Halo Reach: How to Do Death Well | An Essay
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2023
- Halo: Reach tells the story of Reach, a human planet that falls to a surprise alien invasion by the zealous Covenant. Halo: Reach is an ambitious game, as it focuses on the heroes' end rather than beginning. Despite the game's short runtime, it manages to evoke emotions from the player for each Spartan.
In this retrospective, I explore the narrative techniques that Halo: Reach uses to tell its story so effective. I will also look at how Halo handles death and the Hero's End. So, sit back and enjoy the critique.
My name is Calvin B. Fisher, and I do retrospectives and longform game critiques. I'm also the author of the Northfield Saga, a post-apocalyptic science fiction series set in a gas-infested wasteland. Mark Northfield faces death or the sacrifice of his soul, when he is blackmailed into an assassination mission. What he doesn't know is that his target holds the key to saving the world.
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This game can best be described as "You are [not] The Master Chief." You're the hero before the hero, the one who had to fall for the story of the original Halo: Combat Evolved to happen, and it is damn compelling.
That is a perfect way to describe it! It would have made a great video title too haha. Thanks for sharing!
It's time to hold on to your balls
I love the parallels between the story of Halo Reach and the story of Bungie with its fanbase. Reach's story uses your custom armor for Noble Six, saying that it isn't just a character, it is YOU. The overall theme of the game is that none of the other halo games could've happened without you. In the same vein, this is Bungie saying that this franchise was only what it was because the fans had faith in them, just as Noble Team had faith in their mission. The final note during the credits at the end of the original game's release (343 took it out of the MCC version) really hits home, and it was truly the best sendoff anyone could ask for.
@@ThatArgonaut reading this made me realize that noble 6= Venom Snake ive never realized how close they are and how the game companies talk about them/us
Or more like "You're not the Hero, you're the person who paves the way FOR the Hero." Which kinda reminds me of that halo 3 trailer, where ODSTs and Marines were trying get coordinates for where master chief would land. They're the Fodder to ensure that the Hero returns.
You know a story is told damn well when 13 years later, you can still tear up for a character's death
Yeah for sure… a great test of time when a story still has that impact.
What characters in this game were you invested enough in on a personal level where you cried at their deaths?
I get tearing up at meaningful deaths, truly I do. But Reach's characters are as thin as paper and with the most bland voice acting I've ever witnessed that I'm amazed anyone cares about them.
The best character descriptions I've been able to get out of people (without them projecting details that aren't in the game) are Noble's archetypes: Carter is the stern and stoic leader, Kat is the wisecracking techie, Emile is the badass wisecracker who is supposed to be a sociopath, Jun is the sarcastic sniper, and Jorge is the gentle giant.
Unfortunately, Jorge is the only member of Noble who gets some meaningful screentime to actually develop him. Carter and Emile might as well just not be in the game with how little they're utilized other than Carter just shows up to calls shots in cutscenes and give orders over the radio.
Kat has a few missions you're with her... But they're wasted because we get absolutely nothing from on a personal level. We get a little bit out of Jun with his level, but nothing deep at all, just a snarky line or two.
All of this to say, their job in the team and their quirk aren't personalities, and I cannot fathom why you'd like them that much beyond:
A) They look cool and that's why you're attached to them
Or
B) You value concepts and ideas rather than actual execution (the idea of a noble and sad death scene rather than what's actually been led up to)
I don't get it.
And that's not to mention that only Jorge's and Six's deaths are meaningful in a thematic sense.
Carter died for nothing because it was only a scarab. Literally could have walked around it. Kat's death feels like a sidenote and doesn't make sense either. Spartans have over shields, and before you try and drop the "well out of combat their shields-" stop. They had JUST gotten glassed. There's no way their shields weren't up. I'll admit that Emile's death isn't pointless, but he's barely a character he might as well just be a marine with fancy armor and an edgy as fuck style.
@@PANCAKEMINEZZ it was mainly the three playthroughs and really only Jorge had me tear up. Just the little nuances picked up from the extra scenes and how he treated people, both in and out of the team. Only then for how the lines before his bombing to have a fantastic delivery imo
sure his character wasnt really developed, but I feel it had more to do with the execution of the death, the aftermath of his death, and the time I spent replaying and thus getting more attatched simply by having more time to understand what character he does have.
Also i do agree with your statement with Kat, but just to play the devils advocate, she got hit by a plasma sniper straight in the head. Even in gameplay headshot snipers are an instant kill.
@@PANCAKEMINEZZ kats shields were disabled because the glassing
@@PANCAKEMINEZZTo start with your first point the scarab...first of all Carter was shot through with needles rounds which after a certain quantity explode,Secondly the could have walked around the Scarab even taken a few hours more to get to The Pillar Of Authum only time wasn't on there side whatnot with the "whole" planet being glassed you maybe right that we didn't know them on a personal level but I claim we didn't need to to see Noble Team fight and die so close to the end of the war yet they will never live to see their sacrifice bear fruit....I think that's where most of the emotion comes from not just the characters or the setting but the whole picture as we see it is a tragedy so many lost just for so few to live and at the end of the countless years of war and sacrifice then what? That'd the point my friend this has been my thesis for why I'm a massive nerd good day.
I love how every member of the team dies in a way that fits their character role, almost always with a cruel irony.
Jorge, the big man with a mini gun, tries to do the classic self sacrifice, only for it to be immediately rendered pointless not dying on Reach, his home-world.
Kat, the tech guru, dies because her shields were disabled by the glassing.
Carter, the leader, goes down with the ship.
Emile, the man with a love for knives, dies from being stabbed.
Six, the lone wolf, dies alone.
Yeah, there is such a great attention to detail for each character in their end!
And Jun, the sniper, survives thanks to the distance between himself and the battlefield. But Jorge I think was moreso that he had the strongest connection to Reach out of the whole Team, and he's the only one of them who doesn't die on the planet. I also heard that Kat's shields weren't on because she forgot to turn them on in the heat of the moment, idk if that's true but if it is it'd be even more ironic given she's the smartest of the team
@@Sshadow1124I'd say getting shot directly in the brain is also an irony for Kat's character.
Jorge, the one with the biggest gun, goes out with a bang
@@Scott_Salmon I was going to say this, I agree. You beat me to it.
"You're on your own, Noble. Carter out."
Over a decade later, and it still brings a tear to my eye. Throughout the game, Carter constantly mentions the team. First to Noble 6 as they first arrive, and then subsequently referring to the team as one. "Listen up, Noble team."; "Spread out, Noble team."; "Noble team, double time it."; "Move up the beach, Noble.". The team is everything. No matter how bad it was in the final level, you were still part of a team. Carter being up in the skies gave some solace. But with his death, comes the admission that the team is gone, and foreshadows that you're soon to be back as a lone wolf. Emile dies because he had no back-up, after he separated himself away from Six. He literally dies because there wasn't a team anymore, and Six then has to make the sacrifice Jorge made because there's no one else left to make it. The lone wolf stuff that they were told to leave behind as they didn't need it anymore, is the only reason the Pillar of Autumn makes it off Reach, because the other members of the team wouldn't have made it to the MAC gun in time, individually.
