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  • Subject: From the Beginning you Know the End
Subject: From the Beginning you Know the End

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This very statement reveals a lot about the game. Xbox.com has revealed that Halo: Reach is a FPS prequel to the Halo series. Those who have read the Fall of Reach are aware of the events that transpired at Reach.

Short Summary:

Only around 100 Human vessels were available to defend reach against an army of some 300 Covenant cruisers. Many of those Covenant vessels were taken out by the brave men and women who stood to fight for the UNSC whether on the surface defending the Mac Batteries, or by holding the line in space on one of the many UNSC ships engaged there.

Spartans held a big role in the conflict. The Master Chief, James, and Linda (along with Johnson) were responsible for halting the acquisition of Earth's coordinates by destroying the NAV computer on board the Circumference.

The remaining Spartans fought on the surface and many died valiantly defending the Mac stations in vain attempt to save Reach from the onslaught of the Covenant. Some, like Kelly, Fred, and Will, managed to live on through ONI's CASTLE bunker along with Dr. Catherine Halsey. Together they were able to find the Forerunner artifact and escape with their lives and now they rest in the Forerunner Micro-Dyson Sphere.

From the beginning, you know the end...

This line sums up the nature of the game. It is not a time travel story. Were it a time travel story, we wouldn't know the beginning or the end. In Halo:CE an in Halo 2 it is made clear that Reach was obliterated by the Covenant. The Arbiter states: "They fled as we set fire to their planet." In Halo:CE Keyes and Cortana share a dialogue at the beginning referencing Reach and their escape to a seemingly random location (although the books would later reveal that Cortana knew that something the Covenant were looking for was there...).

Were the Master Chief to come back through time due to the Ark's portal, it would affect the time line. We wouldn't know the beginning or the end. Instead, this chapter is meant to show us the brave warriors who fought valiantly, but as we all know, in vain all in the effort to spare Reach from the Covenant.

Conclusion:

It will ultimately will provide more backstory on the historical Battle of Reach in the Halo Timeline. Moreover, it will probably follow The Fall of Reach's storyline quite to the letter, with the obvious inclusion of newer mysterious entities: Spartan 320 and Spartan 259. These new mysteries will not only open a new chapter in what was presumably a closed section of the Halo Universe, but perhaps reveal some more about the mysteries surrounding ONI and their actions during the war.

Halo ODST stars a Recon wearing ONI officer by the name of Dare. The opening cutscene makes it clear that the ODSTs have a different mission than to secure the carrier and later, the ONI building is shown destroyed. ONI was doing a lot of mysterious things. Perhaps, ODST will provide more information on what happened at Reach.

For now, I think the things to truly look at and analyze out of this Trailer are the lines of dialogue, the bombs, the ship jettisoning a ship towards the frigate in the upper atmosphere, the smoke rising from a section of that said frigate. Is it a frigate? Is it Gama Station? Where is Gamma Station? Who are these Spartans? Why are their callsigns above 150? Who is, or what is Noble One? Where are the Covenant Vessels? Why do there appear to be bomb like explosions instead of plasma beams igniting the planet? Something seems...different...

Those are the things to note. The shimmering glare, most likely, unless Bungie decides to be incredibly Cliche and disregard their statement at the beginning of the Trailer, has nothing to do with the Halo 3 Legendary Ending and Time Travel...

Remember, From the beginning, you know the end...it is inevitable that Reach will ultimately be destroyed and Halo discovered...

  • 06.04.2009 2:19 PM PDT

Bungie Pentathlon - who actually cares ?

I believe its "Nova 1" and it may be a reference to a team who are trained to deal with and arm a Nova Class Bomb.

Part of the game may involve finding the misplaced Nova Bomb, finding out what happened to "Nova 1" and then lighting the fuse and running away.....

Also its a Frigate class ship, same as Forward Unto Dawn etc...Orbital Mac Stations are bigger and are a huge barrel with a ring around it..

