Halo: Reach is finally out, and one most notably, it is the last Halo game made by Bungie-the guys that started the whole franchise. While, Halo: Reach follows the rule of what a sequel should be like, the one thing that's keeping this game not being Halo 4 is the storyline. It's basically a prequel to the first game.
Halo: Reach storyline is probably the weakest in the series. Now, it's in the setting in Reach where the Covenant getting invading Reach. If you don't know what is Reach, it's pretty much another Earth in the Halo series. You play as Noble 6, a new member of the Noble Team, and he's pretty much a silent protagonist, but he does talk at times. There are other members in the Noble ranging from 1 to 5. All of them have their own personality and apperance defines it too. They seemed to be a bit more "human" since some of them take of their masks and cooperate as a team. The story is heavily focused on what Noble Team is tasked to do-defend and that's pretty much it for the storyline. Most of the storytelling is done by cutscenes and various orders by your squad members during the game.There will be some moments that are quite emotional especially parts where you lose members of your Noble Team, but sadly, there are not enough more interesting parts to happen, and it just seems very simple.
Look at the mountains!
This levels reminds me of something...
Ever since Halo: Combat Evolved was released, Halo has always had amazing music. The same can be said around here. The sound effects of the guns and explosion have definitely been improved since Halo 3. The Assault Rifle sounds violently deadly when you shoot it, or the DMR sounds one powerful weapon. Voice acting is believable and solid just like the other Halo games. so there's not much I can say about that part. Soundwise, Halo easily excels in this area. Graphically, it is amazing. It's a huge step from Halo 3, and I guess you could say this Halo at an attempt of having Crysis-esque graphics. Everything you know about graphics have been improved pretty much.
Take em jackals down!
He's pissed.
These white, and high-ranking look Elites are INCREDIBLY deadly.
BRING IT BOY!
In the general idea of Halo: Reach is that you finally have armor abilities which is pretty much like magical spells from RPG games. You can sprint, have jetpacks, go camoflauge, and a couple of more. There are new weapons and some of the weapons of have been redesigned like the Assault Rifle and Pistol. New weapons are like the DMR, Needle Rifle, Plasma Launcher, and some more. They are all fun to use, and they seemed quite balanced in both campaign and multiplayer.
Halo: Reach took me around 10-12 hours on Legendary, and it is slightly different compared to the previous Halo games. First of all, the enemies are a bit more trigger happy so you gotta be a bit cautious than you did in Halo 3 and ODST-it's a bit similar to how the Halo 2 enemies acted. Next thing is, Elites are deadly than ever. They move fast, and they are a lot more unpredictable in their moves. There are new enemies like the Skirmishers and they are fun to fight just like the other Halo enemies, and some of them return like the Engineer and surprisingly, Brutes. Other then that, most of the classic Halo enemies are here and they only speak in their native language now to give you a more "alien" feel. Before you start the game, Carter (your leader) tells you that "we're a team", and that is true. Don't ever go lone wolf in this game especially when you have a squad member around you, you will die so fast, it's not even funny. However, there are moments where you will be going alone, and the game is balanced for that situation, so you don't have to fight like 4-5 high ranking elites like you did with a squad member of yours. There are 9 levels respectively, but they will take awhile to finish. The campaign was an enjoyable ride, but I can't say it's better than the previous games that Bungie has gave us. Sure, they reimagined some of the best parts in Halo: Combat Evolved like Nightfall has a lot of similarities with Truth and Reconciliation or New Alexandria is pretty much the darker version of Halo. It's just that most of the parts feel a bit straightforward, but it's not too boring or average, Reach definitely will deliver some moments that you want to come back to replay it and master that part. There is space combat in the game, and it's easily one of the most memorable moments in Reach since it's just really well made, and it's a blast to play, and possibly one of the best air battles you'd probably encountered in a Halo game.
Multiplayer is still here, and it's definitely not left out, it's been improved. Firefight has matchmaking, and it's addicting. Although, it acts a bit differently than it did in ODST where it was basically a test to see how long you can survive and score your points, this one is limited to just have 1 set and after that you will get credits. Credits are pretty much points or cash to buy stuff for your Spartan wheather it's customizable armor or voice speaking for your Spartan. For example, if I buy Master Chief's voice, I'll hear his voice during in gameplay. No matter what you play in Halo: Reach, you will get credits. Competitive multiplayer is similar to what you expect in the past games, but it seems a bit more balanced with the new shield system-one melee will always take out the shield or a headshot. So let's say you have like 1/4 of your shield left, and some guy shoots you in the head, you'll be dead in Halo 3, but in Halo: Reach, you'll still be alive. This makes the DMR and Pistol from not being too "one gun to rule them all" and it gives the other weapons a chance to use. There are a total of 9 Bungie made maps and 4 forged maps which are remakes of previous maps, and they are a blast to play just like you played them back in the early Halo days. There are 8 Firefight maps and like in most games, some maps you will like, some of them you won't. Another new thing to the Halo franchise, is the new voting system. There will be three games and everyone can decide to choose what they want to play based on the same map. If they don't like the map, they van vote for a new list.
Forge is something I don't really do, but I have managed around to mess around with it, and it's very impressive. If I could make something, you can probably make something better than me. It's very easy to use, and it's probably the best editing kit to use for a console today.
Theater makes return, and it's pretty much the same thing. Although, I have heard you can finally rewind in the campaign, but I haven't done it. You can also have more files than you did in Halo 3 now.
Reach is the last Halo game, and Bungie totally delivered it. Giving you a lot of stuff worth for your money, and it's quite hard to not buy it. It's basically the Gears of War 2 in 2010-it has so much content for just 60 bucks. Bungie finished their last Halo game with a bang. 9/10
NOBLE TEAM, get ready!