I find it hard to believe when I write this review, but Halo: Reach is almost ten years old. I remember the build up to its initial release so well. I played the multiplayer beta included as part of Halo 3: ODST, and I had saved enough money to pre-order the game from my nearest Game shop. I went to the midnight launch, the only midnight launch I’ve ever been to, and celebrated with my fellow Halo fans as we were among the first to pick up our copies. I had to go to school the next day but I got home as fast as I could to play what I was certain was going to be an incredible game. To put it bluntly, it was. I played the whole story that weekend and then spent the next three years playing the multiplayer almost religiously in pursuit of the fabled Inheritor multiplayer rank. I only made it so far as Eclipse (four rank’s from Inheritor, but still requiring over sixteen million XP until I reached that point) but I was among some of the highest ranking players in the game and far beyond that of most of my friends. I’d always been good at Halo, not to be arrogant, but it was a series that just clicked with me. When I played Halo: Reach I just felt like the game was made for me, more than any other Halo, and when I focused, I was damn near unstoppable.
Then came the fateful day in 2013 when my Xbox Live account was deactivated due to a security breach. I was heartbroken. Three years of work and nothing to show for it, life’s a bitch sometimes right?
In my anger I got rid of my Xbox and most of my games, save my Halo and Gears of War games, and made the permanent switch to PlayStation which had always been a part of my life. I then didn’t play Reach again until recently when I realised it was part of the Master Chief Collection now. So, I ponied up £6 and downloaded it for the memories to come flooding back.
Set a few months before Halo: Combat Evolved. Reach sees Noble Team, a prestigious group of Spartan soldiers, gain their newest member known only as ‘Six’ and come to discover that the Covenant have discovered the location of the planet Reach, and with an armada on the way this spells extinction for humanity. You and the rest of Noble Team must do whatever you can to buy humanity time to escape Reach, even if it means giving your life to see that happen.
You play as Six, which makes it easy for Bungie to deliver a protagonist with even less character than Master Chief, and you’ll engage in various skirmishes from small scale stealth and recon operations, to full scale battles larger than anything seen in a Halo title before. You’ll also have company this time round thanks to the inclusion of Noble Team. Much of the emotional drive from the story comes from these characters and it’s one of the better Halo stories out there. As each member of the team sacrifices themselves for the sake of the mission you are more attached to them than most other NPC’s in shooters. Whilst this certainly isn’t Pulitzer prize winning literature, it’s better than most shooters of the time.
Almost every mission has something memorable about it, whether it be the location, structure, encounters, or even just a great cutscene. But add to this some of the most experimental Halo levels of all time and Reach almost acts as a greatest hits of Halo levels of yore. Of course, none of the missions are copy/pasted from any previous games; but the themes and objectives can feel somewhat familiar, yet are more refined or offer more to do than they did previously. New additions to the mission mix are two flight-based missions, one seeing you operate a helicopter type vehicle called a ‘Falcon’ around one of Reach’s largest cities as you rescue civilians and defend key locations. The other sees you fly off into the upper atmosphere and pilot a ‘Sabre’ as you defend a space station from fleets of incoming Covenant vessels.
Then came the fateful day in 2013 when my Xbox Live account was deactivated due to a security breach. I was heartbroken. Three years of work and nothing to show for it, life’s a bitch sometimes right?
In my anger I got rid of my Xbox and most of my games, save my Halo and Gears of War games, and made the permanent switch to PlayStation which had always been a part of my life. I then didn’t play Reach again until recently when I realised it was part of the Master Chief Collection now. So, I ponied up £6 and downloaded it for the memories to come flooding back.
Set a few months before Halo: Combat Evolved. Reach sees Noble Team, a prestigious group of Spartan soldiers, gain their newest member known only as ‘Six’ and come to discover that the Covenant have discovered the location of the planet Reach, and with an armada on the way this spells extinction for humanity. You and the rest of Noble Team must do whatever you can to buy humanity time to escape Reach, even if it means giving your life to see that happen.
