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Halo: Reach

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Template:Game Infobox

"From the beginning, you know the end."
— Game tagline[1]

Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game set in the Halo universe and direct prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved, depicting the Fall of Reach. It was developed by Bungie, LLC. and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console.[2][3] It was announced by Joe Staten during Microsoft's Media Briefing at E3 2009; Reach was released on September 14, 2010 in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia with the exclusion of Japan whose release was a day later.[4]

Upon the first day of release, Reach grossed over $200 million, surpassing Halo 3's record of $170 million.[5]

Synopsis

Backstory

Main article: History of the United Nations Space Command

By the 26th century, humanity has expanded beyond the confines of Earth's Solar System and now inhabits hundreds of worlds in other star systems under the ultimate control of the Unified Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command, the Earth government's military and scientific arm. However, colonization did not come without its problems. By the late 25th century, various rebel and secessionist factions commonly known as Insurrectionists emerged in the Outer Colonies, actively opposing the UNSC-imposed rule on the outlying worlds. In 2517, the SPARTAN-II program was initiated by the UNSC to counter the threat of an imminent all-out civil war in the Outer Colonies by producing a group of biologically-enhanced supersoldiers.

In 2525, humanity made first contact with a powerful alien hegemony known as the Covenant on the distant farming world of Harvest. Following an unfortunate chain of events set in motion by the contact at Harvest, the Covenant's religious leaders deemed humans "unclean beings" and waged an all-out genocidal campaign with the intent of wiping the human race out of existence. In the years that followed, the technologically superior Covenant swept through the Outer Colonies, systematically wiping out human colonies by plasma bombardment. Even with the all-encompassing Covenant threat, many human insurgent movements lived on, forcing the UNSC to fight a two-front war.

In 2531, the UNSC initiated another supersoldier project known as the SPARTAN-III program. The SPARTAN-III commandos, while greater in numbers than the SPARTAN-IIs, were created to assault high-value targets en masse, in suicide missions in which they often succeeded, at the cost of entire companies. However, despite their best efforts, humanity could only slow down the Covenant's advance. By 2552, virtually all of the Outer Colonies have been devastated by the Covenant, who now ravage the Inner Colonies. Reach remains as humanity's last military stronghold and is often considered the only thing that stands between the Covenant and Earth.

Reach

Main article: Reach

The titular planet Reach, located in the Epsilon Eridani system at Earth's metaphorical doorstep, is arguably the UNSC's most important military stronghold and shipyard. With a population of over 700 million, it is also one of the most populous human colonies. A harsh world filled with towering mountain ranges and deserts, Reach's settlements range from remote, self-sufficient farming communities to futuristic metropolitan cities such as New Alexandria. Reach also has several unique indigenous creatures such as the Moa and the Gúta, which are interacted with over the course of the campaign.

As the nexus of the UNSC military, Reach is protected accordingly; possessing a grid of 20 orbital defense platform and a defensive fleet of over 100 ships at any time. Reach has garrisons of ground forces from all military branches of the UNSC, including the UNSC Army which serves as the primary NPC ally throughout the game.

NOBLE Team

File:Concept 03.jpg
Concept art showing NOBLE Team interacting with civilians and UNSC Army troopers.
Main article: NOBLE Team

The game follows NOBLE Team, a six-man special operations unit of one SPARTAN-II and five SPARTAN-III commandos. Serving under Special Warfare Command, NOBLE Team's SPARTAN-IIIs are among the few that were deemed too valuable to be wasted on suicide missions and were subsequently assigned to serve in other special forces units. Stationed on Reach, NOBLE Team reports to Colonel Urban Holland.

The player assumes the role of the team's latest member, SPARTAN-B312 or "Noble Six", a SPARTAN-III from Beta Company with a mysterious past, assigned to the team as a replacement for its previous sixth member. Other members of the team include Carter-A259, the leader, Kat-B320, the intelligence specialist and Carter's second-in-command, Jorge-052, an experienced heavy weapons specialist and only SPARTAN-II on the team, Emile-A239, an audacious assault and close combat specialist, and Jun-A266, the team's talkative sharpshooter.

Plot synopsis

{{{1}}}
NOBLE Team being briefed prior to deployment.

