✅ Subscribe: th-cam.com/users/BenPlaysGames 🖱 Support the channel: www.patreon.com/ben_plays_games My first retrospective covering one of my favourite games - I hope you enjoy it!
There are few games that are as a full of a package as Reach. Amazing story, PVE modes, full matchmaking, custom/Forge, customizable, the color white, file sharing, playable elites. All for the price of $60, or $15, depending where you bought the game. Incredible times.
I only covered the campaign, as Halo's singleplayer is the bit I particularly enjoy talking about, but completely agree regarding its value for money. Now that's it's been fixed up, the Master Chief Collection is a ridiculously generous package.
@@BenPlaysGames I got a Series X last Christmas and managed to get MCC with Reach and ODST for £15. Amazing deal and loving replaying these games from my teens.
Ahead of its time? Misjudged? Where were you when Reach released lol it received nothing but glowing praise and people saying it was the best Halo title yet. I got irritated because I felt Reach was OVERRATED at the time. It's still a fantastic game though.
@javamitsiky9608 nah this game was very mixed coming out, anyone who played odst was happy and ready but all the people who didn't were upset over no chief and the classes and armor abilities but after launch it was an overwhelming amount of praise and love for it's story and gameplay
I thought reach was a poor brother of the original trilogy. Looking back in the context of today's games it has a richness and polish that we just don't see anymore. I love it more now than when it came out. It outshines much of what we see today.
Same with me mate, it took time for me to really appreciate it - the original trilogy had concluded, Call of Duty was taking up much of my time and in general I just wasn't that hyped for a non-Master Chief Halo title. Nowadays, however, I'd give my right arm to get a Halo campaign as good as Reach, game's absolutely brilliant.
Yea especially with the barebones launch of Halos 5 & Infinite lol. Reach had: - Campaign, including Co-Op (I've mixed feelings about the story and gameplay vs. the Halos 1-3, but that's a different story altogether) - Firefight (Fuck yea) - Even more multiplayer custom game options - Forge - Theater Now compare that 11-12 years later with Infinite lol. No Firefight, no Co-Op Campaign or even replayable missions. Few multiplayer gametypes. No Forge. Lmao.
@@spacecraftcarrier4135 Anyone who thinks Halo 3 has better writing and storytelling than Reach doesn't have a good idea of what makes writing good lol Halo 3 has some of the worst writing in the series only behind Halo 5
I never noticed this before but at 9:48 noble 6 goes out of their way to touch the vertical stabilizer of the falcon, to most people that's nothing, but to an avgeek like myself that's extremely subtle character development. I've seen people in real life do that, heck even I've done that. Noble touches the falcon because they feel an emotional connection to the machine, put simply he loves flying, and as we learn later in the story during long night of solace, 6 is a very accomplished pilot, it's entirely possible that noble 6 in this moment is showing some appreciation to an aircraft model they have flown before. Beautiful little detail.
The soundtrack is so much better than anyone gives it credit for and does a massive amount of work in terms of tugging at the heartstrings. I've seen a lot of people say that it's not as good as others in the original trilogy, but I couldn't disagree more - ODST and Reach's soundtracks are both amazing.
@@BenPlaysGames couldn’t agree more! The OST for Reach is absolutely spectacular, and it’s genuinely the only Halo soundtrack where I can listen to EVERY single piece over and over. The original trilogy has several super iconic pieces, but a lot of the others are a bit lackluster imo.
If you think about it Carter and Emile are two sides of the same coin, one is coping with loss and hardship through bloodlust and disregard while the other is limiting himself and relying on orders and regs for decision making while trying everything he can to keep his team safe in the immediate future. In the end Carter had nothing left to live for besides completing the mission, and Emile was probably relieved to finally stop the pain and loss of losing 4 familys.
@@BenPlaysGames I honestly like the ambiguity of it, reach allowed pretty much anyone to find meaning in it in their own way, there was always different things everyone was thinking throughout the story and each story beat but everyone agrees as to how amazing it was despite that even though it wasn’t telling you to feel any certain way, you just did
I liked it day one but what gets me is how so many people act like most Halo fans actually liked Reach from day one. This is actually the first comment I saw admitting that most didn't like it. I remember playing the beta with my usual gang and being the only one that didn't mind the changes too much.
@@s3eriousbl9ck26 personally, I didn’t even mind the initial weapon bloom. I found it intriguing. I guess people disliked it because most of the design decisions strayed from the competitive scene. I remember vividly people hating the story. Now, I notice many video essays praising the campaign. I sympathize with Bungie, having the community trash your love project at release only to do a complete 180 a decade later.
Man, if there's one thing that Reach did for me, it made me care about a made up planet in a fictional universe. All I wanted while playing the game was to save Reach, and fight for Reach. And I'm pretty sure no game has ever done that before, it's usually about Earth, or the feeling is slightly different. But the music, the aesthetics... Just everything made me care about Reach in such a profound way that I still think about it to this day. (Also, great video!)
Cheers dude! And agree, everything comes together really nicely to drive home the game's central themes. There's definitely room for improvement in one or two areas, but in terms of there being a creative vision which is adhered to throughout, it definitely hits the nail on the head.
Something I absolutely love about Kay’s death, and I don’t even know if it was intentional, is how the music pauses for a moment before going into the piano. It’s like the music/game is taking a second to gasp with you.
I always thought it was deliberate. Once Kat is killed, it feels like the moment where the impending doom really sets in. That moment of shock, is a moment to process what has happened. Kat was the brains of the squad, she was the one who continually has plans for how to turn the tide. Once she goes, so does any hope for winning.
Also something else about the music I love is how the main theme almost inspires awe in the planet of reach itself, which adds to getting emotionally attached to the planet and watching it get demolished.
@@BenPlaysGames indeed. And something I JUST realized is that the major themes for the planet reach (primarily the opening of winter contingency) gives you an awe for the planet of reach just like how the halo theme gives you an awe for the actual halo ring!
@@NotALotOfColonial_SpaghettiToG And something I JUST realized is that the major themes for the planet reach (primarily the opening of winter contingency) gives you an awe for the planet of reach just like how the halo theme gives you an awe for the actual halo ring!
The stages that the main theme goes through aswell sounds like a storm(winter contingency?) coming and passing through and the aftermath in the final scene of the campaign. And the Tip of The Spear Track is the perfect companion to the classic halo drumtrack 💯👌 And then theres the mixes on the ost from the original games that are incredible
I always believe that the look Keyes gives after he turns away in the pelican with his look of confusion is him comparing six and chief like "Seems familiar..."
One thing I love about The Package is how it sends you through the same area you went through with Kat in Sword Base, now destroyed, immediately after her death. The entire area has been decimated to the point where I didn't even notice it was the same village in the first area, but it really shows how both Noble Team and the planet are beginning to take heavier losses.
Reach was my introduction to halo and it holds a special place on my heart, it really was a great introduction to the series and I'm truly grateful it was my first halo game, it's absolutely wonderful
@@russian_knight Kinda cool, because I have been here since the first Halo. ODST is my favorite out of the series. You started at the end of Bungie Halo, I started at the beginning. We both ended up with ODST as our favorites.
I think there's an additional level of irony of Jorge's death that you didn't mention here. Jorge said that he'd never leave Reach, but the slipspace bomb teleports him and half of the Supercarrier to oblivion. EDIT: Corrected the spelling of Jorge's name.
All of Noble died ironically. To quote an old Halo forum post, "Jorge was a heavy weapons and demolitions expert. He died in an explosion. Emile was a close-range expert, highlighting his knife specifically. He was killed by a sword. Carter was the leader of the group. He "went down with his ship". Kat was the smart, computer expert - the brains of the group. She died from a lack of awareness and a shot to the head. Jun was a sniper/scout/stealth member. He disappeared. Noble 6 was a lone wolf as well as an unnamed member (like an Ensign on Star Trek). He died alone, and he was the last member to fight in the Battle of Reach."
Noble Six's is by far my favourite in that there's the extra layer below the surface of his sacrifice ultimately being for the team. He dies a lone wolf, but also gives his life to help the cause.
Small correction at 35:03. Reach takes place 24 July-30 August, 2552, ending only three weeks before the start of Combat Evolved and starting 27 years after Contact Harvest. It isn't, "Early in the conflict." The Covenant species all speaking their native languages was just a creative choice by Bungie.
Pretty sure the canon reason that Reach doesn’t have them speak English is because in the og trilogy had Cortana translate their language so we could understand them but in reach we still didn’t understand them.
@@rezboifrybread the only reason given by Bungie is that they wanted to make the aliens scarier. Even if that's the canon reason (which I think it is in the expanded lore), it's contradicted by the fact that Forge could understand Ripa in Halo Wars, which takes place 20 years earlier and came out before Reach.
@@EthanThomson fair point, though that still wouldn’t explain why the Covenant in Reach weren’t talking smack as well since that’s one reason they learned human languages in the first place. Bungie wanted to make the Covenant more alien like in CE so they made sure to only use aliens that hadn’t taken their Babble or Rosetta Stone lessons.
@yorecf9641 I chuck it up to Forge and Ripa understanding each other because Ensemble kind of retconned the lore. For this purpose HW took 5 years to release. Bungie was really touchy about their IP. For this reason HW is the black sheep of the franchise overall. Ensemble focused primarily on gameplay and graphics. Story wasn't really a priority, this is evident by how few custscenes we saw.
Reach was a really bold game for Bungie to bow out with and it's campaign only gets better with age. A sobering and sombre look at the events that led to CE and beyond... Also that soundtrack just hits hard. Exodus, Overture, Tip of the Spear, and Epilogue are probably my favourite tracks.
Soundtrack is fantastic - I'd have expected a dip in quality for ODST and Reach as they had to move away from the familiar motifs of the older games, but they still absolutely nailed it.
There were a lot of minor campaign nitpicks I had with it when it came out. - Frontloading more military technobabble than the series is accustomed to - Overreliance on deserts with scattered debris - Vehicle combat is burdensome at times, with homing fuel rods, worse controls for Scorpion, warthogs at their most flippiest especially with all the debris - Grenade limit retained despite not having spike or incendiary grenades - Forced multiplayer map crossover sections - Elite insta-stick and insta-melee - Worst brutes (sandbox and design). - No enemies use the drop shield, few use holograms, too many use armor lock - We don't see any Spartan II teams in action. Just Jorge. But in the end, it turned out to be one of the few Halo campaigns where I consistently play every level. No skips. A memorable tone. A sense of impending doom. A wide variety of objectives that can be tackled differently every playthrough. A strong connectivity to the trilogy that came before it. Plus now it has mods that fix most of the gripes I had
@@omniscientbarebones I had a feeling I’d see this type of comment. It makes sense of course, hence the whole “nitpick” disclaimer, but it’s still tiresome. Glassing didn’t happen until Long Night, which before we have already seen 2 desert-ish levels. PoA level could’ve been an advanced UNSC facility since it has their warships parked. It would’ve been a chance to show off more unique architecture rather than similar types of buildings we’ve already seen in Tip of the Spear
These are all fair points! Being critical of myself for a moment, I think I do tend to focus less on the minutiae of gameplay than I perhaps should and have a tendency to look more at the big picture stuff. I guess my interest has always been in the higher level gameplay mechanics, level design, story etc and how they all fit together, so sometimes I neglect the smaller things. Also I'd end up writing forever haha. Definitely agree with your final paragraph too, it's a very solid campaign from start to end with no single mission that makes me sigh!
