Halo spartan strike cover art series#
Instead, Halo: Shadows of Reach keeps things clinically divorced, feeling more like a series of linear campaign levels of a nonexistent Halo 6 translated into a book. Plus, then the incentive to keep the settlers from using nukes isn’t something as esoteric as one of Cortana’s Guardians arriving but instead losing a crucial tactical asset beneath the town. It makes sense for a spy network like the UNSC’s Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to bury its secrets while still having convenient access to the site’s secrets. Imagine if, instead of SWORD Base’s ruins being isolated from everything else, the resettlers of Reach had paved over it. However, this really did not need to be separated from the core plot thread. It’s just emotionally relevant to several of our heroes. It has absolutely nothing to do with any of the other story details – Denning even highlights this fact through multiple conversations between characters. Even Denning’s prose grows invigorated, with tighter pacing, better scene composition, and tangible stakes. The midsection of the story deviates into a defense of Reach alongside ragtag settlers that’s infinitely more compelling. The story feels at war with itself in parts, particularly halfway through. That in and of itself is intriguing, but the setup comes via a forced moment of interaction that essentially pauses the final chapter for a page or two, otherwise having no bearing on the story at hand. The Banished have a tad more nuance to their interactions than in Infinite, but all their subplot does is potentially set up the premise for a Halo Wars 3. We don’t learn anything new about Blue Team or Cortana. Reach’s fate is secured, but what does that mean? Will it matter? Even the book acknowledges Chief may never return to it again. Yet if you were to ask me what was accomplished in Shadows of Reach that matters to anyone playing Halo Infinite, I’d say, “Basically nothing.” The main MacGuffin, which appears to be Infinite’s new AI companion, The Weapon, never goes explained. Some brief cameos and nods to longstanding characters that John-117 knew or continues to serve with. The cavalry charging in on the fields of Reach. A desperate last stand against impossible odds.
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We see the old Spartan-II training grounds, reflect on past stories in the fiction told in other media (in one case, having been retold three times previously), and try to recapture the old magic of classic scenarios. The biggest problem with Halo: Shadows of Reach is not unlike that of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – there are loads of references and attempts at fan service, but it’s all just there. Where once things were messy but at least creative, we now have these sterile, meandering tales that try to justify going over two hundred pages in length when their tales could have been told in far fewer with more precision.
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It doesn’t feel like essential reading, for Halo Infinite players or in general.Ī lack of substance is a problem that keeps appearing lately in the biggest-budget franchises. Yet all it amounts to is hundreds of pages of filler content, shoving anything of significance to the very end and, even then, setting a far sparser future than its predecessors. It’s intentionally poised as homage back to Halo: First Strike and Fall of Reach, even mimicking the cover art of Fall of Reach. I am extremely confused by Troy Denning’s Halo: Shadows of Reach – A Master Chief Story.