Well written article, Nick.  I got a few laughs out of it, too. :)

Annnnnd I agree.  Reach definitely suffers from prequelitis, and employs yet another confusing plot (though I'd wager that it's probably the easiest to follow out of the series for most people).  

Reach's plot is basically: 1. Discover the Covenant are on Reach, 2. Evacuate as many people as possible, 3. Meet with Dr. Halsey (your "mum", as she initialized the SPARTAN program), and obtain Cortana, which we find out is ancient Forerunner technology, 4. Transport Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn for safe keeping, then try defeat the covenant on Reach, with the odds being 1 to 1,000,000, 5. Die.  

I really wish Bungie had gone even further back in the canon with Reach, all the way to the inception of the SPARTAN program, and seeing them training and whatnot.  It also would have helped put some more backstory to Reach's current plot, so that people like yourself who haven't read the book have some idea who Dr. Halsey is and why she's important.

It's "ma'am", not "mum".

And there's some character development, although not much. Jorge gets angry upon the discovery of the covenant on his home planet, tries to comfort the locals, and sacrifices himself in an attempt to save his home. 

There's also the rebels, and a huge back story in the data pads about civil unrest and a possible civilian clone army rising up to topple an oppressive government. 

The story is definitely there, just not on the surface. It's a very deep game, it's just that the depth is poorly executed.

Ethan: I can see there's a whole lotta backstory based on how much head-scratching I did as I watched the plot unfold. There was so much going on so quickly that I was waiting for the game to take a breather and say, "OK, let's recap." But that didn't happen.

Jorge sacrificing himself was noble, and it might have moved me if I had cared for the character. But I don't know anything about him or his planet. When he died, I thought, "Oh well, just another one of my 'teammates' who never helped me in battle."

And I swore Jorge said "mum" -- my bad. But even though "ma'am" does make more sense, I still don't know who the woman is, or what kind of relationship she has with Jorge. Though I flubbed a little with the dialog, my point remains.

I know there's a good story in Reach somewhere. It's just hidden behind lots of bad storytelling techniques.

You are obviously not as much of a fan as you pretend to be, or else you would have known from the minute the "scientist lady" was showin in the end cutscene for ONI Sword base is Dr Halsey, who created that Spartan II project. If you read the bio on Jorge, or as you so eloquently termed him "Chain Gun Guy", was a Spartan II who was enlisted into the Spartan III program. A lot of the character development is meant to be inferred to with what you already know. Though sadly Nick you seem to be someone who needs to be sat down and feed everything off a spoon with little to no brain-power usage, or else you short circut your brain which in turn explains your fried looking hair cut. Bungie has never been as straight forward as you claim, they've always hidden the whole story in clues and hidden pieces, forcing you to find that answers. Thats the mark of a great story teller. The proof of a good fan, is finding those pieces for yourself...you my friend, are no fan.

Bryan: Part of the reason I found it difficult to keep up with the plot was because it was so damn boring. I had to fight to keep focused during the cutscenes.

Going farther back in the SPARTAN program would have been cool. With Reach, I felt like Bungie dropped me into events that were already well under way. I was lost from the beginning.

I will say that the post-credits ending was beautiful, and almost made everything leading up to it tolerable.

Chris: I'm a fan of the games. I couldn't care less about the novels and such. And as a fan of only the games, how was I supposed to know who Dr. Halsey was from the first minute she showed up? Could you please tell me? Thanks.

And why should I have to read a bio on a video-game character to appreciate that character? The game should have provided an adequate backstory for Chain-Gun guy. I shouldn't have to use other resources just to enjoy the game's story. The game should have provided me with everything I needed to know.

Look, I'm not a super-fan like you. I play the games and it stops there. I'm sure a lot of other Halo fans are the same way. I don't want to go on some Lost-esque wild goose chase for clues about what the hell is going on in the story. Reach the game should stand on its own merits, not use non-gaming Halo lore as a crutch.

And are ad hominems necessary? I'm just talking about a game. Relax.