[Edited on 06.04.2009 2:22 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2009 2:21 PM PDT

Corn, Oil, and Wine... We need more wine...

And after we go through the battle of reach, we will be able to play Halo CE with improved graphics... Yup.

  • 06.04.2009 2:21 PM PDT

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Posted by: Richomack360
I believe its "Nova 1" and it may be a reference to a team who are trained to deal with and arm a Nova Class Bomb.

Part of the game may involve finding the misplaced Nova Bomb, finding out what happened to "Nova 1" and then lighting the fuse and running away.....

Also its a Frigate class ship, same as Forward Unto Dawn etc...Orbital Mac Stations are bigger and are a huge barrel with a ring around it..


Gamma station is not an Orbital Mac Station. It is a large space ring that orbits Reach. Read the books for more information. It could potentially be that craft. The Ring itself was never described. The top of the "frigate" demonstrates that it has thrusters, but we can't see if the Ring continues or not. I merely bring up that it could be a ring due to the smoke which could be residual from the crashed Pelican laced with C4 that the Master Chief piloted there. The size of the vessel seems larger than a normal Frigate class seeing as the ships under it, closer to the surface, are very very small and couldnt possibly be overly far away. The Ring itself is never described well in The Fall of Reach and therefore could resemble Frigates interlocking. No way to know.

Personally, i think it is a Frigate but its important to acknowledge other possibilities. It may be that it is The Circumference attached to the Gamma Station which remains out of view.

  • 06.04.2009 2:31 PM PDT
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I don't think it's a time exploitation theory but I do believe it may send Reach to the same place where the Sentinel planet which was seen !!WARNING SPOILER!! at the end of Halo 3 on legendary difficulty. Then that is where the scene is set for the Halo 4 or something I don't know. I think anyone who has read the books will know the fate of this game, unless of course it was made unclear what happens or was left on a cliff hanger, I wouldn't know. Then in Halo4 (the game) your there to fight your way through the Forerunner planet to find answers to save the human race and maybe find Reach and save everyone there to get some back up to fight off the covenant. (If of course somebody who has a full understanding about the books can disprove this then who cares?)

So Reach is a prequel in order to set the scene for Halo 4 to put it plainly and maybe finish the Halo saga by ending up back with the Master Chief we left at the end of Halo 3?

  • 06.04.2009 2:36 PM PDT

Bungie Pentathlon - who actually cares ?

Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Read the books for more information.


Your Exalted status doesn't give you the right to to come out with "read the book" comments, you are an average Joe like me and the next person and yes I have read the books,

Anyway, your insult aside....Gamma Station (on rereading the book) is a ring, but it looks like a Frigate listing to one side....I cannot see any other part of a ring nor can I see it being anything else.

A ring will look like a ring regardless of whats on it. I imagine the Gamma Station ring to look near identical to the Orbital Defence Ring seen in Starship Troopers 1.

I do acknowledge other theories, but not ones that I don't believe to be true in the face of overwhelming evidence to shoot down that theory. Watch the video for more information and turn the brightness up. You will see the outline of the Frigate.



[Edited on 06.04.2009 2:46 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2009 2:45 PM PDT

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Posted by: SkinnedBugsy
I don't think it's a time exploitation theory but I do believe it may send Reach to the same place where the Sentinel planet which was seen !!WARNING SPOILER!! at the end of Halo 3 on legendary difficulty. Then that is where the scene is set for the Halo 4 or something I don't know. I think anyone who has read the books will know the fate of this game, unless of course it was made unclear what happens or was left on a cliff hanger, I wouldn't know. Then in Halo4 (the game) your there to fight your way through the Forerunner planet to find answers to save the human race and maybe find Reach and save everyone there to get some back up to fight off the covenant. (If of course somebody who has a full understanding about the books can disprove this then who cares?)

So Reach is a prequel in order to set the scene for Halo 4 to put it plainly and maybe finish the Halo saga by ending up back with the Master Chief we left at the end of Halo 3?