@@justinnyugen7015 This is kinda long so, tl;dr: Reach is more varied that you claim, but there are reasons for its environmental "sameness". Winter Contingency: Lush, grassy highlands and farms Oni: Sword Base: Polar Ice Shelf and interior of military complex Nightfall: Dry Highland (Night time) Tip of the Spear: Same location as Nightfall + the Spire Long Night of Solace: Beach, UNSC facility, UNSC Space, Covenant space, Interior of a Covenant ship. Exodus: Urban city, lush beach head New Alexandria: Skyscapers/interiors (glassed below the clouds) Package: Glassed Ice shelf, lots of water, underground glacier (revisiting Sword Base) Pillar of Autumn: Deserty with scattered debris (partially glassed). Lone wolf: Glassed to shit (same location as PoA) 9 missions, 4 have the "deserts with scattered debris" look that you mentioned. But there are narrative reasons. So I looked around Halopedia, and many missions take place within the Viery Territory (where the fighting was heaviest I guess). Nightfall and TotS take place in the same region (Ütközet, Viery Territory). So of course they're gonna look similar. The Lake/River is damned up in Nightfall, making the area drier. The Viery Territory also contained Eposz, home of New Alexandria, Babd Catha Ice Shelf (Sword Base/Package), Farkas Lake (Beach assault on LNoS), and Asźod (PoA). So again, it makes sense why many of the locations had that desert look. And Asźod IS a ship-breaking yard, so debris kind of makes sense. Also ships make have fall from orbit after the Covenant destroyed them etc. Another thing to remember is that Reach took place in July-August, so it's hot, and it's dry (depends on what kind of ecosystem Reach has in general I guess). WC seems to be the only area that was truly in a different area (and most of LNoS). So the narrative is the reason why so "deserts with scattered debris" show up so often. It's because NOBLE Team was stationed in a desert with scattered debris for most of the conflict. But frankly Reach may not even be the worst offender in the franchise of this. ODST is mostly city fighting (again, narrative reasons. But it tries to get away from it like in NMPD HQ or Uplift Reserve). H2 missions are split into 2 parts (Gravemind & High Charity or Outskirts & Metropolis). And H5 almost has mini arcs on each planet (Swords of Sanghelios - Sunaion & Glassed - Evacuation). Probably the only Halo game not to fall into this pattern is Halo 4 which doesn't have a single repeated location (although the forerunner interiors certainly give this claim a run for its money).
my little sister took her life in October of 22 and we got to finish Reach together two weeks before she left. Noble Team and the Spartan IIIs were always important to me, however, after she left they are forever in my heart. In fact I just got my memorial tattoo finish. It is the emblem of the Spartan IIIs with her id tag in the same manner of the Spartan IIIs. Evaluna-A608.
If we want to overlook into the height motif you suspect is there, Winter Contingency: This level has you flying high in the mountains, a grand opening of sorts. Sword Base: Still a largely high point for the game, while you do go down to sea level at one part, it's not long before you climb to the top of the tower and destroy banshees like it's nothing. Nightfall: The mission opens with you looking down over a cliffside, and you stay high up this whole mission for at the end you stare down upon a massive Covenant presence. Tip of the Spear: Another mission set on cliffs, mountains, and has flying, this is probably the highest you feel in the game so far, only for you to come crashing down as soon as you cross the Covenant barrier, but it's okay, you ascend to the top of the spear and fly away victorious. Long Night of Solace: This level starts you at your lowest so far, at sea level, only to put you at your absolute maximum for the game, space. You will never again reach this peak, and you come crashing down thanks to the Covenant. Exodus: You crash by a mountain, not too far down, and your trip through the city always has you staring down lower and lower until you get to the sea again in the final section. New Alexandria: This mission may not be space, but you've made it to the top of the sky, while a sense of defeat lingers especially as the glassing gets closer and closer, you're doing what you can to save the day for some people. The Package: The lowest mission, it starts you at sea level, but thanks to the Covenant, the sea has risen, you feel lower despite your past heights. Now when you make it to Sword Base, the place you once felt the highest as you captured the top of the tower and blew aerial vehicles out of the sky, you instead descend deeper into the facility, with Covenant raining in from above on you. The Pillar of Autumn: You've made it far, the sea is long behind and below you as you stand upon cliffs again, and in the distance is your ticket to space, the place you were at your highest, only for a the end you to remain on the ground as others make it to space. Lone Wolf: You start at the highest point in the mission, there is nowhere higher to go as you stand on that metal tower, a metal tower with no defences and will lead to a quick death if you stay up their. Your only choice is to go further down to the dirt, where you die lying down, at your very lowest. I definitely think looking into the elevations of Reach is some topic that could be covered, even if quite a few of these were stretches it still was very interesting to align these peaks and falls with not just the level design but the narrative itself.
This is a great write up mate and I completely agree - not sure how much is intentional and how much the idea would need to be stretched, but would be an interesting one to look into further. I'll add it to my to do list!
Definitely my favorite Halo. The complete package. I love 3's campaign but find it so weak a points. Reach, while I would add one or two things to the story, doesn't have those weaknesses to me.
Reach is probably the most solid campaign in the entire series, especially from a gameplay perspective. There's no real howlers in the mission list and it only gets better the further it goes on.
Halo Reach will forever be my favorite Halo game even though I played all the others first, for me the matchmaking was an absolute master piece and i really enjoyed the heck out of the campaign. Easily the most hours spent on this game over the other Halo ones
What's crazy is in "Winter Contigency" Emile notes that one of the Zealots slips by him and wants to pursue but Carter denies it. That same Elite is who sniped Kat dead from the Phantom in "New Alexandria" and kills Emile in "The Pillar of Autumn". That one elite killed 1/3 of Noble Team which is crazy.
slight correction, but the field marshal does not kill emile, it's a zealot that emile kills as he dies. the field marshal that escaped at the end of winter contingency and killed kat is alive and fought by the player at the end of pillar of autumn
I think I understood something (tell me if I'm wrong), from what I understand the covenant resort to fully glass worlds only when they took all forerunner artifacts. And in the end of the first mission Halsey says the zealot squad noble team met were probably hunting for those artifacts. Which means, because they continued with their mission instead of pursuing the zealots, the covenant managed to take all forerunner artifacts from reach. Which is why they bring their Glassing fleet to glass reach.
Fun fact, the Covenant only partially glassed Reach. They knew that there was something big/important buried there somewhere so they glassed parts of it mainly to just eradicate human resistance and left other parts of the planet intact so they could continue searching. In one of the novels a team of Spartan-IIs narrowly avoid one of these mini-glassings and end up reconnecting with Halsey
The number of times you run out of ammo, don’t discard that weapon, and then aren’t aware it’s out of ammo when you go to pull it back out later incenses me so much lol. Especially when you’re suddenly completely out of ammo in both guns and don’t seem to realize it’s coming until it happens.
Captain- goes down with the ship Cat- the brains of the crew but get shot in the head. Jorge- demolition man, dies from explosive. Emile- close quater fighter, dies getting stab in the back. Noble 6- lone wolf, dies alone. Jun- sneaky sniper, gets away and doesn't die
Reach has been my favourite Halo since it came out, I always thought it was a good bridge between the vulnerability of ODST soldiers and invincibility of Master Chief, playing as a squad of regular Spartans. Been rocking the noble 6 armour in Infinite for a while now.
Speaking of ODST, Infinite seems like the perfect opportunity to tell short stories focused on other characters which could be built into the existing open world. Just short stories here and there as DLC which last 15-30 minutes and give you insight into how different characters have been getting on.
It saddens me to say but, I feel like Halo died with Reach and Bungie. It truly was their swan song, I wish it never changed hands honestly. The past few games really just haven’t done it for me like they used to.
Agreed, neither 4, 5 or Infinite have been able to match any of the Bungie-developed titles. I really think the franchise needs to be looked after better than it has been, or soon enough it will go the way of Gears and be forgotten about by most.
Just found this video while doing some research for a piece i am writing about Reach, and you have nailed everything i love about this game. I was especially glad you spent time praising the music, because they knocked it out of the park here, but the characters, the gameplay, the dread of it all, I really think Halo Reach is one of the all-time highs for the series
Reach was the first FPS, first M rated game, first Halo game, and first xbox game I ever played and is my favorite Halo game and one of my favorite games of all time.
I remember Reach being my first game. Once I saw the ending and realized it only ends with your Death I remember being so upset and dissatisfied. Since then I realized the brilliance of that ending.
i think one of my favourite body language moments is how Jorge moves after the UNSC Grafton is destroyed. he damn near jumps out of his seat before swinging his head around to look out of the falcon, then looking back at either six or carter then back to the destroyed ship.
Halo reach is really a stand out in the franchise. It blows me away that it is leagues better then infinite even though infinite is newer. Someone was watching me play infinite and I genuinely felt embarrassed saying I was a halo fan and this was the latest entry. I feel like I need to show them Reach so they can understand that I'm not totally bonkers
I feel very strongly that the franchise is in serious danger of losing its status as one of the biggest in gaming. There's been three mediocre mainline games now and Infinite in a lot of ways was a disaster, so the shine is definitely starting to diminish.
Somebody pointed this out in another video I saw, and I thought I’d mention it here. During Kat’s death scene, for a brief moment, you se Emile’s hand jerk slightly after she gets shot. I loved how the developers made those subtle animations throughout this game, because it made the game a lot more realistic and human, in a way.
TH-cam started recommending loads of Reach videos after I released this and one of them was an entire video about the body language in Reach. I don't tend to watch others' analysis as I'm too busy working on my own stuff, but this one was worth the time: th-cam.com/video/Eg1oOiAEDaE/w-d-xo.html
The environmental story telling in Exodus was my favorite, especially since I caught on to some of the things mentioned in the expanded universe. You don't find any elites in that level on the ground because they won't sully themselves with killing unarmed civilians due to their sense of honor. Instead they send in the more...sadistic species that the covenant has to offer: Brutes, Jackals, Skirmishers, and grunts. Brunts are sadistic by nature and are more than happy to murder civilians (Jackals and brutes have also been observed to eat humans). Jackals, skirmishers and grunts will kill with gusto and enthusiasm because they don't bother with things that the elites have like a code of conduct or "honor" Edit: To touch on what you mentioned about the brutes; The brutes at this stage are essentially disposable shock troopers, they don't have the custom armor in halo 3 because the great schism hasn't occured yet, and they don't have the aesthetic in halo 2 because they haven't been elevated in covenant society yet. The elites have always looked down on the brutes for the reasons stated above and I think bungie did a good job in showing that in game.
