14 DAY TRIAL // While Halo 3: ODST didn't manage to topple the previous game in the series in popularity, from the looks of it, Reach might just succeed where Drop Shock failed. And the game has some huge shoes to fill, having to do with more than just rising above Halo 3. We already know how the title is going to end, because this is a prequel, a look back on the first stages of the war, so it's going to be harder to deliver that "shock and awe" experience.
Even so, it's the story of Reach that will be the game's main feature, so strong that some might even have to look away from how bright it is. Edge managed to obtain an interview with some of Reach's staff, and the story is one of the biggest subjects that was discussed.
When asked about how some players preferred the ODST story over the Halo one, Marcus Lehto, the game's creative director, said that, "Reach will continue that, because it doesn't have the burden of continuing a story like Halo 2 and 3 had to carry. It was a true burden for us when we were making those games, because we sometimes wanted to do something but couldn't because the story wouldn't let us, or we had to support this giant steamroller of a story."
"Reach allowed us to start afresh. We came up with a number of campaign experiences which engaged the player – brand new and exciting, and different from the usual 'I walk into a space and fight a number of AI,'" he explained. "That’s the foundation of what we've been spending so much time building, but we're adding brand new experiences throughout the campaign, and we continue to give players something new around the corner."
So, if the story in Reach is going to be somewhat similar to ODST, one might ask where that leaves the original book. "There might be certain things the hardcore fans will take issue with, but there will be other things that will make them absolutely delighted," Joseph Tung, the executive producer, said. Lehto also explained that, even so, there would be few liberties taken with the stone-written words from the Fall of Reach book, and the game story would still be true to its roots.
"We are very sensitive to the Halo canon," he said, "and we are careful not to be stomping on the Halo timeline. We’re playing to the events of the book, and while it’s not the gameplay version of the book, that story is taking place in the background. We’re following one isolated part of what’s happening on Reach."