The Sentinel comprised world you are referring to, named Onyx, no longer exists. The only remnant is a Micro-Dyson Sphere which houses Dr. Catherine Halsey and the remaining Spartans. The Micro-Dyson Sphere is extremely extremely small. Think on scale of an apple or a melon. It is not the size of a planet. Therefore, the planet the Master Chief is moving towards, which remember, could be potentially hundreds of years into the future beyond the point in which he was placed into cryogenic freezing, is a completely different world.

The world would have to be a different planet than Reach at the very least. Reach was glassed. That means the atmosphere is gone and the entire surface is comprised of glass. Why then would it resemble a machine world? The entire planet in Halo 3's Legendary Ending starts to light up. It is the dark side of the planet away from the sun. Not to mention that it must be further from the Sun for it to be truly that dark. Furthermore, for it to be that dark, there must be few other stars and zero moons surrounding that planet.

Also, to the guy who thinks its "Nova 1," I disagree after having listened to it several dozen times, both through 5.1 surround sound speakers, and my Bose headphones...I could be wrong. V and B sound similar when spoken quickly but at least one of his statements sounds B out moreso than in the others. Just my take.

EDIT: The statement read the books for more information was not meant as an insult. You seemed ignorant on the topic considering that you didn't appear to know what Gamma Station was. Furthermore, a Ring can still be possible with the current set up. Imagine it as though that were the interior of the ring with the ring itself perpendicular to the planet. Not exactly the bet wording, but I think you'll get what I'm attempting to convey. Thinking about how things orbit due to gravity and with presumably how ships would need to dock and enter the Ring, it would make sense. Again I reiterate however that it is more than likely that it is not the Ring itself and probably a frigate that was cut in half. I feel like I should say that it clearly cant be the Dawn for those of you out there who think it is for some reason as one half of the Dawn made it back to earth.

The likelihood of that not being a frigate and it being Gamma Station is slim, but going from The Fall of Reach, it would be logical considering the smoke and the ship underneath it. Either the Ship under the "frigate" is ejecting the Chief towards it, or the Chief has already crashed into it. Again, its unlikely as it doesnt really match the book's description. It could be the Circumference, but that too is unlikely since we dont see a Ring near it and although ambiguous the Book makes it seem as though the Circumference was in the Ring structure itself and not in space.

[Edited on 06.04.2009 2:51 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2009 2:45 PM PDT

Bungie Pentathlon - who actually cares ?

Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Also, to the guy who thinks its "Nova 1," I disagree after having listened to it several dozen times, both through 5.1 surround sound speakers, and my Bose headphones...I could be wrong. V and B sound similar when spoken quickly but at least one of his statements sounds B out moreso than in the others. Just my take.


Cool, I have Bose too..nice name drop. I feel that it is more likely to be Nova 1 seeing as in the books the Spartans and the ground teams had some dealing with a Nova bomb (or do I need to read the books again?)

However Noble 1 could be a call sign for a high ranking military leader on Reach, perhaps the head of Reach's defence network ? Exciting prospects ahead !

  • 06.04.2009 2:49 PM PDT

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Posted by: Richomack360
Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Also, to the guy who thinks its "Nova 1," I disagree after having listened to it several dozen times, both through 5.1 surround sound speakers, and my Bose headphones...I could be wrong. V and B sound similar when spoken quickly but at least one of his statements sounds B out moreso than in the others. Just my take.


Cool, I have Bose too..nice name drop. I feel that it is more likely to be Nova 1 seeing as in the books the Spartans and the ground teams had some dealing with a Nova bomb (or do I need to read the books again?)

However Noble 1 could be a call sign for a high ranking military leader on Reach, perhaps the head of Reach's defence network ? Exciting prospects ahead !


Why are you acting with such animosity? Its rude and unwarranted. I apologize if my "read the books" comment came off rude. It wasn't meant as such. You just didn't seem to know anything about Gamma Station. Therefore I provided a suggestion. My bad if that was the case. I honestly didn't think it would be taken in such a manner. Also, I feel I should add that I'm aware that I am merely a member and I could care less about my Exalted Status...seeing as you felt the need to so quickly jump to the idea of me attempting to assert some form of undeserved authority on the internet of all places where we are all hidden behind a veil of anonymity and symbolic interactionism is made moot.