I think this is so be of your best videos you’ve uploaded. I really enjoyed the deep dive you took into the game and I definitely didn’t notice several of things you brought up (like the irony in the deaths). Thanks for the great video again though it was great!!
No worries Adam, thanks for always checking out my stuff mate! I'm going to try and do more longer form videos, as I really enjoyed this one. I've a script nearly written for Resident Evil 1 which is the same length or longer, so going to try and get that out soon.
I only got into Halo somewhat recently due to MCC on pc. Reach is a rocky experience, some of the moments are really weird, the dialogue I think was just good enough and really it should've been a bit longer overall but at it's best moments imo it punches above the main trilogy. I might be a bit biased as tragical heroism is one of my favourite tropes in media but still... Reach delivers some of the strongest and long lasting feelings of any game out there. It's been a good few months since my playtrough yet watching this retrospective made me shed a tear again at 6's fate.
Fantastic video, Ben. I have played Reach, akin to all Bungie's Halo titles...to death and there were some things that you pointed out I had never picked up on. I loved Reach when it first came out, same for ODST and was glad Bungie took a different approach for their final two games. Not only proving they were more than a one trick pony, but that if done well, Halo will sell even without the Chief. Something I wish 343 would have taken note of and left Chief to sleep. They have so much lore and such a timeframe to pick from, instead they just woke Chief up. Loved the section on Jorge. One of my favourite bits which shows his character is when the Elites attack inside the relay, he uses his body to protect the scientist's daughter. Akin to what you said, caring about the people of Reach and willing to sacrifice himself to save them. And on point with the music too, it has such memorable tracks. I could be here all day typing, but once again....Great job!
Thanks as always dude! Continuing on the thread of stories without Master Chief, I always hoped 343 would use the open world of Infinite to tell shorter stories about people other than Master Chief, in the vein of ODST (or Reach if they wanted to go bigger). Just 15-30 minute or so episodes that either take place within an interesting scenario set up in the open world, or are more instanced in their own separate area ala ODST. Would be a way of keeping a steady flow of content for the game coming and building on the open world which often doesn't feel like it's very alive other than when you are directly involved in events. I want the feeling that there's other stuff going on around Zeta Halo away form Master Chief.
@@BenPlaysGames That would be awesome and like you say, not only help Zeta Halo feel lived in and like a real place...but be nice short snippets of content to keep us entertained. Defend a firebase, assassinate a target, rescue some UNSC forces. Simple and short episodes playing as other people involved in the conflict!
Well done, Ben! I love listening to your passionate analyses of these games and I think you definitely did Reach justice here. One of my favorite aspects of the Halo franchise (and what I think helps to set it apart from others in the genre) is how well it manages to take flashy action and beautifully weave in such powerful emotion, and Reach in particular is a real masterclass in this regard.
Nice one Mulgrath, glad you enjoyed it dude! Agreed as well, Reach is a very different experience from the original trilogy but in a way that makes it particularly special. There are so few big budget games so willing to be so sombre.
The biggest thing for Reach for me (aside from the tone obviously) was that it was MY spartan in the campaign. I’d grind out multiplayer games just to get the perfect outfit and play through the campaign again and again
We didn't know it at the time, but back in the 2010s, we were in the renaissance of gaming. Shareholder interests and cooperate types had not fully subsumed the industry yet. Once profit became the sole motive, video games have since barely scratched the edge of possibilities these older games pioneered.
I definitely feel like there's been a slowing of innovation in recent years in bigger budget titles. Could so with some new mechanics which reshape a few genres honestly.
Really loved this video. Halo Reach is and has been my favourite halo game since it came out in 2010. Watching this video and reminiscing on all of my favourite moments from the campaign, how much you sympathise with Noble team and Six at the end of the game, the planet itself and the hopefulness given during the rousing speech by Halsey. All in all a fantastic game paired with an amazing soundtrack as you mentioned. Really enjoyed this video, I could tell you worked hard on it!
Halo reach was part of the peak era of gaming, back when games had feeling and still felt felt like it was made for its players specifically to have fun. Really miss games like this
For me, I like to think that Bungie wanted to step away from the same formulaic design of Halo, especially with their flagship character Master Chief. Reach and ODST were complete tonal shifts from previous games in the series and are my favorites because of that. It showed that Bungie could make a Halo game without Master Chief. And don’t get me wrong, I love the other Halos too, but ODST and especially Reach will always have a place in my heart, and they are their own masterpieces in their own right.
Definitely masterpieces. Would love a return to a similar tone in the future but I think for now just getting a decent Master Chief based Halo would be enough to begin with.
@@BenPlaysGames exactly my thought too. I want 343 to do good, but with Microsoft adding pressure I think it undermines what they could do. I like Infinite, but I don’t love it like when Bungie was at the helm.
It's interesting for Jorge, a spartan 2 and thusly a part of the group who seemingly became the most emotionless, to be the most openly empathetic for others.
I only got into Halo at the very start of 2020, with Reach on the PC Master Chief Collection being the first game I fully finished. Prior to that, I'd played the first mission and some of the second of Combat Evolved at a convention. Going into Reach, I was actually under the impression that Noble Six and Master Chief were the same person. So, you can imagine my surprise when the tonal shift came at the end of Long Night of Solace. By the time I finished New Alexandria is when I realized, "Oh...this isn't going to end well, is it?" And then of course, once I got to the end of The Package, I understood the connection between the two games. I also remember having my mind blown during Long Night of Solace and New Alexandria during their space dogfight and helicopter segments, because I hadn't experienced anything like it in an FPS game before (admittedly, I hadn't played many shooters up to that point). I don't know how I'd rank the campaigns I've played, but I think Reach would do fairly well. I've not played Reach in a while, but I'm certainly not against going at it again.
I just want to say that feeling of pure nostalgia while loading up the campaign you see your helmet in the dirt and you know how it ends, and the music kicks in. Amazing game I remember playing this game constantly with my family, even my family of non gamers reach is special. It gives me a special feeling of being human. In these wars without the green guy they’re won with sacrifice. And I’ve never felt that in a game so well done bungie.
Halo reach was my true stepping stone into halo. I had played 3 and odst with my step brother and cousins for years but it was when reach dropped that I got my very own console. It hooked me in the same inescapable manner as the others that came before. The campaign this time around was gritty, dark, the covenant scary, the mystery of the forerunners still in the background, the mystery of ONI, Spartan 3’s, and halsey brought to a mainline game for once, and so much more. But for all it did right, halo reach was what set the series on a downward spiral it would never recover from. Halo reach’s story inconsistencies were like a middle finger to the og fans. The art style change was a huge disservice to the game, especially when bungie said they were going back to the series roots. The customization was great. The best actually, yet gone were the days of earning armor through achievements and instead a simple credit system was used. And the gameplay was the worst offender of all. Guns had insane bloom, dual wielding was gone, projectile bullets were gone, and the armor abilities (while fun in the campaign) ruined the multiplayer with things that should have never been introduced into a halo game. It was so distinct in fact, it was the first game that really fractured the series in terms of community. I remember the reach community being distinctly different from the halo 3 community that came before it. Halo reach fans were fiercely loyal to the game and considerably more toxic. Halo fans were divided between clan members, forgers, machinima creators, sweats, and casuals whereas before it felt more unified. I still believe halo reach to be the catalyst for halos downfall. It set 343 on the wrong track and did irreparable damage to the series, despite how fondly I remember it and enjoy playing it to this day. Also: BIG props for showing off noble six in his base armor, the way it should be 😂👍
I feel like the OG trilogy and Reach have, and will continue, to both stand the test of time but for different reasons. The easiest way to describe it is: Halo 1, 2 and 3 are the movie equivalent of Star Wars episode 4, 5 and 6. Groundbreaking (For shooters and sci-fi respectively), a traditional "Hero's Journey". Reach is the movie equivalent of Saving Private Ryan. Gritty and in the trenches of the conflict instead of being the shining beacon everyone else looks to.
Every time I play Reach, it’s an emotional experience. Not only is the story moving and the characters well written, but it the game was released at a time in my life that I look back on fondly. Just watching clips makes me tear up. What a perfect a succinct story that makes the rest of the Halo franchise feel more personal.
Their archetypes are what is ironic, Jorge the person borns on reach, dies trying to save it, Carter goes down with the ship, Kat get's her brains blown out, Emile get's stabbed in the back, and June is the silent sniper and disappears not to be seen again. Nobel Six dies alone.
Reach is easily one of my favorite games of all time. The story, the characters, the music, the multiplayer, I don't think there's a single thing I dislike about it. Hell, it was technically the Halo game that I derived this very username from for the first time over 10 years ago. Just so damn nostalgic.
I played reach for the first time about a year ago and i found it quite middle of the road. It was fun but I didn't really understand the deeper story and some stuff going on (the only halo i played before reach was 3). I beat the campaign, played a little bit of multiplayer and moved back to halo 3 and eventually 2 and 4 as well because I thought and still think the map choice is quite dull, i was playing on xbox360 so couldn't get that much players. After understanding what was going on and how well the storytelling of the game really was I played it again a few days ago and just beat it today. I was crying when six had to be left behind and the lone wolf cutscene played the game is so phenomenal. So is six's death. Definitely not my top pick that will always go to 3 but definitely third behind 2. I think the main problem is its hard to understand everything on a first playthrough which really negates emotions you would feel for noble team. That means people like me would not look into it further and give it another try. Your videos are the main thanks to me giving this game another shot. Thank you so much!!! I will definitely play this game more regularly.
I remember when reach came out and loved every bit of it, I have so many memories of playing forge with friends, finding glitches, joining recent players games, good times.
Love this deep dive into all the aspects of creating a compelling and story using the artistry of every sort to pull the story in the direction the creator wants
I'd say halo reach was one of the most important to the series. We all knew how it ended . But we never knew how it all begun until reach and how in game, chief became the "last" spartan, the first in game appearance of the expanded universes most important character; Halsey. Oh and the first game we see Spartan IIIs another popular expanded universe thing.
ODST and Reach were perfect swan songs for Bungie to leave Halo. Awesome stories I mean firefight in ODST was underrated as hell. Great games the both of them.
Thank you for such a great video. I also share the sentiment of liking Halo Reach from its release. To this day it is Halo CE and Reach that i crave playing. I spent unfathomable hours playing CE and made so many memories. I loved the other games in the series, but didnt connect with another until Reach came out. Playing Reach, i feel like i did playing the original when it came out. CE was so original, and i feel like Reach has that same feeling of originality, like a bekoning CE, but is so closely connected to CE that i get that feeling of playing CE all over again.
Long night of Solstice has always been my favorite halo mission. the flight just felt so good to me and Jorge's death really hit me. It was also the first Halo mission I ever played. the whole mission is the reason Reach is my favorite Halo game to this day.