Each member dies instead of Six, with Six being one decision away from each one death: Jorge stayed behind; Kat was running on the left; Cortana didn't choose Carter; and Emile mounted the gun first. Only Jun survives, because Six was chosen. They all got Six where they needed to be, so Six could unknowingly ensure that Cortana and Master Chief got away, and save Humanity. Pretty lucky. Cortana does know how to pick them.
This is beautifully put! Thanks for sharing. I also love Carter’s kind heart and straightforward approach to the mission and life. That is one of my favorite lines as well.
I like the use of "out".
In proper military radio procedure, "out" means that you are have sent the last message of the conversation and will not accept another response or acknowledgement, a "hanging up" so to speak. Contrasted with "over", where you sent a message and expects a response or some kind or acknowledgement sooner or later.
Carter notes that this is his last message and order as a team commander and the conversation now ends.
beautiful
Bungie loved their tragic irony.
George was born on reach and was the only one to die off-planet. Kat was the brains and was shot through the head. Carter was the leader and literally went down with his ship. Six spends the whole game with the context of being part of a team, only to find himself left to fend, lone wolf, by himself.
Regret died from an underprepared attack on earth, mercy was left on the floor to die, and truth died for his lies.
Poetically, 343 continued this tradition with a callback, by hanging Halo by its entrails and parading it around for the next decade.
Wrote this before reading comments. Glad to see other people noticed it too, and that these really cool creative decisions didn't go unappreciated.
Great observations! Yeah, it’s cool how much people have shared their insights on this video, and how thoughtful they have been!
What about Emile
@@scott4325Emile had a thing for sharp objects and close quarters combat. He died from a stab wound.
Chosing to revisit old Halo content after seing the show [spoiler ahead] , it's nice to see at least some improvement and adding some tragic irony in current Halo : Vannak mentions that the needler is his favorite gun only to die by a needler bolt.
I feel like Emile's death was symbolic of the fight as a whole. An enemy shows up and is quickly defeated, leading the humans to think they stand a chance. Before they can realize better, they are destroyed in one big unexpected attack. Finally, with nothing more than a little dagger they take that force down with them and pave the way for those who come after.
Also love how we get to see the Arbiter witness noble 6's fall. Even though noble 6's story ended before John's really began, it feels like a piece of him continues on through Arbiter.
I think this is an awesome interpretation of Emile’s death! Definitely agree with you there.
That's not the Arbiter (Thel' Vadamee). He was already giving chase to the PoA with his fleet by that point. The Elite we see during Six's death is just some random Elite.
@@Mcree114 Odd. Every other elite we get to see is right handed, yet the one who sees 6 die is left. Maybe he was duel wielding...
@@Mcree114 Not any random elite, it was the same group of Zealots that we see through the whole game, in fact they are the equivalent of noble team for the covenant, and since noble Kills their leader (the comander of the supercarrier Long Night of Solace) they go hunting Noble team, picking them off one by one.
In fact the final Field Marshal or Zealot we Kill before getting in to the MAC canon is the one that sniped Kat in the bunker.
@@kipchpineda7161Wrong, Kat was sniped by a Jackal.
A cool thing I've seen with reach is how the spartans can sometimes hear and see things before they happen. For example when noble gets ambushed by the 3 elites in the first mission Jorge looks up before the first elite is visible to us
Wow, I didn’t know that! What a cool detail. Thanks for sharing!
Jorge looks up for a moment not because he has foresight but because he realises what the girl has just said to him; "Meg.. itt vannak", roughly translates to "There's more," or "They are still here."
Radar theve all got motion detectors
The Spartans aren't omnipotent but they do have heightened senses of hearing and sight which is only amplified by their armor. Also what vuvek4228 said.
1. He understood the girl saying "they're still here"
2. I'm more than willing to bet that the zealots popped up on his motion tracker just as they dropped on them
Reach is something I wish I could experience again for the first time. Even now. Knowing the characters and their ends they still have a weight to them in a video essay that is a fraction of the power of it in game
I feel the same way. There are so many games I wish I could go back to and experience the first time
I luckily get to watch someone else experience the entire halo franchise for the very first time, he has nearly no background knowledge.
@@teejaybee0852 That is awesome! I hope he has a blast playing, and you have a great time watching him.
I would like this comment but it’s at 117
Playing it for the first time rn, I’m abt to click off this vid cuz ion want spoilers but I’ve already gotten the just
Anyone ever notice how Carter will casually move through rooms while Emile and Jorge work the corners and clear the room around him? Showing his reliance and trust in his team
I didn’t notice that, great observation! I think it’s another good example of how reach uses body language to communicate character
It's really interesting that Jorge was the most empathetic and caring of the team when he was a Spartan 2, who are usually conidered the more machine like of the Spartans.
This is a good point! I enjoy how Jorge contrasts with the rest of the team in subtle ways, being a spartan 2 instead of 3. Thanks for watching
A 6 hour story and just as compelling as the main halo trilogy. That’s good writing.
I definitely agree! It is really impressive.
I love the symbolism in each of Noble Team’s deaths.
Jorge - A hulking Spartan proficient with heavy weapons dies in a literal bang thanks to the massive drive core exploding.
Kat - Crazy intelligent and knows how to access anything tech related; presumably has her shields fried from the explosion/glassing near them (to my knowledge, it's never explained why her shields don’t save her from the Elite sniper) and is shot in the head.
Carter - The cool, calm and collected by the book leader “goes down with the ship” to ensure that the mission is successful for Emile and 6.
Emile - The lethal CQB specialist who has a fondness for knives and wants to see the enemy burn dies by an energy sword and goes out fighting.
Noble Six - The newcomer and former lone wolf sees the new team he joined up with dying one by one until he's the only one left and has to fight alone until he eventually dies alone.
And while not a death Jun being the only survivor is appropriate as he is a scout and fights from a distance. He manages to escape death by avoiding it.
These are great observations! It shows even more how deliberate Reach’s storytelling can be. Thanks for watching!
Pretty sure none of the team members had their shields up because of the glassing EMP near by. The Elite that shot her in the head is the Field Marshal that ran away in the Winter Contingency, then the fight right before the MAC cannon section in the final mission - he is one of the main guys behind the Reach invasion.
I don't like it when characters I care about in fiction die. Shocking, I know.
But the fact that I sometimes think about how Noble Team deserved better, even though it's been years, is proof that they were written well.
That is a good way of putting it! I feel the same way.
Honestly, Emile's response to Jorge's assessment of the hungarian girl was such a funny and great moment
Carter is so quick to shut them both down that you can practically tell this kind of clash has happened plenty of times before
(And you can tell it was about to escalate just by Jorge quickly turning to face Emile)
For sure! It just goes to show how well Reach handles the subtle character details which really makes them pop from the screen
Another cool detail I haven't seen mentioned is that Kat misses the elevator button the first time. Spartans don't miss. They could hit a moving target in a tornado but Kat misses the elevator button because she is shaken up by the glassing because it's not obly her first time seeing it and being in close proximity but probably also due to the fa t that since she's cold and calculating, she sees that the odds are stacked very far from their favor and is panicing for a short time
This is a cool observation, I didn’t notice! I like how it adds more humanity to her in the final moments.
