Halo: Reach. It's been touted by many as being the most hyped up game of 2010, and for good reason. This is Bungie's "Swan Song" to Halo, the last game they will ever make before they move on to whatever new IP they've had simmering on the back-burner. Sure Microsoft's 343 Studios is still going to carry on the Halo name, but it will never have that Bungie flair that everyone's come to know and love. After Reach, Halo will never be the same, which begs the question, did Bungie go out on a Martin O'Donnell inspired high note?
Due to the incredible amount of features present in Halo: Reach, I've decided to divide up my review into separate chunks about each area of the game: Campaign, Matchmaking, Firefight, Forge and Theater.
Campaign
Halo: Reach is a prequel, and like all of the advertisements have been saying, you already know how the game ends. However, it's the details behind the fall of Reach, and the efforts of Noble Team that really elevates this story from being boring and predictable, to an epic tale of survival and fighting for the people you care about.
 |
| Meet Noble Team |
The campaign of Reach is one of the strongest I've seen in a Halo game. Being part of a 5 man team allowed Bungie to create some very real and likable characters who, by the end of the game, you genuinely feel for. It also helps that the facial modeling is 10x better in Reach than in past Halo games, breathing life into what could've been faceless Spartan soldiers. Throughout the game you play as Noble 6, a faceless soldier who, following Bungie fashion, keeps mostly to him/herself (Yes, you can be Male or Female, whatever you fancy). You'll hear an occasional, "Yes sir," or "Take a look at this," but Noble 6 is primarily a silent protagonist, which isn't a bad thing. In fact, given that all of your armor customization carries over to campaign, it really helps reinforce the illusion that this is your own Spartan going through this, not some souped up super soldier. I won't go into to too much detail about the story, however, let it be known that there are some awesome set pieces during the campaign, and I would've loved to see more space combat, better yet, give me a whole game dedicated to space combat and I'd be one happy camper. I also wanted to touch on the graphics in the game, specifically the art and environments. Reach has some of the best environments I've seen in a Halo game and Xbox game. Mountains look majestic and the planets off on the horizon are breathtaking. There were moments in the game where I literally just did a 360 degree pan to take in all of the amazing visuals, and this a Halo game we're talking about.
The Campaign is certainly not one to be skipped in Reach, and while I may get some hate from all you Halo 3 fans, I thought that Reach's campaign was by far the best of the bunch. To me, it seemed like Reach was the perfect mix of ODST's storytelling and Halo 3's action, set pieces. Everything came together extremely well, and it just provided for a very action-packed and emotionally gripping story that I won't soon forget.
Matchmaking
 |
| Say hello to your new best friend, the DMR. |
With the huge success of Halo 3's matchmaking, many gamers, including myself, wondered if Bungie could top the multiplayer behemoth they had unleashed upon Xbox Live. The balance, the skill, the custom games, the competitiveness, the pure enjoyment, I mean what more could you possibly ask for? Well, we might not have known, but Bungie sure did, and apparently it's classes, an EXP system and tons of armor customization. Those are just a few of the things that stick out right off the bat in Reach's fine tuned multiplayer experience. Also, let me just start off by saying that, if you've never made the jump to Halo matchmaking, now would be the perfect time to join. Halo: Reach literally took everything that made Halo 3 great and expanded upon it. Tired of the seemingly random ranking system in Halo 3? I've got good news, now instead of numbers, you've got a system that revolves around the earning of credits and focuses more on individual achievement rather than the overall team's score. With those credits, you can buy anything from helmets and chest pieces, to custom Firefight voices and armor effects, and some of that stuff isn't cheap, so expect some heavy credit grinding if you want your spartan to have a field of electricity around him. Granted, all of these are still cosmetic changes, so a bigger chest piece won't provide you with extra shields, it's still the good old balanced Halo we've come to know and love.
