One Life Left - 9/23/10

Game|Halo: Reach

Platform |Xbox 360

Rating |Mature

“No, no! This cant be happening!” yells Jorge, codename Noble II, as he watches one of the most powerful human vessels crash into the ocean after falling victim to a beam of unknown origin. The player, who is in the role of Noble VI, looks up to the sky to find the cause of such destruction and finds that the blast came from one of the Covenant’s hulking monstrosities of a ship capable of mass destruction. This is one of many feelings of hopelessness the player encounters within Halo: Reach’s campaign mode.

Reach marks the end of the Halo franchise as far as Bungie is concerned. Bungie, the original company behind the Halo series, is leaving Microsoft Game Studios to explore other creative possibilities. And I must say, they left with a bang. While a tad short, Halo: Reach’s campaign mode (or “story mode”) is much better than any other of the previous Halo games’ campaigns.

Reach’s story is actually thoughtful and tells a Band-of-Brothers-esque tale of the Noble Team, an elite team of Spartans assigned to protecting Reach, the last major human colony standing between the Covenant and Earth. The campaign takes the player across multiple landscapes of Reach trying to fend off the Covenant invasion, but as the player will find out, it is much too late.

The graphics, while not a huge jump from previous games such as Halo 3 or ODST, are improved. However, such improvements can really only be found in details such as the various weapons. Don’t take this the wrong way, some of the backdrops within Reach are gorgeous and worth stopping for a minute or two to just take it all in.

What has greatly improved is the A.I. of the various religious baddies the player will be shooting. Elites are once again a threat as they will bob and weave your shots, and even take cover once you take out their shields. Grunts will try to flank you and will even pull the classic “run at you while holding two live plasma grenades” trick much more frequently. Jackals will actually deflect any grenades you try to throw at them with a smack of their shield, much to my frustration.

The gameplay remains inherently the same, but Reach surprises players with a few tricks up its sleeve. Primarily, the mission where you drive a Starfox-esque ship and fight in space! Barrel rolls and all! And while I do not want to ruin anything, be sure to watch and wait for after the credits. It finishes the game and ties everything together perfectly. To be frank, it is one of the best endings I’ve encountered in a long time.

Yet one buys Halo not solely for the campaign (and you really shouldn’t), but for the multiplayer. Reach returns with full online and local (including split-screen) functionality. The Forge mode is also making a triumphant return and gives players tools to completely rework entire mechanics of the game such as anti-gravity physics, jet packs or even include giant soccer balls on the map! Given the creativity of the Halo online community (okay, a small fraction of the Halo community) one can expect some creative and/or fun map/game types in the near future.

Even if you’re not hooked up to Live, you and three other friends can play the incredibly fun Firefight mode. You’re given a set amount of lives, you pick a map, tweak weapon and enemy settings, and then fight to the death. While simple on paper, its very simplicity makes it great fun to just relax with some friends, and blow some Hunters up with a concussion rifle.

If you have an Xbox, some friends, and want to take a break from all the partying, Halo: Reach is the ideal choice. Its fantastic campaign mode, with its even better multiplayer components make it worth both your hard earned money and free time.

Halo: Reach gets a 9/10.

Santiago Azpurua-Borras is a sophomore from Phoenix, AZ.