So Master Chief IS In Halo: Reach!
If you’ve been following the development of the newest title in the Halo series, then you will know that it has been stated that it’s start player, Master Chief, will not be making an appearance in this new release. We all sobbed, wrote emotional poetry, and perhaps took a vow of silence until we saw our Master Chief in action once again. Bungie took a stake in the matter saying that Master Chief is not the center of this new title, as there is a different story to tell and he will not be showing up in this release. Well, that’s not entirely correct. (I know!)
It turns out that Master Chief will, in fact, make an appearance in Halo: Reach, just not in the way you’re expecting him to.
You see, Bungie has stated (as in an earlier post this week) that the new title includes an elaborate “Player Reward System” in which you earn credits from everything you do in the game, including working in Forge. You can then spend these credits on armor upgrades that become available as you achieve higher levels. These items are released by the community at large as well (Go team!), and Community Lead, Brian Jarrard, provided a pretty amazing example of how this works. “When the community collectively kills one billion grunts, a new tier of armory options might become available.” This at least gives us something to “shoot” for, right?
You can also choose, if you will, to save your credits and purchase special items such as Armor Effects and Firefight voices. Firefight voices determine what voices you hear while playing first person in Firefight. These brand new, newly-recorded voices include Sergeant Johnson, Buck, Cortana, and yes, Master Chief himself. In this new title, Master Chief has more lines of dialogue then he previously had in any of the other Halo titles. You will definitely hear him talk more thank he has ever spoken in the previous installments of the game.
So although Bungie has been playing with the idea of a “no Master Chief” Halo title, this one slips under the radar with our favored hero in its ranks. Look forward to this feature when the game releases next month.