Also could be blinded by the blast, considering she was looking right at it.
"Reach has been good to me" is such a great line.
I think that was the moment I decided the characters felt real.
The delivery of the line is perfect. I think this quote is the one that sticks with me most of all.
I find Emile's line "he's not the only one" referring to the psychiatric workup is him simultaneously taking a jab at Jorge while also reminding everyone that he's entirely aware that *everyone* in that room needs the same thing. Every single Spartan who ever lived through their deployment lived with antisocial tendencies, PTSD and unwillingness/difficulty to reintegrate into society. Noble Team are all stoic and focused on the job, Jorge is the only one trying to remember *who* he actually is, while Emile is a brash but honest reminder that what they are now is just *things*
This is a great analysis and breakdown of the line. Thanks for sharing!
For more context:
- Spartan-IIIs are essentially just random children and young people who were orphaned by the Covenant's war of extermination on humanity.
- The biological augmentations of the Spartan-IIIs aren't as advanced as the ones of S-IIs, and their training was much shorter. The reason for the augmentations being lesser is because their bodies wouldn't have survived the ones the S-IIs received.
- Spartan-III armors were also inferior to the Spartan-II armor, due to them being sent in missions with high death counts in large numbers. By the time of the fall of Reach, there were already very few Spartan-IIIs left.
- Jorge's armor combined his Spartan-II armor with Spartan-III armor add-ons.
- The Spartan-III project was made fully behind the back of Halsey by a rival officer under ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence, essentially the CIA of the unified humanity). Though, by the time of this game, she has long learned of it.
- The Spartan-IIs weren't just random people. They were very carefully selected by Halsey herself among all of humanity's children as people who in a different era and different circumstances would've become people of equal note to Hannibal Barca, Alexander the Great, etc.
- The Spartan-IIs were kidnapped as children and replaced by flash clones set to die of illness. They were then trained for a few years, prepared for the augmentations (which are only possible because of the preparations and because of their bodies still being that of children and thus still in the early growth process).
- Over the time, Halsey developed a sort of reverse Stockholm Syndrome towards the Spartan-IIs, feeling a sort of motherhood and care for them, and would become one of the only person to call them by their actual names instead of their spartan numbers. She was even able to recognize all of them even in full armor(all identical back then) just from their body movement, posture, stances, slight movement quirks, etc. Many Spartan-IIs (pretty much most of them) also developed Stockholm Syndrome towards Halsey. Jorge is one such case. The biggest example being the Master Chief John-117, with him and Halsey developing a mother-son relationship of sort.
- Spartan-IIs would never show such disrespect toward Halsey. Spartan-IIIs on the other hand do not care about her at all, and while she is kind of still in the chain of command for Spartan-IIs, Spartan-IIIs do not answer to her and have a completely different chain of command.
Edit: Also, unlike the other Spartans (S-IIs and S-IIIs), Jorge is native to Reach.
Thanks for the details! This sheds a lot of light on Halsey’s subtle interactions with Jorge throughout the game.
The armor noble team wore are full spec Mjolnir mk5 armor sets not the SPAA (Semi powered Assault Armor) given to the other S3 units due to their skill and specific tasking. Jorge just made special adjustments to his own armor set that was non standard which Halsey commented on during a cutsecene
In regards to augmentation the Spartans 3's of noble team are all compatible with the older more strict selection and augmentation requirements of the S2 program made by Halsey though obviously didn't receive it.
The Spartans of Noble team were no less fierce or effective than any Spartan 2 combat team on reach.
@@Stormkryptonian No, they aren't compatible with the same augmentations simply because they were too old when they were augmented. Sure, some S-3 might have been in the right age range, but most of them weren't (and the S-3 program wasn't intended to spend time training up children until they are older like they did for the S-2). Instead the S-3's training was a lot shorter, and the ones like Noble Team got most of their experience in the field having survived long enough in normal S-3 missions.
I'm not saying that all S-3s were inferior to S-2s. Some S-3s, like the Noble Team members in the game, were on par with S-2s, but they were the absolute cream of the crop as far as S-3s were concerned. They were not in any way representative of S-3s in general.
Though I do have to admit that I did forget about Noble Team being given better armor than other S-3s. I'll have to go look up stuff concerning that again to refresh my memory on the topic.
@@sancturillore I know they're too old that's why I said they didn't receive them, however they met the requirements that if they were around during the time of the S2 program Halsey would've selected them as part of the programs at the required age
@@Stormkryptonian Oh, so that's what you meant. I misunderstood.
Then yes, I agree to that when it comes to Noble Team, they would've passed the selection. They likely simply weren't in the right age range that Halsey wanted at the time she selected the candidates for S-2, or if they were in the right age-range at the time, maybe there simply wasn't enough good info on them available for Halsey to find while she searched for candidates.
(Though they definitely weren't among the candidates that Halsey rejected, since she'd recognize them from her files if they were.)
So yeah, I get what you meant now and I agree.
Jorge's death was one of my first experiences with the thought of death while I was actually conscious enough to understand, sure I had grandparents die when I was real little and didn't understand, but I wasn't really aware. By the time I played Reach I was old enough to understand, it hit me hard as he was my favorite character. RIP Jorge
Thanks for sharing!! Definitely agree, love Jorge in this game.
I also have huge admiration for who Jorge was-especially for his softer side-despite everything he had to go through as a Spartan II. He had a heart of gold and wasn't afraid to sacrifice for the benefit of others. A truly noble (😏) character, and an example of true masculinity right there!!
I like how Halsey is so incredibly serious with the 3s, calling the members by their rank, while she refers to George by name due to him being a spartan 2, meaning he is closer to Halsey then the others. And Halsey most likley doesent reapect the IIIs as much as the IIs who she saw made.
Yeah this is definitely a cool detail! One of the things that makes Reach special imo is how much attention they pay to the little details and how it reflects in the characters
i had an aneurysm reading the second half
“I’ve got the mass” is such a simply but badass thing to say
I love that line as well! Thanks for watching
Another thing about this game that I feel as though is pretty interesting is that when Noble Six is chosen as Cortana's Courier. It feels as though Carter has a little bit of resentment towards Six in the cutscene right after. Obviously it could be misconstrued but I felt "That A.I chose you" was him basically telling us that he expected to be chosen as the leader of the team and watching the newest member be chosen for such an important task caught him off guard, however followed up by the mellow delivery of "She made the right choice" was him accepting his place in the conflict. Great video, it's always nice to see different perspectives on this game.
This is an interesting observation! I didn't pick up on that, but I could definitely see it, since Carter is the leader of the team. Thanks for watching!
My brother played Reach for the first time during this past semester at college. He said Lone Wolf was probably one of the most memorable and sad moments he’s ever experienced in a game, as he wasn’t expecting to have to go through that whole fight after the final cutscene with Cortana.
I love Lone Wolf as an ending to the game. It is just perfectly executed. You really feel the exhaustion build as you fight through horde after horde of Covenant troops.
