which in turn went against various dates and large events that were already in place long before the game was conceived.
I just couldn’t comprehend why they would change so much just to add a new group of spartans to the universe, who didn’t really add much at all. It would have been far more fitting to simply take the spartan II’s story, and add what they wanted to that. There still would have been a whole team of spartan’s sacrificing their lives and the game itself would have really given a better view on just how large scale the invasion was.
The addition of Noble Team just feels so pointless that it kind of prevents me from fully enjoying Reach.
Did anyone else feel this way? I’m not a “Reach hater” or anything, these were just my thoughts on how they should have handled the campaign.
Yeah, I’m a big fan of the books and overall story that is the Halo Universe. Here’s an article I found awhile back that addressed the contradictions between the game and the novel. They interviewed Marcus Lehto, the Creative Director of “Halo: Reach.” Here’s the link:
Basically, they went ahead and changed the story of what happened in The Fall of Reach to create what they felt was a better gaming experience. They also note that what happens in the gaming story world of Halo supersedes what happens outside the games. The games are, as they put it, “Prime Canon”.
Personally, I hate inconsistency. But it is what it is.
> Basically, they went ahead and changed the story of what happened in The Fall of Reach to create what they felt was a better gaming experience.
Wait, what?
They thought that playing as a ragtag group of misfits with bad AI, performing missions that have barely any relevance to the plot until the end of the game… would be a better gaming experience than playing as an iconic gaming hero in a full-scale invasion of Reach?
> Basically, they went ahead and changed the story of what happened in The Fall of Reach to create what they felt was a better gaming experience.
This is why I hate Reach most, Bungie thought that “a better gaming experience” was slapping buttons on command (see ANY objective in Reach.) A -Yoinking!- skinner box, when before we had a game.
I think a part of the motivation to change Reach’s story, although I don’t particularly like how Bungie went about it) was because the Coveys destroyed the planet far too quickly. In First Strike, it was said that every millimeter of a planets surface was glassed. However, as mentioned in Halsey’s Journal, if the Coveys had that sort of power, then they would turn these weapons on UNSC fleets in space, and space battles would be over before they even started. They tried to patch up this inconsistency by making the battle longer, but didn’t try to patch up the canon they broke along the way, which was and is unfortunate and frustrating.
They changed things around to make it less predictable. They wanted to give the hardcore fans who knew the lore something to look forward to and something to be surprised about.
I can see their intentions and sympathize with them. I do not, however, really enjoy how they went about it.
In my opinion Reach would have had a Much better ending/review if Noble Six had been John 117 and thus become Master Chief.
I’m reading the book(s) currently one the one about the fall of Reach and honestly, Bungie really could have made Halo: Reach better if they had done that.
And before anyone asks how would Emile die?
Simple, Noble Six gets on the pelican, then on The Pillar of Autumn. As it’s taking off the Covenant Cruizer begins to set fire to the planet killing Emile, but just before the blast gets to him he fires a shot into: “the belly of the beast” the ship crashes to the planet, and if somehow the glazing didn’t kill Emile, the ship crashing on him would have.
Then of course have a small footage portion of Noble Six putting on the Mark V Armor, and going into the cryo chamber to rest and heal any injuries.
> In my opinion Reach would have had a Much better ending/review if Noble Six had been John 117 and thus become Master Chief.
>
> I’m reading the book(s) currently one the one about the fall of Reach and honestly, Bungie really could have made Halo: Reach better if they had done that.
>
>
> And before anyone asks how would Emile die?
>
> Simple, Noble Six gets on the pelican, then on The Pillar of Autumn. As it’s taking off the Covenant Cruizer begins to set fire to the planet killing Emile, but just before the blast gets to him he fires a shot into: “the belly of the beast” the ship crashes to the planet, and if somehow the glazing didn’t kill Emile, the ship crashing on him would have.
>
>
> Then of course have a small footage portion of Noble Six putting on the Mark V Armor, and going into the cryo chamber to rest and heal any injuries.
> In my opinion Reach would have had a Much better ending/review if Noble Six had been John 117 and thus become Master Chief.
>
> I’m reading the book(s) currently one the one about the fall of Reach and honestly, Bungie really could have made Halo: Reach better if they had done that.
>
>
> And before anyone asks how would Emile die?
>
> Simple, Noble Six gets on the pelican, then on The Pillar of Autumn. As it’s taking off the Covenant Cruizer begins to set fire to the planet killing Emile, but just before the blast gets to him he fires a shot into: “the belly of the beast” the ship crashes to the planet, and if somehow the glazing didn’t kill Emile, the ship crashing on him would have.
>
>
> Then of course have a small footage portion of Noble Six putting on the Mark V Armor, and going into the cryo chamber to rest and heal any injuries.
Its the same reason why they made Halo 3: ODST. Its the same reason Karen Traviss and Greg Bear write Cryptum and Glasslands and it is the same reason 343 Industries really wants to expand the Halo Universe in a much more personal level. Halo’s universe is an expansive one and it is almost impossible to tell everything in it simply as a nod on from John 117’s view. When I was reading the Fall of Reach, all I got from the Planet’s destruction was "Oh Reach was being destroyed. We’ll just go to Gamma Station and destroy any valuable intelligence the Covenant can get their hands on and fly out of there. Did the Fall of Reach tell the perspective of the planet being destroyed effectively? This can’t be said since it was in a general level.
Does Halo: Reach tell the planet being destroyed effectively? This can’t be said since it was at a personal level.
One of the things that the Halo Games are guilty for is minimising the reality of things for gameplay purposes and limitations. A destruction of a planet couldn’t be reimagined correctly 10 Years Ago. Halo: Reach does it damn well in a personal level with Civilians dying and being tortured by the Covenant Species as well as Evacuation Transport Ships being attacked and destroyed by the Covenant Corvette. One man however can’t bare the burden of a Planet being destroyed before their very eyes. Noble Team were like Civilians. Trying to make a last stand before their inevitable doom.
We hardly hear anything about Reach from the Book but we only see a personal view on the Planet’s destruction via Noble Six’s viewpoint.
NOBLE Team’s story was tragic. I loved seeing them fight but there was always that lingering thought that they were fighting a losing war and they would eventually submit to death, something which is what all us Humans must face sometime in our lives.