The epic tale of my relationship with the game Halo has arrived at a new and, for me, frankly, magical place. I had the privilege to play through Halo: Reach on Tuesday at an event held by Microsoft and Bungie to allow reviewers to get a thorough look at the game. I can't deny the the thrill I felt to be told by Joe Tung, the producer of the game, that I was the first person outside Bungie to finish the single-player campaign.
I've made no secret over the last four years of my admiration for Halo and for its creators. I've variously described it as epic, profound, and educational; I've even written a chapter for the forthcoming book Halo and Philosophy that says that Plato would have let the guardians of the Republic play Halo.
I'm not going to try to review the game (especially not in this post, since I'm not allowed to publish anything that might be construed as a review until 10 September). I am, though, planning a series of three posts from my particular perspective as the guy who sees in Halo much of the promise of narrative games' reawakening the epic tradition: "Halo: Reach as epic," "Halo: Reach and the idea of narrative canon," and "Halo: Reach as practomime."
