‘From the beginning, you know the end’. The tagline that is synonymous with one of gaming’s darkest tonal shifts. Halo Reach, the encore of Bungie, the original Halo development team, resulted in a game that felt like a true farewell, a passing of the torch. With their promised trilogy completed and their two spinoffs Halo Wars and ODST now published, Bungie were free to bid their farewell. The thematic shifts seen in these titles are juxtaposed by the stoic, all guns blazing approach of the Master Chief’s trilogy, wherein we are placed in the shoes of the esteemed spartan. Yet in the case of Noble Six we are a spectre who inherits a dead man’s shoes. We must wonder, as we claim this mantle bestowed unto us, if our end is known prior to our tale’s beginning, why must we continue forth, when our death is cemented within Halo’s annals.
Sombre beginnings.
To wade into the mire demands that we proceed forth and confront that which we know to be inevitable. Concerning the legacy of Noble six, this is to be consigned to the past, a sovereignless statistic amidst the gallery of the many. Our introduction to our protagonist via the opening cutscene sees the replacement spartan being met with the deafening ambivalence of our teammates, an arrival on screen which is spared any fanfare or score but rather frames us as the stray wandering into the den. It is a character introduction which acts as a direct tonal antithesis to that of the Master Chief. For noble Six, renown is a far cry yet the legacy of the Master Chief Proceeds him, he is framed as a bastion of hope, as those around him surge in confidence as they march into battle side by side with the Spartan. Yet here we are taking control of a newly welcomed member into the gaggle of background soldiers participating in the theatre of the intergalactic war which is due to erupt on Reach.
This introductory segment acts as a tonal precursor for the tale which is due to unfold. The ensuing five hour experience that Reach offers only furthers this sombre beginning. Our story, as seen through the eyes of six, is a sisyphean undertaking in which our momentary triumph’s are met with the swift and cruel retort of failure. Our every victory is negated or diminished as we endeavour to achieve our initial aim, to defend Reach. Yet this is a goal which each mission details to be an unobtainable desire. A realisation which increases in its transparency through gameplay and our ability as Six to tackle the covenant hordes, a capability which is contrasted by the cutscenes which act as signifiers to our aimless pursuit. Each mission may find itself concluding in a potent cocktail of bombast, fireworks and momentary respite. Yet as each concluding cinematic begins we are forced to watch on in grave anticipation, wrestling with the knowledge that our actions in the precursive gameplay segment is diminished in one way or another.
Ludonarrative dissonance and the interrogation of player actions.
The game sees itself returning to this notion repeatedly as it pries away eagerly at the players willingness to expect victory. Preying upon this preconception, it leverages this to lure them, unwittingly, into a sense of faux achievement as it retorts directly, as if aware of the player’s preconception of Bungie’s Halo trilogy which simulates an intergalactic power fantasy. As in the mainline Bungie trilogy, these victories are never brought into question nor diminished. Rather, they are celebrated, bolstered even by the game’s willingness to score and appraise each scene of respite, whereas the tonality of Reach is eager to condemn the player’s contentment with their futile triumph. Each cinematic seeks to bring into question the disconnect of ludonarrative dissonance in gaming, whereby Six’s actions are never left unquestioned, a triumph never warranted and what little pride we acquire through each combat encounter is counteracted by the interjection of the cutscenes themselves.
Noble six as a character abides by Halo’s established approach to its protagonists, that of the tabula rasa action hero, though Six, akin to Master Chief are both indeed voiced they offer similarly sparse utterances yet Six is devoid of quips and one liners. We are not gifted a strongly characterised vessel upon which we can imprint our empathy, this is no Nathan Drake, no Kratos. We care not for whom they harm, for the antagonists are cruel, relentless and alien in nature, displaying at every opportunity their dominative cruelty. Though in the case of Drake and Kratos their actions are often in direct antithesis to the characterisation conveyed in each of their respective in-game cinematics. Drake is seen to be a caring family man-cum adventurer and Kratos is a haggard warrior who is desperate to leave his bloodthirsty past behind. Though through their representation in their respective gameplay scenarios they are characterised in direct juxtaposition to that which is conveyed through cutscenes. Thus the dissonance occurs. In the case of Noble six however, it seems that our actions are inescapably intrinsic to the critique offered throughout the cinematics. Every victory, every moment where we are lured into the sensation of the power fantasy is critiqued by that which follows. This notion of story conveyance and commentary upon player interaction offers an alternative form of dissonance. One which draws attention to player preconception and critiques the very formula it established so concretely in its prior entries into the franchise.