Halo Reach for me has always had the best story of any Halo game, and it’s multiplayer was great and forge was perfect. It is probably my favorite game out of the franchise, and for good reason.
A friend once pointed out that Kat's death follows the scene where the team talk to command on the radio, and when asked if the Covenant could track it she says she could. She died because the Covenant elite hacked their comms and knew where to set up the ambush, and just like the poetism with the rest of the deaths, she was the hacker on the squad.
this is a great video and i love how you also mention odst aswell ive always played odst and reach the most out of all of the games but only really got into the story within the past few years and reach has the most sad and best stories in my opinion.
Cheers mate! ODST and Reach are a really great pairing I think, as they both have a similar vibe to them. Except, ODST feels more experimental, whereas Reach is the big budget version.
Took a while to grow on me as wasn't so receptive to what it was trying to do when it released, but it's grown to become one of my favourite in the series over the years.
I played through the campaign solo on legendary. (for me that is a huge thing) and I should note that was after I finished it solo on heroic, I love the game both for its multiplayer and single player modes. (the campaign is fun and I spent at least 2000 hours on multiplayer 2010-2014) I still use the same Halo reach special edition controller when I play with a controller. (I may now play Halo with the mouse and Keyboard, but I play Elden ring with it) edit, while this may be me reaching a bit, carter mentioning six's lone wolf past and talking about it staying behind could be him hinting at the end, since six chooses to stay behind in the end.
Exodus is my favorite mission in all of Halo. Something about wandering through New Alexandria fighting the Covenant while seeing dead bodies all over the place really puts into perspective how horrifying this war is (and indeed all wars are).
I generally view the Halo games through a very, "collaterally unintended" manner in that I'm an American Navy vet. I view all of the games through a military viewpoint. The games are kind of therapeutic. I do have to say though; even with Britain's well deserved reputation as master storytellers, it gave me a chuckle every time I was on a British naval vessel (not often, just the Dauntless and the Queen Elizabeth), that all of the movie and videogame posters in any of the lounges- were all American. American storytelling is getting fairly popular. I thought your video was very comprehensive and insightful. Reach and all of the videogame ads...even the Halo 2 Geico commercial are stories that are that much more enjoyable because they're relatable. Thank you for the video.
Thanks for sharing this Tiberius mate and for the kind words! I remember watching the Geico ad on TH-cam, a very surprising crossover to say the least haha.
Bo worries Janet! Lone Wolf is pretty brutal but there's just something about it, especially the scene at the beginning and end. Reach's soundtrack is massively underrated I reckon, plays a huge part in how good many of it scene, more so than any other game in the series.
Noble 6 was really poppping off at the end. Those were all zealot or general class elites & he was man handing them like they were cadets. An absolute legend, like all of noble team.
For me it took me a while to get the Xbox 360. I was still playing Halo 1 and 2 on my old OG Xbox. But once I got the 360 I bought Halo 3, ODST and Reach together... After playing them all I kept playing Reach all the time. I didn't know the timeline or anything like that I just kept and still playing it once in a while. After watching your video now I realize the reason why It's my favorite Halo game. This game has the whole package for me.
Honestly doing a standard playthrough and running through a legendary playthrough with a friend of mine it makes me appreciate the hell out of reach as this was my first halo game.
Great analysis on Halo Reach. Bungie's efforts in creating more human-like body language in the cut scenes helped with feeling more connected to each member of Noble Team. You hit the nail on the head about the character development for Jun, about not knowing any more or less about who Jun is. However, I do feel like this actually fits in to his archetype (the mysterious team member who doesn't have much of a presence throughout the campaign and then suddenly disappears).
I’ll be honest I wrote Reach off when it was first announced never even playing it until earlier this year. Not because I thought it would be bad. I wrote it off for two reasons. One as soon as I saw the subtitle I knew that most if not all of the characters in this game were going to die. And number two it felt lazy. One last cash grab before Bungie moved on. Little did know how wrong I was. Not in the fact that everyone died. But in the fact that it wasn't a cash grab. Bungie ledgitamitly put effort into this game. Despite knowing the outcome and making an effort not to get attached to any of the characters by the time it was over I did care. And on side note after the first two missions, I made predictions on how I thought everyone would die. Though only one I got right was Jorge. After he threw Noble 6 out of the ship and the bomb detonated in my head I was saying “Covenant armada in 3, 2, 1.” And sure enough “Slip space rupture detected”. Now being in a post 343 world I can't how much I would have enjoyed it had I played it when it was launched. And if I had to guess I probably would have placed it above ODST but below the main trilogy. But here and now Reach is my second favorite Halo game. With combat evolved just barely beating it.
I remember I thought the same thing about ODST before it came out and was salty when it announced. I was looking forward to Halo 4 which ended up being Reach. Which I also wasn't sure about, but I bought both games on release. I did not regret it. I still had gripes with Reach though. ODST was a perfect little standalone game.
@@tacticalmattress I'll be honest I have never been the biggest fan of ODST. I got it day one, played the campaign, loaned it to a friend the next and never ask for it back. It feels like a DLC and it should have stayed a DLC. But I will say it has the best music in the entire franchise. O'Donnell knocked it out of the park. I played it again before playing Reach. And while I'm still not really a fan of it. I don't outright hate it like I did when it first came out. My main gripe with it is that the rookie is an empty shell. I understand why they did that. And the Chief was basically an empty shell in the first game. But at least he had something of a personality.
@@bassplayer2011ify the entire point of Bungie's chief was to be the strong silent type. Also chief was just a badass. 343 made him soft. I prefer the previous chief. He didn't need emotions, the player can also imagine themselves as the character easier that way. Every other character besides chief shows emotion. Especially the grunts. Johnson is a hardass but he's comical. Etc.
@@bassplayer2011ify and ODST characters add a lot of what Halo needed. Which we got in Reach. In between stories and prologues. ODST Campaign was so good I immediately replayed it on legendary. It's worthy of being a standalone campaign game + firefight.
Great video. The details are where Reach really stands out to me. The presentation/environmental story telling as you highlighted were on a different level.
Reach is the Bioshock 2 of the series. It iterated on previous games, had a great gameplay loop, was emotional as hell, and both games might be the best in their respective series.
I thoroughly admit this game is much better than I gave it credit for initially. However I think there's a couple mentionable reasons as to why this game looks better in retrospect. One is because of the clear degradation of Bungie as game developers in the years succeeding Reach (if they were still developing Halo, I don't think it'd be any better than what we got with 343 tbh). Second, the gaming landscape was drastically changing for the worse around that same time period, and Reach was arguably one of the final games that hadn't been totally corrupted by that shift (although you could definitely tell how the game was a step in that direction). Retrospectively, it's easier to appreciate what we were given as a final, worthwhile gift before everything went south.
I tried to love Destiny, I really did, but it's just not my bag at all. Would have loved Bungie to do more one or two more Halos on the next set of Xbox hardware as I still feel like they had new ideas they could have brought to the table.
this game was such a formative experience for me, I first played it when I was ten I had never played a halo game before... to say this game shaped my love for gaming would be a understatement. I remember this game showing me feelings of melancholy and existentialism in a way I hadn't before. such an important game I miss it dearly.
About Carter: listen to his interaction with 6 at the start of New Alexandria and with Holland at the start of The Package, considering both have a recently deceased team member
Cheers Walt, that's super kind - got plenty more in the pipeline, Halo-related and other stuff. Got a retrospective of the original Resident Evil, similar to this, coming soon too.
Man I remember being in high school when this game came out, and me and my friends going to the midnight release of the game and then coming home and playing the campaign. Good times
I thought you were gonna talk about the multiplayer, but I'm really glad you talked about the best campaign in the Halo Bungie era. I would've enjoyed a talk about multiplayer but it was still very cool to listen to that talk
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My first retrospective covering one of my favourite games - I hope you enjoy it!
The fact you weren’t enamored immediately, crazy..
Best Halo IMO in every way.
Please do a video analysis and retrospective on the metal gear and Ace combat series
It has aged like a fine Irish Whiskey.
Marcus Lehto, Lee Wilson, Peter O’Brien - remember.
There are few games that are as a full of a package as Reach. Amazing story, PVE modes, full matchmaking, custom/Forge, customizable, the color white, file sharing, playable elites. All for the price of $60, or $15, depending where you bought the game. Incredible times.
I only covered the campaign, as Halo's singleplayer is the bit I particularly enjoy talking about, but completely agree regarding its value for money. Now that's it's been fixed up, the Master Chief Collection is a ridiculously generous package.
Games nowadays are 80$ and comes with less than half of all of these.. And are mostly a broken mess at launch.
@@BenPlaysGames I got a Series X last Christmas and managed to get MCC with Reach and ODST for £15. Amazing deal and loving replaying these games from my teens.
Halo Players when the color white isn’t free: **dies of microtransaction cringe**
"the color white"
Lmao. Dead.
Reach was ahead of it’s time yet misjudged because it was out of our comfort zone, little did we know that’s what we needed.
Oh definitely, as I say at the start of the video, I didn't give it a fair shake at release 🙈
Ahead of its time? Misjudged? Where were you when Reach released lol it received nothing but glowing praise and people saying it was the best Halo title yet. I got irritated because I felt Reach was OVERRATED at the time. It's still a fantastic game though.
@@javamitsiky9608
I was a little shit in 6 grade not knowing what I was holding on my hands 😝
@@javamitsiky9608 I remember reach being pretty controversial when it came out with a LOT of contention surrounding the gameplay changes.
@javamitsiky9608 nah this game was very mixed coming out, anyone who played odst was happy and ready but all the people who didn't were upset over no chief and the classes and armor abilities but after launch it was an overwhelming amount of praise and love for it's story and gameplay
I thought reach was a poor brother of the original trilogy. Looking back in the context of today's games it has a richness and polish that we just don't see anymore. I love it more now than when it came out. It outshines much of what we see today.
Same with me mate, it took time for me to really appreciate it - the original trilogy had concluded, Call of Duty was taking up much of my time and in general I just wasn't that hyped for a non-Master Chief Halo title. Nowadays, however, I'd give my right arm to get a Halo campaign as good as Reach, game's absolutely brilliant.
Yea especially with the barebones launch of Halos 5 & Infinite lol.
Reach had:
- Campaign, including Co-Op (I've mixed feelings about the story and gameplay vs. the Halos 1-3, but that's a different story altogether)
- Firefight (Fuck yea)
- Even more multiplayer custom game options
- Forge
- Theater
Now compare that 11-12 years later with Infinite lol. No Firefight, no Co-Op Campaign or even replayable missions. Few multiplayer gametypes. No Forge.
Lmao.
@@spacecraftcarrier4135 there are more game modes in reach action sack then there are on infinite.
The only part the "richness and polish" doesn't apply to is the core gameplay balancing.
