Halo Reach's ending still leaves fans stunned all these years later

Despite being over a decade old, Halo Reach’s heartbreaking ending still hits fans hard - and is one of the best in the series.

Surely everyone who’s into video games has played one that’s lived in your head rent-free for weeks, months or even years after you’ve played.

Check out Halo Reach below, available through Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

As the quality of games continues to improve every console generation, there’s more opportunity for new titles to tug at our heartstrings and take us on an emotional rollercoaster worth remembering, and Halo fans believe Bungie’s prequel title Halo Reach is a cut above the rest.

This take was shared when Reddit user Supermarc03 started a thread asking gamers: “What game kept you thinking about it for a long time after beating it?”

The post generated over 1,000 comments, and some incredible games and franchises were suggested, including Ghost Of Tsushima, Persona 5 Royal and of course, Red Dead Redemption 2.

One user though, filledavoid, said the following: “Halo Reach. Current Objective: Survive. When the cutscene hits... That one left me stunned. Plus what happens to Noble Squad through the game. So many unexpected moments.”

Filledavoid is, of course, referring to Halo Reach’s final mission, Lone Wolf, which locks the player in an unbeatable fight for survival with no friends, limited ordinances and no hope of victory. Players that choose to go down fighting will quickly see their heads-up-display start to crack and warp, before finally meeting their end in a harrowing cutscene that sees your character brutally killed by Covenant forces.

All in all, it’s a remarkable ending to a game, and other Halo fans agreed, many of which consider Halo Reach to be one of if not the best game in the series, thanks to its emotional campaign and spectacular mission variety.

“Halsey’s voiceover in the end cuts deep," said one user. “Jorge thinking he had saved everyone. Still makes me feel for the guy," added another, while a fellow user wrote, "One of the best trailers ever made. I was never into Halo at all but I sure as s**t bought Reach after watching that trailer.”

Nice to know Halo Reach’s campaign is still traumatising players years after its release, and it can currently be played on Xbox and PC platforms via Halo: The Master Chief Collection.