On July 24, 2552, SPARTAN-B312, the player character, arrives at a UNSC outpost on Reach. It is here that the players are introduced to the main cast and given their first mission from NOBLE Team's commanding officer, Colonel Urban Holland. The team is called in to investigate the sudden blackout of the Visegrad Relay, one of the planet's primary communications hubs. Expecting a confrontation with Insurrectionists, the team lands in the remote rural area and proceeds to the relay. After interrogating a farmer and finding suspicious signs in the area, it is soon discovered that the loss of communications is the work of the Covenant, as the team is engaged by Covenant ground forces. After they have made their way into the relay station, the team are attacked by a Elite Zealot advance team, who were on a mission to steal information from the relay. After the team successfully secures the relay, Carter uses the damaged relay to contact Colonel Holland and explain the situation, leading to the declaration of the planetary emergency directive WINTER CONTINGENCY.

NOBLE Team encountering Sangheili Field Marshals.

Two days later, on July 26th, NOBLE Team is called in to ONI Sword Base near the Babd Catha Ice Shelf. As explained to the team by the AI Auntie Dot, Sword Base is under attack from a Covenant corvette, but due to the sensitive nature of the facility, the use of orbital MAC rounds is prohibited. NOBLE Team clears the main courtyard of enemies, and is then sent on a mission to re-activate Farragut Station, a communications station they can use to get into contact with command, and Airview Base, where they need to activate an anti-air battery to clear the skies. The Spartans move into Sword Base and NOBLE Six assists Emile in driving off several Phantoms and Banshees. After the skies have been cleared, the UNSC sends in a pair of Longswords to push the corvette away from the base's immediate vicinity. The Covenant vessel begins to retreat, only to be shot out of the sky by an orbital strike. After the mission, NOBLE Team is debriefed by Dr. Catherine Halsey, who inquires as to the death of one of her scientists, who was doing research at the relay. She says he mentioned a "latchkey" discovery and that the information was essential. Learning that he was killed by Zealots, Halsey reprimands Carter for not pursuing the leader, as the scientist's research was potentially important to their religion. Fortunately, Kat had stolen the data module off of the scientist, and hands it over to Halsey.

Two and a half weeks later, NOBLE Six and Jun are sent to perform a night reconnaissance mission to reconnoiter the Covenant "dark zone" in the Viery Territory. After stealthily eliminating guards at multiple outposts, The two Spartans meet up with a group of civilian militiamen, who guide them to a hydro-plant further into the dark zone, where the team discovers a Covenant stealth pylon. After planting an explosive charge on the pylon, the team moves deeper into the dark zone, where they discover a massive Covenant invasion force. Kat then orders them back so they can prepare for the attack on the next day.

File:Viery.jpg
A satellite image of the troop deployments at Viery.

In the morning of August 12, 2552, a massive UNSC joint assault force is put together, with the objective of mounting a counterattack on the Covenant-occupied Viery Territory. As revealed by Auntie Dot in the mission briefing, the Covenant have infiltrated to the region in force, deploying ground forces and installations, including several massive Covenant Spires. NOBLE Team's objective is to destroy one of these spires, designated Spire One. After pushing through Covenant forces and destroying several Covenant anti-air batteries, Jorge and NOBLE Six deploy to the spire in a Falcon. However, the aircraft crashes after being disabled by the electromagnetic field created by the Spire's shield. After the crash, the pair proceed into the Spire, where it is revealed that the Spires actually contain teleporters used to transport Covenant forces to the surface, linked to an unknown source. After proceeding to the Spire, NOBLE Six utilizes a gravity lift to reach the top, and disables the shield. Noble Six is flown away from the tower by a Falcon containing Carter and Jorge. UNSC Grafton, a heavy frigate, uses a MAC round to demolish the spire. Seconds later, a Covenant supercarrier uncloaks and fires on the Grafton, completely destroying it.

NOBLE Team contemplates how to destroy the Covenant supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, as the UNSC no longer possess tactical nuclear devices on Reach. Instead, Kat proposes they use a slipspace drive as a makeshift bomb to destroy the ship. It also becomes apparent that Noble Six was a pilot in the top-secret Sabre Program at some point. Carter contacts Holland and the plan is approved.