Now, onto your other comment...

That is also quite possible. Whether it is Noble or Nova it could either be referring to a squad of troops or a ship. Its impossible to tell, although your idea seems quite possible. I am more interested in Spartans 320 and 259, both of which have call signs over 150 which suggests they are Class II Spartans...and Class II was never under taken as Halsey wanted to research a better method...meaning ONI may have moved ahead with such a project as they did with the Spartan IIIs. Perhaps ONI found that after attempting to replicate Halsey's research at a cheaper price, it wasn't worth it for the results and decided to op for the cheaper SPI Spartan IIIs.

[Edited on 06.04.2009 2:59 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2009 2:54 PM PDT
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Nice theory.

  • 06.04.2009 2:55 PM PDT

Bungie Pentathlon - who actually cares ?

Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Posted by: Richomack360
Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Also, to the guy who thinks its "Nova 1," I disagree after having listened to it several dozen times, both through 5.1 surround sound speakers, and my Bose headphones...I could be wrong. V and B sound similar when spoken quickly but at least one of his statements sounds B out moreso than in the others. Just my take.


Cool, I have Bose too..nice name drop. I feel that it is more likely to be Nova 1 seeing as in the books the Spartans and the ground teams had some dealing with a Nova bomb (or do I need to read the books again?)

However Noble 1 could be a call sign for a high ranking military leader on Reach, perhaps the head of Reach's defence network ? Exciting prospects ahead !


Why are you acting with such animosity? Its rude and unwarranted. I apologize if my "read the books" comment came off rude. It wasn't meant as such. You just didn't seem to know anything about Gamma Station. Therefore I provided a suggestion. My bad.

That is also quite possible. Even if it were Nova 1, it still could be a ship even too and not a squad. Its not exactly something that can easily be speculated about. I am more interested in Spartans 320 and 259, both of which have call signs over 150 which suggests they are Class II Spartans...and Class II was never under taken as Halsey wanted to research a better method...


You could of just explained it, rather than take your course first off. Anyway moving on we are adults so lets have a god old debate instead of posturing!

Yeah true, the big points of this trailer IMO, is not what you can see, but what you can hear...as you state; who are Spartan 320 and 259? Never saw them on the roster sheets etc or mentioned in the books, will they be main characters or mere AI's to introduce you to the conflict?

The voices of the jaded and confused/shocked UNSC personnel is also a very big impact factor in this trailer, very much builds the picture of total chaos, without actually showing anything.

Also the Nova/Noble 1 could mean absolutely anything, from a high military leader, to a battle group to a bomb, its mind boggling.. that is what is so good about Bungie, they get people talking...but you want to march down to their office and slap them a bit until they reveal just a little bit more...

At least we are in agreement regarding the disposal of the time travel theory, that was plain bonkers. To tell you the truth I am very much looking forward to Marty's new music just as much as the game.

[Edited on 06.04.2009 3:01 PM PDT]

  • 06.04.2009 2:59 PM PDT

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Posted by: Richomack360
At least we are in agreement regarding the disposal of the time travel theory, that was plain bonkers. To tell you the truth I am very much looking forward to Marty's new music just as much as the game.


Agreed. I love Marty's work and I am really looking forward to his work in ODST. So far, that is sounding amazing. Hopefully Reach will follow suit. I hope he goes back to some of the Halo CE themes that never really made the jump over to the other two. I for one loved Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe as well as Under Cover of Night (and a lot of other ones) and I feel that they never really made the reappearance they deserved in the future titles.