@@spacecraftcarrier4135 Anyone who thinks Halo 3 has better writing and storytelling than Reach doesn't have a good idea of what makes writing good lol Halo 3 has some of the worst writing in the series only behind Halo 5
I never noticed this before but at 9:48 noble 6 goes out of their way to touch the vertical stabilizer of the falcon, to most people that's nothing, but to an avgeek like myself that's extremely subtle character development. I've seen people in real life do that, heck even I've done that. Noble touches the falcon because they feel an emotional connection to the machine, put simply he loves flying, and as we learn later in the story during long night of solace, 6 is a very accomplished pilot, it's entirely possible that noble 6 in this moment is showing some appreciation to an aircraft model they have flown before. Beautiful little detail.
Halo Reach is an absolute masterpiece and it suplexes me into my feels every single time lol.
The soundtrack is so much better than anyone gives it credit for and does a massive amount of work in terms of tugging at the heartstrings. I've seen a lot of people say that it's not as good as others in the original trilogy, but I couldn't disagree more - ODST and Reach's soundtracks are both amazing.
@@BenPlaysGames couldn’t agree more! The OST for Reach is absolutely spectacular, and it’s genuinely the only Halo soundtrack where I can listen to EVERY single piece over and over. The original trilogy has several super iconic pieces, but a lot of the others are a bit lackluster imo.
@@BenPlaysGames Marty really deserves sooo much credit for the emotional bond this series created with us all
If you think about it Carter and Emile are two sides of the same coin, one is coping with loss and hardship through bloodlust and disregard while the other is limiting himself and relying on orders and regs for decision making while trying everything he can to keep his team safe in the immediate future. In the end Carter had nothing left to live for besides completing the mission, and Emile was probably relieved to finally stop the pain and loss of losing 4 familys.
There's definitely some interesting story beats behind them, I just wish bungie had done a little more explaining in game!
@@BenPlaysGames I honestly like the ambiguity of it, reach allowed pretty much anyone to find meaning in it in their own way, there was always different things everyone was thinking throughout the story and each story beat but everyone agrees as to how amazing it was despite that even though it wasn’t telling you to feel any certain way, you just did
Unlike most of the community, I loved Halo Reach from day one. I enjoy it even more as time passes, it’s like wine. The total definitive Halo package.
Same. I had it on day one and love the game. I understand people's problems with it, but that doesn't overshadow all the great things about it.
I liked it day one but what gets me is how so many people act like most Halo fans actually liked Reach from day one. This is actually the first comment I saw admitting that most didn't like it. I remember playing the beta with my usual gang and being the only one that didn't mind the changes too much.
@@s3eriousbl9ck26 personally, I didn’t even mind the initial weapon bloom. I found it intriguing. I guess people disliked it because most of the design decisions strayed from the competitive scene. I remember vividly people hating the story. Now, I notice many video essays praising the campaign.
I sympathize with Bungie, having the community trash your love project at release only to do a complete 180 a decade later.
Reach was my most replayed Halo.
Man, if there's one thing that Reach did for me, it made me care about a made up planet in a fictional universe. All I wanted while playing the game was to save Reach, and fight for Reach. And I'm pretty sure no game has ever done that before, it's usually about Earth, or the feeling is slightly different. But the music, the aesthetics... Just everything made me care about Reach in such a profound way that I still think about it to this day.
(Also, great video!)
Cheers dude! And agree, everything comes together really nicely to drive home the game's central themes. There's definitely room for improvement in one or two areas, but in terms of there being a creative vision which is adhered to throughout, it definitely hits the nail on the head.
Something I absolutely love about Kay’s death, and I don’t even know if it was intentional, is how the music pauses for a moment before going into the piano. It’s like the music/game is taking a second to gasp with you.
I always thought it was deliberate. Once Kat is killed, it feels like the moment where the impending doom really sets in. That moment of shock, is a moment to process what has happened. Kat was the brains of the squad, she was the one who continually has plans for how to turn the tide. Once she goes, so does any hope for winning.
Good point, it's definitely intentional, as if to mimic the sudden shock the rest of Noble Team would have felt.
I don't think there's a detail in that soundtrack that's not intentional. You don't get music that good by accident.
@@no-barknoonan1335 damn that’s a good way of seeing it
@@reaganharder1480 lol yea
Also something else about the music I love is how the main theme almost inspires awe in the planet of reach itself, which adds to getting emotionally attached to the planet and watching it get demolished.
that nails it perfectly. The main menu and opening cutscenes voices at the start sound so lively and excited.
Soundtrack is criminally underrated, one of the best parts of the game I reckon. Does an amazing job of mirroring what's going in the game.
@@BenPlaysGames indeed. And something I JUST realized is that the major themes for the planet reach (primarily the opening of winter contingency) gives you an awe for the planet of reach just like how the halo theme gives you an awe for the actual halo ring!
@@NotALotOfColonial_SpaghettiToG
And something I JUST realized is that the major themes for the planet reach (primarily the opening of winter contingency) gives you an awe for the planet of reach just like how the halo theme gives you an awe for the actual halo ring!
The stages that the main theme goes through aswell sounds like a storm(winter contingency?) coming and passing through and the aftermath in the final scene of the campaign.
And the Tip of The Spear Track is the perfect companion to the classic halo drumtrack 💯👌
And then theres the mixes on the ost from the original games that are incredible
I always believe that the look Keyes gives after he turns away in the pelican with his look of confusion is him comparing six and chief like "Seems familiar..."
One thing I love about The Package is how it sends you through the same area you went through with Kat in Sword Base, now destroyed, immediately after her death. The entire area has been decimated to the point where I didn't even notice it was the same village in the first area, but it really shows how both Noble Team and the planet are beginning to take heavier losses.
This is a really good point - will definitely be something I touch on when I get round to covering The Package.
Reach was my introduction to halo and it holds a special place on my heart, it really was a great introduction to the series and I'm truly grateful it was my first halo game, it's absolutely wonderful
Solid Halo to start with! Your favourite in the series?
Same! Still my favorite too, as much as I love the other games (5 excepting)
@@BenPlaysGames odd choice but my favorite has gotta be odst, I'm a sucker for the whole atmosphere of the game
i hope you played halo ce after
@@russian_knight Kinda cool, because I have been here since the first Halo. ODST is my favorite out of the series. You started at the end of Bungie Halo, I started at the beginning. We both ended up with ODST as our favorites.
I think there's an additional level of irony of Jorge's death that you didn't mention here. Jorge said that he'd never leave Reach, but the slipspace bomb teleports him and half of the Supercarrier to oblivion.
EDIT: Corrected the spelling of Jorge's name.
jorge*
@@4bidn1 Shit I forgot. Thanks!
All of Noble died ironically. To quote an old Halo forum post,
"Jorge was a heavy weapons and demolitions expert. He died in an explosion. Emile was a close-range expert, highlighting his knife specifically. He was killed by a sword. Carter was the leader of the group. He "went down with his ship". Kat was the smart, computer expert - the brains of the group. She died from a lack of awareness and a shot to the head. Jun was a sniper/scout/stealth member. He disappeared. Noble 6 was a lone wolf as well as an unnamed member (like an Ensign on Star Trek). He died alone, and he was the last member to fight in the Battle of Reach."
Noble Six's is by far my favourite in that there's the extra layer below the surface of his sacrifice ultimately being for the team. He dies a lone wolf, but also gives his life to help the cause.
Small correction at 35:03. Reach takes place 24 July-30 August, 2552, ending only three weeks before the start of Combat Evolved and starting 27 years after Contact Harvest. It isn't, "Early in the conflict." The Covenant species all speaking their native languages was just a creative choice by Bungie.
Pretty sure the canon reason that Reach doesn’t have them speak English is because in the og trilogy had Cortana translate their language so we could understand them but in reach we still didn’t understand them.
@@rezboifrybread the only reason given by Bungie is that they wanted to make the aliens scarier. Even if that's the canon reason (which I think it is in the expanded lore), it's contradicted by the fact that Forge could understand Ripa in Halo Wars, which takes place 20 years earlier and came out before Reach.
@@yorecf9641 ripa could have been speaking english. the first message the covenant sent to humanity was in perfect english
@@EthanThomson fair point, though that still wouldn’t explain why the Covenant in Reach weren’t talking smack as well since that’s one reason they learned human languages in the first place. Bungie wanted to make the Covenant more alien like in CE so they made sure to only use aliens that hadn’t taken their Babble or Rosetta Stone lessons.
@yorecf9641 I chuck it up to Forge and Ripa understanding each other because Ensemble kind of retconned the lore. For this purpose HW took 5 years to release. Bungie was really touchy about their IP. For this reason HW is the black sheep of the franchise overall. Ensemble focused primarily on gameplay and graphics. Story wasn't really a priority, this is evident by how few custscenes we saw.
Reach was a really bold game for Bungie to bow out with and it's campaign only gets better with age. A sobering and sombre look at the events that led to CE and beyond... Also that soundtrack just hits hard. Exodus, Overture, Tip of the Spear, and Epilogue are probably my favourite tracks.
Soundtrack is fantastic - I'd have expected a dip in quality for ODST and Reach as they had to move away from the familiar motifs of the older games, but they still absolutely nailed it.
The part of Halsey's speech at the end that gets me is when she corrects herself. "Our victory- *your* victory- was so close."
There were a lot of minor campaign nitpicks I had with it when it came out.
- Frontloading more military technobabble than the series is accustomed to
- Overreliance on deserts with scattered debris
- Vehicle combat is burdensome at times, with homing fuel rods, worse controls for Scorpion, warthogs at their most flippiest especially with all the debris
- Grenade limit retained despite not having spike or incendiary grenades
- Forced multiplayer map crossover sections
- Elite insta-stick and insta-melee
- Worst brutes (sandbox and design).
- No enemies use the drop shield, few use holograms, too many use armor lock
- We don't see any Spartan II teams in action. Just Jorge.
But in the end, it turned out to be one of the few Halo campaigns where I consistently play every level. No skips. A memorable tone. A sense of impending doom. A wide variety of objectives that can be tackled differently every playthrough. A strong connectivity to the trilogy that came before it. Plus now it has mods that fix most of the gripes I had
The “overreliance on deserts” is because the Covenant glassed reach. Of course there’s nothing but rock, sand, and gravel left.
@@omniscientbarebones I had a feeling I’d see this type of comment. It makes sense of course, hence the whole “nitpick” disclaimer, but it’s still tiresome. Glassing didn’t happen until Long Night, which before we have already seen 2 desert-ish levels. PoA level could’ve been an advanced UNSC facility since it has their warships parked. It would’ve been a chance to show off more unique architecture rather than similar types of buildings we’ve already seen in Tip of the Spear
These are all fair points! Being critical of myself for a moment, I think I do tend to focus less on the minutiae of gameplay than I perhaps should and have a tendency to look more at the big picture stuff. I guess my interest has always been in the higher level gameplay mechanics, level design, story etc and how they all fit together, so sometimes I neglect the smaller things. Also I'd end up writing forever haha. Definitely agree with your final paragraph too, it's a very solid campaign from start to end with no single mission that makes me sigh!
