Anyone who thinks Halo is an over-hyped shooter whose time has been stretched to the point of cliché have yet to experience the return-to-roots, sweat-spilling ecstasy that is Halo: Reach. This prequel, a last instalment for the Bungie-developed Halo legacy, is by far the biggest and best, a final curtain of creative distinction that combines the best of previous iterations.
Reach chronicles how the evil alien race known as the Covenant gained its stranglehold on an Earth-like colony called Reach, home to hundreds of millions of civilians. You play as Noble Six, the newest member of Noble Team, an elite group of Spartan super soldiers tasked with delving into and attempting to prevent the amassing Covenant forces. It’s a battle whose outcome is already known by fans and though the ending is as unsurprising as that of Titanic, it is still an amazing journey.
Reach gets back to basics in some ways and pushes the Halo franchise to new heights in others. For veterans of the series, the overall combat, from movement, to weapons, to vehicles, to multiplayer modes, will feel like a return to the embrace of a well-loved vintage, aged to perfection.
New elements sharpen the already incredible gameplay to its finest point. Most noticeably, armour abilities have been added to your arsenal. The ability to generate holograms, enter active camouflage or use a jetpack shift the tactics of even the most seasoned of players, both in the campaign and in multiplayer.
The level of customization available in the game makes it one of the most robust first-person shooters on the market. The quality and sheer quantity of options allows players to craft their vision of the ultimate Halo experience. Let’s run through the list: four-player co-op campaign, diverse and flexible multiplayer, customizable character armour, the return of the fan-favourite Firefight mode and updated Forge for creating unique multiplayer maps. Simply put, Reach is the way Halo should have always been.
New aerial combat takes on a deeper role in Reach. In the campaign, you take the fight against the Covenant into the heavens on more than one occasion. Both in space and above war-torn cities, aerial combat is just as intense as any of the other moments of battle bliss. The only downside is that it begs the question: if this is a prequel, why aren’t aerial battles a part of the rest of the series? Who cares? It’s here now and it’s a blast.
Graphics and music score are two staples in the Halo franchise and Reach is no exception. Though Halo has never been one to push the envelope in graphics, Reach is the best looking of the series and stays true to the dynamic style for which Halo is infamous. And while somewhat choppy cut scenes provide the only visual hiccups in the game, some moments are simply breathtaking in their quality and scope. The sound and soundtrack are also up to the par set by Bungie in previous iterations games. All these elements combine to keep the flavour of Halo alive and lush.
Halo, the name that launched both the Xbox and Xbox Live into stardom, returns for a massive final farewell — at least, with granddaddy-developer Bungie at the helm. We wondered how Bungie would top Halo. We then wondered the same with Halos 2 and 3. Halo: Reach is the pinnacle of its predecessors, living up to and surpassing the expectations of both the adoring and the critical alike.
When he’s not teaching junior high, St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus Derek Mitchell spends his free time attached to a video game console.
