Reach For Halo?
It’s been two weeks since Halo: Reach’s release and it has already exceeded expectations. I rarely see less than 300,000 players online at any one time and during peak hours player count easily reaches the 500,000 mark.
Halo: Reach had more players playing simultaneously on release day than Halo 3, its predecessor, had in its first week of release so it’s clear Bungie have really hit a benchmark with Reach.
The story of Halo: Reach is based around the fall of Planet Reach, avid fans of the Halo franchise will already know this but for those of you who don’t know, The fall of Planet Reach actually happened before the first Halo Game Halo: Combat Evolved, so technically Halo: Reach is a prequel to the first Halo. Releasing Reach as the last game in the series was a pretty good idea in my opinion as it ties up loose ends to the story that kept players wanting more. I won’t go into the story just so I don’t spoil it for those who haven’t completed/played the game yet.
So why should you consider getting Halo: Reach? Well the graphics are admittedly really good. Bungie have taken a step away from the more cartoon look to Halo 3 and have made Reach look a lot more ‘realistic’. Not only do the weapons look a lot better but the environments are breathtaking too. Graphics aside the game play itself is fun and replay-able. Game modes are listed as ‘playlists’. Playlists include:
Rumble Pit - This playlist focuses around solo play such as free for all game types Game types include:
- Slayer A standard free for all. First to 25 points wins!
- Head-hunter First to collect 25 flaming skulls wins, you kill somebody you collect their skull. But beware a constant count of how many skulls you hold is displayed above your head if they kill you, they take all skulls you were carrying along with yours!
- Juggernaut The juggernaut has increased health and a stronger weapon. Here’s the trade off. The juggernaut is a one man army; everybody else in the game is out to get him. If you kill the juggernaut you become the juggernaut. First to 25 Kills as the juggernaut wins.
Team Slayer - As you may have guessed this playlist consists of team-based game types such as:
- Team Snipers Everybody has a sniper rifle so stay hidden. First team to 50 kills wins.
- SWAT No shields meaning one headshot and you’re dead. First team to 50 kills wins.
- Elite Slayer All players play as elites, watch out for plasma grenades. First team to 50 kills wins.
There are also a few other playlists such as ‘Big team’ and ‘Team objective’ but they aren’t much different from Team Slayer.
Another thing I wanted to cover was armour abilities. What are armour abilities? Armour abilities are different ‘perks’ that help you out in game, each ability is good for a different purpose. There is no ‘best’ ability to use it’s all down to how you play.
Armour abilities:
- Sprint Self explanatory. Let’s you sprint for a short time.
- Armour lock ‘Locks’ down your armour for a short time making you invulnerable. However you cannot move while armour locked.
- Jetpack Allows you to fly over the map for a short time.
- Hologram Allows you to send out a decoy hologram. Useful for tricking snipers.
- Active Camouflage Allows you to turn invisible for a short time and scramble player’s radars. However if you move too fast.people can see you.
- Evade Allows you to dive in a direction of your choice, usually only available to Elites however Spartans can use it in certain game types.
- Drop Shield Drops a big blue bubble shield at your feet which protects you and regenerates health.
There are a host of other game types and features such as the campaign, fire fight and the forge. Not to mention the ability to customise the look of your armour for that unique feel to your character.
Overall:
Halo: Reach is a great game and definitely worth the £40 price tag and hey if this article hasn’t given you enough incentive to go and buy the game, why not rent it from your nearest rental store, that way you can try the game out before you buy and won’t end up wasting £40 if you don’t like it.
Anybody willing to play online should add my gamer tag: Leachy94, see you in game.
7 Comments – Post a comment
neilramsden
Commented 68 months ago - 5th October 2010 - 14:19pm
Is it worth getting if I have not played any of the others, and won;t be playing online multiplayer? Also, I think £40 is crazy money for any game. I haven't spent more than 15 on a game for years now.
Tom_Bevan
Commented 68 months ago - 5th October 2010 - 16:06pm
I simply fail to understand the fascination people have with gaming and quite frankly, it isn't very nice to be killing people in your own living room. Interesting stuff, but surely there are more worthwhile forms of boredom busting?
Jut my opinion tis all...
Tehleach
Commented 68 months ago - 5th October 2010 - 16:46pm
The game has a pretty good campaign which took me a good few hours to complete - don't forget you can always play the more challenging difficulty or play co op with a friend on the same xbox.
£40 is a bit crazy yeah especially if you're not going to play online. But you do also have the option to play 'firefight' a co op game type where you fight hordes of enemies and try to survive. It's pretty fun.
neilramsden
Commented 68 months ago - 6th October 2010 - 10:43am
That's cool. I do like the Gears of War version of 'firefight', and co-op play in general. You know if the campaign is co-op available in Reach?
Tehleach
Commented 68 months ago - 6th October 2010 - 16:30pm
Yeah you can have 2 player split screen in campaign and firefight I do believe :)
Mr slazer
Commented 68 months ago - 6th October 2010 - 19:49pm
REACH IS AMAZING
FUS RO DAH
Commented 52 months ago - 19th January 2012 - 16:05pm
halo annivery with reach multiplyer is great