Halo Reach Master Chief Easter Egg
Halo Reach Master Chief Easter Egg: Hail to the Chief
For the uninitiated (if that’s even possible), Master Chief has been the central character of the Halo franchise ever since its inception. The first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, was released during the launch of Microsoft’s original Xbox console, driving sales and becoming the Xbox’s first mega-hit property. With over five million units sold, Master Chief rapidly became a household name; today, even those who have never played a Halo title would likely recognize him. Bungie, the series’ creator and developer, followed up with Halo 2, adding online multiplayer that made Halo 2 the most played Xbox Live game on the original Xbox.
Despite being the most familiar protagonist, the Xbox 360 game Halo 3: ODST featured a team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers instead of the man in green. Now, Halo Reach sports a brand new cast of Spartans, again taking the spotlight off the Chief. With Halo Reach purportedly being Bungie’s last Halo game, would they really send-off the series without at least a cameo appearance from Master Chief?
Halo Reach Master Chief Easter Egg: Finding the Chief
The answer is no, of course not! Before continuing, anyone who hasn’t completed the single-player campaign of Halo Reach should be aware that spoilers follow; proceed with caution.
In the mission “The Pillar of Autumn”, proceed through the level as normal until reaching the very end. If you’ve already completed this level, you can re-select it and choose to start at “Rally Point Bravo” to save some time. You’ll know you’re near the end when you’re at the sequence where you take control of a massive cannon to defend the Pillar of Autumn from oncoming Covenant Phantoms. After successfully defending the ship, a cutscene will play.
During this scene, the Pillar of Autumn will lift off to escape planet Reach. You’ll want to watch for an interior shot of the ship, where there are two Warthogs that a couple nondescript soldiers jog past. At this point, hold the thumbstick that controls the camera to the right and the camera will pan over to reveal our hero Master Chief in a sealed capsule. We’ll then see the Pillar of Autumn jump to a familiar location: the first Halo ring featured in Halo: Combat Evolved. At the beginning of Combat Evolved, they awaken Chief from a capsule before landing on the Halo ring, so this brief Easter egg highlights the moments just before the start of the first Halo title. Pretty damn cool.
Halo Reach Master Chief Easter Egg: Firefight
It’s also worth noting that the Halo Reach Master Chief Easter egg isn’t the only time Chief appears in Halo Reach. His voice can also be purchased from the Armory using in-game credits to customize your Firefight character. It costs a whopping 150,000 credits though, so hop online and start shooting if you want to save up enough cash.