@Chris: Outside of perhaps Reach's data pads and Halo 3's terminals (both of which are overly difficult to spot/find), there really isn't anything to "discover" in the Halo games.  And, yes, I'm only talking about the games, because you can never assume as a developer that the gamer has read the 50 Halo books providing backstory for the games.  Reach's story references many things and presents many situations that the average gamer will struggle to grasp and piece together without prior knowledge only the books convey.  

Nick can go ahead and call himself a Halo fan if he wants.  He's played all the games, and enjoys them.  Those are about the only two pre-requisites you need.  Also, easy on the ad homs. Let's try to maintain some civility and maturity in this discussion.

I'll agree that the other characters are about as deep as a puddle, and some are even horribly outdated sci-fi stereotypes-the semi retarded leader who can't understand basic techno babble-but there is plenty of depth to Jorge. 

Examples:

During the first mission, one of the characters shoves a gun in the first civilian you see's face, while Jorge calmly let's him know that they aren't rebels. This connects Jorge to the locals. 

Later in the same mission, Jorge takes off his helmet (a Halo first!) so he can appear to be more human while consoling a clearly distressed local. 

He's clearly kind, compassionate, and loves his homeworld.These examples coupled with your example of the interaction between him and Dr. Halsey AKA Cortana gives us more character development than chief (who is basically the space marine from Doom) had in three games. 

That said, the plot seems to have absolutely NOTHING to do with the rest of the series, other than Cortana showing up at the end. While I did enjoy it's story, there is absolutely NO reason it should be set in the Halo universe. They should have launched a new IP off this game, not try to tell me that it's Halo. 

Chris: I'm going to go ahead and assume you were led here from bungie.net. If so, then I'm not surprised you'd rely on rhetoric and name calling to construct an argument. I personally have never read the books either, and he's right in the sense that the games tell you nothing about Halsey, or why she matters.

That's not entirely true, there is a commemorative plaque in ODST that mentions Halsey, that she created the Spartan program, and that she died on REACH. Unless you spent WAY too much time hunting that info down in game, you wouldn't normally know anything about REACH, Halsey, or the origins of the spartan program.

I think that discounting Halo: ODST shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the title, as well as a potential, critical lapse for someone writing about games. The campaign is just as deep as any other Halo title, and the story is actually better. The characters are better. I'd argue that Halo: ODST is the best game of the entire series, perhaps after the original Halo: Combat Evolved.

Ethan: Like I said, I know the story of Reach and Team Noble goes way deeper than what's depicted in the game. Unfortunately, the game didn't show much of that story. From a fan of only the games, it seems disconnected from other Halo titles. That's why it doesn't "feel" like a Halo game.

Dennis: I'm not dismissing ODST -- I'm saying that, because it's considered an expansion (right?), it's not part of the "main" Halo games. I didn't mean to say that it doesn't have a good narrative, though I can see how you could infer that with the way I worded the sentence. My fault.

But whether I discounted ODST or not, it's not an important part of my overall argument. My point was that previous Halo titles provided good stories, and Reach didn't.

To me, it seems like Bungie made Reach's campaign with the diehard fans in mind. You have to know a lot of backstory to appreciate it. While I have no beef with Bungie providing fan-service, I would have liked a story that fans of strictly the games could follow.

I think I've written this before, but if you're looking for Shakespeare, a video game is not the place to look.  I don't think Bungie pretends to provoke chin-stroking depth.  What Reach's story does is provide a framework for the action and nothing more.

With regard to the bits you wrote about, I suppose we'll have to chalk that up to the different ways we approach video games.  I don't think the story or the pacing of the action was so fast that the narrative was lost.  I simply don't see where they "fly by".

I saw each objective and the motivations behind them very clearly, and I was only half paying attention.  I mean, are you the type that skips cutscenes only to be confused by a game?  That's certainly what it seems like.  For someone that's played the campaign multiple times, I find it hard to believe that you somehow missed the plot points in the Long Night of Solace level, which you partially describe.  There was a whole 5 minute + cutscene that explained the whole thing.  That scene alone was pretty interesting and I even came away thinking that Kat was pretty bad-ass for coming up with that plan.  Even so, the context of the action and the in-game chatter does a decent enough job of cluing you in.  That's two layers of explanation that somehow escaped you.

