Halo: Reach Campaign Review

Posted in Gaming, Reviews by Aaron, September 19, 2010 at 7:39 pm | 532 views, 12 comments

It’s been a long time since I’ve been impressed by a Halo game. First, let’s get this out of the way, there’s the multi-player. There’s always the multi-player. It’s the reason the majority of players buy Halo.

I never played ODST, but this aspect of the game has always been the strongest, and Halo Reach continues with strong design, a variety of solid match types and generally a great, competitive experience.

However, what really struck me was the single player mode. Story telling has come a long way since the first Halo game, and it really shines here. Cut scenes are well choreographed and look gorgeous.

Actually, I was blown away by a few of them. Spoilers abound here, so be careful.

From the scene where you are ambushed by a group of Elites, where Jorge tries to protect the girl and an Elite starts beating on you – that whole scene just blew me away. The scene is only marred by a brief load screen before you’re put into the action.

During the first three Halo games, it was rare that I cared what was going on. I mean, the three main characters were fairly cool, and I could easily see what appealed to people about Master Chief, but most of the time I didn’t care what was happening plot wise. I just wanted more stuff to shoot at.

But Noble team, the group of Spartans you just joined, have very distinct, identifiable personalities. I mean, there wasn’t enough time to go very deep into back stories or anything, but I could tell one jarhead from another and that’s a huge bonus for me.

Missions had a nice amount of variety as well. It was basic stuff like turret defense or a little bit of stealth killing enemies in their sleep, but it was fun and if at any time you just wanted to bust in, guns blazing, you absolutely could.

I should note that if you’re playing through the campaign solo, letting the A.I. drive any vehicle is just asking for torture. They can’t drive straight, they’re constantly hitting walls, and every now and then they’ll get frustrated and just stop.

All the classic guns are back, and they haven’t shown their age yet as they’re all a blast to play with. The sticky grenade has become an icon in gaming weapon history.

There’s some good banter between you, your team mates and civilians while you play as well, the score is used to maximum effect and adds the perfect amount of tension.

But, my favourite part of the game had to be Jorge. I loved Jorge. He’s big, he has a powerful mustache and a very likable personality.

And, (Huge Spoiler Here) in his final moments of the game, he sacrifices himself to set off a bomb in an enemy ship, floating above the planet. But that’s not the best part.

In my favourite moment of the game, Jorge picks you up and throws you into space, so you fall relatively safely back to the planet. That’s right. He bro-hugs you back into the planet.

A fitting end to the Halo game franchise, if I do say so myself.

To contact the author of this post: aaron.chatha@wildgunmen.com