And the presence in certain levels of civilians fleeing the Covenant attacks (all of whom are very pleased to see a rare Spartan) ratchets up the emotional intensity.
Sometimes, taking cover and timing are paramount other times, you'll have to find a nice sniping spot, or you might have to take down turrets before they cause havoc.
There are stealth episodes, and others where you have to cross big gaps using your jetpack.īungie's engine upgrade also extended to the artificial intelligence, bringing about some monstrously frenetic set-pieces in which you really have to develop a tactical plan (and, as ever, it's vital to work out where to find the required weaponry). These also feature heavily in the single-player game, introduced more or less individually, and turn out to be a clever means of rendering Halo's single-player gameplay much more diverse than it has been in the past. Those who availed themselves of the multiplayer beta will be conversant with Halo: Reach's main gameplay innovation – armour upgrades, which give you short-lived abilities such as a jetpack, active camouflage and a holographic facsimile of yourself. Cue a titanic struggle for the planet which we know is ultimately doomed, but that doesn't make it any less epic. Dispatched on a seemingly innocent mission on Reach, the last bastion of the UNSC's defences before Earth, Noble Team uncovers a Covenant invasion. Instead, you play Noble Six, the last (and nameless) Spartan to join the elite Noble Team. It's a prequel to the first Halo, so Master Chief hasn't yet come into play. Story-wise, Halo: Reach makes its predecessors feel almost amateurish. In terms of look and feel, it is comfortingly familiar but despite that, stops have been pulled out: for example, Bungie created an entire new game engine for Reach and, while that familiar, slightly washed-out colour palette and distinctive art direction remain intact, everything looks sharper and crisper, and feels even slicker than ever. Halo: Reach is easily the best Halo game ever – which means it is also one of the best games ever, full stop. But it also marks the end of the Halo franchise as we know it – developer Bungie has signed a deal with Activision, and will make non-Halo branded games in the future (Microsoft is bound to hand future Haloes to another developer, but that could easily prove to be a poisoned chalice).īungie is bowing out of the first-person shoot-em-up franchise it created with an air not of regret or ruefulness but sheer triumph. As the first of this year's blockbusting games to break cover, it symbolically kicks off the Christmas games rush. F or fanatical Xbox 360 gamers, the release of Halo: Reach positively hums with significance.
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