Reach’s tone remains unshifting and its representation of character follows suit. Six is regarded as a capable replacement by the team’s leader Carter and proves they are a valuable asset in the theatre of warfare yet the dissonance of Reach’s tale comes in its willingness to question whether a victory can be basked in or whether we are worthy or earning this emotion. It demands the player to remain stoic in their perseverance through the theatre of this barbarous war, goading them to relinquish hope with each ensuing story beat, be it through its willingness to dispatch characters in unceremonious ways or its gleeful trampling upon the preconceptions of what was deemed to be the Halo formula. It is aware of this sensation which the series has popularised and is willing to question the players emotional response and its own popularity as a franchise and those expectations which it brings. It is an antithetical dissonance whereby our actions, our preconceptions and victories are made to feel futile. The victories it allows are sparse and fleeting with despair remaining an omnipotent, unshifting presence.
Stoic thought and Halo
Halo Reach and stoic perseverance is an inseparable bond. We must remain stoic in the pursuit of victory, in the journey of life that demands we acknowledge that death is an inevitable factor and thus a motivator in our willingness to remain true to our morals and self confidence. We must confront the idea that we are a part of the ‘whole’ a concept popularised by the student of stoic thought, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in the gatherings of his diary entries, as collected in the book titled ‘meditations’. Aurelius was a follower of Greek teachings of stoicism and wrote down these aphoristic ideas and musings upon how he must act in accordance with teachings he had taken on. It was as I thumbed through this book and its uncanny coincidence with a retrospective playthrough of Halo Reach where I began to see parallels between the two.
Aurelius adheres to the phrase ‘memento mori’ which when translated from latin means ‘remember death’. It was this that brought to mind the phrase ‘remember reach’. ‘Remember death’, ‘from the beginning, you know the end’. The parallels to what most would deem macabre reminders of our mortality are used by both Aurelius and Reach as motivators to continue. Aurelius once wrote ‘In man’s life his time is a mere instant, his existence a flux, his perception fogged, his whole bodily composition rotting, his mind a whirligig, his fortune unpredictable, his fame unclear. To put it shortly: all things of the body stream away like a river, all things of the mind are dreams and delusion; life is warfare, and a visit in a strange land; the only lasting fame is oblivion’. This acknowledgement of our fleeting inconsequence as visitors upon the stream of time, mere glimmers in the incandescence of the supernova that is the whole is strikingly akin to the visual reminder of Reach’s opening cutscene.
Lasting oblivion, the absolute assurance that we shall inevitably be consigned to ash, a forgotten vessel in a war of millions, an inconsequence. Yet despite this knowledge, despite this reminder of death, we continue on. The game yearns for us to despair, to forgo our stoic nature as a Spartan and relinquish our hope, though in abidance to Aurelius’ quote once more ‘all that you see will soon perish; those who witness this perishing will soon perish themselves. Die in extreme old age or die before your time – it will all be the same’. Our ability to continue, to forgo that which will us to despair, to remain true to our belief that our actions will usher forth hope for the UNSC and humanity requires abidance to this stoic principle. Six and his or her death is a concrete event in Halo’s history, though, akin to Aurelius we must remain aware that time nor age dictates our willingness to continue, it is the knowledge of that which we do benefiting those beyond our lifespan beyond our sight. We, as the latest member of Noble team, the spectre inheriting the shoes of a dead man are akin to the aged man planting the trees upon the prairie for whom the shades of their leaves we shall never know. We wish for those around us, for those yet to come to live on in peace, to prosper as a byproduct of our selflessness.
