Reach ending scene/credits/etc. discussion *MAJOR SPOILERS*

[HeavyGunner]

Wtf @that though.where were her shields at?

My guess is that when the nuke went off, an EMP ensued, causing all of Noble Team's shields to go down.

The only big downer for me was the allied AI, these are the UNSC's fighting elite coupled with battle ready marines! They should know how to PRIORITIZE TARGETS!!

I haven't even completed the second mission on ledgendary yet, and I've already personally executed 3 marines. Stupid AI don't deserve to live, credit deduction or not. Lol

halopedia says that kats loss of arm and life were her own fault for not realising the gravity of the situation,

That is a very biased statement. True or not, it needs to be removed asap. Who would post something like that?

Now Miranda Keyes IS her daughter by none other than Captain Keyes himself (that sly dog). One can assume that it happened early on when he was acting as her escort during the "candidate observation" phase...

Hahaha Yes! I was waiting for someone to post this! I couldn't believe it myself, but it is true, and very funny at that.

 

[Sgt Whoopass]

No, I'm going to assume 6 is dead. He doesn't get up from THAT. I'm just going to let him die in a way that he should, instead of a whole, "NO LOOK, HE'S NOT DEAD SEE?" kinda thing. It's how I would've preferred Halo 3 end.

see i would like that but if chief was dead then our buddies in "chastity" would have a kind of problem, and that "forge" video would never have been graced us all with its admittedly short lived yet none the less giddy excitement we've all come to love from halo.

 

[TheHow7zer]

I'd say Noble 6 is dead. It's possible Jorge survived the slipspace jump, but without a cryo tube and on a ship filled with covvies he probably didn't last too long.

It wasn't exactly a jump, per say. They rigged the S-drive to malfunction in such a way that it would send part of the ship into slipspace with no other destination in mind. They used it instead of a nuke. No-one could live through an unprotected slipspace jump, even a spartan.

About those Datapads, apparently you unlock a new ending if you find them all.
That is what I am trying to do right now, I'll tell you all when I find out!

 

[Trooper114]

Heavey Gunner, i do not think that was a nuke. If it where they would not have been able to take a step after the blast because the building would be falling to pieces as well as the rest of the city, considering the fact on nuke can level a halff a city or more, depending on size, my guess a covie crusier must have just started glassing the place because the covies where backing out so they knew what was coming, if it where a nuke they probaly wouldn't have known. Plus it looks like a beam not a bomb droping.

 

[Soul Drinker]

I honestly was not happy at all with the storyline in Reach. I personally loved the Nylund books since they came out, and I'll admit, I was a bit biased as to who should have been in this game, Spartan-wise, in my opinion. But I've always been fond of the Spartan IIs...after all, I do dress up as Linda, go figure..(and to whoever mentioned Nylund's work being thrown out the window, props. I wasn't happy with the fact that next to nothing he wrote ties in with this game)

The plot in this game was just so..lacking. Especially the character development, I though. I know the Halo games aren't on the level of characterization like RPGs, (AceNat mentioned Mass Effect) but I felt nothing as each of the Spartans died. Maybe something when Carter said goodbye, but it was just like, eh. I remember when I played Republic Commando...when you have to leave Sev behind that really upset me. (And still does. Stupid Yoda...) The game felt like it was rushed, honestly. You run from here to there, and then everyone is dead. Boom.

I agree with Dogwizard about the cinematic where Noble 6 is watching everyone leave, and refuses to go down without a fight feel. That part did hit me. But more so in the way that it made me think of all the Spartan IIs that were currently on the planet. And are for a while..In First Strike, John goes back to meet up with everyone else, including Halsey, Fred, Kelly...(Forget who else was with them, off the top of my head!)

And to everyone going back and forth about Kat getting shot in the head, I think the people saying she would be alright are right. Linda "survives" being shot in the chest, back, and the head. I use the term survive loosely because she technically dies..John is holding her as she flatlines. The only reason she survives is because as soon as he gets to the Pillar of Autumn he throws her in a cryo tube, and later picks said cryo tube up, and then eventually Halsey revives her.

Just compared to canon from The Fall of Reach, everything seems so warped. I guess I just preferred the Nylund books more? I dunno. I did really like how they designed Reach, the planet. It very much reminded me of how I pictured it would be in the books. This was my opinion of the campaign, lol. Also, did anyone notice that Brutes were easier to kill that Elites?

Maybe I'm just bitter and liked the very original plot of Halo 1. After that it all seemed repetitive.

 

[SchizophrenicMC]

Kat states when the beam comes down that there's a massive radiation spike (some high number Roentgens) and that the Covenant are starting to glass the planet. My guess would the same spike blew the shield generators of Noble Team - at least Kat's - and that's how that sniper got the round through her skull. I was shocked to see how she died.

