I chose to review the video game Halo: Reach because of my particular affinity for the Halo series. It was the first game I bought for my Xbox back in 2003, and I immediately fell in love with the game. I proceeded to buy every title in the series (except Halo 3: ODST) and now I have bought the final Halo title that Bungie Studios will be releasing. The series will be continued by another studio called 343 Industries. Rumor has it that 343 is a startup company comprised of past Bungie employees, but even still it has been a good and long run with Bungie, and knowing this will be their last Halo title is bitter sweet- more sweet than bitter. With hundreds of hours of play time invested in this series it only seems right that I give homage to such a masterful franchise.
Since its release in 2001 Halo has been the defining game for Microsoft's Xbox consoles. Halo and the Master Chief have become something of pop-culture icons. With books, toys and clothing lines all coming from this blockbuster title, Halo is truly an example of synergy at work. So can this fifth and final Bungie title live up to its names' greatness, or has this decade-long saga outlived its shine? Find out next!
Halo: Reach is the fifth game in the best-selling series for the Microsoft Xbox 360 developed by Bungie Studios. Following Halo 3, which was effectively supposed to "Finish the fight" against the Covenant horde, comes the next installment of the saga (excluding Halo 3: ODST, which was a side story to Halo 3) Instead of continuing where the Master Chief (the leading character in the halo series) left off at the end of Halo 3, Halo: Reach takes a new approach as a prequel to the first Halo game- Halo Combat Evolved.
A brief history of Halo: Humanity has expanded outward into the galaxy colonizing many planets. A civil war has broken out among different colonies. The UNSC (United Nations Space Command) develops what is called the Spartan project (a training program for genetically enhanced super-soldiers) on the planet Reach. While the UNSC is fighting the rebellion they come in contact with an Alien race called the Covenant on the planet Harvest. The Covenant destroys Harvest and moves on to destroy Reach. The Covenant invaded Reach killing all but one spartan: the Master Chief. Before they could destroy the planet a ship called The Pillar of Autumn with the Master Chief aboard jumped blindly into hyperspace. With the Covenant hot on its trail The Pillar of Autumn emerges from hyperspace infront of a large ring-world: HALO! this is a very brief and not detailed backstory that leads to the beginning of the first Halo game. for a more detailed story click here
Halo: Reach is the story of a squad of spartans called Noble Team. In the game you play as Noble Six; a spartan super-soldier who is the newest member of Noble Team. If you know anything of the Halo story (which i briefly explained above) you would know that the planet Reach is ultimately destroyed. The real meat in the Halo: Reach story comes from the character development, and the dire circumstances of the situation.
Over the series' history the games have been focused as much on competitive multiplayer as they have on the actual story mode. Most would agree that as far as story goes Halo: Combat Evolved is probably the most unique. As the games in the series have progressed the story has been eclipsed by the sheer breadth of the multiplayer experience. You could spend hours explaining the lore of the Halo universe, but what truly keeps the players coming back hour after hour is the incredible depth of the competitive multiplayer mode.
As far as multiplayer is concerned Halo: Reach is no slouch. Halo has always been about providing its players with a vast array of customizable options, and Reach goes above and beyond all of its predecessors in this area. There are literally hundreds of modifications a player can make to the gaming experience. Perhaps the greatest leap forward in Halo: Reach is the introduction of Forge World. Halo 3 introduced Forge; a feature for creating map variants out the existing Halo 3 maps. Forge World is essentially a massive scale map with a huge variety of terrains that are designed to allow the player to create his or her own custom maps. Players are given hundreds of different building blocks that they can use to build almost anything. Pretty much if you can think it you can build it.
With each game is expected new and unique game features in order to keep the game feeling fresh. Halo 2 introduced dual wielding weapons, Halo 3 introduced deployable equipment, and now Halo: Reach's defining feature is the introduction of armor abilities. Armor abilities are unique abilities that each player is allowed to select at the beginning of each multiplayer game. Depending on what ability a player chooses he or she will be albe to sprint, be camouflaged, send out a hologram, use a jet pack, or a number of other various abilities. This new feature is perhaps the greatest leap forward in the Halo series, and adds a great deal of depth to the gameplay.
Other features include graphical improvements, a new and revamped firefight mode, the return of the theater ( a place where you can watch and save game footage), the armory (a place of extensive spartan customization), reticule bloom, and the Arena. Along with a host of others that I am sure I am forgetting. In short, there are few games that come with more features than Halo: Reach. You will truly get your sixty dollars worth out of this game, which is important with such high game prices.
To say whether or not this is the best Halo game is extremely difficult and maybe even impossible. Each game has been groundbreaking for its time, and has supplied me with a new challenge and hours of fun. Perhaps Halo: Reach is the game with the most features, but I wouldn't say it is better than any of the others. They are all incredible games; standing out on their own merits.
Personally I love the game. Halo has a relatively steep learning curve, and takes a large amount of precision to be successful, but there are few games that will offer you the same level of competition as Halo: Reach does. After nearly ten years of playing Halo it is sad to see this being the last Halo game by Bungie. But what a hell of a series! With each game selling more than its predecessor, and with each game debuting as the most played game on Xbox Live upon release it is easy to see that there is something about Halo that keeps people coming back.
here is a Halo: Reach multiplayer montage just for fun:
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