Examining Halo: Reach's Breathtaking Twist

Halo reaches campaign is one quite unlike those you worked your way through with Master Chief during Halo Combat Evolved two and three there is still the odd moment of Triumph here and there but on the whole the game is markedly different in tone to Bungie's fabled Trilogy Where Chief's Adventures were about overcoming insurmountable odds the story of noble six and Company is one of Despair and no level in reach exemplifies this better than its Midway Mission long night of Solace but what happened prior to it getting going I hear you ask well here's a quick rundown before we begin talking about the level itself joining a squad of five other Spartans collectively known as Noble Team on the colony World Of Reach Noble Six travels with them to a remote to agricultural region to locate the cause of a Communications blackout at first human interference is suspected to be the cause of the problem but soon Humanity's sworn enemy The Covenant are revealed to be behind them instead Noble Team managed to fight their alien adversary off and and are then sent to only research facilities sword base where they again battle back the Covenant before meeting with Dr Catherine Halsey who shares that she thinks reaches Invaders are searching for information pertinent to their religion under cover of night six and teammate June then explore a covenants-controlled area nicknamed the dark Zone where they soon discover something horrifying a covenant Invasion Force stationed nearby primed and ready to attack reach rather than waiting for the covenant's next move the UNSC decides to take the fight to their enemy launching a counter-attack which at first seems to be a moderate success as six and team managed to destroy a pair of anti-aircraft guns despite their hard work everything ends in tragedy however as Covenant supercarrier the long night of Solace reveals itself and destroys the UNSC Grafton just as Noble Team make their escape and it's at this point that we'll pick up the action long night of Solace begins 36 hours after the battle for sherdock Ridge began during previous Mission tip of the spear as Noble Team take shelter against a now ruined landscape while a covenant Scarab passes by it is the final time they're gathered together in the entire campaign it doesn't make any difference in narrative terms but I have always found it strange in a way that this cinematic wasn't used to conclude tip of the spear given its early moments deal with the direct Fallout of that mission's events and it takes place in the same area on the other hand you could also argue it makes total sense to include it where it is even the playing cat then explains is one you'll soon enough find yourself carrying out objective destroy Covenant carrier and geosynchronous orbit above us this sanctions sir what do you think method a slip space Drive in lieu of the nukes we don't have delivery system us solvable getting us up there that and getting our hands on a slip space Drive long night of Solace begins proper with what I would consider to be one of Halo reach's more triumphant moments as you storm a beach leading to the facility housing the unsc's saber program alongside squadmates Carter cat and George I think it sets a very appropriate tone you will of course already suspect that Halo reaches story doesn't have a happy ending by virtue of the campaign's very first scenes and you might also be a tad down in the dumps after watching the Grafton go down in flames at the end of tip of the spear however as shocking as those recent scenes may have been they're not the real gut punch that will come soon and so Bungie giving you a few little victories towards the beginning of the level goes a long way towards building your confidence back up before the big reveal the campaign's midpoint twist at the end of the mission I think that's what long night of solace's opening is really all about making you feel powerful again at least during these early stages you become so involved in the action directly in front of you that you begin to forget it's about the bad things which happened prior Bungie quickly re-establishes your sense of Pride before you experience a quite significant fall both literally and metaphorically a little while after I'd also Imagine there are more than a few of you watching who straight away thought of Halo Combat Evolved Mission the silent cartographer when you first played through this early section it certainly Bears more than a passing resemblance although it is arguably more intense than its counterpart now don't get me wrong the silent cartographer's Beach sequence was very well designed for its time taking place over a wide open area but grouping covenants and cover in its middle to funnel you down its Center so the action remained intense combined with the large Squad of Marines accompanying you and Halo's theme swelling in the background it remains one of the best moments in the entire series long night of Solace dials things up to 11. it has the same excellent level design which encourages you to push straight up through the middle of the beach but spread across an even larger area than the silent cartographer there are far more Covenant who need to be dispatched and you're joined by three other members of Noble Team to make you perhaps feel like even more of an Unstoppable Force than you did as Master Chief previously I mean why have one Spartan when you can have four the Fantastic pulse pounding track Dead Ahead is also used to further amplify events it's a uniquely Rich piece of music which makes me immediately think of this particular section whenever I hear it oh comparing all three of the series Beach invasions long night of solaces is one which takes some of my favorite parts of the silent cartographers and the covenants from three and blends them together its basic makeup matches that of the silent cartographer most closely but on a grander scale as you weave between cover and charge up the center of the beach while battling more enemies than ever before and it also takes one or two cues from the Covenant as well not only is there just as much happening in the skies above you as there is at ground level although not quite to the same extent as in