Halo: Reach Review

Final installment of the legendary series of FPS to be produced by the
studio Bungie, Halo REACH is the absolute culmination of over eight
years of passion. In depicting the collapse of a world, the U.S.
developer has given birth to a sort of Apocalypse flamboyant and tragic,
both darker and more terrible than anything involved that we have
discovered so far. Basically, Halo REACH is the best that could send
thank the studio to the millions of fans who have supported since its
debut on the Xbox. A title epic, grandiose and black as the unfathomable
depths of space. Halo: Reach offers players a memorable conclusion must
unquestionably be the best episode of the saga. Between brilliant
campaigns, shattering scenario, and a multiplayer fabulous, this final
component meets all our expectations.

In Halo, Microsoft has developed a cult for its consoles. Throughout the
episodes, the saga of Bungie has continued to grow without reaching
back through the first round. Halo: Reach, the developer intends to get
everyone to agree to give us the final episode. Halo Reach had to mark
the memory as episodes of the series anyway, so it is not surprising
that it describes one of the most important events of its world: the
fall of the planet Reach, invaded by alien Covenant. The adventure
begins with a simple mission, apparently: find a beacon in Team are
dispatched to the scene, and soon discovered that the enemy they had
expected to find was not good.

The Covenant has already begun to land heavily on the surface of the
planet in the greatest secrecy, and they are determined to be a major
blow to the UNSC. But the small detachment of Spartans will go all the
way to resist. If the scenario is not very significant, tone it, is
controlled. After a continual change of perspectives of ODST
(interesting, but not always happy), and episodes in the armor of Master
Chief, Reach finally arrives at equilibrium for a story in which the
player embodies the character, certainly, but without the feeling of
being alone on board. And the synthesis of individual qualities of
previous Halo is found everywhere.

As you probably know, Halo Reach is a prequel to the original trilogy
and therefore describes the events preceding those of Combat Evolved.
The action takes place on the planet Reach, the last bastion of humanity
against the motley hordes of Covenant forces and the birthplace of the
famous Spartans. This story, the fans probably already know, since
everything has been recounted in the novel by Eric Nylund’s Halo and
discussed from the various promotional videos. Also, you will not be
surprised if someone tells you that the battle for Reach is unwinnable,
that the planet is indeed condemned and will inevitably fall, whatever
you do.

The mission began with an aerial view generally along a desert territory
with a large convoy of vehicles protected by helicopters Spartans.
Without warning a group of Covenant ships attacked the convoy through
the air and begins to grow bold action. A first-person views of an
accident on board a Warthog and start the mission there. A small part on
foot, another on board another jeep with a couple of friends (up to 4
persons) and a final part of foot to get back to destroy an enemy
building.

The feeling of vastness that is felt in Halo: Reach is overwhelming. The
scenarios are causing unusually large dip in the universe is almost
involuntary. Graphically Halo line continues, with the potential out of
this world graphics and special attention to lighting and reflection of
the Noble team helmets that have been a hallmark of the house. Once part
of the mission and after leaving us with the view from a cliff across
the distant battle that takes place in the desert between the two sides,
Jarrard ended the show with the words, laughing, "if you want to see
more you will have to wait until September 14, "alluding to the release
date of the game.

Once the mission will give us the claims and we were shown some of the
material with which we can customize our character. Since different
types of voices, until specific helmets electrified with an aura,
different costumes and a long etc.. So if any of these customizations
are priced at exorbitant claims, some helmets were around 2,000,000. On
the other hand every time we go up in rank can be unlocked new
accessories.

Grim, yes, but the fact is that this premise has allowed Bungie to
release and to bathe her title in an atmosphere much heavier and more
mature than other parts of the series. The staging, sometimes grandiose,
literally burying those of its predecessors and the player is often the
powerless witness to terrible acts of destruction. At the end of
certain missions, it is sometimes found to contemplate, mouth agape, the
spectacle of a desperate world being consumed. All the sacrifices and
heroic acts depicted in the campaign so take a tragic tinge that Halo we
had not been accustomed. Basically, the first, the most unexpected and
most successful surprises Reach is undoubtedly manage to touch the
player, to involve an emotional level.

This particular view also explains the choice of colors, although darker
than in other albums. This is not to say that the armor and ships
flashy Covenants are not the game, but overall, the representation of
the conflict and the universe in which it occurs appears to be far more
"realistic" than in Halo 3. Obviously, Reach does not in melodrama, do
not misunderstand. The aim is obviously to make you participate in
thrashing of gunfights, walk aboard good land, air or even space!
Remember also that the title, by definition, does not stage the famous
Master Chief but the Noble Team, a squad of Spartans highly specialized,
and ultimately more effective than even good old John.

However, despite what you might have thought, Halo Reach abandons the
narrative through several players, introduced by the episode ODST, to
focus solely on the character of Noble Six, the last day of the rookie
squad. Man or woman of your choice, the warrior wears armor widely
customizable you can change pocketing funds, whether by completing the
campaign missions or play online. Please note that these modes are
purely cosmetic and do not alter the performance of your Spartan.

This radically changes the way you play, though, is the ability to grab
at regular intervals on mods related equipment to each other to a class
of fighting in multiplayer. Every mod you can indeed access to a
particular power that will enable it by pressing the LB (so you can wear
them one at a time). We rely primarily on the Sprint does not require a
description including the camouflage, to make himself invisible to
infiltrate behind enemy lines or take time to adjust its shot with a
shotgun snipe . Note however that the quality of camouflage depends on
your movements: the more you’ll be static, the more you’ll be hard to
spot. The list continues with the jetpack on one side and the other
hologram which generates a copy of your warrior who will go straight to
the point that you have designated, before posting it a few seconds.