Noble six, at the conclusion of the campaign, chooses to remain behind in order to assure that the pillar of Autumn can escape. We as the player become aware that this is the initial incident which leads to the death of the game’s protagonist. Though the shoes we now walk may be haggard, may be consigned to be forgotten, a tale whose beginning is solidified as it begins we accept this decision with willing. ‘What does not benefit the hive does not benefit the bee either’ is what Aurelius once noted, for is the bee in this metaphor not akin to Noble six in this game? We are the cog of the UNSC war machine which assures its survival, so devoted to the belief of acting for the sake of the greater good, forgoing self preservation. Six embodies this stoic aphorism. A bee so stoic in their confrontation of the death that bares its fangs before them, yet this beast is met with unflinching resolve. Six stands to benefit in the nature of remaining true to the morals which they have retained throughout this campaign. With each mission their futility is only further reinforced yet their mission is to assure humanity’s preservation, for the bee, the last remaining member of Noble team is willing to sting the covenant as its body shall fall limp to the ground, one final act of heroics, one final act.
Halo reach and our time spent with it is akin to sweeping the ash that remains after a fireworks celebration, we are the background actor tending to the unseen dirty aftermath of what was once perceived as brilliance. Six is a forgotten pawn by the time the Bungie Halo trilogy begins. Akin to another protagonist, Red dead redemption 2’s, Arthur Morgan. The second that Arhtur’s cough begins you are armed with the feeling of omniscience over the character, akin to Six’s introductory cutscene. You puppeteer them on forward as they yearn for their own form of closure, all the while you know how their tale will end. From the ashes of Reach rose Master Chief, from the ashes of Arhtur Morgan rose John Marston. Akin to RDR2 Halo Reach is a prequel and thus allows for varying elements both tonally and visually to be altered, there is no timeline coherency to adhere to for the tale of a prequel only loosely acts in abidance to this notion, rather a prequel exists to contextualise further or wholly re-contextualise the events of the game it preludes.
Empathy is built through the relation to the character, for we are able to spectate their triumphs and moments of intimate character familiarisation with bittersweet appreciation. For the two aforementioned protagonists we are aware of their fate, aware of their tale and where it leads them. The value of this knowledge, for a prequel to work must be acknowledged and factored in to the games narrative and character development. For six it is their selflessness, their unshifting stoic adherence to humanity’s preservation that cements their fate. For Morgan it was the willingness to see another live on where he failed to rectify his mistakes. Each character confronts death, grows increasingly aware of the tightening stranglehold it has upon them and relinquishes their restless desire to continue on to ensure that their sacrifice benefits the greater good, or Aureilus’ concept of the ‘whole’.
Stoicism demands perseverance, peace with death and the acceptance of life’s inevitable fact that we are sentenced to decay from our very birth. It is in the mind of the individual that dictates their adherence to a moral or amoral life, proceed forth and benefit those you love, contribute to the greater concept of the whole or act in selfish accordance and submit yourself to dogmatic self-beneficial pursuits. Noble six had chosen an honourable fate, a reminder to those who feel shifted or jaded in some manner to pursue selfless aims. I have always returned to Halo reach and this recurring theme at the core of the experience acts as a reminder to remain true to stoic ideals. For in Aurelius’ works, as in Halo Reach, both contain material and themes which reinforce, through their acknowledgment of death’s inevitability just how important it is for one to live a moral life, to embrace each day, each moment with focus and willingness to remain unshaken and welcoming to all those whom you hold dear. Death is inevitable, yet the reminder of its unalterable nature should only imbue one to embrace the zeal of life, wholeheartedly. It is the poignancy of media, of text which grants us the ability to reflect in this manner. Memento Mori, from our conception we know how it ends. How beautiful it is that an experience so bleak elicits emotions so potent.