I don't mean that in the snarky way it may read.  I'm just trying to reconcile your experience against mine.

Their names, for instance. The characters refer to each other by name multiple times.  Their names appear over their heads during gameplay. It was hard to miss whom each of them were.

I'm not a rabid Halo fan by any means.  At the end of the day, your experience was your experience and my experience was mine.  I'll just have to disagree with you.

John: Haha, I know Team Noble's actual names. I refer to them by their gun because that is what's most memorable about them. I was using a bit of humor to make my point.

And I'm no dummy, but, yes, I would have liked a little more clarification about what I was doing. You have read the novels, so your understanding of the story far exceeded mine going into the game. Even though the game apparently didn't follow the novel to a "T," you still knew a lot more than me because you read the book.

As I said, I understand the gist of the events. But it seems like I'm not getting the full story. I'm not asking the game to provide 20-minute expositions about plot events, but I would have liked a bit more clarity as to why what I'm doing is important. But thanks for making a rash judgment about my attention span based on this one article.

And something else has been bugging me: Why does it seem like the Covenant are invading Reach and building all of these massive structures undetected? The "invading army" Team Noble sees at the end of "Long Night of Solace" just shows up without anyone knowing? Wouldn't Reach have the capability to detect huge-ass fleets coming into its orbit? Or is this where "slip-space" (another thing that wasn't properly explained in the game) comes in?

@Nick

Having read a couple of the novels, I have a full appreciation of the idea that they're not at all needed to enjoy the game.  I'm also an adult who can separate the expectation from what the game actually delivers in terms of narrative.

As I said earlier, the story is merely a framework from which to build the action around.  In that, Reach succeeded.  Aliens seem to be invading. Battle escelates.  Aliens are looking for something.  Noble Team finds out they're looking for ancient Forerunner technology. They are tasked with getting that data off-planet.

It's really not any more complicated than that, and the gravity of those plot points are made abundantly clear regardless of your knowledge of the books.  Anything deeper is pure fan-service. In that respect, the game succeeds again because fans of the canon will understand.

If you can comprehend the gist of the events, then the story has served its purpose.

It sounds like you want to dig deeper for explanations that the game wasn't intended to convey. I invite you to read a couple of the books.  If you have Halsey's journal, read that.  They're not required reading by any means, but will enrich the backstory a bit.

In terms of the the invading Covenant.  I thought it was pretty clear since Halo CE that they were an advanced civilzation with much better technology than ours.  It came as no surprise that they could appear undetected and build structures quickly enough so that locals wouldn't know.  Mind you, in the first level,  Noble thought, as did the rest of Reach, that it was insururectionists making trouble out there in the rural areas of Reach.  The confusion of the opening events was fairly evident.

Similarly, at the end Long Night of Solace, the fleet of Covenant showed up through slipspace ruptures as you mentioned.  What exactly wasn't explained?  That they came in through slipspace?  It was shown in the cutscene and the comm chatter mentions it specifically.

Is it the concept of splipspace that wasn't explained?  This is a concept introduced in Halo CE's opening scene.  It was repeated all the Halo games.

It was the concept of slip-space that eluded me. I haven't played a Halo game's campaign in a couple years, and I haven't touched the original Halo in nine years. So, yeah, I don't remember stuff like slip-space.

And while I don't think games will ever reach the narrative caliber of movies and books, I think they should still weave a good story. There are way too many games that have plots that serve merely as frameworks for the action. I'm tired of that. Give me characters who have a pulse and aren't horrible stereotypes. Give me a story that does more than move me from one cool battle to the next. I don't think that's an unreasonable request, considering plenty of other games have done that ... including the previous Halos.

If I'm interpreting your last sentence correctly, are you saying that previous Halos have us better stories?  If so, I'll have to disagree with you.  The story is cliche, as are the Master Chief and Cortana.  The deepest character you'll find is the Arbiter.  Not that this is a bad thing as they serve their purpose perfectly.

