First Official Review: Halo Reach

Halo. That is a name that resounds within the gamer community. Halo games, the ones made by Bungie, are known for their quality and addictiveness. The latest entry into the long running series is no exception. Halo Reach tells the story of the fall of the planet Reach, the UNSC military headquarters, and the lengths that the Spartans went to defend it. The campaign is one of the best, if not the best, that I have played in Halo, and probably one of the best I have played in any FPS.

You play as Noble Six, a last minute addition to Noble Team to bring it back to full strength. Your character has a backstory, but you never learn any of it except from a few choice remarks from your commander. It is a great experience getting to fight with a squad of fellow Spartans as you play through the various missions. Those of you who like to go it solo, there are a few missions where you get to be a lone wolf and be the hero all by yourself. The missions are of varied length, but overall the campaign is a good length for a FPS. Bungie brought in some new things for the missions, including space combat. The space combat is fun and fast, and, in my opinion, there is not enough of it. Another mission has you flying a Falcon assault helicopter around a besieged city taking out AA guns and landing to assault enemy forces and take out their jamming equipment so that the civilians can make their escape. Of course most of the missions are on foot or in the classic Halo vehicles (though they also have some awesome upgrades) and feature insane action.

The campaign is only one aspect of an amazing game. Bungie brought the Firefight mode that they introduced in ODST into Reach, and it is still awesome. There is a wide assortment of maps, and the games are amazingly customizable in what you can do. Ever wanted to play as an invincible, invisible Spartan with a rocket launcher that you never have to reload? and have a sword that never runs out? You can do that. If you wanted to.. it is fun for a while. Not that I have ever done that. That would be too cheap. You can play firefight by yourself, with a friend on split-screen, or with up to four people on matchmaking. An extra bonus of online play is that there are infinite lives whereas on split-screen you share ten. For those who don't know, Firefight is a fast-paced mode where you work with other players and take out wave-after-wave of covenant forces.

And last, but definitely not least, online multiplayer, a true test of one's Halo skills. There are the classic options of Rumble Pit, Team Slayer and its variants, and a couple new options that are quiet fun. The online play is tight and fast and most importantly fun. There are only two game type for ranked matches now, two-on-two and team ranked matches. These games are furious and brutal. That is where most of the best players go to spend their time. The maps are fun for players of all styles, and more maps are coming out soon.

Put all these things together and you have Bungie's Halo masterpiece. This is by far the best Halo game that has been released thus far. It is fitting that Bungie saved their best for their last dance with the Halo universe.

I give this game 9 phaser blasts out of 10.