much to be said about a film that only tells its audience to care about its characters while it’s actively killing them off
-aleph beth null, Rogue One review (2018)
Although meant to be a homage to its relatives in film, primarily Saving Private Ryan and Seven Samurai, it instead serves as a striking parallel to Rogue One and its fatal flaws six years beforehand, running into the need of constant motion while also attempting to juggle six characters. It's apparent that gameplay is prioritized, with exposition only coming in bits and pieces spread through cutscenes, which even then can rarely be found. Although the lack of exposition is sometimes complemented well by Marty O'Donnell's soundtrack in contrasting the stone-faced Noble Team and their required repression of grief and mourning, no personal connection between the team members is explored outside of occasional quips, as if they were fleeting memories that are meaningless to ruminate on.
There is also an unexplored contrast between its appreciation of sacrifice for humanity and its framing of the actions towards doing so. Multiple cutscenes begin with changing perspective to the UNSC's security system, statically fixated on Noble Team as if it were being observed by an higher-up outsider to look for any sign of desertion or deviation from the suicide mission. At times it feels like a, although most likely unintentional, start to questioning by Bungie of the dynamics between higher-ups and artificial soldiers found throughout the series, creating a sense of paranoia of the UNSC and its covert strategies towards dominance. But any idea of this exploration being seen in Reach's story is snuffed out by the end, instead looking towards a future where the galaxy's soil will unchangingly be built on unknown blood and a stable supply of artillery.
-aleph beth null, Rogue One review (2018)
Although meant to be a homage to its relatives in film, primarily Saving Private Ryan and Seven Samurai, it instead serves as a striking parallel to Rogue One and its fatal flaws six years beforehand, running into the need of constant motion while also attempting to juggle six characters. It's apparent that gameplay is prioritized, with exposition only coming in bits and pieces spread through cutscenes, which even then can rarely be found. Although the lack of exposition is sometimes complemented well by Marty O'Donnell's soundtrack in contrasting the stone-faced Noble Team and their required repression of grief and mourning, no personal connection between the team members is explored outside of occasional quips, as if they were fleeting memories that are meaningless to ruminate on.
There is also an unexplored contrast between its appreciation of sacrifice for humanity and its framing of the actions towards doing so. Multiple cutscenes begin with changing perspective to the UNSC's security system, statically fixated on Noble Team as if it were being observed by an higher-up outsider to look for any sign of desertion or deviation from the suicide mission. At times it feels like a, although most likely unintentional, start to questioning by Bungie of the dynamics between higher-ups and artificial soldiers found throughout the series, creating a sense of paranoia of the UNSC and its covert strategies towards dominance. But any idea of this exploration being seen in Reach's story is snuffed out by the end, instead looking towards a future where the galaxy's soil will unchangingly be built on unknown blood and a stable supply of artillery.