You play as Six, which makes it easy for Bungie to deliver a protagonist with even less character than Master Chief, and you’ll engage in various skirmishes from small scale stealth and recon operations, to full scale battles larger than anything seen in a Halo title before. You’ll also have company this time round thanks to the inclusion of Noble Team. Much of the emotional drive from the story comes from these characters and it’s one of the better Halo stories out there. As each member of the team sacrifices themselves for the sake of the mission you are more attached to them than most other NPC’s in shooters. Whilst this certainly isn’t Pulitzer prize winning literature, it’s better than most shooters of the time.
Almost every mission has something memorable about it, whether it be the location, structure, encounters, or even just a great cutscene. But add to this some of the most experimental Halo levels of all time and Reach almost acts as a greatest hits of Halo levels of yore. Of course, none of the missions are copy/pasted from any previous games; but the themes and objectives can feel somewhat familiar, yet are more refined or offer more to do than they did previously. New additions to the mission mix are two flight-based missions, one seeing you operate a helicopter type vehicle called a ‘Falcon’ around one of Reach’s largest cities as you rescue civilians and defend key locations. The other sees you fly off into the upper atmosphere and pilot a ‘Sabre’ as you defend a space station from fleets of incoming Covenant vessels.
Reach does mix up Halo’s core gameplay quite significantly by introducing ‘Armour Abilities’. These abilities give the user a specified ability that can be used whenever it has charge, and it can be swapped out whenever you find ability pickups. These include the ability to sprint (for the first time in a Halo title), lock up your armour to become temporarily invulnerable (at the cost of being immobile), send out a hologram, use a jetpack, and several others that once mastered can tip a losing battle in your favour.
Health also makes a return, though in a much better capacity to what was present in Combat Evolved and ODST. Once your shield drops you can take a couple of shots and potentially still regain your full health. But once your health drops below 50% it won't recharge any higher, and the same when it falls below 25%. In order to regain health beyond these points you must pick up health packs, so if you’re not playing tactfully you could get caught out in a compromising position where you have almost no health left and the next health pack is several minutes away.
The weapon roster in Reach is my favourite of any Halo game. The Assault Rifle makes a welcome return, as does the scoped pistol. Add to this the DMR, perhaps my favourite Halo weapon of all time; Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher, Spartan Laser; in fact, I think the only high-profile human weapon absent from the game is the SMG. But as dual wielding is not present in Reach this doesn’t matter too much, a lone SMG is not a particularly useful weapon in Halo.
Covenant weapons have an almost entirely different selection though. Whilst mainstays like the Plasma Pistol & Rife return, as well as the Needler, there are few others that make their return in reach instead seeing the introduction of the Needle Rifle, Plasma Launcher, and Focus Rifle. There are more new weapons but overall, I feel they are less interesting than in previous titles (aside from the Needle Rifle which combines all the best bits about Needlers & the DMR).
Recoil is present in Halo for the first time too. Not to the extent of other FPS games, but you’ll need a significantly steadier hand than you did in any prior Halo games, as well as use weapons like Assault Rifles in bursts when any further away than a few feet from your target.
All these gameplay changes may be somewhat irksome to Halo veterans, but speaking as one myself the changes were more than welcome to freshen up the formula, but didn’t fundamentally change how the game is played.
Health also makes a return, though in a much better capacity to what was present in Combat Evolved and ODST. Once your shield drops you can take a couple of shots and potentially still regain your full health. But once your health drops below 50% it won't recharge any higher, and the same when it falls below 25%. In order to regain health beyond these points you must pick up health packs, so if you’re not playing tactfully you could get caught out in a compromising position where you have almost no health left and the next health pack is several minutes away.