 |
| Surprise! |
The biggest change to the game is the addition of certain class based armor abilities. Just to give you a quick rundown, you've got Sprint, which gives the player a short burst of speed, Armor Lock, which gives the player temporary invincibility, Jet Pack, well, it's a jet pack, Active Camo, basically makes the player invisible when standing still or moving slowly, Drop Shield, similar to the bubble shield except it can be destroyed by continuous gunfire and grenades, Hologram, which projects a clone of yourself to distract enemies, and the final ability Evade, which is an Elite only armor ability that allows the player to perform the quick Elite dodge roll move. Now, you might be thinking that these new Armor Abilities are going to cause the balanced nature of Halo to go right out the window, however, after playing around in matchmaking for about a week, I have to say that not only are they a ton of fun to use, but they also provide a new tactical approach where you're constantly having to guess and adjust to new armor abilities. I think it was a great addition that kept Reach's multiplayer from being Halo 3 all over again.
 |
| WHOAHOWOWHOA!!!! |
With Custom Games still in full force, Reach's matchmaking looks to be everything Halo 3's was and then some. With the addition of Daily and Weekly Challenges, there's plenty of stuff to keep players coming back for more, months and even years after release. If there was one thing I would change about the multiplayer, it would probably be the lack of Maps in the game. With only 9 maps on the disc, everything else is created using Forge World, and while some of my favorite maps are Forge maps, I just felt like the game could've used a few more maps to vary things up a little more, but then again, there's always DLC.
Firefight
 |
| For all you Co-op fans out there. |
If matchmaking isn't your forte, and you and your friends are more of the cooperative type, then Reach has just the ticket to keep you busy, Firefight 2.0. Let me just say, that Firefight in ODST was a great addition, and while the Endure achievement might've killed my love for Firefight for a few months, I'm happy to say that Firefight 2.0 is back and so far, I like what I see. Firefight in ODST was great, however there wasn't much customization to go along with the new game type. In Reach, that's all changed. Want an entire game of grunts, set the enemies to grunts only and you're good to go. Feel like challenging yourself to a wave of hunters, there's that as well. There are literally so many customization options, that it would take me probably 3 pages to go through them all. Now add in matchmaking support, and you've got one of the most enjoyable co-op experiences out there.
Forge
The Forge mode in Halo 3 was one of the coolest aspects of the game. Gamers somehow managed to take this simple map editor/creator and make these super complex maps, ranging from intricately thought out race maps, to mind bending puzzle maps. It's no surprise that Bungie was constantly listening to the fans complaints with Halo 3's Forge and were thinking up different ways to improve the system and make it easier and more accessible for people to Forge their own maps. Fast forward a few years and you have Forge 2.0 coupled with Forge World, which might be the most in depth map editor/creator I've ever seen.
 |
| More goodies to add to the Forge arsenal. |
Now, I'm no Forge expert, and you'll probably rarely see me touch Forge mainly because I'm not that creative when it comes to building maps. I'd much prefer to leave it up to the creative geniuses who are actually good at this stuff. With that being said, I did fiddle around with Forge, just to get a feel of it, and right off the bat I noticed just how much easier it was to make structures. The fine tune adjustment tools, and snap to certain angles, makes it ten times easier to lay out a structure, and the addition of having an option to either make objects float or "glitch" into each other is something that I'm sure Forge fans have been dying for. Gone are the days of saving and reloading up maps to make objects float, not it's as simple as the flick of a switch.
 |
| This is just a small glimpse of Forge World. |
But what good would improved controls be if you didn't have an awesome place to use them in. Enter Forge World, the biggest Halo map ever made, and a literal Forge playground. Forge World pretty much encompasses every type of map, whether it be a small enclosed area, a level grifball field, a giant open arena, or a rock like spire. The idea is, you make what you want to make, and aren't tied down to the limitations of a custom map. When they say the possibilities are endless, they aren't joking. I can't even begin to imagine some of the maps that people are going to come up with, and if they're half as good as Halo 3's Forge maps, then we should be in for a real treat.
Theater
 |
| Spartan JG04 reporting for duty. |
Theater has always been an awesome feature. The ability to play back and save your old films so that you can show off that amazing headshot or grenade stick is a something that I don't think any Halo fan could live with out. Fortunately in Reach, Theater's back and is as good as ever. The only real change was the removal of watching saved films with your friends, but I hardly ever watched saved films with my friends so it's a deleted feature that doesn't really affect me, but I can see why people would be angry. Other than that, there's not much to talk about regarding Theater, it is what it is, a great tool to watch and save your films, enough said.
