Achievement Hunter Reviews: Halo Reach
"Seriously! This is the game I've been saying they needed to make ever since I read the first novel!"
This quote from my older brother perfectly encompasses what Halo: Reach is all about. This is the game that we have been begging for ever since we first learned that there were more Master Chiefs, since we first learned of the planet where the Spartan IIs were raised, and since we first glimpsed the majesty that is the Halo universe. It is Bungie's full circle conclusion to 10 years of Halo, and the swan song that brings together everything that made the series great. This is as they say, the beginning of the end.
Halo: Reach
This has been literally the hardest review for me to write yet, not only because of how near and dear Halo is to my heart, but also because of the sheer amount of stuff there is to talk about. Of course everything looks beautiful and the soundtrack is top notch as usual. But there is just so much more beyond this that it becomes nearly impossible to talk about everything. To say that Bungie has put a lot of work into this game would be a huge understatement as Halo: Reach literally is the culmination of every single previous Halo game to date. It takes everything that made every entry in the series awesome, and puts it all together. As you play through the game an then invest into multiplayer, you'll notice things here and there that remind you of each previous game. The first level clearly borrows from the first outdoor mission in Halo: CE, exploring a vast mountainous landscape while searching for missing marines. Or maybe you're helping defend the city from invading Covenant forces like in Halo 2. You can tell that the designers at Bungie really took their time, looked back at everything and said "What made these things awesome?"
What could be more awesome then a Spartan super soldier? Six Spartan super soldiers.
At the same time, they paid close attention to what people didn't like. I can thankfully say that there is not a single mission in the entire campaign that was un-fun or will be dreaded by the masses for years to come (NO FLOOD MISSIONS!!! YAY!). There are no "useless" pickups (Trip mines? Flair?). There are no "worthless" vehicles (Specter anyone?). Absolutely everything in Reach is fun, useful and awesome. But none of it is any good without a story to use them in. Fortunately, Reach delivers that as well.
Set during the weeks leading up to the beginning of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, Reach follows the members of Nobel Team; a group of Spartans stationed on the planet. It begins with the investigation of a now quiet relay station, and the search and rescue for marines that have gone missing with it. Fearing the work of local insurrectionists, Nobel Team is sent to investigate the situation. Things soon take a turn for the worst as the marines are found dead and all outside communication is lost. As Nobel soon discovers, the Covenant are on Reach. The rest of the story plays out as the Team fights for survival against ceaseless waves of invading forces, and as the planet falls Nobel is asked to give their all for a goal that just might save humanity.
Though this plot might feel depressing at first, it is the intriguing tale of Nobel team that really gives it weight. These are not the unquestioning mutes of Halos past. They actively discus weather the right decisions are being made, and wonder if their goals are really worth fighting for. I have to give Bungie praise for creating such a deep and emotionally complicated story for Halo Reach, and you can see how it was influenced by ODST in this regard. That being said, I still felt like there was more that could have been told. I would have liked to see just a little bit more screen time with Nobel Team themselves and learned a bit more of their back stories. It feels kind of assumed that you know who these people are and where they come from, but for the new Halo players (if there are any) this doesn't make much sense. I still wait in the hopes of some story based DLC though, as there are several plot points that seemed almost intentionally left empty. You should simply know though that the story of Halo Reach is well worth your time and ties things together quite well in the end, giving both a sense of accomplishment and sorrow at the same time.
Glowing red lasers are generally a bad thing, unless you've got one too.
While there might be a few voices raging about the so called canonical inconsistencies of Halo Reach, the story and setting actually offer a unique an genius way of introducing new features into a prequel. Reach, they explain, is the military's primary stronghold, their greatest fortress, and the primary testing ground for all kinds of new stuff. Hence, the existence of new toys in a time when there wasn't supposed to be anything like that. For example: The DMR. Standing for Designated Marksman Rifle, the DMR is the supposed precursor to Halo 2's Battle Rifle. It will stand as the weapon you rely on, and the "go-to" gun for almost any encounter. This carries over to the new vehicles in Reach as well. You'll use a number of civilian trucks and other rides to get around the terrain, and you can see these as being sort of stripped down pre-warthogs. This use of Reach's setting works wonderfully to introduce options that we might not have had before. This even includes the new additions.
Continued in comments...