One thing i noticed and want others to notice is about kats death. she died because she missed the elevator button the first time she went to hit it, she used her robot arm the only part of her not enhanced by her augments. This mistake caused her and noble 6 to be slightly behind the rest of noble and with the radiation flare acting as a emp disabling their shields she had no protection on what came next
This is a great observation! It is pretty unlike Kat to make mistakes under pressure, so it really speaks to the moment
If only more recent titles had such excellent writing. Reach is a testament to Bungie's incredible skill of making great stories for Halo
Very true! There is a lot of potential in the Halo universe, and I for one would love to see new great stories from it.
it's worth noting that Halsey is confrontational with the SPARTAN-IIIs, but soft with Jorge, the only SPARTAN-II.
If it wasn't clear from the sheer size difference, Jorge was built different from the others. Literally. Halsey hand picked the children that would become the IIs, and augmented them to be bigger and stronger; she was left out of the loop on the IIIs, and thinks them an inferior product and a betrayal by ONI that they would continue her project without her and lowering the bar of the SPARTAN program.
Thanks for the extra context!
the only thing I noticed that you didn't mention is how noble 6's death has aspects of everyone else's deaths inside. for example the removes his helmet like Jorge, dies in a final act of heroism like Carter, dies fighting hand to hand till his last breath like Emile, also dies where it feels like there is nothing that could be done to stop it like Kat and finally he survived long enough to die alone like Jun. this, I think helps to show how much noble 6 has become part of the team in only the short time since he joined.
This is definitely a good observation! Definitely shows just how much attention to detail mattered to the developers for the game. Thanks for sharing.
I bought this game and could never bring myself to finish it because I knew what was going to happen.
That’s totally fair, the game can be heartbreaking at times. Thanks for watching!
So, I’m really glad to have found this video. It’s a good video essay and I really enjoyed it.
However at 22:18, there is something I really think should have been brought up. Similar to the UNSC Grafton being blown up after taking out the covenant spire, when Jorge dies and the super carrier is destroyed, there is a few seconds scene that comes after where more super carriers come in. Jorge died in vain, and his sacrifice - while monumental - was worthless. I think this help builds up a theme of hopelessness that reach embodies throughout the game.
I haven’t gone passed 22:18, so maybe you bring it up later, idk, I just wanted to point this out.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate it. I think I mention that it ultimately is futile in the later segment, but I definitely could have emphasized it more. You’re right that it is important in building the hopelessness of the battle for Reach!
Slipspace rupture detected
*Slipspace Rupture Detected*
I was going to leave a similar comment. I’ll never forget the absolute punch-to-the-gut feeling that this scene delivers, which was more than any movie or show or book I’ve experienced before. And while you sit in shock at what’s happening with your jaw dropped, each “Slipspace Rupture Detected” feels like a slight twist of the knife in your back. This is what cemented this game/story in my brain and it felt like he glossed over it and made it seem like, “despite Jorge’s sacrifice there was still more aliens to clean up”. But no - they thought that was it, they thought this would be the end
Hey, just here to say that there were only two CSO-class supercarriers in the entire war (One of which Jorge sacrificed himself to destroy, and the other destroyed, ironically, by a NOVA bomb stolen from Reach by the Covenant). Jorge's death was also not in vain, as these Supercarriers practically paved the way for the hidden invasion, and many other planets would have befallen the same fate as Reach had they remained operational, so while Jorge could not save Reach, his sacrifice was not in vain.
I do agree though, the arrival of the rest of the Covenant fleet practically sealed the fate for Reach, and within the context of purely Reach's storyline, the sacrifice could be considered "vain".
one thing I think you either missed or forgot to mention, was the fact that on Halo Reach's final mission, you can find dead spartans littering the battlefield. Lotta people miss this and I didn't notice it until about a decade after the game came out
This is a good point! Thanks for sharing. I didn’t notice this detail!
Recently completed Reach on Legendary difficulty after not playing it since its original release on Xbox360, the music is as good as I remember and the gameplay is just as good. Insanely compelling story, made me shed a tear numerous times.
For sure! The game just creates an atmosphere that draws you in
I wouldn't say I am someone who plays games for their story. Heck, I love all sorts of games that have stories that are either nonexistent or are pure dogwater, I mostly just care about the gameplay and that is that. But once I played Halo reach all the way through it had instantly became one of my favourite games despite it's campaign being super story oriented.
I thank you for havin me remember this game, its great storytelling, and the melancholy yet wonderful experience it had brought.
Thanks for watching. I really appreciate it! The mood and atmosphere of Halo Reach hit different, even without thinking of the story
Halo Reach is a fantastic story and one worth telling for the world of Halo. A simple story about a group of Spartans who know the worst is coming to humanity and must find a way to do anything they can to save them and let them escape. Great video man your channel is doing well and hopefully it keeps going!🙏
Thanks man I appreciate it! Same goes to you, I saw your positive post today and it made me happy to see! Keep it going!!
@@calvinfishermedia you too man🙏. While I don't do many commentaries anymore I would absolutely be happy to join you in one to help speak on a story that I would know about!
Thanks man! Yeah it would be awesome to collab on something again! Feel free to reach out to me too if you have any ideas!
@@calvinfishermedia I will get back to me with yours too!
My favorite thing about Reach's story is that it ends with an objective you can't complete. You're told to survive, but it's the one thing Noble Six can't do no matter how many enemies they gun down
Lone Wolf is just perfect. The gameplay, the mission structure, and the story all work together seamlessly.
Having Emile’s helmet on in the first cut scene makes it 1000% more comedic when Emile looks up at your character
Lol, I didn’t think much about my character’s armor but I definitely see it
I’m pretty sure that all Spartans take off their helmets before they die. Every spartan who sacrificed themselves (Jorge, carter, noble 6) took off their helmets. Also, when Jorge says reach has been good to him, he says that because spartan-IIs were trained on reach (and he’s the only spartan-II in noble team, the rest are spartan-IIIs), or he’s originally from reach (I’m certain of the first one, but I’m not sure if the second)
Thanks for sharing that extra context! I do still think Jorge's removal of his helmet had extra significance. When he realized that he was going to die, the first thing he did was cast off his helmet and toss it to the ground, and there is a fair amount of focus on it. That is just my own interpretation though, so there are other ways to interpret it for sure!
--Emile stays helmeted.--
@@damianchristopher205 did he sacrifice himself? It was an unexpected death.
@@ChefandTheArbistor shit, my bad, i thought i missed something when i read your comment.
@@damianchristopher205 yeah no problem
It’s funny, I went into this game with my friend and while we had LOADS of fun playing the campaign, when we finished it I couldn’t stop thinking about Lone Wolf. One replay on heroic later, I learn how amazing this game is. I love that. Not only can it be fun with friends, but you can also have a serious and compelling story, it’s like having two games
Definitely! It is great how Halo Reach can be experienced as an emotionally-harrowing adventure or a co-op blast with buddies. I don’t think many games can do both simultaneously
Another thing each death is, it's poetic to each character:
- Jorge: Wishes to live his final days on Reach - Dies in space
- Kat: Is the smart and fast thnking of the group - Dies by a shot to the head almost instantly
- Carter: Sticks by the rules and duty - Dies to uphold Noble 6 mission
- Emile: Head on fighter that takes care of their knife - Dies stabbed in the back
- Noble 6 - Is told to leave his days of lone wolf behind - Dies a lone wolf
- Jun - Scout trained to be away from conflict - Escapes the planet's fate
It's interesting to see how poetic each death is, not only that, the circunstances too.