three there's also a somewhat hidden alternative path you can take if you manage to spot it reaching the second half of the encounter you can actually break off to the left and head down a quieter path where a single wraith is soon dropped off and after destroying it you can head back up to the beach emerging behind your enemy it is essentially a different arguably more interesting take on the smaller path to the right of the beach at the beginning of the Covenant before we move on there's one more thing of note here if you hang around on the beach instead of heading inside the Covenant will continue to ferry in unlimited waves of reinforcement I said earlier the beach encounter is about making you feel powerful and that absolutely is the case but equally this is a nice touch by Bungie which furthers a feeling of futility for the more observant as a never-ending stream of covenants continue to arrive on the scene you might begin to ask the question is there really much Hope of Victory except when recording footage recently I couldn't actually get it to happen it used to the footage I just used was from a previous video where it definitely did but this time it didn't despite multiple attempts on multiple difficulties across both PC and Xbox maybe I was doing it wrong maybe it's been fixed because it was never meant to happen in the first place who knows it's a shame though as I rather liked the idea respawning enemies aren't a Halo staple so it's certainly made a statement when I first covered long lines of Solace a good two or three years ago I wasn't overly enamored by the brief indoor section which follows but nowadays I'm a bit more of a fan and understand its inclusion better first it acts as something of a panic cleanser if it wasn't included you'd jump straight from an intense battle on a beach to an intense battle in space with little time to get your bearings in between which I think would have made for an awkward transition and second it continues to further that niggling feeling you may have had in the back of your mind since realizing the Covenant would never stop coming on the beach that Humanity's hold on reach remains a slender one parts of the facility burn dead bodies litter its hallways and there's even the odd Covenant foot soldier who has managed to find their way inside the building May house saber the secret weapon which will hopefully help you thwart the Covenant but it's also a rather Bleak Place indeed what follows could and perhaps should have been a rather exciting new foray into space combat for Halo as Noble Six and George blast off thank you unfortunately this next big chunk of gameplay is an underwhelming affair compared to long night of solace's opening scenes the purpose behind it is much the same to continue building up your confidence to make you feel like the battle for reach could still in fact be won your first victory of the mission was on a beach a fairly narrow patch of land but now you're winning fights in space looking down on the planet you were standing on mere moments ago it increases the scope of your success to a galactic scale which in turn intensifies the feelings of accomplishments which come with it the issue for me is that it comes across as being bolted on because it looks cool rather than it being a meaningful addition to the Halo sandbox it almost feels like a Halo 4 section in its execution in that game there are a ton of Standalone segments within missions whether it be taking control of a mantis towards the end of infinity or flying the broadsword at the end of midnight they feel very much like detached set pieces which give the game an almost Call of Duty like feel at times fending off the Covenant in space feels similar what Bungie normally does a tremendous job of is adding new gameplay features so that they integrate with the existing sandbox such as the scarabs in Halo 3 or the objective randomization of New Alexandria later on in Halo Reach here you're very much separated from that and while it makes for something different during an initial playthrough and so is engaging enough once you've finished it for the first time there's little new or exciting to experience if I were to redesign this section I'd have it so you had to land your ship on different parts of the anchor 9 station you're defending to repel Covenant borders before heading out into space again to continue clearing the area that way flying the saber would be less its own separate thing and More in inclusion which redefined how the Halo sandbox could be utilized it would have also been a great way of setting things up early for New Alexandria where you'd again be doing similar except with an element of unpredictability thrown in to expand on on the concept once you've finally finished blowing more Covenant ships than was really necessary to Smithereens a makeshift bomb is prepared with your next task being to fly it onto a Corvette before that Corvette is then flowing into the long night of Solace under the guy's a very refueling run in order to destroy it even with my misgivings about the first half of your time spent in space I do still have some praise for Bungie the saber's mechanics are Rock Solid it's a very entertaining vehicle to Pilot and transplanting the same basic idea behind ground combat into a space setting is a clever one the Banshees are essentially cannon fodder which can be taken down with ease like grunts while the serifs are essentially Elites in spaceship clothing first you have to bring down their Shields and then you can go in for the kill it adds a welcome air of familiarity to a section which is quite unique in the context of Halo the second half of the sequence during which you attack the Corvette alongside the frigate Savannah is also far more enjoyable than the section which precedes it it's made all the more poignant too due to the changes happening on reach far below while defending anchor 9 the planet was still bathed in blue and green tones but as you attack the Corvette it now Burns orange that transformation doesn't just affect long night of Solace either from this point onwards you'll likely notice greens and blues being replaced by oranges and reds as the dominant colors throughout the rest of the campaign as well