"WORT WORT WORT" - Several Elites during various Battles of Reach.
Throughout the Halo series several characters make reference to a planet called Reach. This reference was first made by Cortana in Halo: Combat Evolved when she mentions being tracked from Reach. After that Reach is usually referred to as a place where a lot of bad stuff happened and generally a huge loss for human forces. For those who read the 2001 novel "Halo: The Fall of Reach" the reasons behind this were quite clear. But for the gamers who hadn't yet read the books, this game would shed all the light needed.
Bungie had kept Reach a secret for a long time. They only released information regarding what they had planned and what was new for the game closer to the release date. Until then players only had a short trailer depicting a planet being "glassed" from far space before an ominous radio voice pointed out the presence of SPARTAN super soldiers. When they started to reveal what was in store for Reach it shocked many fans. The previous three games had failed to even feature a Halo Ring with ODST not even featuring a SPARTAN and everyone was already guessing there'd be little to do with the rings or the flood in this one which made some players skeptical. When Bungie showed us what they had done however it blew our minds. The updates to everything were amazing. Graphically enhanced and using a new gameplay engine allowed for them to make more detailed environments which keeping with the style many players were familiar with. This new engine, which would be known as the "Reach" Engine, also allowed Bungie to add numerous game-play feature in.
Gone were the old equipment used in Halo 3 such as trip mines and power drains. Instead players were able to choose a "load out" featuring an armor ability. These abilities were built into the armors that the SPARTANs were fighting in and allowed them to use power from the armor itself. Abilities such as Armor lock allowed players to remain stationary but become invulnerable for a limited period of time, very handy for dealing with a charging ghost. While jet packs made players almost scream with delight at the prospect of being able to fly. There were some abilites which were a little stupid for instance like "sprint". As the name suggests it lets the player sprint, kind of pointless when you're meant to be playing the ultimate human warrior, you'd think they'd have the brain cells to realize how to run, or does the ability unlock the 95% of their brains that aren't "move, shoot, drive". Perhaps that's a little cynical but come on, sprint? really?
Game-play wise it doesn't differ much from the winning formula that has kept Halo going for such a long time. The only change from recent games is that instead of fighting just Brutes the Elites have returned as the main military force behind the Covenant. This does make sense as it is a prequel. Many players were happy to see the Elites return as Brutes were never a fan favourite but these ones are super-Elites. On Legendary some can take orbital bombardments to the face and survive with shields left. This does make for a more challenging game and to match this threat Bungie did give players new weapons to combat these enemies. Completely re-designed weapons with newer more sophisticated looks like the remade assault rifle wowed players in the beta and new additions such as the DMR, replacing the BR were instant hits, with many players preferring it as a weapon of elegance. New Heavy weapons like the Target Locator and Plasma Launcher featured to deal with vehicles and armored targets but you will always find the player who will use the heavy weapons on one grunt.
Story wise it is exactly what a fan would expect. The game details the fall of Reach, from the first discovery of the Covenant, to a mission to try and stop them, right up to the final confrontation and escort of the A.I Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn where she would eventually be bought to the Halo ring and begin the original trilogy with Master Chief. The player assumes the role of Noble 6, a SPARTAN III who has been assigned to Noble Team of Soldiers after they lost a squad member off planet. The game features a variety of levels including one where the player takes control of a space craft in an attempt to disable to Covenant frigate in space, the level is reminicent of Star Wars Battlefront II space levels. I won't reveal every detail of the story just in case people haven't played it yet but suffice it to say it delivers a great ending to Bungies final game. Reach went out with a bang and so did Bungie.
Multiplayer takes the same roots as Halo 3 did, with the major differences being rather than gaining experience, players now gained credits which were used to level up and purchase new pieces or armor. The winning team weren't the only ones gaining credits and level ups now. The game ranked players on how well they did as individuals, taking into account commendations, medals, kills and the newly added slot machine to give players credits. It is also worth noting that any armor applied to the players multiplayer avatar also applied in story mode, being present in cut scenes and game play too. A nice little touch which made me happy. Reach also included firefight mode, just as ODST had. This one was a little fairer as players now had control over SPARTANs but even they cannot survive indefinitely against never ending waves of alien menaces.
With Reach being the last game that Bungie would release they would hand over control of the franchise to 343 studios. Who have no released Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, an updated version of Halo: Combat Evolved using the Reach Engine and have something new planned for the franchise.
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