Still to mention the Shell, which if you turn it on, you will detain,
boost your shield at the point of making you invincible and to return
the heavy shells to the sender, and eventually unleash a wave EMP,
history of bypass the shields of privates foolish enough to have
remained in the corner. The last of these mods is the bubble is
curative, extending the famous bubble shield introduced in Halo 3.
Protection of all external attacks (into them until you stick a grenade
or you deal a major blow butt), it will also allow you to regenerate
your health.

Because yes, if your proud Spartan does have a personal shield that
recharges when you do not suffer damage, the guy will still monitor the
state of its health bar. Reach then resumed its old pattern has the
classic FPS (also used by Combat Evolved and ODST), with care kits
stashed around to finding it will be if something goes wrong. The rest
is in the Reach Halo Halo. Your soldier meets all the demands in a flash
with controls just as intuitive. Fans like neophytes should not put too
much time to make their marks. Note nevertheless the possibility of
using a night vision filter and to slay an enemy in hand-to-body through
a nice finish move. A technique not so easy to exploit, since you will
find you in the back of your victim and hold the dedicated button on the
butt. In short, nothing really new out of this famous system mods. But
it must be said that the latter, as their name implies, truly changing
the way we approach the fighting.

This is even clearer that the level design, which overcomes blithely
repeats thought to be almost become traditional in the series, really
offers a wealth of possibilities to fully exploit these new
capabilities. Whether open areas or corridors to clean, we will always
find way to make good use of our mod of the moment. However, some
sequences will require you to use a particular mod, failing to prove all
but impossible to improve. Thus, we find for example to be followed by a
squad of privates with jetpacks of two huge skyscrapers, or attempt to
stop a car suddenly Covenant wave EMP because we do not necessarily have
heavy weapons.

As for the structure of the campaign, it is quite similar to that of
previous Halo. Indeed, it has 10 chapters, representing approximately 8
hours of play Warning, the general difficulty seems to have been revised
upwards and the last two chapters you oppose a lot of resistance,
beginning in Normal mode! That is probably what the fans cheer and
ensure a minimum of challenge, even when they pass through the coop
campaign with three friends.

But in any case, be taken advantage of intense action, varied greatly
performed mingling combat sequences on foot in the tradition of Halo
vehicles and sessions extremely intense, and always as pleasant. In
addition, Reach differs from its predecessors by large-scale fighting,
sometimes involving dozens of Grunts, for Elites, Brutes, and the
Marines! Although divided, the game will even pay the luxury to engage
in a space battle (with exemplary handling) in the vein of Rogue Leader,
before allowing us to address a Covenant cruiser and face the alien
face, in a reduced gravity necessarily! The game is also marked by a
stunning rise to a resounding finish. As such, we recommend that you
also do not drop your controller until the end credits … In fact; the
only small problem may come from the trend of the game to put us in a
defensive position, but in closed areas that evoke vast arenas designed
specifically for Firefight mode.

Transition somewhat artificial, but nonetheless transition, which allows
us turn now to another facet of Reach Halo, namely its multiplayer.
Here we will describe some aspects of a multi that caliber that need to
live a little touch of the players so we can really judge its quality.
But the fact is that the potential is considerable; Reach up much
further, Halo 3. In addition to interface extensively reviewed,
configuration options that cover all essential areas, the game clearly
shows what we already profited in its predecessor while adding some new
features. We rely primarily on the mode Hunter heads, a kind of Death
match in which each victim will drop a skull.

To score points, you will need to collect a maximum and then carry them
in a specific area. The problem is that the area in question is mobile
and in addition, a marker always show your opponents your position and
the number of skulls that you carry … Invasion mode in turn, is quite
similar Rush to Bad Company 2: a team of 6 to 6 rubs Spartans Elites
determined to protect two goals. If these are destroyed, the map expands
to provide a new base and a new pair of goals to destroy / protect.

Turning now to the mode Stockpile. Also playable as a team, this mode
will require you to collect from neutral flags scattered across the map
to bring them back to your camp. Classic I tell you. Yes, except that
the flags will be recovered in fact recognized only after a countdown of
one minute, a minute will seem especially long when the enemy is
invited in your camp. Other surprises await us, of course, all that
Bungie will continue as usual to change the game in the months to come.
But the mere fact of classes, each with mods that we described above,
can change dramatically while the multiplayer experience of Halo.

To finish and reassure fans of long standing, simply saying that since
the beta of the game, developers have struggled to balance the track and
to accelerate the pace slightly, so as to provide an experience as
furious and technically. The icing on the cake, the Forge mode takes
more than ever as a level editor full, complete, but still accessible.
In short, Halo Reach, regardless of the angle considered, appears as the
most successful episode of a series outstanding. An absolute that all
360owners must integrate their collection.

Conclusion:

It is noteworthy that this is the Halo with a new game mechanic that
greatly enriches the gameplay and risk taking. I think in five or six
hours, I arrived at 30% of the game. This suggests a life quite correct,
especially in higher difficulty modes. And if we could have good
surprises as the levels described above, we should move towards the best
episode of the series. Mastered from end to end, the game is cascading
moments of bravery and plunges us into the heart of a futuristic
conflict has never seemed so epic, coherent and desperate. And as usual
now, this new installment in Microsoft’s flagship series and more in
raises new standard Xbox Live multiplayer content as proposed is
incredibly rich. In sum, it only remains now to thank the little guys
from Bungie for such happiness before the bloodshed from the
battlefields of the planet Reach for the next 5 years.