Matrix Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:16 pmFirst I would like to say some things: First Reign thank you for making (or remaking) this amazing site, second if this is the wrong place please move it or ask me to move it I figured I would post it here because no one else has posted a review yet, and finally, I may be slightly biased, I have been a Halo fanboy since I was 8 I'm now 16. it all started with the first level of Halo: CE at my friends house and from then I've been hooked. i have every Halo game and book minus the Halo 2 LE i was 10 at the time and my dad bought it for me and I haven't read the comic books, I'm not a big fan of comic books. And now we may begin.
Graphics:
The graphics are pretty good. There are games out there (such as Killzone 2) that have better but the faces look amazing and the environments are top notch (characteristic of Bungie). The environments are darker the landscapes are vast and the colors are somewhat dull. The dull fits perfectly showing the war you can't win (for now) and the hopelessness of the situation.
Overall I give graphics a 9/10
Sound:
Has the Halo sound ever been bad? Once again Marty and Jay deliver. The music is astonishing every piece fits its part perfectly. There isn't a single piece of music that is even slightly out of place. The gameplay sound is great the and the subtle thing make it even better. If a grenade goes off near you you can actually hear the ringing in your ears from the explosion and after you swing the energy sword you can hear the echo of the clang. The voice acting is great, every character has their own personality and accent. Even without seeing them I can tell who's talking because of the difference in vices, tones, the way that they speak and their accent.
Overall I give sound a 10/10
Story:
The Halo story, even going into this game I knew the end, Noble team dies and Reach is glassed. Still Bungie managed to make the story gripping, you constantly have that sense that everything you do is for no reason but you must do it to save humanity (except for the end but I don't want to put too many spoilers in :p) The story is gripping everytime a character died I felt bad I got attached to the characters (except for Kat she's a bitch). Even knowing the end I love the story and everything about it. There are also countless easter eggs, from secret switches to the data pads and finally the BoBs (more about them in mingy's topic)
Overall I give the story a 10/10
Multiplayer:
Ahh multiplayer. I know most of you don't play it but I do so I'm adding it in anyway. The reason many people buy Halo in the first place. I am a veteran of over 6000 halo 3 matches and countless splits opeen matches in CE and 2. The multiplayer has been completely revamped. Most guns have been tweaked slightly or removed and there are a decent amount 0f new weapons also. Overall i preferred Halo 3's multiplayer but Reaches is still good. There are 4 new weapons I believe: the grenade launcher which is completely new to the Halo series, the concussion rifle which takes the place of the brute shot, the plasma repeater which is like a plasma version of the assault rifle, and the plasma launcher, the covenant version of the grenade launcher that shoots plasma grenades that home in on the target. But enough about weapons onto the maps. The maps are easily the worst part of multiplayer, none are atrocious (except paradiso) and there are 4 remakes out of the 13 total maps. The two new maps that stand out to me are countdown and powerhouse other then that the only good maps are the remakes (except for reflection which is decent at best). But let me wrap this up now I'm just rambling. The gameplay is good but the maps can use some work definitely try it out though its not bad as a whole.
Overall I give multiplayer a 8/10
Gameplay;
The gameplay is as good as any Halo, with the addition of visible bloom, decrease of jump height and speed, this has the same core gameplay with just enough changes to make it seem fresh. The A. I. in campaign is top notch its not overpowering so that you are constantly getting frustrated but hard enough to give a good challenge to even the most experienced Halo veteran. Everything else i can say about this I also put in the multiplayer section so if you haven't read that yet please read it (thats why its above this one).
Overall gameplay gets a 10/10
Overall this brings a great new addition to the halo franchise and is a worthy exit for the always amazing Bungie from this franchise.
Overall I give Halo: Reach a 9.5
I averaged all of the scores together and rounded to the nearest half.
Thanks to everyone for reading.
Graphics:
The graphics are pretty good. There are games out there (such as Killzone 2) that have better but the faces look amazing and the environments are top notch (characteristic of Bungie). The environments are darker the landscapes are vast and the colors are somewhat dull. The dull fits perfectly showing the war you can't win (for now) and the hopelessness of the situation.
Overall I give graphics a 9/10
Sound:
Has the Halo sound ever been bad? Once again Marty and Jay deliver. The music is astonishing every piece fits its part perfectly. There isn't a single piece of music that is even slightly out of place. The gameplay sound is great the and the subtle thing make it even better. If a grenade goes off near you you can actually hear the ringing in your ears from the explosion and after you swing the energy sword you can hear the echo of the clang. The voice acting is great, every character has their own personality and accent. Even without seeing them I can tell who's talking because of the difference in vices, tones, the way that they speak and their accent.
Overall I give sound a 10/10
Story:
The Halo story, even going into this game I knew the end, Noble team dies and Reach is glassed. Still Bungie managed to make the story gripping, you constantly have that sense that everything you do is for no reason but you must do it to save humanity (except for the end but I don't want to put too many spoilers in :p) The story is gripping everytime a character died I felt bad I got attached to the characters (except for Kat she's a bitch). Even knowing the end I love the story and everything about it. There are also countless easter eggs, from secret switches to the data pads and finally the BoBs (more about them in mingy's topic)
Overall I give the story a 10/10
Multiplayer:
Ahh multiplayer. I know most of you don't play it but I do so I'm adding it in anyway. The reason many people buy Halo in the first place. I am a veteran of over 6000 halo 3 matches and countless splits opeen matches in CE and 2. The multiplayer has been completely revamped. Most guns have been tweaked slightly or removed and there are a decent amount 0f new weapons also. Overall i preferred Halo 3's multiplayer but Reaches is still good. There are 4 new weapons I believe: the grenade launcher which is completely new to the Halo series, the concussion rifle which takes the place of the brute shot, the plasma repeater which is like a plasma version of the assault rifle, and the plasma launcher, the covenant version of the grenade launcher that shoots plasma grenades that home in on the target. But enough about weapons onto the maps. The maps are easily the worst part of multiplayer, none are atrocious (except paradiso) and there are 4 remakes out of the 13 total maps. The two new maps that stand out to me are countdown and powerhouse other then that the only good maps are the remakes (except for reflection which is decent at best). But let me wrap this up now I'm just rambling. The gameplay is good but the maps can use some work definitely try it out though its not bad as a whole.
Overall I give multiplayer a 8/10
Gameplay;
The gameplay is as good as any Halo, with the addition of visible bloom, decrease of jump height and speed, this has the same core gameplay with just enough changes to make it seem fresh. The A. I. in campaign is top notch its not overpowering so that you are constantly getting frustrated but hard enough to give a good challenge to even the most experienced Halo veteran. Everything else i can say about this I also put in the multiplayer section so if you haven't read that yet please read it (thats why its above this one).
Overall gameplay gets a 10/10
Overall this brings a great new addition to the halo franchise and is a worthy exit for the always amazing Bungie from this franchise.
Overall I give Halo: Reach a 9.5
I averaged all of the scores together and rounded to the nearest half.
Thanks to everyone for reading.
