Welcome to the latest and best installment of the HALO universe!
I am an avid HALO fan, and have followed the Legendary story of HALO:CE (The downloadable version currently on my X360), Halo 2, Halo 3, ODST, Halo Wars, and now REACH.
Reach does not dissapoint. Not. One. Bit.
H2 was a bit of a dissapointment, H3 was a bit frustrating in Mutliplayer.
ODST Brought some new flavor of Squad-Based Campaign and Firefight Hordemodes, and REACH Has brought the best of it all together.
STUNNING Graphics, and a PLETHRA (That means "Alot" for all you kids out there) of customization and new gadgety goodness involved, there is nothing left wanting in this game.
This is what Halo should have been from the get go...this is HALO...perfected!
The story continues in the tradition of being complex, elaborate, and deep, while still being fresh.
Yes, you are a totally different Spartan. Yes, these are totally new characters. No the Chief does NOT make an appearance, but just like in ODST...there are references made to S-117's whereabouts. (NO SPOILERS, I PROMISE!) You even cross paths with BUCK and his ODST Squad at one point...making sure the entire Halo universe is melded together quite nicely.
There were alot of hesitations as to the connectivity in story between REACH and Master Chief's adventures with Cortana, and I can tell you right now...quell such thoughts. Put them out of your mind. This is Reach. This is where it all began. The mood is dark and depressing. Surprises will catch you off-guard on occasion...and I caught myself a number of times getting thoroughly involved so much so that when certain events transpire, I couldnt help but react with some due emotion.
Multiplayer is fresh and nice. New game modes, and a few favourites make it exciting and enjoyable. A new ranking system based on credits allows to rank at your own pace and not feel like such a n00b when someone else is ranked higher than you. Ranks are obtained by credits and you can rank up simply playing the campaign or single-mode firefight.
Assassinations are alot more than a *thunk* to the back of the head, and display different animations for different scenarios, and add more variety to the gameplay.Armor buffs such as sprint, jet packs, bubble shields, hologram projectors, and more, offer different options to your style of multiplayer method, and a seemingly ENDLESS variety of armor style choices make sure that chances are...your Spartan is a unique one...having said that...some pieces are going to be more popular.Overall...this game is one big, hardcore case of awesomeness...I honestly took one look at my copy of MW2 and thought to myself..."Just doesn't cut it anymore...."
[EDIT] I've been reading some forums and seen some YouTube videos of hackers and modders on REACH. Obviously they ARE out there, and people are in an uproar about it. But here is the deal: 1) People Mod, People Hack...nothing you can do to prevent it. 2) People always seem to complain about something. People LOVE to complain. 3) I have played it for HOURS upon HOURS and yet to have seen a modder or a hacker. If they're out there, they are few and far between. 4) And this is the most important part....HALO HAS A THEATRE MODE! If you see a Mod/Hacker....RECORD IT AND SUBMIT IT TO BUNGIE! You would be surprised at how quickly and efficiently they are at removing said offenders!
In short: See a modder/hacker? QUIT WHINING AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
In short: See a modder/hacker? QUIT WHINING AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
ADDITION: The following is a Forum conversation found on the HALO: REACH forums at Bungie.net and shows the kind of debate just spoken of. My rebuttle is a good expansion to my review of the game.
Gamer: Kutrill
"Dear Bungie,
This is per request of a majority of not only the "minority" you refer to us forum goers as, but by opinionated, and might I also throw in "numerous" players of your game. I'm referring to players in past tense as not only a majority of my friends list, but a majority of users I've interviewed on alternate multiplayer games. I cannot speak for the whole in short, but I can vocalize the generality of marked ideas of mentioned gamers.
You have lost. Your momentary gain with use of advertising numerous times with alternating commercials showing different perspectives and quick hollywood action scenes had facaded your excuse of a Halo game with a well put up and positive masquerade. The hype of the game did not earn it the title of overrated, because it was via commercialism and advertising that the game became well known, not based on the actual game and gameplay itself. That in mind, your video game released and was a mountain of cash for the Bungie crowd. Your ability to hide the games unfinished state before released was done well, but your final product itself has left me playing forge on rare ocassions.
I cannot address specific problems, such as vehicle health, armor lock, or bloom, but I can be vocal that such problems are not the true reason this game was a competitive and casual flop. From gathered opinions of your truly greatest fans, it's nothing you've probably seen on the forums as of yet, and probably will not see much of to come.
The problem with your game that no patch, nor adaptivity, nor the majority of gamers themselves can ignore is this game does not have the Halo feel. It is not nostalgia I'm confusing, it's the generality of the game, and the majority. Addressed below are the listed problems I can only remember. There are more, but I did not take the time to write them down and such.
1. Campaign scenery. Skybox animation done perfectly, the used animation itself is boring. We've all seen "planets 10 miles away" from the current planet on video games. Seeing the circular rising 360 mountain that was Halo, was a true sight to see. In forge world, it is too distant and "foggy" to see it well.
2. Dialogue was poor. Marines delivered lines boringly, and the free_speech they make (IE ridng in warthogs, killing covenant, etc) is cringeworthy bad. The australian marine, sgt Johnson, many others were fun to listen to while playing through. When you stare at marines, their dialogue isnt humorous, and the IWHBYD skull literally does nothing in this game (Except make a grunt say "funny but I dream in english"). Covenant speaking in alien tounge was not entertaining either. Again, poor dialogue. If I wanted to listen to my enemies speaking another language, I'd play games of the COD series.
