10 EXACT Moments You Knew Video Game Characters Were Doomed

1. Survive - Halo Reach

Halo Reach Ending
Bungie

One of the first pieces of conversational dialogue in the original Halo briefly mentions Reach, without really saying much about it. In fact, the colony doesn't get much explanation in the game itself, largely as it would slow everything down. Instead, the rise and fall of Reach is explained in the Halo books.

However, as their swansong of the franchise, original developers Bungie decided to set an immediate prequel to the original Halo on Reach. Whilst the marketing for the game certainly had a gloomy tone, it wasn't necessarily the case that all was lost, right? Halo 3 had similarly dour trailers but the game ended on a bittersweet victory, at least.

But then, after spending a moment to pick out your favourite armour styles and colours, the game literally opens on a shot of your broken helmet laying abandoned on a barren planet. This was not going to be a smooth ride.

Sure enough, watching all of your team mates in Noble Team perish over the course of the story was bad enough, but the final "survive" objective at the end of the game brought it all full-circle. Players face down enemies for as long as they can with no real goal besides live.

Players succeed in their duty, setting up for the events of the original Halo, but protagonist Noble Six meets their inescapable fate as the planet is completely overrun.

Watch Next


Contributor

Coming from a content creation background that now spans over two decades, Psy cut her teeth on personal video production and community radio. Originally joining the team as a writer and presenter, she added video editing duties to her responsibilities over time and became the longest-standing editor of the irreverent gaming show Tues Your Own Adventure. Psy has worked on many previews and reviews, long-form editorials (either her own, or supporting as an editor), as a frequent quizmaster and more. Praised for the two-pronged attack of her hard work ethic and light-hearted editing style, Psy is otherwise known as a font of retro video game knowledge which has caused her to rack up many gaming quiz wins. Outside of WhatCulture, Psy runs First Aid Spray Podcast - a long-running channel that focuses on Resident Evil in all of it's forms. You can follow her on BlueSky at http://psywhite.bsky.social and Instagram at http://instagram.com/therealpsywhite