- Jorge is a bomb with a fried timer - Jorge wanted to spend time to appreciate his birth planet
- Kat is a shield malfunction that allows the bullet to kill her - She's the tech person that fixes everything or hacks stuff
- Carter is a scareb and multiple wounds - He's a captain going down with the ship
- Emile is ambushed and accepts his fate - He carries a knife that's sentimental and he's very much been waiting for the day he falled
- Noble 6 fights alone and removes his helmet - When Noble 6 arrives to Reach he's alone and puts on his helmet
So each death isn't just done well, it's beautifully mirrored to the characters tasks, personalities and wishes that we are told at the start of the game through in game dialogue and cutscenes.
This is a great point! Reach does such a great job of paying attention to every character in the minutiae, from their lives to their deaths. Thanks for watching!
@@calvinfishermedia And it gets deeper once you learn the lore the game provides about each character, Emile's background in particular is one to point out as the best reflection of why he became what he is by the time we see him, the devs didn't have to do it, but they fleshed out such a short story so passionately that the biggest complaint about the game....was that there wasn't enough story with its characters, with is funny because we then have the 7th character in the game be the actual main focus....Reach itself.
Throughout the entire game the focus is solely on Reach, the game takes time to show its dying state, the position you sit at in the war, either by the camera work or 6's eyes.
And your video was extremely good, hope to see more in the future
There's one moment playing Reach that's stuck with me since, that I still dwell on sometimes to this day. Did it on legendary four player co-op, with some of my best buddies from college and online with whom I'd been playing Halo since CE released. When we made it to Lone Wolf, I grabbed the bubble shield...always did, it was my favorite deployable and I was good with it. We'd made it until about ten minutes or so in holed up in one of the buildings, until one of the elites threw a plasma grenade in.
Nobody got stuck, but it landed at my feet and I dropped the shield, screaming at my teammates to get out of it. It was a surreal moment, pure reflex and adrenaline, and completely unconsciously. I wasn't even fully aware of it or the calculus behind it until I was watching in spectator mode.
Nearly a decade playing Halo with these same people, I knew a plasma grenade landing in that proximity wasn't survivable and I was dead no matter what. But, people outside the bubble would be protected from an explosion inside it, and they'd stay alive and fighting for at least a little bit longer. I'd just used the armor ability in a way the devs never intended, or probably even imagined, to do the Halo equivalent of jumping on a grenade.
Thanks for sharing! That is a great story. It shows how gameplay can combine to create a connection to the narrative in a way that is fully unique to video games.
I'm shocked. I've just sat through a 40 minute essay on a game I've played countless times and even watched multiple essays on already. Your presentation, attention to detail and pacing were spot on, and judging by the reviews on your books, I'm not the only person who thinks so! Just bought a copy of Apocalypse Bounty to see for myself. Nice work.
Wow, this comment made my day! Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I hope you enjoy Northfield!
Everyone dies except for Jun. He protects doctor Halsey long enough for her to get off planet and gets left behind. A book depicts him fighting to survive and get off planet. He eventually escapes by climbing a space elevator and getting picked up there, exhausted and beaten up.
This is where the “dying is gay” - jun meme comes from.
Ah, thanks for the extra info! I knew Jun survived, but I didn't know exactly how he made it off the planet. That makes sense.
A huge difference between Jorge-052 and the rest of the spartans. Is that they're spartans 3s. He is a spartan 2. Spartan 3s are mass produced (comparably to the S-IIs) and usually sent on suicide missions. Spartan-3s are much more used to casualties than 2s
Ah, I didn’t know this! I’m not super well versed with Halo lore, so this is cool to know. Thanks for sharing!
@calvinfishermedia Halo is my favorite Universe . So I have a ridiculous amount of knowledge about it.
@@derekmensch3601 I get that feeling -- I am that same way for Spider-man
@@calvinfishermedia For more context:
- Spartan-IIIs are essentially just random children and young people who were orphaned by the Covenant's war of extermination on humanity.
- The biological augmentations of the Spartan-IIIs aren't as advanced as the ones of S-IIs, and their training was much shorter. The reason for the augmentations being lesser is because their bodies wouldn't have survived the ones the S-IIs received.
- Spartan-III armors were also inferior to the Spartan-II armor, due to them being sent in missions with high death counts in large numbers. By the time of the fall of Reach, there were already very few Spartan-IIIs left.
- Jorge's armor combined his Spartan-II armor with Spartan-III armor add-ons.
- The Spartan-III project was made fully behind the back of Halsey by a rival officer under ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence, essentially the CIA of the unified humanity). Though, by the time of this game, she has long learned of it.
- The Spartan-IIs weren't just random people. They were very carefully selected by Halsey herself among all of humanity's children as people who in a different era and different circumstances would've become people of equal note to Hannibal Barca, Alexander the Great, etc.
- The Spartan-IIs were kidnapped as children and replaced by flash clones set to die of illness. They were then trained for a few years, prepared for the augmentations (which are only possible because of the preparations and because of their bodies still being that of children and thus still in the early growth process).
- Over the time, Halsey developed a sort of reverse Stockholm Syndrome towards the Spartan-IIs, feeling a sort of motherhood and care for them, and would become one of the only person to call them by their actual names instead of their spartan numbers. She was even able to recognize all of them even in full armor(all identical back then) just from their body movement, posture, stances, slight movement quirks, etc. Many Spartan-IIs (pretty much most of them) also developed Stockholm Syndrome towards Halsey. Jorge is one such case.
The biggest example being the Master Chief John-117, with him and Halsey developing a mother-son relationship of sort.
- Spartan-IIs would never show such disrespect toward Halsey. Spartan-IIIs on the other hand do not care about her at all, and while she is kind of still in the chain of command for Spartan-IIs, Spartan-IIIs do not answer to her and have a completely different chain of command.
Edit: Also, unlike the other Spartans (S-IIs and S-IIIs), Jorge is native to Reach.
@@sancturillore Thatnks for saying all that. I did not feel like typing it out lmao
The Elite sniper that kills Kat is the same one that ambushed you at the end of Winter Contingency and the one that you fight right before the Mac Cannon.
It's a Field Marshall, given more than one weapon, an energy sword and a shotgun. (I think)
Also, the "bomb" the Covenant detonates in New Alexandria, is no bomb. It's a glassing beam. Like the ones that have been in the background of that level and every level after.
Thanks for sharing! I didn’t realize that about the Glassing beam, but that makes a lot of sense. It’s also cool then that the New Alexandria somewhat foreshadows it being used against Noble by having it in the backdrop of the mission
@@calvinfishermedia also another thing to note is that Kat dies to a headshot because of the atomic bomb-like emp a glassing beam emits shorting out all spartan’s shields.
@@omniscientbarebones That was dismissed by Bungie as the others shield are up, she just forgot to turn her shield up, that how she lost her arm as well.