I wanna say that note about Halsey, Keyes, and Miranda is kinda.... Out of character, but enough is left open in the universe that anything's possible 0_o

Anyway, I'm gonna have to go back and watch that cutscene with MC in it again. I forgot the engine renders cinematics in real time, so they could do that. And, what with the Buck-Monkey thing in ODST...

Also, Six is dead. We all but see the energy knife go across his neck. Plus, he'd already taken a sword and several plasma hits. Emile is more alive than him, at this point. It leaves me with greater closure than the Chief.

I only wish the "Cortana, all I need to know" cutscene was a bit more elaborated upon.

 

[Shade88]

SPOILER ALERT! Don't read unless you have beaten campaign.



I think the Noble team members getting killed off was one of the most dramatic parts of the Halo Series. I was nearly brought to tears when Jorge, Carter, and Emile sacrificed themselves, I was completely shocked with Kat's random death, and I am still puzzled about Jun. And then Six... Well I was actually concerned when i was surrounded by Elite Generals.

Also the campaign mission were also among my favorites, they felt like an actual war. (Instead of the one man killing machine from the trilogy, we are Noble Team who are put onto assignments by command.) It was just a really good campaign.

As for the inconsistencies with the Nylund Novels... Well I just ignore it, and in my head combine stories to the point where they make sense. Seriously its a great method for removing head aches.

Allied AIs did suck, but no game is perfect, people can cheat the credit system using Firefight, which is just a show of horrible gamesman ship, and a slight flaw with Bungie's design.

The covenant did something in this game that I have never felt in any Halo game since the first few levels of Halo CE, they Terrified me to death. They actually made me rethink my strategies.

Game rating: 9.9 out of 10. (Once they do the update in Oct. then it will be 10 out of 10.)

 

[J326]

I agree that the campaign didn't "feel" as epic as say Halo 3 where it was more alien going through different worlds and places. They kept trying to make it feel more like a tactical spec ops mission based like modern warfare but kind of failed. Like when you're with Jun I kind of expected a more stealthy game, like get a camo and assasinate a lot but instead you get only a few stealthy kills in the begining and then your in another giant fight. Also yeah the AIs are terrible, I felt the enemy AIs were better programmed compared to your spartan team mates. Emile you have a SHOTGUN! stop hiding behind a rock and shooting from a distance with it! I expected more time spent fighting with your team as a whole instead of going off on desperate missions with only 1 of the team members that still does a poor job of being a "team player". Carter says your a "team" from the beginning but I felt little compel to be a team player and fight along side your poorly programmed AI spartan and instead it turns into a pseudo Master chief run and gun ordeal.
The game is great, they did a good overhaul but they still had some lacking areas.

 

[Liquidfire3]

If I might point out a few things:

1. As far as the story goes, technically the Fall of Reach book is NOT canon to the Bungie Halo universe, just like Halo Wars is not technically canon either. Bungie made Reach the way they wanted the story told. I still haven't read the book, and I'm sure it's as good as everyone says, however, sometimes you cannot take a book and directly turn it into a video game or movie. Look at the Lord of the Rings. They changed a lot, but if you really think about it, it wouldn't have worked on screen if they did it 100% by the book.

2. The deaths of Noble Team did hit me, not nearly as hard as I thought, but hit me nonetheless. I think Bungie strayed from having you become too attached since you are not supposed to become too emotionally attached in a real military situation. It can effect your judgment on the current situation, not to mention Noble team was known for being sent into suicide missions, I think they had hardened themselves emotionally. Also, you play as Six, thrown in as a replacement in a team you've never worked with before. I doubt I would've had any serious emotional attachments to my team mates within just a few hours of being with them.

3. The campaign wasn't supposed to be epic in the sense that we've come to know with Halo. The Halo trilogy was epic because you played as MASTER CHIEF, a SPARTAN II super soldier, you were practically invincible. In ODST, they showed a more vulnerable human side with you taking the role of a Rookie ODST, a nobody foot soldier, separated from his team in a big city being overrun by the Covenant. In Reach, you play the role of a SPARTAN III, a low budget Spartan as it were, you are a super soldier, but you are not invincible, infact you are far from it. You've been assigned to replace a member on a team known for being assigned suicide missions. You are fighting a battle that was lost before it began, and you know deep down inside that you might not make it out alive.