If lack of story is something many games are guilty of, why single out Halo: Reach?  "Even For A Video Game", it sounds like its par for the course.  For Halo, the true star of the series is, and always has been, the moment-to-moment action.  It's Bungie's famed 30 seconds of action philosophy that has worked for them through 5 shooters with consistently positive reception.  It's to Bungie's credit that they left plenty of nods for those that actually did choose delve into the canon.  Totally not required, but it was fan service that didn't hurt the game.

Why, all of the sudden, expect a whole different design philosophy?  It just sounds like a frustration you have with many games, and not Reach specifically.

Well, there's a lot of discussion generated by your article, Nick, and in that sense, mission accomplished! There's quite a bit I want to respond to here.

First and most importantly, let's can the hostility. We're talking about a video game here folks. We should be mature enough that we can endure it being criticized and respond with a rational and civil argument. Seriously, bashing each other is not going to help. In some cases, this is an agree-to-disagree situation.

Re: Reach & Nick's Thesis
Reach has a remarkably weak story. It's short campaign is riddled with stock characters I don't care about making sacrifices that seems gratuitous rather than important. Heck, it feels like Bungie outlined the story with, "OK, so how do each one of these characters die?" before they even considered their personalities or the overall plot. One of my friends made the argument that Jorge is a deeper character and should be regarded as an exception, but big-strong-guy-with-big-gun-and-heart-of-gold is a stock character. I'm sorry, guys, but it is. There's nothing special or meaningful about him. He's just another cheap archetype stuck in the story to get-'er-done on a project that REALLY needed another year to complete properly.

Reach is a good game, but it's not a great game. It's single player campaign is a short throw-away, it's Firefight mode is neutered (there is no survival/horde mode like ODST, despite the misleadingly named "Firefight Classic"), and the multiplayer suffers from a severally broken spawn system and poor map designs. This is NOT the Bungie project I am used to, and I can only say sadly that they rushed this game out the door. They didn't have the resources to produce ODST and Reach at the same time, their managers didn't prevent massive feature creep (they admit Forge World wasn't intended as a feature of the game), and they didn't have the fortitude to delay the release of the game one year to finish it. They rushed something out and hyped it as the ultimate Halo.

Look, I like playing Reach. I am going to keep playing it. But I am realistic that this game could have AND SHOULD HAVE been a 10. It's more like a 7.5. And Bungie hasn't even admitted that the spawn system is completely broken, so I guess they have no intention of fixing it. :( I'm really surprised I don't see more discussion of this given Reach's spawning is far worse than Halo 3's.

Re: ODST
Relevant or not, I would say ODST had far and away the best acting, deepest characters, and most emotionally engaging -- the most HUMAN -- story of all the Halo games. It's a terribly underrated and under-appreciated title. It's hard to believe the story and characters were written by the same studio as Halo: Reach. I suppose it goes to show that Reach, being a much more expansive and ambitious title, suffered for a lack of focus.

Re: "Mum" vs. "Ma'am"
Just a little background on this. Jorge speaks his English with an an English-accent. To the English, "ma'am" is a common term of respect to address a woman, and it's pronounced just as we would "mom" or "mum". Nick heard right AND Jorge was not referencing Dr. Halsey as his mother. He was showing her respect. It's reasonable to be confused on this point if you aren't familiar with English English. Jorge does seem to have something of a child-to-parent relationship towards Halsey too.

@John -- One of the reasons I like the previous Halo games' stories better is because they had elements of mystery and suspense. The introduction of the Flood in the first game -- while arguably hindering gameplay -- made for a damn cool plot twist. Fighting alongside the Elites in Halo 3 was epic and unexpected. It's those kinds of cool story moments that Reach lacked. Chalk that up to my point about Reach being a prequel.

@Fergus -- Awesome response! I can do nothing but smile and think you should have written this article. :) Oh, and thanks for clarifying the "ma'am/mum" debate. Cue "The More You Know" music.