@@viceralman8450 so she is forgetful. That’s not as sad, that just means she’s clumsy and not professional. (Granted, going by her driving, she is.)
@@viceralman8450 we see her shields slowly dropping in the Remember Reach trailer, so she had them on when she lost her arm. They had just been depleted by the time the Banshee's bomb hit next to her.
Kind of suprising that Reach is basically a retcon of Fall of Reach because Bungie didnt like the books too much, but actualy told an arguably better story. Perhaps not a full retcon, but definitly making their Reach story THE Reach story
Yeah, I remember hearing around that time that there was a pretty big controversy about the retcons. I wasn’t a halo fan at the time so I don’t remember the details. It seems Bungie’s Reach has stood the test of time and most people have come around to it!
@calvinfishermedia I love Halo: Reach. But still prefer the Book to the Game. Just because of how efficient it shows the Covenant to be. And shows why humanity is losing.
@@derekmensch3601 I’ll have to give it a read! It is a book I’ve wanted to read, but haven’t gotten the chance yet. Glad it sounds like they put the effort into making the covenant threatening
@calvinfishermedia the whole scope of the battle is different. Like in Halo: Reach the battle takes 1 month. But in the book. It is significantly faster
@@calvinfishermedia Please do read the book and make a video about it!
I remember beating the game on Legendary after it took me from 5th grade up until freshman year of highschool and I was screaming the entire time i played Lone Wolf, that was probably the most cathartic experience in my entire life and its still been like 8 years. I was able to put every negative emotion I had felt in middle school into just screaming at the covenant who killed my squad.
Thanks for sharing! It’s pretty awesome that you share such a potent memory with the game. Impressive dedication to stick with it for so long to beat legendary!
I haven’t played halo in a while but man seeing reach still reminds me of all my friends playing forge and the campaign was one of the best I’ve played to this day, the way the characters died felt authentic, it didn’t feel like it was built up every death, it made you almost dread each cut scene not knowing if anyone dies and fighting along side your squad built the connection with them so the deaths were more impactful, seeing this video brought such nostalgia before I even clicked it
For sure, really well said! I’m glad the video could give you nostalgia. Thanks for watching
Jorge's death still fucks me up. They're all compelling but he thought he was dying to save the world and it ultimately meant nothing. That shit is raw.
For sure! It is such a potent combination of heroism plus futility.
Reach was my first halo and is also my favorite because you get to create your own version of noble 6 so it feels more like you are noble 6. It always ends the same with 6 dying after fighting off covies for what I would assume to be hours before the epilogue where you play the final moments before his death.
The fact you can customize 6 is something I really enjoy about this game too. You really make noble 6 your own
Also it's interesting that the game starts with the line "That lone wolf stuff stays behind" but of course ends with him left behind, last mission, "Lone wolf".
Yeah this is a great point! It is a nice way of coming full circle with the story. Thanks for sharing
On the note of NOBLE Team's deaths, I always found it interesting that they all died in ironic ways.
Carter, the leader of NOBLE, went down with the ship.
Kat, the brains of the group, died from a needler round through the head.
Jun, the sniper, was the only one to survive because he kept his distance while escorting Halsey.
Emile, the knife wielding warrior, succumbs to an energy sword wound.
Jorge, who loved his homeworld more than almost anything, died in its orbit, never again to touch the surface of his beloved Reach.
And NOBLE-6, a lone wolf... died alone, sacrificing his life to give others a chance to escape the destruction of the planet and taking out scores of enemies in the process.
Edit: I thought I was being clever with this, only to scroll down a bit and see multiple others bring up the exact same points...
Hey, it’s still cool you came to the same conclusions independently! Thanks for sharing.
Idk if this has been said. But the deaths of each character matches their identity aswell. George is a heavy weapons and demolition expert - dies to a bomb. Kat is a hacker - dies to the technology being disabled (shields are down do to EMP). Carter is the captain - he goes down with the ship. Emile is a CQC master whos only friend is his blade - dies to a sword. And finally noble 6, a lonewolf - dies alone. And if you wish it. The only noble left is a sniper - a man who sees battle through a scope without having to be there. Leaves alive with his comrads lives weighing on his mind.
This is a very astute observation! Well said. Thanks for watching!
-The captain goes down with the ship
-The cqc goes out the way he fought
-The brains was shot in the head
-the lone wolf dies alone
-the man who loved reach the most died off planet
Thanks for sharing! It definitely shows how much attention to detail Reach put into its characters and how they meet their end.
The attention to detail is crazy. Even among much larger story driven games, I can't think of any that condense so many aspects of storytelling in so little time without it getting overcrowded(I'm sure a few exist though). There isn't a single second of the major cutscenes that isn't doing something to drive the story forward, the depth and polish is insane.
Definitely. Halo Reach does a great job of establishing plot, character, and setting in a single cutscene
Halo reach has always had a special place in my heart. It is simultaneously one of the best games I’ve ever played and the most depressing game. I can literally still remember the cutscene of kat getting shot and the place it puts u in after. Halo reach has some of the best ambience, the way the game is able to make u feel like shit after each death is impressive
Well said! Halo Reach has an atmosphere like no other, and I think it contributes greatly to how each death feels. Thanks for watching!
It’s not depressing, the sacrifice they all exemplified is beautiful.
@@user-kp3eq1uj8e from an artistic viewpoint their sacrifice is beautiful. But from a 10 year old fully immersed kid’s perspective they were damn near traumatizing😂😭
@@galacticdragon9785 I remember too😭
One of the coolest parts of Reach is definitely the camera work in the cutscenes. The security cameras, big panoramic shots with slight shake to them that make it feel like a helicopter or drone shot, or first person. They very rarely deviate from those three.
Also, if I remember right, Jorge was FROM Reach, that’s why he recognized the accent and was so concerned of it.
The camera work is awesome! It does a lot to establish Reach as a setting and the tone of the story. Ah, that makes sense about Jorge, thanks for sharing!
The glassing blinded kat which is why she missed the button. The attention to detail was insane.
Definitely agree, the game has such good attention to detail! Thanks for watching.
I've played Reach's campaign several times, seen several breakdowns, and watched tons of tribute videos and your video still gave me chills.
I am really glad this video could have that effect! Thanks for watching and leaving this comment!
This was my first console game, I’ve never even heard of Halo before this game. This was my standard for all future Halo games, some lived up to it and some fell sadly short
Halo Reach was the first one I played too!
6s death hits so much harder when you notice that they never even show it, the camera cuts before we get to see him impaled as if we were him all along after all you are the only one incapable of seeing your own death
It’s such a well-done moment. The hopeless gameplay builds perfectly to his final moments in that cutscene. Thanks for watching!
Not all were killed off, June survived to train the next generation of Spartans
True! That is a good point. Thanks for watching and commenting!
One thing I always liked about the deaths of reach is how each one felt tailored for the spartan who died, often killing them in their own element.
