Why Halo: Reach's Campaign Was Disappointing -Part IV

Disclaimer: This is the conclusion of a four part series on why Halo: Reach's campaign was disappointing.

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3

Emotional Investment:

As mentioned in part III, lack of dramatic effect and bonding with the planet hamper the emotional investment in Reach. However, the planet isn't the only outlet driving emotional investment; the other is, of course, Reach's characters. Unfortunately, I wasn't really emotionally attached to any of the characters. But if I had to choose, the character I cared for the most was Kat. This is probably because the majority of the missions heavily involved her. The more time I was with her, the more I cared about her. I didn't really care for any of the other members because of two reasons: I didn't spend enough time with them and there were too many of them to care for. Six characters to care about is just too much for an 8 hour campaign. Having, say, four main characters would've allowed the player to form a bond more easily. But, that's assuming Reach's characters were not two-dimensional or cliché...

To evoke a feeling of hopelessness and defeat, moods Halo Reach wanted to create, players need to have something of value taken away from them. But how can one feel defeat/loss when nothing they care about has been taken away? Halo Reach immediately threw the player into the thick of the battle without trying to connect its audience with Reach or its characters. As a result, the player doesn't have a reason to care for Noble team or Reach. Bungie assumed we cared about the planet and characters and didn't try make the player's decide for themselves. Making the player care for the characters is a major -if not the most important- component for a character driven story.

Having a very thin story means little emotional investment. Relationships are created when going through tough hardships, solving problems, and struggling to meet a common goal (and don't tell me "defending reach" is the common goal). Reach's "Destroy this", "Defend that" design gave me little reason or opportunity to form a bond. It was just a bunch of generic missions without any underlying purpose.

For a Halo game, the campaign really disappointed. Where were the epic, large-scale battles? Where were the moments where the player felt like a hero? Where's the sense of accomplishment? Where the hell is the story? I'm glad Bungie's starting a new project because now -for the first time in 10 years- they'll actually have to prove themselves again. They'll actually have to take risks and put thought into what they're doing.