14 years later, no other AAA studio has been able to replicate, nor come close to matching the impact that Halo: Reach created upon release. What Halo: Reach does right, is storytelling from showing over action. Reach constantly strives to show the viewer how everything got to the way it was. A specific example is on the first mission, "Winter Contingency," where Jorge, the big, "tough guy," is trying to relate with the native humans on Reach. Though spartans have a negative repuatation among the locals on Reach, Jorge will take off his helmet and truly attempt to sympathize with the locals. Jorge as a whole will keep his helmet off as much as he possibly can. This idea shows the viewer that Jorge will always try and be a human before his main responsability as a spartan. To further this point, in Jorges last moments he takes you, (Noble Six) with his helmet off, and physically throws you off the ship that he has to stay back on to manually explode. Jorge paid the ultimate sacrifice for Noble Team, and marked the first death of the series. Bungie kept this idea that every character needed to be fleshed out and three-dimensional. This idea made the viewer almost bond with the characters, and by the end of the game, when you're all alone, you subconciously think back and wish you had your team present. Even 14 years later, Reach's storytelling is almost unmatched, even by modern day AAA titles.
Review of Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
(2010 Video Game)
When writers correctly write Death.
16 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers