Let's be honest from the get go here. Halo, the whole series has never been about the story line or single player mode. It is primarily a multiplayer game, a very very good one.
Before 8 year olds were running around in playgrounds mimicking killing each other (with weapon names most military generals would probably be alien to), after their parents decided that the Call Of Duty games were an adequate baby sitter (seriously, and we wonder why the next generations are increasingly violent?!), there was Halo.
Few would argue that Halo was the first online gaming sensation. Virtually every xbox owner who had any kind of Internet connection played the game, and subsequently "lag" became a household term.. Halo has evolved with the years, and now Reach has been released, I was extremely skeptical with it's market pulling power, especially with COD games now being released with the regulatory timing of a player being bought by Manchester City. How silly did I feel though, when release day came, and I saw queueing out of shops to get a hold of a copy. It seems Halo has retained fans, although with comment "yeah it has jet packs, so cool.", produced from one spectacularly stereotypical looking Halo fan, i was unsure how much uniqueness this game would show.
First impressions of the game, visually, was nothing amazing. When I saw the first piece of level on Planet Reach, I initially though "Mass Effect". Then on further reflection thought "Avatar". However I mean neither of those in a particularly good way. It seems like a half budget copy. Whilst roaming, some backgrounds still seem like a cardboard cut out. Players still move with a certain rigidity. Levels are predictable. This is by no means the worst looking games you will ever see, but with landscapes in other games literally taking it g your breath away, this falls relatively short.
But as I said, Halo has never been bought to look at the trees..
Single player. (Honestly, stay reading, it gets better.) I honestly know people who have played over 100 hours on Halo 3, and are yet to play the single player mode. Again, this one is nothing special. It lacks the intensity of missions in Call Of Duty, the amusement of Just Cause 2, although in all honesty, virtually every game does. However, it's ok. It would pass the time if your router breaks.. The levels awe far too long in most cases, which is rarely seen as a negative, but the missions lack variation, and checkpoints too!
But, again, as previously said, it's not about that.
Online however, the game is once again superb. Halo Reach somehow manages to bring players of all abilities together - and every game is relatively fair. Personally, in all honesty, I am awful online in FPS games. I can survive for about 20 seconds tops on COD before having to respawn because I have been humiliated by a 16 year old child. On Halo though, the game is much slower, and therefore much more enjoyable. It's hard to say exactly what makes the game just so good online, so please have a go and try for yourself!
Overall - 7/10
Fair Price - £27