The weapon roster in Reach is my favourite of any Halo game. The Assault Rifle makes a welcome return, as does the scoped pistol. Add to this the DMR, perhaps my favourite Halo weapon of all time; Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher, Spartan Laser; in fact, I think the only high-profile human weapon absent from the game is the SMG. But as dual wielding is not present in Reach this doesn’t matter too much, a lone SMG is not a particularly useful weapon in Halo.
Covenant weapons have an almost entirely different selection though. Whilst mainstays like the Plasma Pistol & Rife return, as well as the Needler, there are few others that make their return in reach instead seeing the introduction of the Needle Rifle, Plasma Launcher, and Focus Rifle. There are more new weapons but overall, I feel they are less interesting than in previous titles (aside from the Needle Rifle which combines all the best bits about Needlers & the DMR).
Recoil is present in Halo for the first time too. Not to the extent of other FPS games, but you’ll need a significantly steadier hand than you did in any prior Halo games, as well as use weapons like Assault Rifles in bursts when any further away than a few feet from your target.
All these gameplay changes may be somewhat irksome to Halo veterans, but speaking as one myself the changes were more than welcome to freshen up the formula, but didn’t fundamentally change how the game is played.
Firefight makes a welcome return, this time greatly expanded with almost every setting adjustable to create the perfect match for you and your friends to play wave survival in. The maps too are more interesting and complex than those present in ODST. Add to this an extensive Forge mode that provides limitless possibilities with maps like Forge World; and the ever-robust multiplayer suite, as well as ways to record and share clips of gameplay with Theatre mode.
If you’re playing the Xbox 360 version of the game every action you perform will net you credits, these credits act as XP but also allow you to customise your Spartan with unique armour and effects. Whilst customisation is still present in the Master Chief Collection, you do not earn credits and instead must complete particular challenges to unlock new customisation items.
Upon release the game was quite the looker too. Now though its age is showing, particularly in its facial animations and rendering. Cinematic sequences still look pretty good thanks to some great cinematography, but the cracks in the sheen are most certainly visible now. What hasn’t aged a day through and much like a fine wine I would say has only gotten better with age is Marty O’Donnell’s simply incredible score. Each Halo game has a fantastic score but I’d argue Reach is the pinnacle of not only the Halo scores, but of O’Donnell’s entire discography. Grant orchestral numbers that get your blood pumping for the battle ahead, as well as slow sombre numbers to commemorate fallen comrades. I hadn’t listened to it sin around seven years and the moment I heard the title screen music it all came flooding back to me. Such a wonderful selection of music.
If you’re playing the Xbox 360 version of the game every action you perform will net you credits, these credits act as XP but also allow you to customise your Spartan with unique armour and effects. Whilst customisation is still present in the Master Chief Collection, you do not earn credits and instead must complete particular challenges to unlock new customisation items.
Upon release the game was quite the looker too. Now though its age is showing, particularly in its facial animations and rendering. Cinematic sequences still look pretty good thanks to some great cinematography, but the cracks in the sheen are most certainly visible now. What hasn’t aged a day through and much like a fine wine I would say has only gotten better with age is Marty O’Donnell’s simply incredible score. Each Halo game has a fantastic score but I’d argue Reach is the pinnacle of not only the Halo scores, but of O’Donnell’s entire discography. Grant orchestral numbers that get your blood pumping for the battle ahead, as well as slow sombre numbers to commemorate fallen comrades. I hadn’t listened to it sin around seven years and the moment I heard the title screen music it all came flooding back to me. Such a wonderful selection of music.
STORY: 8/10
GAMEPLAY: 10/10
PRESENTATION: 9/10
LIFESPAN: 9/10
SCORE: 10/10
Although it may be nearly a decade old Halo: Reach feels as fresh now as it did in 2010. The gameplay and wealth of features are what makes Halo: Reach such a blast to play. That paired with the incredible score and fantastic level design means Reach remains one of the best Halo titles in the entire series. A part of me wishes I could turn back the time and experience it all over again, I don’t think I’d change a thing.