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Let's take a better look at that... *SP*
Posted By: BlueNinja <kennethdemuyt@msn.com>	Date: 9/17/10 2:01 p.m.
: Halo’s really only got 2 levels that don’t do anything to advance the : plot. What about Reach? : Winter Contingency: No. This jump starts the whole game. : Sword Base: Yes. The events of this level are pure action. Set up coms, : defend shit, etc. : Nightfall: I still don’t know what we were doing in this level, so definite : yes. : Tip of the Spear: Yes. Blah blah take out a shield protecting some covenant : thing. Again pure action and no plot at all. : Long Night of solace: Yes. Blah Blah, blow up some covenant ship which is : totally unimportant. Again, pure action and no plot. : Exudus: Yes. Blah Blah, get civilians out of the city. Notice how the plot : hasn’t advanced AT ALL since meeting with Halsey. : New Alexandria: Yes. Blah Blah destroy some com jammers. The game’s almost : over, and the plot STILL hasn’t advanced since level 2. : The package: No. Finally, the plot moves. We learn we need to get Cortana to : Keyes on the Autumn.. : Pillar of Autumn: No. It’s the climax. Let's have another look at the story of Reach, shall we? Winter Contingency: As you said, this jump starts the entire game. Can't cut this. Sword Base: I agree, most of what happens in this level doesn't serve a real purpose story-wise. We learn that whatever information Kat took from the relay in Winter Contingency possibly contains invaluable information, however. Nightfall: We learn that the Covenant have set up an entire advance party on Reach, more akin to an invading army than a bunch of scouts. Tip of the Spear: We blow up some Covie bastards. That, and we discover that the Covenant invasion is spearheaded by a Covenant supercarrier. Long Night of Solace: We proceed to blow up said Covenant supercarrier, in an effort to quell the Covenant invasion. It's only at the end of the level, once the supercarrier gets turned into dust, that the real Covenant invasion force arrives in-system, giving us little doubt that this planet, despite our efforts, is going to fall. That's a very powerful moment. Exodus: This planet is going to fall. That much was established at the end of the previous mission. Thus, it only makes sense that we try and get as many civilians off-world as possible. We also get back in touch with Noble Team, which once again furthers the story. New Alexandria: Okay, I agree, the only advancement this level delivers story-wise is Kat's death. Everything else that happens in the level is kind of pointless. And then follow the Package and the Pillar of Autumn, which serve as the climax of the game. The problem with the story, as evidenced by your comments, is that we already knew how it was going to end. The Covenant would invade full-force, and Reach would fall. That's why a lot of the story has the potential to feel pointless, I think. : Similarly, I don’t believe Halsey ever told us what the artifact was, why it : was important, how the data in Cortana was going to help, etc etc. Now I : knew this because I’ve read supplemental material, but if you haven’t then : it’s quite lacking. Even the most basic of explanations of foregone. Oh : right it’s classified. But we need to know in order to CARE. On this, I agree with you. While Reach fared a lot better, exposition-wise, than Halo 3, the least Halsey could've done was explain a bit more. Instead we got a "This is what they died for, this can turn the tide of the war"-talk, without really finding out what 'this' truly is.

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