As for the new Spartans, thats a good question. Will they be playable or mere NPCs in the background? Being that they were mentioned, its obvious they will hold some form of role. Seeing as though the one has an accent...I take that to mean that these Spartans werent raised from a young age. I would think that one would lose their accent away from home. Being that the original Spartan IIs were conscripted at the age of 6, it appears as though these newer Spartans perhaps were conscripted at an older age. Although, it may be possible that that particular Spartan was merely able to hold on to it over the years.

The utter chaos is expected and very reminiscent of the original Halo 2 Trailer where the Chief walks out on the spoke of the Orbital Mac cannon to jump out. In that there was plenty of background military chatter ranging from things like "Its the Goddamn Apocalypse..." to "Your plan has let up" to "Theres nothing more I can do..." and etc...

The explosions are interesting. While the Chatter is out of context, I believe the Explosions signify the detonation of the nukes at the batteries and the destruction of the Mac grid. As the planet grows more and more destroyed looking...it signified to me that it is following the introduction's words.

From the beginning you know the end. Meaning quite simply that from the beginning when the Fermion noticed the slipspace you knew the end would show the destroyed Reach. It fits quite well despite it not depicting what actually occurred.

  • 06.04.2009 3:12 PM PDT

Bungie Pentathlon - who actually cares ?

Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Snip, (to cut down on text!


Yep, the ODST trailer theme was something else, a nice progression from his early work. Again I agree with Under Cover of Night, I think that gets the majority vote from the Community on their fav Halo CE or even Halo track of all time. Awesome.

I hope he does visit this end of the Halo music spectrum as in terms of continuity the music would have to progress from Reach's OST and blend into the opening style of CE's, rather than carrying on from H3 or ODST's, which I feel is a million miles apart from CE's tribal/alien style soundtrack.

The new Spartans, you never know it could be that dodgy fella Ackerson upto his old trick of hiding things....even though he detested the SII project in favour of his Spec Warfare teams.

Either the above theory or it could be there were just more graduating through the ranks that were not described in the books and we don't know about yet....take Halo Wars's Spartans...they were not in the orgianal roster list (could be wrong)

Yeah, it did make me have thoughts of the "trailer that never was" part of H2...having NPC characters in states of shock and terror adds much more atmosphere to a scenario then anything else, for example the ways the marines were in 343 Guilty Spark in Halo CE, they were terrified and it semi rubbed off on you.

It could be the detonation of the MAC generators, as dropships were sent in to take them out and it may validate the speech "they dropped under our defence grid" (or words to that effect)

Good call on that one.

I believe the "beginning you know the end" refers to the fact that when you pick up the Xbox controller (or wave your hands about like a drunk man with the natal) you already know the fate of Reach, Earth and the MC...so in essence you already know the end fro mthe beginning of this game.

  • 06.04.2009 3:24 PM PDT

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Posted by: Richomack360

Yeah, it did make me have thoughts of the "trailer that never was" part of H2...having NPC characters in states of shock and terror adds much more atmosphere to a scenario then anything else, for example the ways the marines were in 343 Guilty Spark in Halo CE, they were terrified and it semi rubbed off on you.


Agreed. I desperately hope we shall see more human interaction. Halo 2 took the game in the wrong route in my opinion. To much emphasis was placed on the alien side and in doing so it lost human gamers. Naturally we connect with humanity so while it was great to get characterization of our enemy, it felt out of place to play our enemy (even though we become allies).

I certainly hope that Halo:Reach will include a lot of backstory elements. All it needs is a few things within levels and cutscenes devoted to smaller scale things rather than the overarching story line to give it a bit more heart. Honestly, i would be content just to see the Medical Tents with marines struggling to hang on and some of the more Marine interaction that was thrown into the Halo 2 E3 demonstration that also never came to be. Some of those elements were just never explored in Halo 3.

  • 06.04.2009 4:21 PM PDT
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thank you for expanding the story to the noobs here.
+1

  • 06.04.2009 4:29 PM PDT
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Recent K/D ratio 2:1

Recent games is either 1st or 2nd place mostly.

No doubts this game will OWN the Fall of Reach is my favourite book.

  • 06.04.2009 4:37 PM PDT

This is a helpful thread. Thanks Revan.

