Halo: Reach is more than just Bungie’s magnum opus for the Halo series. It’s a love letter to the franchise’s multitude of fans, in the form of a “greatest hits” compilation of everything the series has done right.
But that’s not to say that Reach is unwilling to try new things. This final installment of the series is so robust with features and so expertly executed, that it can’t help but be a thrilling, resounding success.
Since this is Bungie‘s final Halo game ever (though no doubt there will be more from Microsoft, which holds the rights to the franchise), they took a kitchen sink approach with it. There’s a full 8+ hour solo campaign, an entire menu of multiplayer modes, the popular Forge level editor first provided with Halo 3, and the Theater, where you can record, edit, and watch your own Halo movies. All of these elements have been given numerous upgrades and a ton of polish, and everything — and I mean absolutely everything — offers customization out the wazoo, down to the tiniest minutia.
The campaign’s story shows one of the most pivotal events Halo’s mythology: the fall of the human-colonized planet Reach to the vicious Covenent. Referenced frequently throughout the Halo trilogy, the fall of Reach even has its own novelization. But Halo: Reach lets you to live these events, and in placing you inside this tragic story, Bungie achieves a level of tension that I’ve never experienced in a video game before. You know from minute one that Reach is going to be decimated, that countless lives will be lost, so every move you make carries great significance and a tangible sense of foreboding. Will this level be the one where the planet is set ablaze, or where one or more of my team members will be killed? It’s dark stuff to be sure, a disaster movie of global proportions, but somehow Bungie manages to pull it off with just the right amount of tragic heroism, while never dragging the player into the depths of depression.
I’ve always found Halo’s storytelling to be a bit lacking, as the focus has always been on that razor-sharp gameplay. In particular, I never liked how you had to work harder to get the whole story than you had to work to take part in the gameplay. Reach resolves these issues nicely, with some dramatic cutscenes that tell you everything you need to know to follow the story.
Reach itself is a gorgeous world, fully realized. Bungie outdid themselves on the graphics front, mixing high-res textures with a color palette that goes far beyond the green-and-purple hues of the trilogy to the full spectrum. Wandering around the countryside or strolling through the cities at night is absolutely stunning. Case in point: there’s a waterfall in one outdoor level that looks unquestionably real, as if it was a video of an earthbound waterfall that Bungie somehow mapped and put into the game. And water is one of the hardest things for CGI to pull off convincingly. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I often found myself wishing that the game weren’t quite so frantic, because I would love to — sometime, when in a more contemplative mood — roam the hills and mountains and plains, and just explore its grandeur and beauty.
Because Halo: Reach is a prequel to the trilogy, many of the elements players are most familiar with are absent. There’s no Master Chief, no Arbiter, no Guilty Spark, and no Flood. But nearly every other trope from the series is present in one form or another, from the weapons and armor to vehicles and bases. The HUD is exactly the same as it’s always been, and you’ll recognize the feel and the sounds of every weapon you wield. And there are a ton of weapons, too — I could write an entire article on the dozens upon dozens of weaponry types and models available to use in this game.
The team dynamic is probably the most profound new innovation for Halo: Reach. You’re cast in the story as a nameless soldier (who can be male or female), just assigned to a crew of Spartans called Noble Team, and since you’re the sixth member, you’re known as “Noble Six.” We never get to learn anything about Noble Six, but this team is every bit as tough and resourceful as another Spartan that players know so well.
Each member of the team has their own personality and abilities, and you’ll come to care about and respect each one of them. Playing alongside them in the solo campaign is a treat, as you’re often unleashed against enemies of overwhelming numbers, but thanks to the assistance of your cohorts, you come out of the fight feeling like a master player (whether you are one or not). The enemy AI is just as lethal and cunning as Halo fans expect, but unfortunately Noble Team isn’t quite so smart on the battlefield. More times than I could count, my beloved teammates would strafe right through my line of fire, and I frequently found one or more of them stuck, standing in a certain spot for no particular reason. (I always popped off a shot at them to wake ‘em up.)
The voice of your commanding officer is in your ear at all times, guiding you to directives and barking urgent orders. The game has a stronger sense of momentum to it than any other in the series, to the point that you never feel you have time to stop and explore (even though you do), and it reminded me a lot of that same trick that Modern Warfare put to good use.
There are times you’ll be given orders to go to important locations, but not told how to get there. There were more of these instances than I could count, and it was very frustrating at first. With multiple paths to choose from on this living, breathing planet, do I go left, right, straight, etc.? It wasn’t until about halfway through the game that I realized that Reach‘s levels are ingeniously built to prevent you from getting lost. It feels like you’re roaming freely, choosing your own path, but all roads lead to your next objective. Very clever.
Halo: Reach never tries to depict the fall of the entire planet; instead, you stick with Noble Team and witness events from their point of view. They’re a crucial group, the most important in the war for Reach, so you see a lot of very important events. But they can’t be everywhere, so you don’t have to watch billions die right in front of you. It’s a slow burn as the game goes from the moment when the Covenant arrives on Reach, to an all-out war between humans and aliens, to finally a desperate fight to save as many humans as possible and help them escape the planet.
Another new element introduced into the series is a level where you dogfight in space above Reach. This level is so much fun, I could play it all day. Your sleek spacecraft can shoot lasers and torpedoes both, while engaging in evasive maneuvers and hitting the afterburners. Shooting enemy ships is made easier by the reticle not focusing on the ship but on the spot in front of the moving ship where you need to fire in order to hit it. I was reminded of the thrilling space battles in Star Wars Battlefront II, and the only negative thing I can say about it is that it didn’t last long enough to satisfy my hunger.
The same can’t be said of the twin-rotor airships, which you’re asked to pilot during one critical mission in the game’s second half. Sure, it’s fun and clever to get to fly the airship around a dense city and land on helipads and hoof it around various hotspots for important objectives, but trying to fight in the thing is a bear, because it handles like a flying tank. Sluggishly turning and barely offering anything resembling speed, you’ll fight frustration more than the Covenant in the airship — which is made all the harder because it’s a lengthy nighttime level where visibility is very poor.
The solo campaign ends beautifully, perfectly setting everything the events from the first game into motion.
The multiplayer options are nearly endless, with deathmatches, co-ops, Firefights, Matchmaking, and so much more, where every last option can be tweaked. I particularly enjoyed Firefight mode, where it’s all about defending your territory and surviving wave after wave of enemies. Every mode — even Forge, where you can edit your own levels — lets you rack up points, and with more points, come even more options that you can unlock and purchase to your heart’s content. Needless to say, Bungie is one studio that understands the importance of replay value, and Reach sends it off the charts.
Halo: Reach is the must-have title of the year for Xbox owners, offering as much playtime value as any dozen other games combined.