On August 14, NOBLE Team arrives at the Sabre Program Launch/Research Range, where Noble Six and Jorge commandeer a UNSC YSS-1000 "Sabre", a recent development intended for Inner Colony orbital defense. They launch into the hostile space over Reach, where they protect a UNSC space station, Anchor 9, until its defenses come back online. Next, they rendezvous with the UNSC Savannah, which sacrifices its slipspace drive for the mission. They then board the Covenant corvette, Ardent Prayer, and using its re-fueling course at the supercarrier as an excuse, get close enough to detonate the slipspace bomb and destroy the Long Night of Solace. Unfortunately, the detonator for the makeshift bomb is damaged and Jorge is forced to manually detonate it, sacrificing himself to destroy the supercarrier. However, the victory is short lived: mere moments later, a massive Covenant fleet arrives, making the destruction of one supercarrier pointless.

Long Night of Solace is destroyed.

Noble Six is flung away from the corvette by Jorge, falling all the way down into Reach's atmosphere, saved by an M-Spec reentry pack. After landing, Six continues to the city of New Alexandria, arriving there on August 23rd. Six then regroups with UNSC forces and assists in the evacuation of Traxus Tower, where many civilians have taken refuge. After, Six helps UNSC Army troops to activate anti-air missile batteries, which damage a Covenant corvette, providing the time needed for the massive civilian transports to escape the city. Kat orders Noble Six to rejoin NOBLE Team, Noble Six meets Carter on a rooftop in New Alexandria. Kat orders Noble Six to assist in the destruction of several Covenant communications jammers in the area, along with several other tasks, including protecting Gunnery Sgt. Edward Buck's Falcon as he is transported to the rest of his unit, defending different groups of Army soldiers around the city, and assisting in more civilian evacuation. Kat then calls on Noble Six to come to her aid in the evacuation of the Office of Naval Intelligence HQ.

Once inside, NOBLE Team is reunited, in what Emile calls a "family reunion." Colonel Holland makes emergency contact to the team, ordering them to immediately re-deploy to Sword Base to destroy sensitive information. The communications are cut off, and Jun notes several Covenant vehicles leaving the area. Soon afterward, the Covenant begin to glass the city near the building, generating a massive shockwave NOBLE Team barely manages to avoid. The team takes an elevator down to the bottom level, where they run to an underground radiation bunker as Carter explains that they are to be redeployed to Sword Base to destroy all sensitive data. Just before they get inside, Kat is killed with a single shot from a Needle Rifle to the back of her head. Three days later, the team exits the shelter, and a Pelican arrives to transport them to Sword Base.

On August 29, Noble Six is deployed with a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in order to take out several Covenant anti-air towers around Sword Base, opening the defenses so the rest of NOBLE Team can be deployed to the base via Falcons. After fighting their way into Sword Base, NOBLE Team discovers the coordinates they were given to be empty, a last stand full of dead troopers. The coordinates are then revised by an unknown AI, and NOBLE Team moves into caves below Sword Base. NOBLE Team rides a cart down the tunnel, and discover that it was Dr. Halsey who ordered them back to the base, despite the existence of reports that she had died. As they descend down the elevator, a massive artifact built by an ancient civilization in the ice cavern is revealed.

Doctor Halsey giving Noble Six The Package.

Halsey asks NOBLE Team to buy her more time in order to decrypt the artifact's data. NOBLE Team sets up a defensive perimeter at the entrance to Halsey's lab, deploying Wolf Spider Turrets in the area before fighting off waves of incoming Covenant. After the process is complete, NOBLE Team falls back to Halsey's lab, where she then shows a fragment of the AI Cortana to the team and explains that she has been assigned the custodian of the artifact's data, and she needs to be brought to the Aszod ship breaking yards in order to be deployed onto a UNSC Halcyon-class light cruiser which is being sent on a special mission. Dr. Halsey explains that Cortana has picked Noble Six to be her carrier, and entrusts her to the Spartan.

They make their way to a landing pad outside, where two Pelican dropships await. Jun is assigned by Carter to take one of the Pelicans to escort Dr. Halsey to CASTLE Base, while the rest of the team deploys on the other dropship to the ship breaking yards. On the way, the Pelican piloted by Carter is damaged, forcing Emile and Noble Six to initiate a low level altitude aerial insertion and move towards the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

Carter-A259 ramming his Pelican into a Scarab.

