Everything you need to know about Halo: Reach ahead of next week's launch.
Halo: Reach is out on Tuesday and to be honest, we can’t wait to get stuck right into the campaign, the insanely customisable multiplayer and the Forge World creation kit. It may feel like a long wait for gamers who have watched development of Halo: Reach trundle along these past few years, but we can confidently say that the wait has been worth it, as it’s the most impressive Halo game we’ve played to date.
Best Halo yet? We'll say yes, definitely
So with that in mind we thought we’d discuss ten awesome Halo: Reach facts that you need to know before you pick up the game on launch day.
“It's the most impressive Halo game we've played to date.”
10. Meet Noble Team
The feeling of invincibility in the green boots of Master Chief never quite sat right with us throughout the series. Legendary was no cakewalk sure, but on solo runs through lesser difficulty settings, we felt way too powerful. The members of Noble team are Spartan III’s meaning they are less powerful and prone to dying easier. The player controls Noble Six, while the other members each offer various support methods. Jun’s sniping is a treat in the game’s stealthier moments, Emile is simply a no-nonsense hard case, while Cat and Carter both offer up oodles of personality. Our pick is Jorge, simply because he has a minigun that would make Bill Duke in Predator blush and the fact he can stand on top of civilian vehicles, essentially turning them into makeshift Warthogs. Noble Team really is a force to be reckoned with and they stand as some of the Halo series’ best characters yet.
Sorry Bill, there's a new sheriff in town
9. Skulls 2.0
The subject of Halo FAQ guides everywhere, the elusive skull pick-ups are back in Halo: Reach, although this time they are customisable in multiplayer. It’s simply a genius move from Bungie, blowing Halo: Reach’s customisation wide open. You can now set up a game of Firefight and set the intervals skulls come into play and how they affect combat. For example, you can make enemies return fire more frequency, double their speed and quadruple their health if you wanted to. But only if you’re a glutton for punishment of course.
8. Firefight: Combat Evolved
Firefight was the jewel in Halo 3: ODST’s otherwise honky crown. The game didn’t match the thrills of the core series, but we did enjoy feeling vulnerable as a very human, very weak human character. Campaign aside, Firefight offered hours of fun and in Halo: Reach, it’s back with a vengeance. There are so many Firefight variants on offer, including generator defence, which tasks teams with protecting objective points against waves of Covenant. Rocketfight gives players unlimited rocket launcher ammo, while Gruntocalypse pits the team against massive waves of Grunts with too many grenades to count. The best option by far is to split the team into two Spartans and two Elites and have them face off with a horde of low-level Covenant swarming in from all sides. It’s just insanely fun.
7. Smart Cookie
Shooters lose massive kudos when they have dumb enemies. It’s always been the case and in this respect, Halo: Reach transcends the ranks of shooters with guff AI and delivers a genuine challenge against smart enemies with a ruthless desire to see you dead. Enemies will flank and back-attack without mercy, acting more like online enemy bots you would expect to see in top-tier arena shooters. Our hands on experience with Halo: Reach saw us caught with our pants down several times as Covenant enemies surrounded us unexpectedly. It simply makes the game more tense and much more engaging than previous Halo instalments.
6. What A Wonderful World
Halo: Reach is improved over its predecessors in many ways, but it also delivers the most atmospheric take on the universe so far. It’s a tragedy piece, so obviously it’s going to have tension dripping from every pixel. The planet itself tells a great story about how the Spartans were created to quell human insurgents.
Reach is a fantastic game world
You get to see the human plight on Reach first hand, experience the world’s native flora and fauna and marvel at the environmental beauty of it all. As a game world it just feels so painfully and meticulously fleshed out, standing tall against the Halo ring from Combat Evolved, or any other location in the series so far for that matter.
5. Open Fire!
The weapon set in Halo: Reach may not have been expanded upon that much since Halo 3, but each weapon has been given a little extra kick and weight, amplifying the gunplay and keeping the multiplayer balancing near-perfect. The best new addition to the gun roster is the Target Locator, a pistol that calls in an insanely powerful mortar strike with a devastating blast radius. Danger close is definitely a factor here as your team-mates in co-op will be toast if they get caught under the blast. Be careful not to lose any friends this way, it’s easily done.
4. LittleBigHalo
If Forge was Bungie’s way of dipping its toe into map creation, Forge World is confidently the full plunge. Giving you a full Halo ring world on which to build maps on, the Forge 2.0 toolkit lets you run riot with map creation to create complex, smartly-designed arenas. It’s simple to learn the basics of Forge 2.0, and only gradually harder to master thanks to an overhauled interface and creation methods. Forge World will likely keep Halo: Reach fans playing for years after launch.
Everything's better with jetpacks
3. Mo’ Money Less Problems
Halo: Reach multiplayerCortana and Master Chief himself. Clearly Johnson is the choice of the bad ass. Can we get an extra large stogie with that?
2. Armour-Up
Any credits earned in multiplayer can be spent in the armoury and we reckon this expansive toolkit of unlockable armour upgrades and neat collectibles will keep people playing for a very long time. Couple this with an advanced experience system and you have a pretty deep multiplayer component. More than just contributing to bragging rights, experience points actually change the way your character developers this time, adding new purpose to multiplayer.
1. Special Move
Armour abilities are real game-changers, helping player boost areas of their skill on a round-per-round basis. First and easily best of all is the jetpack, which adds a new level of verticality into the mix. Getting the drop on enemies is a treat, but you run the risk of leaving yourself totally vulnerable for long runs at a time. We also like the holographic decoy, which sends a clone of your avatar running in a straight line from where you deploy it, drawing heat away from your character. Meanwhile, Active Camo renders you partically invisible, Evade lets you perform dodge rolls, Sprint lets you run like the clappers and Drop Shield offers a temporary healing bubble shield. All in all, it’s a great selection box of skills that shake up the Halo multiplayer formula drastically.
So, please pre-order Halo Reach now or you'll be wining when you don't get yours till Thursday. The Preorders At amazon and Microsoft ship the date of release so you'll be playing by the night of September 14. Getting it at midnight release is just a waste of time, gas, money, and gaming. So gamers, preorder your Halo Reach copy below or any other gaming supplies.
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