At Last boarding the Corvette against the stunning backdrop of the Savannah continuing to provide support you're given your next objective noble 6 the Savannah's countermeasures won't work forever find a way inside and permanently disable that Cruiser's Communications as soon as we're sure the Corvette can't squawk we'll initiate uppercut phase two what follows is my favorite bit of Halo set in a covenant environment Bar None when I think of the most memorable sections like it in the series I think of the second halves of Truth and Reconciliation and keys in Combat Evolved I think of grave mind and high charity in two all of them had some merits but they also sometimes suffered from repetitive level design featured frustrating encounters or both High charity none of them are a joy to play like long night of solace's own take on the formula it begins with you taking on the comms crew in a multi-tiered area before you move into an even bigger one designed perfectly to function as a sprawling combat Arena and you do all of this while any environmental noises are muted and the gravity isn't quite what you're used to also if you opt to spare the engineer in the second area and if your squad mates don't viciously put him down first he'll actually casually fly off which always makes me chuckle once George arrives you take down a few more covenants alongside a squad of Marines before you witness the Savannah's destruction can you hear me look it's gone sakes nothing we could do Noble you're in deep with no cover get that Corvette moving and get the hell out of there I love the way the music switches to track Belly of the Beast here it continues to play throughout the entirety of the next encounter and its mournful tones add a real sense of Despair and dreads to the moments following the Savannah's fall next you fight through another visually striking area to finally activate the refueling run before heading back to George for the level's final big encounter as you fend off wave after wave of Covenant everything through from landing on the Corvette to the mission's final tragic scenes is perfectly paced action-packed and varied it is frankly tremendous I'll be the first to admit that the bright purple aesthetic of the Covenant ships and architecture has never really been my cup of tea nor particularly has the gameplay which occurs within them but long night of Solace is the best example in the entire series of Bungie getting it completely and utterly spot on even with my own reservations I cannot deny that there is not a minute throughout the level's final third during which I am not entertained at at long last we arrive at Halo reaches first moment of true heartbreak as George sacrifices himself to give Humanity a Fighting Chance of victory bad news is time has fried I'm gonna have to fire it manually that's a one-way trip we will make it sooner or later better get going six they're gonna need you down there listen reach has been good to me time has come to return the favor don't deny me this of all the members of Noble Team other than six himself I've always found George to be the most interesting and best fleshed out of the five and that's hardly a surprise Bungie of course will have planned for his death and so wisely focused on building out his character as much as possible leading up to it in order to maximize its impact whether it's the scenes of him speaking Hungarian or the very human way he deals with the Survivor of the Covenant attack in Winter contingency or his almost mother and son-like relationship with Halsey by the time he meets his makers you know him better than any of the other Spartans who accompany you there is also a certain sense of irony in the way he meets his maker too the only reach native of the group George said he'd never leave the planet but dies in space defending it from above a heavy Weapon Specialist too he also dies from the blast of what could be described as a very heavy weapon indeed from this point onwards reach becomes less of a story about Humanity wrestling for control of reach with the Covenant and more one of the them trying to find any small glimmers of Hope in absolute defeat and this twist a gut punch half a game in the making does a fantastic job of ushering in this change writer's long night of Solace reaches its close [Music] in gameplay terms long night of Solace is two-thirds good and one-third bad the beach section at its beginning is always a joy to play and more than deserves to be mentioned in the same breadth as other similar examples in the series and your time spent on the Corvette is a clear demonstration of how Bungie continued to hone their craft right up until their time with the series concluded when it comes to narrative atmosphere and aesthetic it's wonderful from start to finish there's always something happening to draw your attention be it the rapidly unfolding story The Bleak surroundings of the saber facility or the change in complexion of reach while viewed from space the stars of the show are of course George and the tale of his untimely demise as well as the twist which occurs immediately after as they absolutely should be they make up one of the most impactful moments in any Halo title and that's what long night of Solace at its core is all about making a massive impact it ends the first half of reaches campaign in style and sets up its second in Far darker half perfectly and in my view it does both absolutely superbly thanks for watching the video boys girls and Spartans if you had a good time then do consider liking subscribing and sharing your thoughts and hopefully we'll meet again soon

Channel: Ben Plays Games

Views: 95,836

Keywords: halo, halo reach, halo analysis, halo gameplay, halo review, halo reach analysis, halo reach gameplay, halo reach review, ben plays games, halo reach retrospective, halo reach explained, halo noble six, halo reach noble team, halo 3, halo reach story, halo campaign, halo reach mission, halo reach campaign, bungie, master chief collection, halo story, ben plays games halo, halo reach level, long night of solace, halo long night of solace, halo reach long night of solace

Id: L48SkWGHDmM

Length: 18min 35sec (1115 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 23 2023