HOW DOES IT LOOK? Halo: Reach is by far the best looking game in the Halo series, and a great looking game on the Xbox as well. The art, level design and characters are all extremely well done. I think where Reach really shines is in it's environments. From snow capped mountains, to looming planets off in space, Bungie did a great job of crafting a living world that you can't help but fall in love with. Also, character models are a big step up from previous outings and the game overall looks extremely crisp and smooth. There are, however, a few instances of slow down during the game mainly in a couple cut scenes and a couple of the bigger battles where you have a lot of explosions and enemies on screen.
HOW DOES IT SOUND? Martin O'Donnell has once again outdone himself with Reach's soundtrack. From sweeping cinematic strings, to crunchy, heart-thumping guitar riffs, the man is nothing short of a musical genius. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat during those intense fire fights and will tug at your heartstrings during those emotional moments. I thought ODST's soundtrack was good, but Reach has now risen to the top as my favorite overall Halo soundtrack. Besides the score, the sound design in the game is top notch, as always. Vehicles and gunfire sound great, and the voice work, while nothing special, delivers where it needs to.
HOW DOES IT PLAY? Halo: Reach doesn't dare deviate from the tried and true Halo formula. If you've played any Halo game before, then you pretty much know how Reach plays. The addition of Armor Abilities switches the controls ever so slightly, but after a few matches you're right back into the groove. Halo has always been my FPS of choice, and I personally think the controls are some of the best out there, and Reach is no exception.
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? On your first playthrough, the Campaign can last anywhere from 9 - 11 hours depending on how fast, and experienced you are at the game. Once, you get down the level structure, and skip cut scenes, you could probably speed run through the Campaign in anywhere from 6 - 8 hours. Where the game really shines is in the multiplayer. If you're like me, and you enjoy Halo and matchmaking then this is a game you're going to be playing for a very long time, I'm talking months to even years. The credit and armor customization will have you coming back for more, and Firefight and Forge just add more fuel to the fire. In the end it comes down to how much time you want to spend with the multiplayer, and co-op aspects of the game and if you have friends to play it with, because honestly, what would Halo be without friends.
HOW IS IT PRESENTED? Reach is probably one of the best Halo games presentation wise. The menus are streamlined and easy to use, matchmaking is noticeably faster than it was in Halo 3. The Campaign is arguably one of the best, if not the best in the series, and the game just flat out looks nice. From menus to artwork to gameplay this really is the complete package.
FINAL VERDICT:
Halo: Reach truly is the definitive Halo package. It has one of the best single player campaigns, an extremely robust and long lasting multiplayer component, co-op modes, theater and quite possibly the biggest and most in depth level editor/creator out there. If you haven't jumped on the Halo bandwagon yet, there's no better place to start than Reach.
Buy It Now/Highly Recommended
For more Halo: Reach discussion head on over to the VGH forums by clicking here or at the top of the page on the forums tab. As always, thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed the review and feel free to leave a comment on what you thought about Halo: Reach.
Dude I just got this game, and let me tell you best game ever. Probably game of the year even. Definitively worth getting. Awesome review VGH, as usual. Thanks!
Great Game! Enjoyed every single bit of it.
Awesome VGH review as usual, I am really enjoying what you guys put up. Thanks for the hardwork.
Awesome review couldn't have said it better myself. +10 VGH :D
Awesome review, I have been holding back to buy the game but with reading this I am surely going to be picking it up.
Why do people chose Swat or Snipers? How does anybody find it fun? All you do is walk around, get shot from what seems to be out of nowhere, with no chance to fight back, and die. Even when it's you getting the kill, all that happens then is you shoot once, you kill. How does that make a thrilling fight? In a normal slayer match if someone fires at you first they have the advantage but at least it's still possible for you to make a comeback!
Almost everytime i enter a team slayer hoping for an actual slayer match the majority vote allways goes to SWAT or Snipers!
If you like being one shot with absolutly no chance to fight back and show any of your skill why aint you playing CoD?
Anybody under 12 thinks anything with a scope is the coolest gun in existence.....Great review! My thoughts exactly.
becuz itz total skill yo