  • 06.04.2009 4:43 PM PDT

Bungie Pentathlon - who actually cares ?

Posted by: x Lord Revan x
Posted by: Richomack360

Yeah, it did make me have thoughts of the "trailer that never was" part of H2...having NPC characters in states of shock and terror adds much more atmosphere to a scenario then anything else, for example the ways the marines were in 343 Guilty Spark in Halo CE, they were terrified and it semi rubbed off on you.


Agreed. I desperately hope we shall see more human interaction. Halo 2 took the game in the wrong route in my opinion. To much emphasis was placed on the alien side and in doing so it lost human gamers. Naturally we connect with humanity so while it was great to get characterization of our enemy, it felt out of place to play our enemy (even though we become allies).

I certainly hope that Halo:Reach will include a lot of backstory elements. All it needs is a few things within levels and cutscenes devoted to smaller scale things rather than the overarching story line to give it a bit more heart. Honestly, i would be content just to see the Medical Tents with marines struggling to hang on and some of the more Marine interaction that was thrown into the Halo 2 E3 demonstration that also never came to be. Some of those elements were just never explored in Halo 3.


Yeah, bang on.....Halo CE was excellent due to the storyline of mankind hanging on against massive odds. The opening part of the H2 E3 demo reinforced this importtant impact factor in the storyline...then all of a sudden it was changed and you were given the impression that mankind could easily cope with the scenario as not enough emphasis was placed on this vital part of the story.

In the H2 demo, Earth looked under siege, it was all kicking off and it looked frantic....the real Halo 2 when it was released (i am referencing the New Mombasa levels) seemed like a ghost town and not much happening....no Longswords in the air bombing positions, no frigates other ships landing equipment etc...no real gravitas provided by the marine forces on the floor as there didn't seem to be a co-ordinated resistance going on...

Take the Halo Wars cutscene where you see a group of Spartans engaged in ground warfare on Arcadia...that short sequence gave a much bigger sense of urban warfare chaos then H2 ever did, but Bungie are only human and they improved on this aspect in H3, with far more going on....here is hoping that Rech will be filled with bullets, chaos and a whole lot of surprises,

Yep more interaction would be welcome, perhaps interacting with some new AI's like Deja or perhaps a rampant AI hellbent on obstructing you as you wander around the CASTLE fortification (i know this wasn't in the books) I would like to see some interaction (and subsequant interaction) with Dr Halsey....I feel she is too major a character in the Halo universe to leave out.

She could replace the "fatherly figure" of Sgt Johnson / Lord Hood....by becoming a "motherly figure" to the new main characters. Although your main allie in H2 and H3 was Johnson....if he isn't in it which I hope he is, purely in cameo form, then it will allow the palyer to see some Spartan on Spartan interaction, little things like the two fingered greeting they perform and the Oly Oly Oxen Free 6 didgit call code....little things like that make huge impact on the player.

MC is a robotic character in his appearence, but he totally wins you over with his human touches, like in Halo CE dragging a marine into a lifepod, then reassuring another marine in the pod by placing his hand on his shoulder.....in H2 you saw small glimpses of it when MC and Cortana split then again in H3 when they were reunited.

These human touches are what H2 and H3 missed out on and hopefulyl Bungie can try to make the new central characters have a real human side, despite their status as killing machines, what better central character that deals out death at every opportunity but has a real deep human side..

Looking at the way Reach is and having say 5 central characters (or support characters) it may well go down the route of Resident Evil: Outbreak and boil the entire linear game to a series of episodic levels in bitesize chunks ? just a possibility there.

Although personally Bungie should close the book on H2 and H3 and start afresh by referencing their gem - Halo CE and what made that so brilliant. I post often in the Halo CE forum and the sheer depth you can reach when talking about every minor detail in Halo CE eclipses anything H2 and H2 has ever tried to achieve.

[Edited on 06.05.2009 1:30 AM PDT]

  • 06.05.2009 1:22 AM PDT