Halo Reach: As Interactive as It Gets?

So, as I'm sure most of you know, Halo Reach was recently released, and I don't know about all of you guys, but I was excited as... (insert outrageous simile here). Much to my chagrin, my friend invested in this glorious game and invited me over to waste away hours upon hours twiddling our thumbs away, shooting other Spartans, and improving our K/D spreads (now try to imagine Professor Pat doing his point-and-shoot-game-mocking-motion).

Now, I read a previous post saying something about how Halo Reach's campaign isn't very interactive (didn't read all of it yet, but I will jump on that), but what about the live play? For those of you who aren't familiar with Halo matchmaking, you basically sign in, wait for the network to hook you up with some closely ranked opponents (if you're playing ranked), then shoot the other team's little Spartan bodies away. Also, if you have the proper equipment, you can talk through a headset to the other little Spartans and talk s***, ask random players how their days are going, or basically say whatever the hell you want.

This, to me, is where the game becomes interactive. The basic storyline: shoot and don't be shot. The interactivity: the conversation. There really are no guidelines to how the story unfolds, but instead you get real-life stories from real-life, fellow Halo freaks. Granted, there aren't people online telling you bedtime stories or epic poems, but one can start to build an idea of what each talking-player is like. It's the most creative version of people-watching. I've encountered quite a few (understatement of the year) interesting Halo personas, from pre-pubescent 12 year old boys telling me to eat dirt in their high, squeaky voices, to 30 year old men explaining how their girlfriends hate their Halo-playing habits.

For me, the story lies in trying to imagine these people in their natural habitats. Do they have a beer belly, 5 o'clock shadow, and a PB and J sandwich in one hand, Bud Light in the other? Or maybe their 80 pound, stick bodies are looking over their shoulder every 20 seconds to make sure mom can't hear them cursing up a storm. The story unfolds game to game of, not what is on the screen, but what is behind the screen... Well, in front, if you want to get technical.