3. Forerunner beauty lost. In the novels, the Forerunners were outstanding beings that achieved real living species wide nirvana with intellectual structure and inventions. Forge Worlds used building blocks are modern, gray, and colorless compared to original forerunner constructs involving tannish brown material and colorful structure. This could have been implimented. It was not.
4. Competitive motivation was lost. The system in COD is even superior as the losers earn less XP for losing. The system in Reach does not match to how well you play, but to how often. You can achieve a mythic rank with no competitive edge to it, seeing as firefight and campaign boosting grant you "rank" without deserving it.
5. Armor lock, while I do not oppose it entirely, is unbalanced. Not in the term of use itself, but it's comparison to other armor abilities. Variety is the spice of life, but in this case Armor lock is the salt.
6. Bloom is another thing I do not shun entirely, but it would have been the last saving grace if this game retained a non-random competitive edge to it. Bloom should not have been introduced for precision, and to a weapon closest to what true Halo fans have used since Halo 2 in competitive style.
7. Vehicle health is a problem I address. I simply loathe and disgust the fact that no matter how terrible a team is I oppose while driving a teammate in the warthog, it can be stopped in literally seconds without use of power weapons or grenade by everyone on the opposite side spamming their DMR trigger, and flipping this gravityless vehicle and/or destroy it. Vehicle lock on has been reanimated, this is a useless and detrimental trait to vehicle warfare, a gound point for big team Halo games.
I will address more issue as they come to me, but those were the most commonly stated ones I can easily recall.
In conclusion, I state and reaffirm that this game is a colossal failure, and if your staff continues to hide acknowledgment of faults and mistakes that you have made like a 6 year old child, you will not win the majority (not minority) of your appreciative players that would take pleasure in atleast some minor amount of improvement."
Gamer: LeftCoastCANUCK (me)
"I highly respect the aire of neutrality and calm that was made in this anti-REACH rant. It is one that I could actually read without rolling my eyes.
However, I always think it funny that HALO...the entire franchise...is only ever compared to Call of Duty. There are hundreds of other FPS games out there, and all are different.
Personally, I do not enjoy the latest installment of that Franchise. Wanna talk about overmarketing leading to an epic fail? BlackOps takes that cake more than REACH does.
Having said that, the vast majority of my friends play BlackOps, which means I do, too. What I don't enjoy gameplay-wise, is made up for by the people with whom I play it.
REACH, on the otherhand, met every single one of my expectations. While I agree that there are faults here and there, I have to say that those faults come with every game ever created.
Your biggest argument that holds ANY validity whatsoever, is the loss of the original "Feel" of the Halo games. HALO:WARS was the same for me. It was a great game, but didn't FEEL like Halo.
REACH, on the otherhand, still feels SOMEWHAT familiar to me like it belongs in that universe, but is still different in its own right.
But in this scenario: It works!
REACH is a separate group, separate characters, separate plot, and separate world to anything we have seen before. There is no Master Chief, there is no interaction with Cortana. There is no Sgt.Johnson, there is really no tie-in whatsoever to warrant the game to "Feel" like the other games did.
The mood is supposed to be dark, depressing, and worrisome.
Kat says it best: "I know we're losing...I want to know if we've lost."
THAT is the mood...the "FEEL" that Bungie was trying to attempt in REACH. And in my opinion, they got it.
It is a very different feel from the awe, wonder, and chaos of Halo 1-3. Those games, the war was at it's peak, the Halo rings were a new discovery, and for all intents and purposes, one was supposed to feel like he was on another world (when upon HALO) and then feel like they were amidst the worst kind of Chaos imaginable...dealing with the Covenant and the Flood all at once.
With REACH, you are meant to feel like its familiar, like you can take certain things for granted. Not have your jaw drop at seeing something new like that amazing shot in Halo:CE when you step out of the lifeboat for the first time, but you ARE supposed to have your jaw drop when you see the glassing process begin.
Again. Its a mood that Bungie was going for, and in my opinion, they nailed.
And at least the entire HALO Franchise has one consistent (and may I say epically AMAZING) Storyline...something Call of Duty lacks.
As far as all your other complaints: Bloom, Armor Lock, Vehicles, and so forth?
I don't have a problem with it. I can work around an enemy using Armor Lock, no big deal. I can drive a Warthog fine without worry of getting destroyed in 5 seconds (granted, I dont trust anyone else to do the driving...no one seems to know how to handle the bloody things), and DMR bloom? Dont even notice it.
Where Bungie excels in this game...as with the others. Is the Banhammer.
Modders, Hackers, Glitchers, ect. are all VICIOUSLY monitored and removed, de-ranked, and banned. Wanna talk about an even playing field? This is how it's done.
Call of Duty? Modders, Hackers, Glitchers, ect run rampant through the games and have done so since CoD:3 Activision does nothing to prevent it. Wanna talk about an UN-EVEN playing field? CoD has it.
Having said all of this: All opinions are valid.
Books, movies, TV shows, ect are all forms of entertainment, and what one person may like for whatever reason, another may hate.
Personally...I love REACH.
I love ODST. Both are games that are rated as the worst in the series. I love them both.
SO....
YOU may hate it. YOU may feel like it falls short of the mark, but what are you trying to prove and who to?
There are those that love it. And if so much as ONE person falls in love with it...Bungie wins.
Again, Kurtrill...I admire the respectful way you expressed your opinion.
But it is only that. Opinion."
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