A PS3 Gamers Totally Biased Review of: "Halo: Reach"
Not much was expected from the release of Halo: Reach. Halo 3 was much like Halo 2, and seeing videos and screenshots, Reach seemed a lot like Halo 3, which was like Halo 2. I went into this game know what I was playing, was Halo. And I wasn't even close to being wrong. It has the same game play, same enemies, just a new prequel story. I really don't see the appeal of the Halo lore. Should we really care about these characters and the Halo story line? Does anybody actually remember what happened in Halo 1? I guess Master Chief has become a huge poster child for Xbox and anybody who plays the system is supposed to automatically love anything related to the "Halo" franchise.
The combat hasn't changed much in the newest version of Halo. I was hoping we could move on in the series and they would try and follow some things that other developers have implemented in their shooters. It was tough to adjust to the zooming feature in Reach after using "down the irons" style in so many other games like ModernWarfare 2 or Killzone 2. Reach's new standard weapon is a single-shot assault rifle called the DMR which would have absolutely benefited from "down the irons" style shooting. Instead the game still uses the thumb stick click to lock-zoom for long range shots, and if you are hit by another attacker, you zoom out. I find this extremely aggravating. The other issue I have always had with the thumb stick click in Halo, is I grip the controller tightly while playing and find myself zooming in during close combat fights when I am only trying to turn my character, usually resulting in my death because I get so disoriented. Weapon shots are solid, but lock-zoom is outdated. The main change to combat is the introduction of space combat, allowing you to pilot one of the "A-Wing" like ships to blast Banshees and other spacecrafts out of the air. This part was pretty good, flight mechanics worked well.
The story of Reach is told through the eyes of the newest Spartan, know as "Six". You're character has just joined Noble Team, which is sort of a special ops group that pulls off the toughest jobs. The team has some interesting characters. Each has their own personality and skill set. You're team is trying to find some artifact that is the key to winning the war against the covenant. Very exciting.
Multiplayer is the real main draw of any Halo game, as well as most FPS games. You will find a lot of things to do in the multiplayer portion of this game. Bungie has finally implemented matchmaking for Firefight mode, which was introduced in ODST. This makes things a lot easier when trying to find some teammates to run around and blast waves of bad guys with. The online can be fun. There are plenty of different game modes. The new maps are nothing to get excited for though, hopefully we see some new DLC shortly, its already rumored to be releasing soon. If you loved the online component of Halo 2 or 3 then you will love this, as not a lot has changed. Is that good or bad? That's up to you.
In the end, Halo: Reach doesn't bring much new to the series other than being close to the same game as its predecessors. If you've played the other games, and love them, then you will be sure to enjoy Reach. If you're looking to upgrade from the Halo 3 online experience then there isn't much I can say here, you'll be playing the same game almost, with some different maps and some new, though not that great, weapons. Reach will hold my interest probably until Medal of Honor releases on PS3, and then I probably won't play this game again for a while.
Story: 5/10
Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Replayability: 8/10
Final Score: 7 out of 10
written by FoxTodd