@@justinnyugen7015 Reach just has less vegetation filled highlands? I don’t have an explanation for that.
@@justinnyugen7015
This is kinda long so, tl;dr: Reach is more varied that you claim, but there are reasons for its environmental "sameness".
Winter Contingency: Lush, grassy highlands and farms
Oni: Sword Base: Polar Ice Shelf and interior of military complex
Nightfall: Dry Highland (Night time)
Tip of the Spear: Same location as Nightfall + the Spire
Long Night of Solace: Beach, UNSC facility, UNSC Space, Covenant space, Interior of a Covenant ship.
Exodus: Urban city, lush beach head
New Alexandria: Skyscapers/interiors (glassed below the clouds)
Package: Glassed Ice shelf, lots of water, underground glacier (revisiting Sword Base)
Pillar of Autumn: Deserty with scattered debris (partially glassed).
Lone wolf: Glassed to shit (same location as PoA)
9 missions, 4 have the "deserts with scattered debris" look that you mentioned. But there are narrative reasons.
So I looked around Halopedia, and many missions take place within the Viery Territory (where the fighting was heaviest I guess). Nightfall and TotS take place in the same region (Ütközet, Viery Territory). So of course they're gonna look similar. The Lake/River is damned up in Nightfall, making the area drier.
The Viery Territory also contained Eposz, home of New Alexandria, Babd Catha Ice Shelf (Sword Base/Package), Farkas Lake (Beach assault on LNoS), and Asźod (PoA). So again, it makes sense why many of the locations had that desert look. And Asźod IS a ship-breaking yard, so debris kind of makes sense. Also ships make have fall from orbit after the Covenant destroyed them etc.
Another thing to remember is that Reach took place in July-August, so it's hot, and it's dry (depends on what kind of ecosystem Reach has in general I guess).
WC seems to be the only area that was truly in a different area (and most of LNoS).
So the narrative is the reason why so "deserts with scattered debris" show up so often. It's because NOBLE Team was stationed in a desert with scattered debris for most of the conflict.
But frankly Reach may not even be the worst offender in the franchise of this. ODST is mostly city fighting (again, narrative reasons. But it tries to get away from it like in NMPD HQ or Uplift Reserve). H2 missions are split into 2 parts (Gravemind & High Charity or Outskirts & Metropolis). And H5 almost has mini arcs on each planet (Swords of Sanghelios - Sunaion & Glassed - Evacuation).
Probably the only Halo game not to fall into this pattern is Halo 4 which doesn't have a single repeated location (although the forerunner interiors certainly give this claim a run for its money).
my little sister took her life in October of 22 and we got to finish Reach together two weeks before she left. Noble Team and the Spartan IIIs were always important to me, however, after she left they are forever in my heart. In fact I just got my memorial tattoo finish. It is the emblem of the Spartan IIIs with her id tag in the same manner of the Spartan IIIs. Evaluna-A608.
Damn. RIP
Sorry for your loss, I think that’s a beautiful memorial
reach is genuinely one of those games that when I play it I never skip cut scenes and I always feel sad at the end
Couldn't agree more dude, same with me.
If we want to overlook into the height motif you suspect is there,
Winter Contingency: This level has you flying high in the mountains, a grand opening of sorts.
Sword Base: Still a largely high point for the game, while you do go down to sea level at one part, it's not long before you climb to the top of the tower and destroy banshees like it's nothing.
Nightfall: The mission opens with you looking down over a cliffside, and you stay high up this whole mission for at the end you stare down upon a massive Covenant presence.
Tip of the Spear: Another mission set on cliffs, mountains, and has flying, this is probably the highest you feel in the game so far, only for you to come crashing down as soon as you cross the Covenant barrier, but it's okay, you ascend to the top of the spear and fly away victorious.
Long Night of Solace: This level starts you at your lowest so far, at sea level, only to put you at your absolute maximum for the game, space. You will never again reach this peak, and you come crashing down thanks to the Covenant.
Exodus: You crash by a mountain, not too far down, and your trip through the city always has you staring down lower and lower until you get to the sea again in the final section.
New Alexandria: This mission may not be space, but you've made it to the top of the sky, while a sense of defeat lingers especially as the glassing gets closer and closer, you're doing what you can to save the day for some people.
The Package: The lowest mission, it starts you at sea level, but thanks to the Covenant, the sea has risen, you feel lower despite your past heights. Now when you make it to Sword Base, the place you once felt the highest as you captured the top of the tower and blew aerial vehicles out of the sky, you instead descend deeper into the facility, with Covenant raining in from above on you.
The Pillar of Autumn: You've made it far, the sea is long behind and below you as you stand upon cliffs again, and in the distance is your ticket to space, the place you were at your highest, only for a the end you to remain on the ground as others make it to space.
Lone Wolf: You start at the highest point in the mission, there is nowhere higher to go as you stand on that metal tower, a metal tower with no defences and will lead to a quick death if you stay up their. Your only choice is to go further down to the dirt, where you die lying down, at your very lowest.
I definitely think looking into the elevations of Reach is some topic that could be covered, even if quite a few of these were stretches it still was very interesting to align these peaks and falls with not just the level design but the narrative itself.
This is a great write up mate and I completely agree - not sure how much is intentional and how much the idea would need to be stretched, but would be an interesting one to look into further. I'll add it to my to do list!
Definitely my favorite Halo. The complete package. I love 3's campaign but find it so weak a points. Reach, while I would add one or two things to the story, doesn't have those weaknesses to me.
Reach is probably the most solid campaign in the entire series, especially from a gameplay perspective. There's no real howlers in the mission list and it only gets better the further it goes on.
Halo Reach will forever be my favorite Halo game even though I played all the others first, for me the matchmaking was an absolute master piece and i really enjoyed the heck out of the campaign. Easily the most hours spent on this game over the other Halo ones
What's crazy is in "Winter Contigency" Emile notes that one of the Zealots slips by him and wants to pursue but Carter denies it. That same Elite is who sniped Kat dead from the Phantom in "New Alexandria" and kills Emile in "The Pillar of Autumn". That one elite killed 1/3 of Noble Team which is crazy.
slight correction, but the field marshal does not kill emile, it's a zealot that emile kills as he dies. the field marshal that escaped at the end of winter contingency and killed kat is alive and fought by the player at the end of pillar of autumn
I think I understood something (tell me if I'm wrong), from what I understand the covenant resort to fully glass worlds only when they took all forerunner artifacts. And in the end of the first mission Halsey says the zealot squad noble team met were probably hunting for those artifacts. Which means, because they continued with their mission instead of pursuing the zealots, the covenant managed to take all forerunner artifacts from reach. Which is why they bring their Glassing fleet to glass reach.
Fun fact, the Covenant only partially glassed Reach. They knew that there was something big/important buried there somewhere so they glassed parts of it mainly to just eradicate human resistance and left other parts of the planet intact so they could continue searching. In one of the novels a team of Spartan-IIs narrowly avoid one of these mini-glassings and end up reconnecting with Halsey
The number of times you run out of ammo, don’t discard that weapon, and then aren’t aware it’s out of ammo when you go to pull it back out later incenses me so much lol. Especially when you’re suddenly completely out of ammo in both guns and don’t seem to realize it’s coming until it happens.
That's what peak performance probably maybe looks like dude.
Captain- goes down with the ship
Cat- the brains of the crew but get shot in the head.
Jorge- demolition man, dies from explosive.
Emile- close quater fighter, dies getting stab in the back.
Noble 6- lone wolf, dies alone.
Jun- sneaky sniper, gets away and doesn't die
Halo Reach is the only game to make me cry multiple times in one play through, it’s an amazing story and one of my favorites all time to this day
"The Halo I Was Wrong About"
Wow, that really hits home, hard.
Thank you for all the great videos, Ben! 😊
No worries at all dude, thanks for checking them out!
Reach has been my favourite Halo since it came out, I always thought it was a good bridge between the vulnerability of ODST soldiers and invincibility of Master Chief, playing as a squad of regular Spartans. Been rocking the noble 6 armour in Infinite for a while now.
Speaking of ODST, Infinite seems like the perfect opportunity to tell short stories focused on other characters which could be built into the existing open world. Just short stories here and there as DLC which last 15-30 minutes and give you insight into how different characters have been getting on.
It saddens me to say but, I feel like Halo died with Reach and Bungie. It truly was their swan song, I wish it never changed hands honestly. The past few games really just haven’t done it for me like they used to.
Agreed, neither 4, 5 or Infinite have been able to match any of the Bungie-developed titles. I really think the franchise needs to be looked after better than it has been, or soon enough it will go the way of Gears and be forgotten about by most.
Halo basically died for me when the 360 servers went off.
Just found this video while doing some research for a piece i am writing about Reach, and you have nailed everything i love about this game. I was especially glad you spent time praising the music, because they knocked it out of the park here, but the characters, the gameplay, the dread of it all, I really think Halo Reach is one of the all-time highs for the series
Reach was the first FPS, first M rated game, first Halo game, and first xbox game I ever played and is my favorite Halo game and one of my favorite games of all time.
I remember Reach being my first game. Once I saw the ending and realized it only ends with your Death I remember being so upset and dissatisfied. Since then I realized the brilliance of that ending.
Story: Great
Campaign mission replayability: Okay
Amount of Content: Great
Multiplayer Gameplay: Great
Multiplayer Maps: Meh
Forge: Hell yeah
Customization System: Perfect
You must be a kid. The maps where perfect lmao
@@5bh71 nope
@@5bh71 lmao what? I just think that multiplayer maps that were just chunks of campaign missions are lazy. Not sure what that has to do with age...
i think one of my favourite body language moments is how Jorge moves after the UNSC Grafton is destroyed. he damn near jumps out of his seat before swinging his head around to look out of the falcon, then looking back at either six or carter then back to the destroyed ship.
Halo reach is really a stand out in the franchise. It blows me away that it is leagues better then infinite even though infinite is newer.
Someone was watching me play infinite and I genuinely felt embarrassed saying I was a halo fan and this was the latest entry. I feel like I need to show them Reach so they can understand that I'm not totally bonkers
I feel very strongly that the franchise is in serious danger of losing its status as one of the biggest in gaming. There's been three mediocre mainline games now and Infinite in a lot of ways was a disaster, so the shine is definitely starting to diminish.
Somebody pointed this out in another video I saw, and I thought I’d mention it here. During Kat’s death scene, for a brief moment, you se Emile’s hand jerk slightly after she gets shot. I loved how the developers made those subtle animations throughout this game, because it made the game a lot more realistic and human, in a way.
