Halo Reach: Preview

There’s no doubting the success or the impact the Halo series has had on the world at large, with references littered across all forms of media. The original trilogy has now achieved ‘legendary’ status and is widely considered the best of its generation, reflected in both the sales and the utter jubilation that surrounds every snippet of information fans can get their trigger-happy hands on.

Since Halo 3 though the praise hasn’t been as forthcoming, and it seems that the real-time strategy route is definitely not the way to go. Halo Wars wasn’t necessarily bad, but the inevitable and constant comparisons it was bombarded with made it almost impossible to establish a foothold in the genre. Bungie have quite clearly addressed this by bringing us Halo: Reach, which has been tagged, engraved and stamped with the words ‘first-person shooter’ on every fibre of its being, ever since it was first announced at June 1, 2009.

      

The game will take place in the year 2552 and will act as a prequel to the aforementioned trilogy, chronicling just before the events of Combat Evolved. Taking on the role of Noble 6, you’ll be part of an elite supersoldier squad who are entangled in a war against the “technologically advanced collective of alien races” – the Covenant.

Armor Abilities, a feature that was first introduced to the series in Halo 3: ODST makes a welcoming return, but has seen a slight upgrade. Instead of having one ability for a limited period, you’ll be able to pick and choose amongst them, and take control of a particular situation. Amongst them is a hologram, where players can spawn a dummy that takes attention and fire away from you. Armor lock, where the player effectively becomes invincible, but loses mobility. Plus a slew of others that provide a unique advantage in the field of play.

      

Multiplayer will be plump with new modes-a-plenty, with the most publicised being ‘firefight’, that sends wave upon wave of customisable enemies at you, which slowly increase in difficulty as the game progresses. Players will also be able to partake in a versus mode that allows a second team to enter the fray, in an attempt to prevent them point scoring. There will also be ‘headhunter’, where players acquire skulls from each player they kill, depositing them in special zones for points. ‘Generator Defense’ that pits three Spartans against three Elites, in a manic battle to destroy three generators. ‘Invasion’ which offers a variation on the popular ‘Slayer’ mode sees both teams working towards the goal of killing more than the other in an allotted time, whilst jockeying for more vehicles and weapons as the game progresses. Other new modes will also be available come release time.

A new feature called ‘loadouts’ will also be present, allowing players to pick a predefined weapon upon spawning.

Halo: Reach will be released worldwide on September 14 exclusively for Xbox 360.

Craig Bryan, NoobFeed