Anyone remember how Bungie described the planet Reach as a character in itself? Any thoughts on the place, its feel, etc.?
Back then, i didn't think it really worked. The planet was doomed, and we never were shown people of Reach we'd care about, bustling cities, Reach's famed shipyards (a small space platform and a surface boneyard don't match the reputation), its industry (we see parts of a titanium mine, not enough), or generally its importance to the UNSC and human campaign against the Covenant. Yeah, sure, there's a map where you're supposed to protect civilians, all i remember is that i needed to be extra careful with grenades though since killing a civvie killed the player (not fun!).
And in general, its presence ended up being subsumed by the war with the Covenant. Never got a feeling one would have time to explore a bit more, get a feel of the place.
Now, i still feel a lot of the same but at the same time, i appreciate a lot what Bungie did with Reach as a location. It has effectively establishes itself as the quintessential colony world in my mind. It is untamed, cold, borderline lifeless with deserts and tundra and sparse plant life, as if still being terraformed. Kind of melancholic place really. People live in kind of primitive/rural settlements with kind of unique-looking architecture. It doesn't have much by the way of industry, relying on resource extraction, agriculture and tasks left out from civilized places (ship-breaking, ignoring that it is spaceship breaking here...). Oh, there's a futuristic city but perhaps that was merely the first colony settlement, rest of the planet is as wild as ever.
It doesn't feel like Reach as described in the books... but it feels like more realistic colony on another world.