TH-cam started recommending loads of Reach videos after I released this and one of them was an entire video about the body language in Reach. I don't tend to watch others' analysis as I'm too busy working on my own stuff, but this one was worth the time: th-cam.com/video/Eg1oOiAEDaE/w-d-xo.html
The environmental story telling in Exodus was my favorite, especially since I caught on to some of the things mentioned in the expanded universe. You don't find any elites in that level on the ground because they won't sully themselves with killing unarmed civilians due to their sense of honor. Instead they send in the more...sadistic species that the covenant has to offer: Brutes, Jackals, Skirmishers, and grunts. Brunts are sadistic by nature and are more than happy to murder civilians (Jackals and brutes have also been observed to eat humans). Jackals, skirmishers and grunts will kill with gusto and enthusiasm because they don't bother with things that the elites have like a code of conduct or "honor"
Edit: To touch on what you mentioned about the brutes; The brutes at this stage are essentially disposable shock troopers, they don't have the custom armor in halo 3 because the great schism hasn't occured yet, and they don't have the aesthetic in halo 2 because they haven't been elevated in covenant society yet. The elites have always looked down on the brutes for the reasons stated above and I think bungie did a good job in showing that in game.
I think this is so be of your best videos you’ve uploaded. I really enjoyed the deep dive you took into the game and I definitely didn’t notice several of things you brought up (like the irony in the deaths). Thanks for the great video again though it was great!!
No worries Adam, thanks for always checking out my stuff mate! I'm going to try and do more longer form videos, as I really enjoyed this one. I've a script nearly written for Resident Evil 1 which is the same length or longer, so going to try and get that out soon.
Another banger of a video my dude! Reach was my favorite Halo game. Back in the good old days playing with the boys.
Nice one Andrew! I must multiplayer sessions with my pals, we're all grown up now and everyone's too busy being a proper adult.
I played reach so much as a child, grinding to get my player character to feel like what I'd be if I was in Halo. It has a soft spot in my heart.
I only got into Halo somewhat recently due to MCC on pc. Reach is a rocky experience, some of the moments are really weird, the dialogue I think was just good enough and really it should've been a bit longer overall but at it's best moments imo it punches above the main trilogy. I might be a bit biased as tragical heroism is one of my favourite tropes in media but still... Reach delivers some of the strongest and long lasting feelings of any game out there. It's been a good few months since my playtrough yet watching this retrospective made me shed a tear again at 6's fate.
Fantastic video, Ben.
I have played Reach, akin to all Bungie's Halo titles...to death and there were some things that you pointed out I had never picked up on.
I loved Reach when it first came out, same for ODST and was glad Bungie took a different approach for their final two games. Not only proving they were more than a one trick pony, but that if done well, Halo will sell even without the Chief. Something I wish 343 would have taken note of and left Chief to sleep. They have so much lore and such a timeframe to pick from, instead they just woke Chief up.
Loved the section on Jorge. One of my favourite bits which shows his character is when the Elites attack inside the relay, he uses his body to protect the scientist's daughter. Akin to what you said, caring about the people of Reach and willing to sacrifice himself to save them.
And on point with the music too, it has such memorable tracks.
I could be here all day typing, but once again....Great job!
Thanks as always dude! Continuing on the thread of stories without Master Chief, I always hoped 343 would use the open world of Infinite to tell shorter stories about people other than Master Chief, in the vein of ODST (or Reach if they wanted to go bigger). Just 15-30 minute or so episodes that either take place within an interesting scenario set up in the open world, or are more instanced in their own separate area ala ODST. Would be a way of keeping a steady flow of content for the game coming and building on the open world which often doesn't feel like it's very alive other than when you are directly involved in events. I want the feeling that there's other stuff going on around Zeta Halo away form Master Chief.
@@BenPlaysGames That would be awesome and like you say, not only help Zeta Halo feel lived in and like a real place...but be nice short snippets of content to keep us entertained.
Defend a firebase, assassinate a target, rescue some UNSC forces. Simple and short episodes playing as other people involved in the conflict!
Well done, Ben! I love listening to your passionate analyses of these games and I think you definitely did Reach justice here.
One of my favorite aspects of the Halo franchise (and what I think helps to set it apart from others in the genre) is how well it manages to take flashy action and beautifully weave in such powerful emotion, and Reach in particular is a real masterclass in this regard.
Nice one Mulgrath, glad you enjoyed it dude! Agreed as well, Reach is a very different experience from the original trilogy but in a way that makes it particularly special. There are so few big budget games so willing to be so sombre.
The biggest thing for Reach for me (aside from the tone obviously) was that it was MY spartan in the campaign. I’d grind out multiplayer games just to get the perfect outfit and play through the campaign again and again
We didn't know it at the time, but back in the 2010s, we were in the renaissance of gaming. Shareholder interests and cooperate types had not fully subsumed the industry yet. Once profit became the sole motive, video games have since barely scratched the edge of possibilities these older games pioneered.
Morgan Webb from Xplay actually called around that time.
I definitely feel like there's been a slowing of innovation in recent years in bigger budget titles. Could so with some new mechanics which reshape a few genres honestly.
Really loved this video. Halo Reach is and has been my favourite halo game since it came out in 2010. Watching this video and reminiscing on all of my favourite moments from the campaign, how much you sympathise with Noble team and Six at the end of the game, the planet itself and the hopefulness given during the rousing speech by Halsey. All in all a fantastic game paired with an amazing soundtrack as you mentioned. Really enjoyed this video, I could tell you worked hard on it!
Cheers James, appreciate you checking it out - and yeh, it took a little while longer than I expected but really enjoyed the process at the same time!
Halo reach was part of the peak era of gaming, back when games had feeling and still felt felt like it was made for its players specifically to have fun. Really miss games like this
You know it’s good when you tear up multiple times just watching a video about the game.
For me, I like to think that Bungie wanted to step away from the same formulaic design of Halo, especially with their flagship character Master Chief. Reach and ODST were complete tonal shifts from previous games in the series and are my favorites because of that. It showed that Bungie could make a Halo game without Master Chief. And don’t get me wrong, I love the other Halos too, but ODST and especially Reach will always have a place in my heart, and they are their own masterpieces in their own right.
Definitely masterpieces. Would love a return to a similar tone in the future but I think for now just getting a decent Master Chief based Halo would be enough to begin with.
@@BenPlaysGames exactly my thought too. I want 343 to do good, but with Microsoft adding pressure I think it undermines what they could do. I like Infinite, but I don’t love it like when Bungie was at the helm.
It's interesting for Jorge, a spartan 2 and thusly a part of the group who seemingly became the most emotionless, to be the most openly empathetic for others.
I only got into Halo at the very start of 2020, with Reach on the PC Master Chief Collection being the first game I fully finished. Prior to that, I'd played the first mission and some of the second of Combat Evolved at a convention. Going into Reach, I was actually under the impression that Noble Six and Master Chief were the same person. So, you can imagine my surprise when the tonal shift came at the end of Long Night of Solace. By the time I finished New Alexandria is when I realized, "Oh...this isn't going to end well, is it?" And then of course, once I got to the end of The Package, I understood the connection between the two games.
I also remember having my mind blown during Long Night of Solace and New Alexandria during their space dogfight and helicopter segments, because I hadn't experienced anything like it in an FPS game before (admittedly, I hadn't played many shooters up to that point). I don't know how I'd rank the campaigns I've played, but I think Reach would do fairly well. I've not played Reach in a while, but I'm certainly not against going at it again.
I just want to say that feeling of pure nostalgia while loading up the campaign you see your helmet in the dirt and you know how it ends, and the music kicks in. Amazing game I remember playing this game constantly with my family, even my family of non gamers reach is special. It gives me a special feeling of being human. In these wars without the green guy they’re won with sacrifice. And I’ve never felt that in a game so well done bungie.
Halo reach was my true stepping stone into halo. I had played 3 and odst with my step brother and cousins for years but it was when reach dropped that I got my very own console.
It hooked me in the same inescapable manner as the others that came before. The campaign this time around was gritty, dark, the covenant scary, the mystery of the forerunners still in the background, the mystery of ONI, Spartan 3’s, and halsey brought to a mainline game for once, and so much more.
But for all it did right, halo reach was what set the series on a downward spiral it would never recover from. Halo reach’s story inconsistencies were like a middle finger to the og fans. The art style change was a huge disservice to the game, especially when bungie said they were going back to the series roots. The customization was great. The best actually, yet gone were the days of earning armor through achievements and instead a simple credit system was used. And the gameplay was the worst offender of all. Guns had insane bloom, dual wielding was gone, projectile bullets were gone, and the armor abilities (while fun in the campaign) ruined the multiplayer with things that should have never been introduced into a halo game.
It was so distinct in fact, it was the first game that really fractured the series in terms of community. I remember the reach community being distinctly different from the halo 3 community that came before it. Halo reach fans were fiercely loyal to the game and considerably more toxic. Halo fans were divided between clan members, forgers, machinima creators, sweats, and casuals whereas before it felt more unified.
I still believe halo reach to be the catalyst for halos downfall. It set 343 on the wrong track and did irreparable damage to the series, despite how fondly I remember it and enjoy playing it to this day.
Also: BIG props for showing off noble six in his base armor, the way it should be 😂👍
I feel like the OG trilogy and Reach have, and will continue, to both stand the test of time but for different reasons. The easiest way to describe it is:
Halo 1, 2 and 3 are the movie equivalent of Star Wars episode 4, 5 and 6. Groundbreaking (For shooters and sci-fi respectively), a traditional "Hero's Journey".
Reach is the movie equivalent of Saving Private Ryan. Gritty and in the trenches of the conflict instead of being the shining beacon everyone else looks to.
Halo 123 is OT reach is literally rogue one.
Watched Saving Private Ryan again recently as it happens - now you mention it, it does feel kind of similar in terms of the overall structure...
Every time I play Reach, it’s an emotional experience. Not only is the story moving and the characters well written, but it the game was released at a time in my life that I look back on fondly.
Just watching clips makes me tear up. What a perfect a succinct story that makes the rest of the Halo franchise feel more personal.
the CSO blowing up with the slipspace engine, even if immediately after it everything goes to shit, is still soo cathartic.
Their archetypes are what is ironic, Jorge the person borns on reach, dies trying to save it, Carter goes down with the ship, Kat get's her brains blown out, Emile get's stabbed in the back, and June is the silent sniper and disappears not to be seen again. Nobel Six dies alone.
This is the first video you've made I've seen. TH-cam reccomend you and I just gotta say 10/10 video you earned a subscriber :)
Cheers for the support Mona, happy to have you along for the ride!
Reach is easily one of my favorite games of all time. The story, the characters, the music, the multiplayer, I don't think there's a single thing I dislike about it. Hell, it was technically the Halo game that I derived this very username from for the first time over 10 years ago. Just so damn nostalgic.
Reach was my favorite in the bungie series. I loved having your character in the cut scenes, which led me to feel more immersed
I played reach for the first time about a year ago and i found it quite middle of the road. It was fun but I didn't really understand the deeper story and some stuff going on (the only halo i played before reach was 3). I beat the campaign, played a little bit of multiplayer and moved back to halo 3 and eventually 2 and 4 as well because I thought and still think the map choice is quite dull, i was playing on xbox360 so couldn't get that much players. After understanding what was going on and how well the storytelling of the game really was I played it again a few days ago and just beat it today. I was crying when six had to be left behind and the lone wolf cutscene played the game is so phenomenal. So is six's death. Definitely not my top pick that will always go to 3 but definitely third behind 2. I think the main problem is its hard to understand everything on a first playthrough which really negates emotions you would feel for noble team. That means people like me would not look into it further and give it another try. Your videos are the main thanks to me giving this game another shot. Thank you so much!!! I will definitely play this game more regularly.
