Bungie man "surprised" by how much Halo fans missed Master Chief in Reach

Oh come on people, it's not like he wasn't in Reach. He may not have been the main character, but there was a sneak of him in his cryogenic chamber aboard the pelican with Keyes on the last level... (before the lone wolf).

Yeah that 1 second of him asleep which you can only see if you manually move the camera in a cutscene made up for his 3 year absence...

As far as I'm concerned, I felt that Reach had a great story and awesome character development. However, what I felt turned people off of the characters in Reach was the fact that they are a different flavor of character from the Chief. Allow me to explain.

With the Chief, you have a character who is the ultimate badass with a ton of luck. I mean, it's like the heavens themselves shone their gaze upon 117 and ordained him their holy warrior, casting their protection over him and declaring that he be the destroyer of all his enemies, whether they be a massive alien conglomerate hell-bent on humanity's destruction or a sentient parasitic hive-mind whose only purpose is the consumption of all sapient life. The Chief should have died on so many occasions, but each time he slapped Death in the face and said "No, I'm not done yet,", continuing on his path of destruction like nothing happened. People loved playing that character, the demi-god in his suit of power wreaking havoc on the invader's plans and shaping the events of the galaxy to his will, not just reacting to events. This is what people came to expect from playing a Halo game.

With Reach, however, (not to mention ODST) you play a different brand of character. Noble Six is the character who never quits, despite everything thrown at him and no matter how FUBAR the situation gets. Whether it be an alien species that stands a full three feet taller with split mandibles bristling with spikes for teeth and a really bad temper, or a massive two-ton entity composed of ropy worms forming a humanoid figure carrying a shield made of half a meter of covenant battle plate that weighs half a ton and a massive energy cannon that can flip a warthog with one shot (what a mouthful!), he'll tear through it like a sword through flesh and bone, then ask for dessert. Oh, and throwing him out of a spaceship from high orbit and crash landing on a mountain? Ppphhhh, Chief's not the only one capable of re-entering a planet's atmosphere (he just does it with style ). That's just Noble Six, and he's only a replacement on Noble Team.

However, as similar as they are to Chief on their abilities to dish it out to the enemy, what they lacked was... (*pause for dramatic effect*) Luck. I mean that simply impossible ability to go through hell and come out the other side seemingly unscathed and continue the fight. No, they die, sacrificing all in hopes that their sacrifice will buy the human race enough time to turn the tide. Did they succeed? In effect, yes, delivering Cortana to Master Chief, whom without, Chief would never have been as effective as he was. But, that doesn't change the fact they died, while Chief performed even greater feats and lived. That luck factor is what separates them from the level of character that is Master Chief.

Why does that whole spiel matter? The point I present to those reading is this: In the first three games, people fell in love with the near-mute warrior encased in a seemingly impenetrable armor whose will was not to be denied by the galaxy he fights. They got to be an invincible warrior. This is what people came to expect to play in a Halo game. But, they were shocked when it was a whole different breed who graced their TV screens in the theater of Reach.

Not that this was unwelcome, mind you, nay, I know I loved this new style of character, as I'm sure others did. But, just as we started to fall in love with being this other entity, our new found avatar is ripped from our grasp at the end, never to come forth and answer the call of battle in another game. No secret ending, no miraculous escape from death's clutches, no, instead, a sacrifice of blood and life. Spartans never die? But... I just watched him fall and have a blade of heat stab into his still fighting body! Why? What was the point? I died anyway despite all the challenges I overcame! I played as... a human, still capable of dieing. This is what put many people off, it being so different from what they had become used to, and they missed the real experience within. All they knew was that the game ended with them dieing, and the fight wasn't yet finished. For those of us who sought answers, we found them, in the form of a certain ship, seen sailing through the stars towards what was by now a familiar destination, her hull proudly bearing the name "Pillar of Autumn". And we gained a whole new experience, that of knowing that our sacrifice had not been in vain, that our legend would live on in the universe of Halo. Indeed, Spartans never die. We just don't get to be them in another story.

I like chief but I miss Johnsons character more.

I don't think many people were upset by chiefs disappearance, they just miss him. Noble 6 was great, reach was a great game. But Chief kicks arse.

I've been a follower of the Halo series since 2002 when the Xbox launched in Australia, and whilst I love the Master Chief Story Arc, I wasn't so disappointed not so see him in Reach.

I have been a bit slow off the mark the last few years, finished Halo 1 & 2 within weeks of when they came out, halo 3 was stalled completion over a year or two, and only picked up ODST & Reach in 2011, played and completed both in the last 3 weeks.

I found ODST a little underwhelming, but I really really enjoyed reach. Loved the gameplay, loved the charatcter building and back story (not to mention the visuals) and I felt a sense of loss on completion (3 nights ago in fact), and excitement knowing how awesome the adventures that follow will be (holding out for xmas for Halo CE Anniversary).

I'm looking forward to seeing master chief again in future games, but I liked the lack of MC in the last 2 games, there are far too many games companies milking their franchises for all they're worth, and i think it risks hurting the story telling, and future of the franchise - the last game was a risk, but I feel it worked.

Bungie and MS took a risk by not including MC in the latest games, but I think it was well worth it.

Cheers,

Chris

The thing with reach is that bungie told us the aftermath of the story with Halo CE, and all the books are official in telling the expanded story. 5 of the 6 members of noble team are kia. with the surviving member protecting Dr Halsey along with the few remaining spartans underground on reach. Chief may of been missed in recent games but Halo is a massive universe and its nice to be able to play from other angles, which also creates new challenges from a technical pov and new ways to play and tell a story.

Not to mention easter eggs:) Red Vs Blue in Halo 3, giant football in Halo 2. English speaking grunt in Halo 1 etc.

I had no issues with the MC not being in Reach (for the most part) I though the characterisation and storyline in Reach was the finest of the series.

I do hope after Halo 4 there are more Halo spin off games