Halo: Reach has understandably been met with a degree of trepidation. The damp squib that was Halo 3: ODST left many of the series’ fans with a bitter taste in their mouth; no Spartans, the same engine, the same multiplayer maps and a hefty price-tag, all for a game that was essentially just adding a new campaign. Reach was presumed by many to be another Bungie sell-out. By the looks of it, though, they couldn’t have been more wrong.
You play Noble 6, a Spartan super-soldier replacing a fallen warrior from Noble Team. Whilst it’s obvious you’ll be fighting in a squad, whether or not you’ll be able to command your team-mates to perform specific specialist actions (à la Republic Commando) is uncertain, though the combat is still very much Halo. Weapons have been given an overhaul, so we’ll be seeing a return of the first game’s fearsome scoped pistol, plus a new medium-range high-calibre gun and a needler rifle. Halo 3’s flame and spike grenades have been ditched. No doubt whatsoever that we’ll be seeing plenty more additions.
Reach looks superb. The game engine has been completely reworked. The polygon count has been upped (which will make facial animation appear more realistic and fluid), the particle count increased from several hundred to several thousand and improvements in rendering will allow battles to feature over forty units on-screen at any one time. I’m picturing some very intense firefights! Combat Evolved’s vast, sprawling environments are returning, so Noble 6 will be able to scout and critically assess his environment before launching an offensive.
If you’re a fan of Halo lore, you’ll know that Reach is destroyed by the Covenant, ‘glassed’ from space by starships. That’s pretty much all that we know. No story specifics have been disclosed, though the ultimate demise of the planet does not necessarily mean the demise of Noble 6 and his team. Those who completed Halo 3 on Legendary difficulty were treated to an extended sequence before the closing credits, showing Master Chief and Cortana drifting towards a blackened planet which apparently was Reach. Bungie may have some exciting tie-ins planned for their theoretical Halo 4, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Noble 6 and Spartan-117 teaming up in years to come.
All is quiet on the multiplayer front, aside from the fact that if you have Halo 3: ODST, you’ll have invite to play the beta on 3 May. Reach has been given an Autumn-Winter 2010 release window, so this might be one for Father Christmas to bring.
Sadly, Reach may well be Bungie’s last Halo game. Fingers crossed that they’ll go out with a bang if it is.
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