Jorge was the biggest, and most human, and died doing something big, that might have saved millions
Kat was the brains of the operation, cold *precise* and calculating, so she died from a single efficient shot to the head
Carter was the leader of the team, and went down with his ship, giving his life so that his team could complete their mission
Emile was a distant detached person, and a close quarters fighter, so he died in a melee, fighting to his last breath while cut off from the only other surviving member of noble team
Jun was the sniper, quiet, and stealthy, so he died quietly off screen, almost as if he just disappeared
And noble six was a lone wolf who died alone, abandoned in enemy territory
Even the name "noble team" is fitting since they solemnly threw down their lives to save humanity in the end
I agree with all but Jun, Jun said dying was gay and left with Halsey
Definitely agree with this! Well said. It is the subtle attention to each character which makes it work so well!
To make things worse, Jorge seemed the most passionate of Reach and attached to Reach, if i remember correctly, yet he was the only one of Noble to fall while off planet.
"Reach has been good to me". Maybe it's better that he didn't see what happened to the planet, and went out thinking he saved it.
@@TusksTheAxew ah yeah, I knew I'd forgotten some major detail about Jorge, thanks for the reminder
@@TusksTheAxew If I remember correctly what they placed on the ship wasnt a bomb, but something akin to a teleporter that would tear away a large piece of it and leave it somewhere else. Ironically Jorge didn't just die off planet, he couldn't have been farther from it.
The Bungie Halo games were fantastic about making grounded military protocol dialogue feel emotive and impactful. It was subtle, but more impactful than any melodrama would be (cough 343 Halos cough). Great video.
Absolutely. After returning to Bungie's games after playing Infinite for awhile, I remembered being surprised at how much of a military feel Bungie's games have in contrast. It makes the experience so much more grounded.
Not nice I also like the 343 halo games
Reach always had a pure sense of reality. The armor, ranks, camera angles, armor descriptionsand everything is rooted in real life. It’s the most believable depiction of Spartans. It’s perfection. We won’t ever get another game like it. As well as ODST. And I’ll love both until the day I die.
I agree! There is just such an immersive quality to both Reach and ODST. Thanks for watching!
Jorge and Carter have the saddest deaths. They know they're going, so they go out on their terms.
I think both are handled so well in the game!
@@calvinfishermedia And now I can't help but cry when I hear "Long Night of Solace"
Halo Reach deserved to be a 40 hour story
A longer-form Halo game could be really interesting!
I just replayed it after 9 years. The most beautiful videogame and piece on sacrifice I’ve ever seen.
Reach is so well done! Thanks for watching!
Ironically the start of the game, noble 6 is told “leave that lone wolf stuff behind” but at the end of the game, the “lone wolf” stuff is what essentially allowed noble team to complete the mission.
That’s a great point! It feels like a fitting end for Noble Six. Thanks for watching
after a trilogy of playing as a lone protagonist who saves the day, Reach takes that myth and completely shatters our expectations. Not only do every Spartan of Noble Team die but they die as we know for nothing as Keyes and Autumn inevitably Fall into the hands of the Covenant.
This is a really great way of stating how the feel of Reach differs from the main trilogy!
Jorge and Halsey have a history because Jorge is a Spartan-II, not a Spartan-III like the rest of Noble Team. The Spartan-IIIs were very much like discount Spartan-IIs, who were the original Spartans made by Halsey. That's why Jorge's interaction with Halsey is different than the rest of Noble. No matter how many walls she has put up, Halsey gets softer when she's around her "children" and it's very noticeable in Reach, thanks to Jorge's characterization.
Thanks for explaining, that makes a lot of sense! It’s pretty cool how Reach incorporates that detail into Halsey’s characterization and you see it reflect in how she treats each Spartan.
I haven't watched the whole video yet (halfway through) but I do want to say your characterization of Jorge is spot on for multiple reasons. I'm not sure how much research you did into the Spartans themselves before the video, but an interesting touch Bungie added was that Jorge is a Spartan-II while the rest of Noble are Spartan-IIIs, if im remembering properly. While Spartan-IIIs were essentially orphans of war drafted in the Spartan program, Spartan-IIs were children who were kidnapped from their families and replaced with clones who would eventually die in their place. Jorge did not volunteer or choose to become a Spartan. It was forced upon him. I can imagine that such a thing would also drive a wedge between him and Emile, especially in regards to the "big man forgets what he is" comment. Jorge knows who he was, and it's clear he never forgot it, maybe even cherished or preferred it by constantly removing his helmet whenever possible.
This is a great analysis! Thanks for sharing. I didn’t do a lot of research before making this video. The main reason is because I wanted to examine what the game delivered without the help of outside lore. With that in mind I think it did a great job of integrating the greater lore in a way that is subtle and natural, like with Jorge and Emile
18:20 omg such a good way to put how the camera angles are done ive always felt that but couldnt put it into words or didnt know exactly what was causing the feeling well done!
Thanks! I’m glad I could word it in a way that resonated with you. It was something I had trouble finding the right words for
To expand on your point at 15:46, Jorge thinking of others, when he saved Noble 6, he stand afterwards over the bodies he didn't save, sparing a moment and a few words for them.
This is a great observation! Thanks for sharing
I didn't realize this is a newer channel while watching, I love this 'genre' of videos. Even though I'm not personally a reader, I wish you the best for your books and I'll be subscribing to this channel!
Thanks for the kind words and the sub! I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
I think the more emotional parts of the story are sold far better when playing a female Noble Six. The voice actor has a lot more inflection in her voice. It really made me feel the story more than when I did a playthrough with male Noble 6
I haven’t played using the female version before… that is interesting! I may have to check it out or watch some cutscenes with her voice. Thanks for watching!
@@calvinfishermedia Yeah I really thought it elevated the story. Especially with the emotional subtlety.
It’s really a testament of how much love and care Bungie put into Halo. This game didn’t have to be this good, but they knew how much the fans loved the lore and how important Reach was to that lore, and they did it exactly right.
I definitely feel like you can notice the attention to detail all throughout the game. Thanks for watching!
I read the fall of reach as a kid, long before this game came out. The one thing that got me playing the game for the first time is that George's death is eerily similar to a scene in the book where Sam dies (Cheif's best friend alongside Kelly) its an unavoidable fate, which they face alone to blow up a covenant ship. A Spartan II, humanity's irriappacable super soldiers is lost just to buy a few short moments which at the time feels like a complete waste, but it gets another spartan to where they need to be to change the war.
I read the book a few months ago and I see the parallel between them! I didn’t think about it that way, thanks for sharing!
Fun fact for those who may not know, jorge is the only spartan II on the team whilst the rest of noble team are spartan IIIs, Halsey directly created the IIs hence the "possible deeper history " mentioned between jorge and halsey whilst the IIIs were created by someone else
Thanks! I appreciate the extra context.
Wow. Extremely well-put! The only real critique/complaint I have is using Emile’s helmet on your character could be confusing for people that haven’t already played the game and know what Emile looks like.
Thanks for watching! That is a very fair point. I just really enjoy Emile’s helmet haha
The story of reach was so impactful to me as a child that you get grow an attachment not only to noble team but your own Spartan as well cuz the time you put in putting your own personality to noble 6 that when it came to seeing my Spartan go out alone with the somber tone that in a way traumatized my emotions that I’ve never played the final Reach mission for a few years once I gotten older. Till this day seeing the prologue mission fills in the dread I felt all those years ago as a child
I’m glad the story could have such an impact on you! I think it is a testament to how well the story is told. Thanks for sharing
@@calvinfishermedia thank you for hard work in the video you put, I found it to be so relatable to some of the feelings I have towards the game when I was younger but couldn’t put my finger on it but you explained so well in the video
@@scourgefallxn thanks that makes me really glad to hear! I’m happy you enjoyed the video.
