Last time I took a quick look at the major characters of Halo Reach. So now it’s time to delve into the story. Reach’s plot is much more complex than Brink’s was, so I am going to devote one post per level (or more, if the level warrants it). But rather than diving straight into the game the way I’d originally planned, let’s start with the beginning cut scene: Noble Actual.
Welcome to Reach
If you have played any of the other Halo games, going into Reach you should be pretty clear about what happens: the planet gets glassed. Yes, the planet will be destroyed by the end of the game. And in case you weren’t aware of this, the game makes it really clear from the get-go. Right before the title, the helmet of your Spartan is displayed on the charred remains of the planet. There won’t be a happy ending for Reach (or you) at the end of the game.
July 24 2552 07:28 Hours
After that poignant reminder of your mortality, Reach backs up to the day the Lieutenant (You) arrived on Reach to join Noble Team. You are driven in via warthog, arriving just in time to hear a discussion between Carter and Colonel Holland. Holland is telling Carter about a relay station. All contact was lost with it. A squadron of troopers were sent in, but contact was lost with them as well. And although the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) thinks this is a huge waste of resources, Holland wants Noble Team to go and investigate. ONI believes it’s just some rebels who pulled a similar stunt on another planet recently. But Holland doesn’t want to take any chances (or lose valuable equipment) and so Noble Team is sent in.
Carter welcomes you to the team, but most of the others (Kat, Emile and Jorge) are a bit hostile. They recently lost their old sixth member, and as Carter says, “you’re stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled.”
At this point, you are following Carter to a Falcon, where Jun is also waiting. Kat, Emile and Jorge have jumped onto a second one. So off you all fly towards the relay station.
Some Things Left Unspoken
Reach doesn’t go into any detail on what happened to the old Noble Six. Nor does it go into any detail on why the others don’t want those shoes filled. But even with this unspoken, right away you know that you’ll have to earn the respect of the rest of the team. Well, except for Carter. He’s very happy to have you onboard.
Thoughts on Noble Actual
Noble Actual does a reasonable job of introducing the characters and world of Reach. But it could have been a lot better. One glaring error is that Jun isn’t introduced here. When Carter introduces the rest of the team, Jun is outside. And when you jump onto the Falcon, Jun welcomes you to Reach, but once again is not introduced.
A Gross Allocation of Resources
Every time I have watched Noble Actual it seems odd that Holland would send the Spartan team in when no one else seems to think this is warranted. From the player’s perspective, you know the Covenant is on Reach. But none of the characters do at this point. If everyone thinks it’s rebels, why wasn’t a larger fire team sent in? This would have made more sense in the larger scheme of the story (as long as the beginning of the first level is changed as well. More on that next time!) Otherwise, Holland needs to provide more of a justification for sending the Spartans in than he does. As it stands, Holland just says that Reach is too important to lose freighters to rebels. But why is Reach so important? Sure, the characters might know, but this is important information that should be communicated to the player at the get-go. Otherwise why try to save the planet?
But even with these idiosyncrasies, this is the beginning of an entirely new game world. Noble Actual had a lot of work to do in a short time, introducing a whole new cast of characters and establishing the game’s setting. While it isn’t perfect, it isn’t horrible either. Unfortunately, Bungie should be capable of more than mediocre.
But what did you think of Noble Actual? Were you able to figure out what was going on in this cut scene? Do you think the characters had an adequate introduction? Should someone have given a more concrete reason for the Spartans being sent in?
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