Halo: Reach

‘Remember Reach’ commands Microsoft in its $6.5million+ advertising campaign for the latest Halo title. Now that the game has finally hit store shelves, millions are able to discover if Reach is worth remembering.

The campaign story mode of Reach (which can be played with up to four players) opens with a flash-forward to a shot of a cracked helmet lying on an apocalyptic landscape. It is apparent immediately that this is a darker, more mature look at the Halo universe than has been attempted before. The bleak opening is bolstered by the improved visuals of Halo: Reach; facial animation in particular is far from the embarrassment of previous Halo games, making it easier to empathise with the inhabitants of the planet Reach and the tragic events which befall them.

From there it’s first-person shooter business as usual for seasoned Halo veterans, but that’s not to say that newcomers will be left gawping in confusion after each story point as this game is a prequel to the main trilogy. The plot is simpler than before, preferring this time to dump players into combat zones with the briefest of instructions. This gives the tale a grittier feel but real revelations are still present, especially for long-time Halo fans.

The single player campaign mode isn’t particularly long at 6-7 hours, but developers Bungie have managed to pack more into each mission than before, making for a highly varied campaign. One moment you could be fighting your way up a beach, the next crawling through an enemy ship in low gravity.

A word must be said about the music of Halo: Reach: phenomenal. While the orchestrations of previous games in the franchise have been stellar, composer Martin O’Donnell outdoes himself here, providing a score which is both tragic and at times heart-wrenching as characters begin to fall.

Over 2.7 million players participated in the multiplayer beta test for Halo: Reach, and it shows: Bungie has polished its online mode to a bright sheen. Though general gameplay remains similar to previous instalments with familiar gametypes intact, subtle tweaks in sound design and physics lead to the Reach multiplayer experience being more visceral than before. The biggest addition is that of armour abilities. These are chosen at the beginning of each match and range from the obvious sprint ability to the thrill of jetpacks. These add a new dimension to combat: why expose yourself when you can create a holographic decoy to draw fire?

There are a couple of niggles with the game. One is the comparatively small number of multiplayer environments provided, although this is alleviated somewhat with the vast improvements made to the ‘forge’ mode (read: map editor). There is also the occasional slowdown or framerate stutter. Although I never found this a real problem, it may be distracting to others.

Bungie have spent a decade slowly tweaking and refining the core Halo mechanics and though each change has been incremental, Reach is definitely an unforgettable way to end their involvement with the series.

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