I think Kat's and Emile's deaths are my favorite story wise, the (group of) Zealot(s) sniper that shoots Kat is actually an enemy that has been watching and stalking Noble team throughout the whole story; and ultimately kills Emile in the last mission
It’s hard to pick! I think mine are Gorge and Carter, although I go back and forth. Thanks for sharing.
Another smashing video! Great job! Somehow I’m not a big halo fan but this one got my attention
Thanks for watching!
I already see a big subscriber count on this channel.
Your analysing of story is really pleasant to listen.
Good luck with the next videos, you just gained a new subscriber :D
Thanks so much, that is really kind of you to day and it means a lot!
Something cool i only realized a few weeks ago, although I'm not sure if it's on other difficulties. But on legendary at the beginning of winter contingency, if you get to the warthog fast enough, you can see an elite turning on his active camo, running away towards the first house you enter. It's something that you'd likely miss normally, but it's a detail that I absolutely love. Your team is on the Covenant's radar from the moment you put your foot on the ground, and that's slightly terrifying.
Dang, that is an awesome detail! Reach has so many of those easy-to-miss moments which is part of what makes it such a blast to replay! Thanks for watching.
I just got Halo Reach yesterday, finished it today and its one of my favourite games ever made, the combat felt good and the story was great. Im my opinion its the best game ever made and its prompted me to play all the other Halo games. Reach is also the first game where I have ever felt helpless and like it might all be for nothing, especially during the mission with Jun when we see the army of covenant, it genuinely made me like the main characters and the good guys wouldn't be enough to save the planet. Thats good fucking story telling
Awesome, I'm happy you enjoyed the game so much! I hope you have an awesome time playing the other Halos
Reach's story hit hard when I was 14 and it still hits hard today 13 years later. Sigh, Jorge had to leave us like that 😢
I think Jorge’s ending is so sad but also so well done. Probably my favorite scene in the game!
@@calvinfishermedia agreed
No Adam.. It hits harder today..
@@AbdulBido probably
Amazing analysis. Thank you for reminding me why this game affected me so much as a kid. Great essay!
Thanks for the kind words! I am glad you enjoyed it!
I love how videos are still being made after the game was shut down. Just started playing again a few days ago, thanks so much for making these vids!
Thanks for checking out the video! I’m glad you enjoyed it :)
Fun fact about Kat, there are civilians inside that elevator with you. Civilians that look up to Spartans. Civilians that believe them invincible. And they watch one of these heroes die to a single needle.
I can imagine how demoralizing that would be as a civilian, to see a peak Spartan fall in front of you. It would make the war feel even more unwinnable
I love this game and this video did it total justice. Another thing that made this game amazing was the music. Totally changes everything. Great video!
Thanks I appreciate it! I’m glad you enjoyed the video!
I've gotta say man this was a great video. A couple minor factual errors doesn't take away from the fact that this video was amazing. Halo Reach is my favourite game of all time and its mostly because of how damn good the campaign is. This video is a great example and review of that story. Thanks for making this.
Hey thanks for watching and leaving this kind comment! I appreciate it!
8:20 the reason emile was saying “what” instead of “who” and his generally negative tone was because he was deployed to supress the insurrectionists. He got shot by a machine gun, ruining his EVA helmet and carving the badass skull into it. It made him turn into a walking war crime and killed everything in his path. I think it’s really cool how he addressed the spartan by an object because that’s kind of how he was used. Thags a great detail of lore shown in his personality
Thanks for the added details, I appreciate the extra context! Reach is great at mixing lore with characters’ personalities, like Jorge
Lore wise Emiles crack at Jorge "he forgets what he is" makes sense especially coming from a spartan 3 looking at spartan 2. Jorge is a Frankenstein monster compared to Emile and the rest of them.
Makes a lot of sense, thanks for sharing!
Its hard to put into words all the things i love about reach but one of the things i love is how the story seemed like we could actually win despite the odds for the first half but every battle won came with a huge loss like taking the spire only to lose the frigate and then we destroy the covenant ship but lose jorge and its just all down hill from there
Definitely! In the beginning, Reach does a great job of giving the Spartans hope, and even confidence, and then evaporating that hope. Thanks for watching!
@calvinfishermedia A masterclass in subtle story telling for sure and honestly this is the type of quality I'd expect to see from sum with 1+mil subs, keep doin what ur doin man, great content
@@kieranriley1624 Thank you, I appreciate the encouragement!
My introductory video to your channel. I absolutely love this analysis and felt like even more was revealed to me about Noble Team. And I love your brilliant explanations of the incredible storytelling elements of this remarkable game. You've just gained a new sub, and it's criminal that you only have 1K subs
Thank you, I really appreciate that! Thanks for watching and subbing
@@calvinfishermedia Of course! Thank YOU! 😊
Could have also expanded mentioning how he brandished the dog tags after returning from orbit, or the return back to noble team on the pelican all by himself without jorge
That is a fair point! Thanks for watching
Little detail I liked was at the start they talk about your record being covered in black ink and tell you to leave the lone wolf stuff behind and the final stand shows perfectly why your records were redacted. There are only two spartans with the Hyper Lethal title and that's Master Chief and Noble Six.
Definitely! It gives his backstory a nice touch of intrigue, and the ending alludes to it for sure. Thanks for watching!
Why does reach get to me so hard
Same here! I think part of it is the music. When the emotional parts hit and the piano music swells…
@@calvinfishermedia definitely bungie halos music has that touch to it
@@spartancobra1187hol up what do you mean "hard" cause I can confirm it does get me hard to lol
I read this as "why does reach get me so hard"
I read that comment so wrong
Thanks for watching! Which Halo game has your favorite story?
Halo 2, The covenant discovering earth by accident is quite funny.
@@angryspacemarine1045 love the atmosphere and world of Halo 2!
@@angryspacemarine1045 the prophet of truth is just space Columbus
@@_underscore_9271 I agree. Crippled space Columbus.
Halo Reach, followed by Halo 2. 😔
A fun fact about Noble team that makes the interaction between Jorge and Halsey much deeper is that the Spartan 3s, most of Noble team, were not made by Dr. Halsey. They were made by Colonel Ackerman and trained by repurposed Spartan 2s and their trainers. Jorge is the only Spartan 2 on the team, which is why Halsey is much softer with him and much colder to the rest of Noble.
You’re right! That added lore definitely adds to the conversation. Thanks for sharing!
Great video, but i think you should have talked about is the irony of each of their deaths more because that was the first thing i noticed. The Captain going down with the ship, the brains of the group gets shot it the head, George who loved Reach dies off world, their overwatch is with Halsy, the Blade guy gets stabbed in the back, and the lone wolf dies alone
Thanks for the feedback! This is a cool observation, definitely would have been good to mention. Thanks for checking out the video.