Halo: Reach launched on September 14th and has dominated Xbox Live ever since. Not only are you likely to find the majority of your friends list playing Reach at any given time but you can't fire up your Xbox Dashboard without being bombarded by Reach. So the question inevitably arises, does it deserve all this hype?
Obviously there are plenty of Xbox gamers who will instantly reply, "definitely". It has the Halo name on it and therefore they feel it's worthy of their devotion. What about the rest of us though, should we run out and drop $70 (at least) on a brand new copy of Halo: Reach? To truly judge for yourself you'll need to decide how important each aspect of the game (campaign and multiplayer) is to you. To this effect I will be looking at both, scoring each separately, and then balancing the scores together to come up with an overall total.
Campaign
First, let's take a look at the campaign. Now obviously there's the fact that Halo: Reach is a prequel and therefore even the mildest fan has some idea of how it ends. The basic information is even conveyed in some of the pre-release promotional information, Reach falls and therefore you failed to save the planet. A little more digging and you'll inevitably come across the fact that by the time the next game starts (Halo: CE) Master Chief is the only remaining Spartan and therefore your team of Spartans (Noble Team) must be dead.
Knowing this can make it a little difficult for some people to become truly invested in the story and the characters. This means that when the game crescendos in an attempt to evoke an emotional response it can easily result in more of a snide laugh than anything else. That's assuming that you're one of those people. If not, the story can be truly gripping and you really feel for every member of Noble Team. In fact, Reach arguably has the best story of any of the previous Halo games. The ending in particular carries a significant punch and, without giving too much away, will definitely leave it's mark on the player.
Unfortunately, the gameplay does still suffer from some of the trademark issues of the Halo universe. You will die some cheap deaths and you will likely have to restart a lot. On the other hand, unlike other Halo games (with the exception of ODST), you will encounter scenarios in which your best option is to sneak by to the next checkpoint.
Overall though, your personal experience will depend completely upon how much you care about these characters and what their going through.
8.5 out of 10
Multiplayer
The Halo series has always been known for it's multiplayer, for a number of reasons both good and bad. So obviously when Reach hit store shelves on midnight on September 14th thousands of people rushed home and immediately jumped online. Now what may have surprised some of them is how much more strategic Reach's multiplayer is in comparison to past entries in the franchise.
The most common complaint (aside from mouthy 12 year old's) about all past Halo multiplayer (Halo 3 in particular) is that the entire experience consists of spraying bullets and then following up with and overpowered melee hit. Spice in some grenade spamming and the occasional overpowered weapon/vehicle and the entire thing becomes a chaotic crap shoot. Now while Reach doesn't fix these issues completely (the Scorpion tank is still way overpowered) it does go along way towards making Halo multiplayer a tactical, skill based affair akin to a Gears or a Modern Warfare.
The addition of loadouts and several different armor abilities is one of the main ways in which Bungie accomplished this because they force you to strategically plan ahead. It also helps that the weapons are now more balanced and that the player characters are no longer the unstoppable super beings they once were.
Ultimately though, the best new aspect of Halo: Reach's multiplayer is the customization.With the ability to create your own personalized Spartan by using in game credits to purchase each individual piece of armor they wear, as well as their voice in Firefight and armor effect, there is always something to work towards. You can complete challenges (4 daily and 1 weekly) for bonus credits which will appeal to the same base instinct as achievements so you'll never want to stop.
Finally, as if that's not enough to keep you playing for ages, there is the arena. The arena consists of 14 day seasons in which you must rank on 7 of those days to earn a place in a division (play 3 games on a day to rank). Once placed you can battle for standing within that division until the end of the season, at which point your slate is wiped clean and you battle for placement in a division once again, constantly attempting to move up the ranks. For the creative, there is also the vastly improved Forge mode which allows you to design your own maps and game modes.
With such an endless amount of quality content in Reach's multiplayer there is guaranteed to be something for everyone. There's all different levels of competition, from casual to intense, and it's easy to find the group that suits you. There's co-operative Firefight modes for people who would rather work together, Forge for those who want to create, challenges if you want a carrot to chase, and customization for those you love to make a character their own. With all this and more there is no denying that Halo: Reach offers a solid, well-rounded multiplayer experience.
9.5 out of 10
Now for my overall score I am going to look at the Campaign and the Multiplayer as equally important and will therefore simply split the difference. If you happen to hold one in a particularly higher regard than the other than refer to that sections individual score. Critically though, when weighed as a whole Halo: Reach is an immense game with only a few imperfections.
9 out of 10