The pair are blocked by a Scarab, but Carter arrives and sacrifices himself, piloting the Pelican in a kamikaze strike on the Scarab. Noble Six and Emile continue towards the Pillar of Autumn. Once there, Emile mans a Mk. 2488 Onager MAC, while Noble Six fights off masses of Covenant infantry. Captain Jacob Keyes then arrives and receives the AI from Noble Six. Before the Captain can take off, a Covenant battlecruiser arrives, and prepares to fire on the Autumn. Meanwhile, a Covenant Phantom arrives on scene and dispatches a team of Elite Zealots to Emile's location. Emile kills one with a shotgun, before being stabbed through the abdomen by another. The Marines on Keyes's dropship offer that Noble Six board the Pelican, but Six declines, as without cover from the MAC, the Pillar of Autumn couldn't escape. After fighting through the Zealots, Noble Six takes control of the cannon and defends the Pelican as it returns to the Autumn. As the Covenant ship prepares to fire, Noble Six fires into its main weapon, disabling the Cruiser as the Pillar of Autumn escapes from the planet.

The UNSC Pillar of Autumn escapes Reach.

The final cutscene portrays the beginning of the opening cutscene in Halo: Combat Evolved, where the Pillar of Autumn comes out of slipspace. Keyes asks if they have evaded the Covenant, to which Cortana replies "I think we both know the answer to that". The credits roll on the right as the ship drifts off towards Installation 04.

After the credits, Noble Six is shown to still be at the ship breaking yards, preparing for a final stand against Covenant forces being deployed in the area. Six fights off several waves of Covenant forces, before succumbing to plasma fire, discarding his/her damaged helmet. Six fights desperately with several Sangheili soldiers until overwhelmed and stabbed by a Sangheili Zealot's energy dagger. The epilogue, set over 30 years later in the year 2589 on a re-terraformed Reach, shows Noble Six's helmet sitting in what is now a grassy field. Dr. Halsey provides a eulogy to Noble Team as the camera shows a human ship landed on the planet, showing the re-colonization of Reach.

Spoilers end here.

Data pads

Main article: Data pads

In addition to the main storyline, Halo: Reach features 19 hidden data pads which tell a self-contained story of their own. The data pads, found in various locations throughout the campaign, focus on a powerful human Artificial Intelligence collective known as the Assembly. Composed of a Minority, Majority and the Committee of Minds for Security, the minds of the Assembly are behind many significant events in human history, having been manipulating humanity in secret since the 24th century.

Gameplay

A gameplay preview of NOBLE Team questioning a civilian.

Halo: Reach features many new additions to the Halo sandbox while still retaining the core gameplay. The player damage system is similar to that of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3: ODST. The HUD highlights environmental features and overlay information about them, and the motion tracker display is three-dimensional. Halo: Reach also introduces a refined equipment system known as "Armor Abilities." Pieces of equipment can now be selected upon respawning (or picked up of the ground for certain gametypes and campaign); armor abilities are reusable with a recharge time between uses. A new assassination system is also featured, in which holding down the melee button will trigger a context-sensitive, third-person assassination animation. Simply hitting the melee button allows for the old-instant-kill assassination, now called beat-downs. Melee kills, which were called beat-downs, are now called pummels.

The weapon selection has been streamlined from that of Halo 3, so that every weapon has a specific role. The number of different grenade types has also been reduced from that of Halo 3, and incendiary grenades and spike grenades did not return. Human weapons all hit more or less instantly after pulling the trigger, as opposed to the projectiles being affected by in-game physics. There is no longer dual-wielding available in Halo: Reach, following the same path as Halo 3: ODST. Compensating for this, the weapons that were known as dual weapons in Halo 3 that are now in Halo: Reach became drastically stronger. The M6G Magnum, for example, is now almost as powerful as the M6D Pistol in Halo: CE, and has an even higher rate of fire.

