Start the countdown. In just about the same amount of time it takes to gestate a human life, Reach will Fall. Having been given a first real glance at what lies over that horizon, the game becomes one of waiting for our next official briefing. Just over that horizon lies Team Noble.

For what promises to be Bungie LLC’s last dance with the United Nations Space Command, the creators are taking us to the beginning of the first chapter told in their tale. From what has been glimpsed during our introduction, the central figure in this bout is not a solitary hero bearing the fate of the galaxy solely on his back. Instead, we are to follow the fates of a deadly ensemble that is one from many.

At Tied the Leader, this is a story with which we are well acquainted on our own. For over four years, we have been plucking lone wolves from the rumble pits of online play, and marshalling them to the front lines of organized challenges. Throughout all of our lost time [human history, is it?], we have thrived on the thrill of victory – or the grace of defeat – alongside the trusted members of a team. Some even call it a clan.

It has been said that equipment changes everything. By that same logic, the right equipment in the right hands changes everything about everything. Ever since Coagulation was a tactical puzzle, we have been pushing our teammates to specialize. When a player takes full responsibility for that at which they are the best, they become a functioning organ in the organism that is the team. At that point, they become more effective than any one individual.

The Halo Nation had become used to operating as the lone gunmen – and, on rare occassions, gunwomen. The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers entreated us to our first sample of squad life, but their’s was a story of more mortal circumstances. Our new team is an upgrade – a roving pack of SPARTANs. This new title gives life to the sort of team only witnessed previously in a multiplayer contrivance – or a brief cutscene if Halo Wars counts [and it doesn’t].

The ODSTs certainly exuded their own brand of courage under fire. Yet, it is NOT likely that these new blokes will be sneaking around in the rain, driven on by the mournful wale of saxophone. The noise is being brought back up to maximum. Our new role models are the crazy brave human tanks that lock horns with the howling darkness. They strut to guitar riffs that signal zero fear. And, there are six of them to bring the pain.

Great teams are about great individuals, not clones marching in lock step. Their talents should compliment one another. The more unique each of the players becomes, the better the team. This ain’t about general issue. This is about a deadly committee of experts. The message is as clear as the challenge it carries: Leave that lone wolf shit behind! Leave it.

It’s like the new Commanding Officer said, it’s all about blending the right skillsets. Strikers are always more effective when they are shuttled by Ace Pilots. Dead Eye Snipers are more valuable when they are spotting for Honorable Guards. We have tasted that action on every foray into the battles available in multiplayer. To see it played out so vividly in the campaign is a change that is happily welcomed.

Recruiting, training, and leading our own team is a thing that our webmaster calls “The Experience Behind the Experience”. It is that moment when the game stops being a solo act, and turns into a symphony. It’s a story that Bungie obviously understands, since they taught us to write it for ourselves. If ODST was a love letter to fans, Reach is a love letter to clans.

That’s going Oscar Mike in style. At TTL, the only cannon we care about is the one in our holster. We are not as concerned about the nuances of the story as we are about the magic created by a company of players that agree to work together toward the same goal. In Halo Reach, that very thing IS the story.

It’s a Noble tale. A fitting end for Bungie’s watch.

Do you want to know more? We do.

Standing by…

Posted by XerxdeeJ