The plot of Halo: Reach follows the events of the Covenant’s attack on Reach, and begins with Noble Team discovering the invasion. Having only ever played Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, it was intriguing to witness where the story truly began. I also really thought it was cool to see how Cortana made it onto the Pillar of Autumn and get a few, albeit vague, insights into her origin. The various members of Noble Team were also somewhat interesting, though I feel like their diverse appearances and ethnicities superseded any real sense of personality that could have distinguished them. Because of this, the numerous deaths that occur didn’t impact me as much as they could have.
I enjoyed most of the locations that the Halo: Reach campaign explored, with the majority of them being memorable. Fighting through the ruined city on Reach was really cool, and felt like I was actively attempting to repel the Covenant incursion. The missions that took Six into space to engage the Covenant in ship battles were also really awesome, as well.
Story: 4/5
One thing that doesn’t seem to have changed since Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 is the gameplay, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Halo: Reach maintains the frantic feel of battle and the satisfying feeling of killing Covenant aliens. One of my biggest complaints about the combat is that any gun without a scope feels bad to use, since so many enemies rely on precise shots to defeat them. This resulted in me using very few weapons throughout the game, and feeling significantly disadvantaged if they weren’t available.
I also found that the friendly AI is pretty bad in most cases, and letting them drive any sort of vehicle is not a good idea. This becomes a problem in certain encounters, such as engaging in a fight with two Hunters and your team-mate stands in a corner instead of distracting them. I really appreciated that Bungie changed up the gameplay loop a little and added some space combat and flying missions, and I enjoyed both of those aspects quite a bit. Having only played the first two entries in the Halo series, it was also cool to have other Spartans participating in combat. I just wish there had been more tactical choices and better AI involved.
Gameplay: 3/5
There are some really beautiful and breathtaking moments in Halo: Reach. I have never played the original game, but I couldn’t find much to complain about graphically when it comes to the remastered version. I did experience some minor audio desynchronization in cut-scenes, but I found the voice acting itself to be great on all accounts. Halo always excelled in the sound department when it came to weapon effects and alien voices, and that is true about Halo: Reach as well. Likewise, the music here is also incredibly well done. There are moments in tense firefights when the soundtrack ramps up and greatly enhances the experience, and the music during the sad moments accomplishes the same effect.
Graphics, Sound, Voice Acting: 5/5
Overall, I really enjoyed Halo: Reach. It was a fairly short but action-packed journey that gave me a new perspective on Halo. Despite its flaws, namely characters that I ultimately wasn’t invested in, Halo: Reach manages to combine fun and exciting gameplay with an intriguing story.
Final Score: 8
Constant Gamer 