I think we all had our hopes up for the wrong thing with Reach. Reach was supposed to be about the emotional numbing effect war can have on a person's emotions, especially when you are fighting against insurmountable odds. As the campaign ads say, "From the beginning, you know the end"

 

[HeavyGunner]

Heavy Gunner, i do not think that was a nuke. If it where they would not have been able to take a step after the blast because the building would be falling to pieces as well as the rest of the city, considering the fact on nuke can level a halff a city or more, depending on size, my guess a covie crusier must have just started glassing the place because the covies where backing out so they knew what was coming, if it where a nuke they probaly wouldn't have known. Plus it looks like a beam not a bomb droping.

You've got a good point. Duly noted.

 

[nrettenmaier]

Cortana, you have an interesting point with the emotional numbing idea. However, I feel like they were actually going for a more human experience, kind of like what you were saying about odst. Since you already know the end I think they were trying to make the game more driven by the emotions of loss than by the story per se. The deaths of all the team members I think shows this, as well as the marketing campaigns. The death of the original noble 6 I think is supposed to give you that feeling, especially with the way him and kat look at each other for a little bit before he flys to the cruiser. There's that understanding that they will never see each other again. Also the viral vidoes showing the lives of the humans on reach days before it is attacked. The pregnant woman, the business woman who leaves her child, etc.

In this respect I think they needed to push a little more, show a lot of marines dying, make it more obvious your losing reach.

On another note, I personally really felt it when jorge and kat died. Like someone said, Jorge died thinking he had saved reach. It was sad because you knew that he sacrificed himself for nothing. Also, kat's death was sad because it was so unexpected. Seeing a spartan die just out of the blue like that I think was a really good ay to show the strength of the covenant and the weakness of the human forces.

That being said I think carter and emile's deaths could have been better.

 

[TheHow7zer]

About those Datapads, apparently you unlock a new ending if you find them all.
That is what I am trying to do right now, I'll tell you all when I find out!

Well, I just finished the game after getting all the datapads...

And no extra scenes at the end. I searched the web and confirmed this, no one really knows what they are for...

 

[Trooper114]

Kat states when the beam comes down that there's a massive radiation spike (some high number Roentgens) and that the Covenant are starting to glass the planet. My guess would the same spike blew the shield generators of Noble Team - at least Kat's - and that's how that sniper got the round through her skull. I was shocked to see how she died.

I wanna say that note about Halsey, Keyes, and Miranda is kinda.... Out of character, but enough is left open in the universe that anything's possible 0_o

Anyway, I'm gonna have to go back and watch that cutscene with MC in it again. I forgot the engine renders cinematics in real time, so they could do that. And, what with the Buck-Monkey thing in ODST...

Also, Six is dead. We all but see the energy knife go across his neck. Plus, he'd already taken a sword and several plasma hits. Emile is more alive than him, at this point. It leaves me with greater closure than the Chief.

I only wish the "Cortana, all I need to know" cutscene was a bit more elaborated upon.

That Buck Monkey thing was for kicks, and it was funny. AS far as that last part in the Autumn if you want it to be more elaborate play or replay Halo 1. Reach ends where Halo 1 started and what Keys said was what he originaly said on Halo 1 at the bery beginning.

 

[Curbi]

Yeah I guess your right about that. But was it me or did it look like a human sniper rifle that took her out. Cause in this game there doesn't seem to be a beam rifle cause any other weapon wouldn't have broken through her shields in a single shot. Or is it in there and I just haven't seen it?

if you watch the cutscene again it shows the trail of the bullet which looks like the beam rifle and I dont think the needle rifle as the trail so maybe they didnt use it often

 

[Trooper114]

But the beam rifle was not even available this game only the focus rifle which still wouldn't kill that quickly. If Kats shields were down, it is possible to get a head shot with it, so i think it was the needle rifle , not only because of that but because the round was pink and because i saw the needle rifle in the elite's or jackel's hands.

 

[Curbi]

Ok true but if it was the needle rifle the needle would have been sticking out of her head but in the cutscene you can clearly see theres a hole with singed sides going straight through so I cant tell which gun it is

 

[Garland]

What does availability in game have to do with it? Just because Noble Six doesn't come across a Beam Rifle during his time with Noble Team doesn't mean that the Covenant aren't using them on Reach. You never get to drive a troop transport Warthog, but you get to see one blown up in the second mission.

 

[Trooper114]

good point...

 

[tubachris85x]

Yea, I just finished reading the Journal. It's kinda obvious Keys and Halsey had some type of fling..

 

[Tactonyx]

I was very dissapointed with the end. No legendary video, No staying alive for hours battling wave after wave of elites, only a few potshots and it was over. The ending vid that they should have had is like the one at the end of the LOTR the fellowship of the ring, where Borimir totally kicks trash before he gets killed. I can think of a lot of creative ways Noble six could have killed Elites with his bare hands, his knife, or disarming one of the elites and taking his energy sword. Oh well.