I remember when reach came out and loved every bit of it, I have so many memories of playing forge with friends, finding glitches, joining recent players games, good times.
Love this deep dive into all the aspects of creating a compelling and story using the artistry of every sort to pull the story in the direction the creator wants
Cheers mate!
I'd say halo reach was one of the most important to the series. We all knew how it ended . But we never knew how it all begun until reach and how in game, chief became the "last" spartan, the first in game appearance of the expanded universes most important character; Halsey. Oh and the first game we see Spartan IIIs another popular expanded universe thing.
37:56 That scene is hands down my favorite in any video game I've ever played.
Agreed, the cinematography, the context and the music all come together beautifully.
ODST and Reach were perfect swan songs for Bungie to leave Halo. Awesome stories I mean firefight in ODST was underrated as hell. Great games the both of them.
Thank you for such a great video.
I also share the sentiment of liking Halo Reach from its release. To this day it is Halo CE and Reach that i crave playing. I spent unfathomable hours playing CE and made so many memories. I loved the other games in the series, but didnt connect with another until Reach came out. Playing Reach, i feel like i did playing the original when it came out. CE was so original, and i feel like Reach has that same feeling of originality, like a bekoning CE, but is so closely connected to CE that i get that feeling of playing CE all over again.
No worries Levi! Reach, CE and 3 are my favourites, could play all three of the a million times and never get bored.
Long night of Solstice has always been my favorite halo mission. the flight just felt so good to me and Jorge's death really hit me. It was also the first Halo mission I ever played. the whole mission is the reason Reach is my favorite Halo game to this day.
Always remember Reach, people.
+1
Halo Reach for me has always had the best story of any Halo game, and it’s multiplayer was great and forge was perfect. It is probably my favorite game out of the franchise, and for good reason.
A friend once pointed out that Kat's death follows the scene where the team talk to command on the radio, and when asked if the Covenant could track it she says she could. She died because the Covenant elite hacked their comms and knew where to set up the ambush, and just like the poetism with the rest of the deaths, she was the hacker on the squad.
this is a great video and i love how you also mention odst aswell ive always played odst and reach the most out of all of the games but only really got into the story within the past few years and reach has the most sad and best stories in my opinion.
Cheers mate! ODST and Reach are a really great pairing I think, as they both have a similar vibe to them. Except, ODST feels more experimental, whereas Reach is the big budget version.
Halo Reach will always have a special place in my heart, and is the best Halo game in my opinion
Took a while to grow on me as wasn't so receptive to what it was trying to do when it released, but it's grown to become one of my favourite in the series over the years.
I played through the campaign solo on legendary. (for me that is a huge thing) and I should note that was after I finished it solo on heroic, I love the game both for its multiplayer and single player modes. (the campaign is fun and I spent at least 2000 hours on multiplayer 2010-2014) I still use the same Halo reach special edition controller when I play with a controller. (I may now play Halo with the mouse and Keyboard, but I play Elden ring with it)
edit, while this may be me reaching a bit, carter mentioning six's lone wolf past and talking about it staying behind could be him hinting at the end, since six chooses to stay behind in the end.
Exodus is my favorite mission in all of Halo. Something about wandering through New Alexandria fighting the Covenant while seeing dead bodies all over the place really puts into perspective how horrifying this war is (and indeed all wars are).
It's the battle in a human city mission I wanted from Halo ever since the Halo 2 E3 trailer!
I generally view the Halo games through a very, "collaterally unintended" manner in that I'm an American Navy vet. I view all of the games through a military viewpoint. The games are kind of therapeutic. I do have to say though; even with Britain's well deserved reputation as master storytellers, it gave me a chuckle every time I was on a British naval vessel (not often, just the Dauntless and the Queen Elizabeth), that all of the movie and videogame posters in any of the lounges- were all American. American storytelling is getting fairly popular. I thought your video was very comprehensive and insightful. Reach and all of the videogame ads...even the Halo 2 Geico commercial are stories that are that much more enjoyable because they're relatable. Thank you for the video.
Thanks for sharing this Tiberius mate and for the kind words! I remember watching the Geico ad on TH-cam, a very surprising crossover to say the least haha.
Lovely video, thank you...I adore "Reach". It is so beautiful. The only section I am not keen on is "Lone wolf", it's so depressing.
Bo worries Janet! Lone Wolf is pretty brutal but there's just something about it, especially the scene at the beginning and end. Reach's soundtrack is massively underrated I reckon, plays a huge part in how good many of it scene, more so than any other game in the series.
Noble 6 was really poppping off at the end. Those were all zealot or general class elites & he was man handing them like they were cadets. An absolute legend, like all of noble team.
Far and away my favorite Halo Title. Fantastic video!
Cheers Justin mate!
For me it took me a while to get the Xbox 360. I was still playing Halo 1 and 2 on my old OG Xbox.
But once I got the 360 I bought Halo 3, ODST and Reach together... After playing them all I kept playing Reach all the time. I didn't know the timeline or anything like that I just kept and still playing it once in a while. After watching your video now I realize the reason why It's my favorite Halo game. This game has the whole package for me.
Honestly doing a standard playthrough and running through a legendary playthrough with a friend of mine it makes me appreciate the hell out of reach as this was my first halo game.
Great analysis on Halo Reach. Bungie's efforts in creating more human-like body language in the cut scenes helped with feeling more connected to each member of Noble Team. You hit the nail on the head about the character development for Jun, about not knowing any more or less about who Jun is. However, I do feel like this actually fits in to his archetype (the mysterious team member who doesn't have much of a presence throughout the campaign and then suddenly disappears).
I’ll be honest I wrote Reach off when it was first announced never even playing it until earlier this year. Not because I thought it would be bad. I wrote it off for two reasons. One as soon as I saw the subtitle I knew that most if not all of the characters in this game were going to die. And number two it felt lazy. One last cash grab before Bungie moved on.
Little did know how wrong I was. Not in the fact that everyone died. But in the fact that it wasn't a cash grab. Bungie ledgitamitly put effort into this game. Despite knowing the outcome and making an effort not to get attached to any of the characters by the time it was over I did care.
And on side note after the first two missions, I made predictions on how I thought everyone would die. Though only one I got right was Jorge. After he threw Noble 6 out of the ship and the bomb detonated in my head I was saying “Covenant armada in 3, 2, 1.” And sure enough “Slip space rupture detected”.
Now being in a post 343 world I can't how much I would have enjoyed it had I played it when it was launched. And if I had to guess I probably would have placed it above ODST but below the main trilogy. But here and now Reach is my second favorite Halo game. With combat evolved just barely beating it.
I remember I thought the same thing about ODST before it came out and was salty when it announced. I was looking forward to Halo 4 which ended up being Reach. Which I also wasn't sure about, but I bought both games on release. I did not regret it. I still had gripes with Reach though. ODST was a perfect little standalone game.
@@tacticalmattress I'll be honest I have never been the biggest fan of ODST. I got it day one, played the campaign, loaned it to a friend the next and never ask for it back. It feels like a DLC and it should have stayed a DLC. But I will say it has the best music in the entire franchise. O'Donnell knocked it out of the park. I played it again before playing Reach. And while I'm still not really a fan of it. I don't outright hate it like I did when it first came out. My main gripe with it is that the rookie is an empty shell. I understand why they did that. And the Chief was basically an empty shell in the first game. But at least he had something of a personality.
@@bassplayer2011ify the entire point of Bungie's chief was to be the strong silent type. Also chief was just a badass. 343 made him soft. I prefer the previous chief. He didn't need emotions, the player can also imagine themselves as the character easier that way.
Every other character besides chief shows emotion. Especially the grunts. Johnson is a hardass but he's comical.
Etc.
@@bassplayer2011ify and ODST characters add a lot of what Halo needed. Which we got in Reach. In between stories and prologues. ODST Campaign was so good I immediately replayed it on legendary. It's worthy of being a standalone campaign game + firefight.
Great video. The details are where Reach really stands out to me. The presentation/environmental story telling as you highlighted were on a different level.
Nice one tobs! And agree, that part of the game is incredible - Bungie's always been able to nail the environmental so brilliantly.
Reach is the Bioshock 2 of the series. It iterated on previous games, had a great gameplay loop, was emotional as hell, and both games might be the best in their respective series.
Incredible video on the greatest Halo ever. Thank you for putting this together - it helped further my understanding of why I love this game so much.
No worries JW, glad it proved useful to you mate!
I love your channel! You always have amazing, high quality content. Looking forward to watching your channel grow
Cheers Goofenhour, appreciate you checking out my stuff mate!
I thoroughly admit this game is much better than I gave it credit for initially. However I think there's a couple mentionable reasons as to why this game looks better in retrospect. One is because of the clear degradation of Bungie as game developers in the years succeeding Reach (if they were still developing Halo, I don't think it'd be any better than what we got with 343 tbh). Second, the gaming landscape was drastically changing for the worse around that same time period, and Reach was arguably one of the final games that hadn't been totally corrupted by that shift (although you could definitely tell how the game was a step in that direction). Retrospectively, it's easier to appreciate what we were given as a final, worthwhile gift before everything went south.
I tried to love Destiny, I really did, but it's just not my bag at all. Would have loved Bungie to do more one or two more Halos on the next set of Xbox hardware as I still feel like they had new ideas they could have brought to the table.
I've never played Reach but I have the Fall of Reach novel sitting on my bookshelf :) thx for the video!
I've definitely come around on reach as well. A reach-around, if you will
Brilliant 😂😂😂
this game was such a formative experience for me, I first played it when I was ten I had never played a halo game before... to say this game shaped my love for gaming would be a understatement. I remember this game showing me feelings of melancholy and existentialism in a way I hadn't before. such an important game I miss it dearly.
About Carter: listen to his interaction with 6 at the start of New Alexandria and with Holland at the start of The Package, considering both have a recently deceased team member
I find every time I finish it I want to start again. It’s that good
I've never had a desire to play Reach until i watched your video and now i want to play it immediately. I think i'll download it ASAP
Another great video man keep it up! Love seeing the notification that you’ve posted something!
Cheers Walt, that's super kind - got plenty more in the pipeline, Halo-related and other stuff. Got a retrospective of the original Resident Evil, similar to this, coming soon too.
Man I remember being in high school when this game came out, and me and my friends going to the midnight release of the game and then coming home and playing the campaign. Good times
I thought you were gonna talk about the multiplayer, but I'm really glad you talked about the best campaign in the Halo Bungie era. I would've enjoyed a talk about multiplayer but it was still very cool to listen to that talk