Halo: Reach Interview with 343 Industries Studio Creative Director Josh Holmes

Bungie's Halo: Reach is arguably one of the biggest video game releases of 2010. Over the last week we've featured multiplayer tips for newcomers and dusty veterans alike and a detailed storyline primer of the events leading up the the Fall of Reach.

Yesterday we caught 343 Industries studio creative director--and Halo: Reach executive producer--Josh Holmes in our crosshairs and grilled him on the future of the Halo franchise. Covering everything from the popularity of Master Chief versus the Halo universe itself to how 343 boss Frank O'Connor could be kicking himself for past trash talking, we hit as many topics as we could surrounding the Halo brand, before being shuffled into a room to play the retail build of the latest Spartan-starring adventure.

Shack: Most people know 343 Industries as the team that

brought us Halo Waypoint, the application was recently updated for Reach. What can you tell us about

some of the changes coming to the app in the future alongside and following the launch of Halo: Reach.

Josh Holmes: Waypoint just came out with the update, I think

today. That raised the level cap on the Waypoint Career, introduced some armor variants that are

specifically unlocked through Waypoint that are tied to achievements in Reach and across the

franchise, and introduced some new functionality. Now we have the ability to search through related

articles and things like that. It makes looking for content a lot more smoother.

Later this year we're bringing Waypoint out on both the mobile Windows Phone 7 as well as on the web.

You'll be able to get all the same--or much of the same--Intel content that you get right now on the

console.

Shack: What about content development for Halo: Reach

itself? How does 343's involvement in that content work?

Josh Holmes: We continually create and source content for

stuff all across the franchise. When Reach is released we're going to be really heavily "Reach-

focused." There will definitely be content that the team is creating around that.

(Ed. Note: A Microsoft representative has asked us to clarify that any mention of "future content" for Halo: Reach in this interview is specific to Halo Waypoint only.)

Shack: When I talked to Bungie's Joseph Tung at X'10 in

Toronto, we discussed what happens when that team is finished with Halo: Reach. The game is done. It's

gone gold and now it's going in giant boxes with Todd McFarlane statues. From what I understand, there

is still a small team of people at Bungie who will take care of balance issues and--presumably if it

happens--additional content. Does 343 oversee everything that Bungie does related to the Halo

property? What is the structure of Halo, post-Bungie?

Josh Holmes: 343 oversees everything across the Halo

franchise. We work closely with partners, like Bungie, in development of a variety of different

things, such as Halo: Reach.

Bungie has some stuff they'll be continuing to do to support the community for Reach. They'll be

continuing to work on some content we may release at a future point in time. We'll be partnering

closely with them on that as well as looking across the other aspects of the franchise that we're

tending to.

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Shack: So far, there have been just as many Halo titles

featuring Master Chief as games that have not stared the surviving Spartan. (Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars

and now Reach versus Halo 1, 2, and 3.) What do you think is the most important element to the Halo

franchise? I won't be silly in asking whether the franchise can stand on its own without him, but is

Master Chief necessary to strike gold? Halo 3 was better received, commercially, than Halo Wars and

ODST, for example.

Josh Holmes: I definitely think that Master Chief is

important. I mean that was everyone's first view into the universe. That said, the universe is

incredibly deep and rich and can support a variety of different stories and characters and I think

we've seen that and continue to see that with Reach.

For me, it's hard to break down what is the single most important aspect of Halo to just one thing.

One of the things that I think is absolutely core to the experience is the spirit of creativity that

flows throughout everything and the commitment to empowering users to express themselves. That could be

giving people the tools to create community content--new maps--customize their experience, share that

with friends, create screenshots and machinima. Also, it's the very nature of Halo's gameplay. It's

all about allowing people to be creative within the combat sandbox and decide how they want to express

themselves using the coolest tools of expression: weaponry.

If I had to speak to one core theme that cuts across everything Halo, I think it would be that

creativity.

Shack: Something that I asked Joseph Tung during our

discussion was whether or not it would be difficult to get fans of the franchise roped into the

narrative of Halo: Reach considering everyone knows it doesn't really work out for any other Spartans

other than Master Chief. Is it a challenge?

Josh Holmes: I guess there's a "meta story" there that

everybody knows. Reach falls. It's right there in the title of the book. No one is expecting a great,

happy ending from that meta perspective. What Bungie has decided to focus on is a more personal tale,

this story of Noble Team and the story of their personal sacrifice and heroics that ultimately keep

hope alive for humanity.

I think that story, that smaller story on a more intimate level set against the backdrop of this epic

planetary scale conflict is really, really compelling. There's plenty of twists and turns and

interesting things that will come out as part of that story that will be surprising and interesting to

people and even though they know that in the end Reach gets glassed--sorry to ruin it for anybody that

doesn't know that--I think that ultimately becomes a small part of the story of the game. Well, maybe

that's overstating it, but I mean the guess the focus of the campaign is really on a much more

intimate level and that is what's so interesting about it.

Shack: The way Joseph explained it was, it's like the story

of the Titanic. Everyone knows it sinks but it's the story before that event that hasn't been told.

Josh Holmes: Yeah, it's the story behind that "meta-event."

It's the most important point in the Human-Covenant conflict, a real turning point of humanity but

we've never seen the personal stories on the ground that is behind that conflict.

Shack: Speaking of boots in the mud. "Deliver Hope" was

very well received and a lot of Shackers want to see that on the big screen in a feature film. It was

stalled then killed, any progress now that Halo is back in the spotlight?

Josh Holmes: What we can say and what we continue to say on multiple occasisons is "We'd love to see a great Halo movie." We're Halo fans just like everybody else. When the time comes and we feel like we have a great script, a great director and everything is aligning and it's going to be a movie that lives up to the standards of "Halo," then absolutely we'd love to do that.

I'm hopeful that oneday we'll be there but we just really want to be sure that we have the right movie before we pull the trigger on that.

Shack: So I read on Bungie's site that 343 Industries and Bungie are going to have a little Halo: Reach Hump Day Challenge.

Josh Holmes: Yeah and those guys are going to cheat! (laughs) They are setting all the rules, guidelines, and restrictions for the match!

Frankie [343 boss Frank O'Connor] is going to be in that challenge because they kinda challenged him and the whole thing is coming full circle to Frank because he used to do that exact same shit to everyone else!

Shack: Taking mess to other teams?

Josh Holmes: For sure.

Shack: And now it's going to bite him on the ass facing off against Bungie as the head over at 343 Industries.

Josh Holmes: (laughs) Exactly!

Shack: Do you think your guys stand a chance?

Josh Holmes: We will never give up, we are proud warriors. But it is there game. Man, I know for a fact that Luke Smith is running practices right now in the studio! So, I think we have an underdog's chance.

Shack: As long as you can guarantee second place. Hey, if you win, maybe you can force them to make another Halo game.

Josh Holmes: I think that should be the wager, but I don't think they would take it. Those dudes are kinda busy.

Shack: Yeah, they've got the next ten years planned out. Thanks for your time, Josh.

Halo: Reach hits stores on September 14 for the Xbox 360. (Ed. Note: Josh Holmes' official title at 343 Industries is Studio Creative Director, his listing in his article as Executive Producer was specific to Halo: Reach. His listed position was changed at the request of a Microsoft representative.)