15 years on, 'Halo: Reach' continues to be the golden standard of video game prequels

2010 was an exceptional year for sci-fi video games: StarCraft 2, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Vanquish... But it might be safe to say it was Halo: Reach, arguably the last great Halo, that marked the end of a golden era.

15 years later, we're not here to ask if Halo: Reach is as awesome as we remember it being; you can confirm that for yourself right now. Instead, we want to briefly celebrate how Bungie took a creative swing that paid off, expanding the scope of the Halo universe, before riding into the sunset to work on Destiny.

Halo: Reach is the go-to example of how big sci-fi franchises (not just video games) should tackle ambitious prequel stories.

The original Rogue One

Long before the entertainment industry became obsessed with turning any viable IP into an expansive transmedia universe, Microsoft and Bungie were well ahead of the curve with Halo. In fact, the Fall of Reach was already chronicled back in 2001 with a novel of the same name. They also had another punt at it in the now-defunct Halo TV show, but we'd all rather forget about that.

Prequels have become rather commonplace in sci-fi these days, offering us a window into the event that shaped the world of the original story. Rogue One, the first of the live-action Star Wars spinoffs, may be the most renowned example, but many sci-fi game prequels, like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day, also come to mind.

While many have walked the same road, Halo: Reach's impact on pop culture and video games, specifically, can't be overstated. Gears of War having its 'Reach moment' with E-Day was only a matter of time; Doom has just received the same treatment with The Dark Ages, and lists of great video game prequels are growing larger almost every year as publishers and developers refuse to bury big money-making franchises. But what made Halo: Reach so special and enduring? We think it's all about the darker tone and 'unsung heroes' narrative angle...

Starting the fight

Halo: Reach rejected the larger-than-life action hero figure that was Master Chief, who was a bit of an intergalactic Gary Stu even before he got sadly with the tired Chosen One narrative. Instead, the prequel tells the story of anonymous heroes making the ultimate sacrifice, laying the groundwork for Spartan 117's later victories. It's the sort of story we were all very familiar with by 2010 — turning the UNSC vs. Covenant conflict into a large-scale war movie — but it was oddly refreshing to see a sci-fi video game series move into the space typically inhabited by Medal of Honor and Call of Duty.

Reach wasn't done taking inspiration there, though, also borrowing from Gears of War's grittier and relentlessly depressing tone. While Master Chief and the UNSC were on the back foot for much of the original trilogy, it's hard to describe their exploits as anything but heroic, the stuff of legends. Told through the eyes of a group of Spartans sent into the meat grinder to deal with an unstoppable alien invasion, The Fall of Reach is a much more desperate, hopeless affair. Combat Evolved's opening may have suggested that things didn't end well at Reach, but the 2010 game painted an even more dramatic picture, retroactively giving the fight against the Covenant much-needed gravity.

Elites and Grunts, among other alien species in the Covenant, were often goofy in the original Halo games, even if they consistently made the humans bleed. Master Chief, much like the Doom Slayer, dwarfed most of his foes and was nigh-on invulnerable. The members of NOBLE Team, on the other hand, were instantly presented as vulnerable and expendable despite their years of experience and top-notch augmentations, and the gameplay and level design embraced the idea of warriors dealing with a threat larger than they could handle, too.

One last hurrah... and a warning of things to come

Halo: Reach's biggest success was making the Covenant truly horrifying. The acts of brutality on display in Reach make it all the more shocking that an alliance between splinter alien factions and the UNSC eventually forms in the wake of their genocidal campaign of destruction. But beyond that, its wins – narrative and playable – can't be counted with one hand. Even Reach's multiplayer took bold new steps, with the introduction of new mechanics and timid moves towards player classes. Not all of these big swings paid off, but regardless, it's abundantly clear Bungie didn't want to just knock another Halo out for the sake of it as 343 Industries prepared to bring John-117 back.

With Reach, the original studio left the franchise on a high note, and we can't shake the feeling that their replacement, 343 Industries, has been trying to chase the Xbox 360 days' high ever since. Neither the new story arcs nor the revised gunplay and mechanics have hit like Bungie's finest work. Perhaps comparing 343's honestly distinct take on the property to what came before feels a tad unfair. Moreover, Reach had already planted the seeds for some of the game design changes – both good and bad – that would fully.

Perhaps it would have been better if Halo could've simply moved on from Master Chief and doubled down on games like ODST, Reach, and the Halo Wars RTS spin-offs. It's a huge galaxy out there, and despite Halo: Infinite reigniting some of the lost magic, failed promises and misguided narrative developments have brought the property's popularity down. With yet another refresh of the original Halo reportedly looming on the horizon, the franchise may never be as engrossing as Reach's tale of defying impossible odds again.

Halo: Reach is available to purchase on PC (Windows) and Xbox consoles as part of the Master Chief Collection. The whole package is included with all Game Pass subscriptions except for the basic Core tier.