Players are able to personalize their character's armor with a greater variety of customization options, and the appearance is consistent across campaign and multiplayer, unlike in Halo 3 where it would only be seen during multiplayer matches. Like in Halo 3, the armor permutations are only to be cosmetic and do not affect gameplay. The design of multiplayer models in Halo: Reach differs than those previously used in Halo 3; players are limited to a SPARTAN multiplayer model but given the option of changing their character's gender. Players are given the option to play as an Elite multiplayer model, though only in specific gametypes such as Firefight Versus, Invasion and other Elite-specific gametypes. Both multiplayer models have different gameplay properties; the Elite multiplayer model is physically superior, has a fully recharging health and faster shield regeneration than their SPARTAN counterpart. Overall, their only disadvantage is their massive size which makes them slower and much more noticeable targets.

While the rest of NOBLE Team accompany the player for most of the game, Halo: Reach does not feature any kind of tactical squad mechanic. Much like the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam in Halo 3, the rest of the squad fight alongside the player, but do not interact with the player, other than certain scripted actions and dialogue. The levels in the game are more open and teleportation in co-op is far less strict.[6][7]

As originally revealed in the E3 2010 trailer, a small section of the Halo: Reach campaign level Long Night of Solace involves space combat, a new element to the game. This space battle above Reach is the first space combat section played in the Halo saga.[8][9]

Campaign

The campaign in Halo: Reach consists of eleven levels, ten of which are playable.

  1. Noble Actual - "Welcome to Reach." (Cinematic)
  2. Winter Contingency - "There's a disturbance on the frontier."
  3. ONI: Sword Base - "Covenant are attacking a vital ONI base. Drive the bastards off."
  4. Nightfall - "Move in behind enemy lines and evaluate the opposition."
  5. Tip of The Spear - "Two massive armies clash! Time to go to war against the Covenant."
  6. Long Night of Solace - "Move up the beach and secure the launch facility. Take the battle to the Covenant Super Carrier."
  7. Exodus - "All is not lost. Evacuate civilians from an occupied city."
  8. New Alexandria - "Provide air support in a forest of crumbling skyscrapers."
  9. The Package - "Your orders are to destroy Sword Base... Or are they?"
  10. The Pillar of Autumn - "Deliver Halsey's data package to the Pillar of Autumn."
  11. Lone Wolf - "Spartans never die. They're just missing in action..."

Multiplayer

A total of 34 multiplayer maps are available in Halo: Reach, with 24 standard multiplayer maps and 10 Firefight maps.

Appearance

Armor Permutations

Main article: Armor permutations (Halo: Reach)

Armor Permutations return in Halo: Reach with far deeper customization options than Halo 3. Players can purchase different armor sets with credits from The Armory.

Multiplayer Emblems

Main article: Multiplayer Emblems

An Emblem is a highly customizable image that appears on the right side of a Spartan's chestplate during gameplay, they are there to give a player an identity for themselves.

Armor Effects

Main article: Armor Effects

Armor Effects are customizable effects available in The Armory.

Colors

There are ten base and primary colors, each with three shades of one another that are used to customize your multiplayer color and emblem.

  • Steel, Silver, and White
  • Red, Mauve, and Salmon
  • Orange, Coral, and Peach
  • Gold, Yellow, and Pale
  • Sage, Green, and Olive
  • Teal, Aqua, and Cyan
  • Blue, Cobalt, and Sapphire
  • Violet, Orchid, and Lavender
  • Crimson, Rubine, and Pink
  • Brown, Tan, and Khaki
  • Black can still be used but, only in Forge or Custom gametypes, as a forced player color under general settings.
  • Zombie a slightly more yellowish version of Green to make players look like zombies. Only available in Forge or Custom gametypes as a forced player color under general settings.

Appearances

{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5 |title-1=Characters|

  1. ^ Halo: Reach Announcement Trailer
  2. ^ Bungie.net: Halo: Reach Project Page
  3. ^ Worthplaying.com - "Halo 3: ODST" Developer Interview
  4. ^ Bungie.net: Halo: Reach Launches 09.14.2010!
  5. ^ Game Informer: How Much Cash Did Halo Reach Bring In On Day One?
  6. ^ EDGE Magazine, February 2010
  7. ^ GameInformer: February 2010
  8. ^ YouTube: E3 2010 Extended Reach Campaign Mission HD
  9. ^ Halo: Reach E3 Campaign Demo
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