Halo: Reach Master Chief Collection

Developer: Bungie & 343 Industries
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Music: Martin O’Donnell & Michael Salvatori
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360
Released:  Original release on September 14, 2010 re-released on December 3, 2019
Genre: FPS (First Person Shooter)
Game Modes: Single Player, Co-op & VS, Casual & Hard
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1064220/Halo_Reach/

Narrative

Set in the year 2552 humanity has gone to war with the alien Covenant. The Covenant are the main antagonist throughout the Halo universe and in some cases have even been an ally to Master Chief however they are your greatest threat again in Halo: Reach. You play as the character called Nobel Six who joins as a member of an elite Spartan squad. As this happens the human planet known as Reach falls after coming under attack from the Covenant.

You start the game with seeing planet Reach destroyed, whilst having flashes to a time before the devastation from the Covenant invasion. You are then introduced to your new Spartan squad called Nobel Team, and you as the main protagonist are called Nobel Six or just ‘Six’ in some cases throughout the game. The main objective throughout Halo: Reach is to rid the planet of the Covenant invasion and restore the human colonies. Sacrifices are made and there are many emotional moments that affect Nobel Team that help inspire you as Nobel Six to vanquish the alien armies from Reach. Without giving away too much you must play in order to know the rest.

Halo: Reach is a direct sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved. Taking influence from the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach where humans under the command of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) who have been battling the forces of the Covenant for a long time. The planet Reach has fallen and lost almost all of the human inhabited colonies. Reach is a very Earth like human civilisation including it’s natural landscapes, environment and it’s ecosystems are strong enough to support life aside from just flora and fauna.

Gameplay

You play from a first person perceptive throughout the campaign only during certain moments throughout such as; using a stationary machine gun or driving a vehicle will you shift into third perspective. The vehicles such as Ghosts, Wraiths and of course the Warthog are the same as Halo: Combat Evolved. You can play the main campaign solo or cooperatively which is always a nice feature that is throughout the Halo franchise.

Some new things to the Halo universe is spaceship dog fighting. There are moments where you pilot a craft that defends a UNSC mother-ship from Covenant crafts on the attack. This mechanic is new and refreshing it adds that extra layer of diversifying the game’s experience. There are also power ups that are new such as; Jet packs, Sprint, Camouflage, Holograms, Drop Shield, and Armour Lock. All these abilities are optional secondary abilities that you can collect as drops throughout each level and swap out for a different one depending on your play style. There is also the old weapons from Halo: Combat Evolved however they have a fresh feel and as well as some new ones that can be useful in certain terrain or for specific fights.

You can also now customise your Spartan with this cool new feature, something you might notice early on is that other members of the Nobel Team have cool new Spartan looks. You as the player also have that opportunity to make yourself look the way you want, but first you have to unlock each piece of your new look by completely challenges or reaching achievements.

Most of the game play feels very similar to Halo: Combat Evolved which isn’t a negative thing, you play in a team unit with Nobel Team, as opposed to the lone wolf lifestyle that players are used to with Master Chief. There are moments where you do go solo for various reasons such as if you decide to skip ahead of the team or if the narrative leads you in that direction.

The Experience

During combat I always feel like a badass, I’m not the best aim in FPS games, in saying that whenever I play a Halo game I always feel that I kick some serious butt, that same feeling applies to Halo: Reach. The new secondary abilities are a nice mix up from the tradition mechanics of Halo and I really enjoyed trying out different things, such as the jet pack and the drop shield really came in handy when I was up against a large swarm of Covenant.

The dog fighting for me was a really big highlight. I loved the feeling of flying through space and shooting down the enemy, whilst also pulling cool aerial stunts to dodge projectiles. The developers did a wonderful job creating a some what ‘Star Wars’ feel with the space battles and that sensation of zooming through space. That coupled with a great narrative meant that I felt really determined to defend against the Covenant and bring it home for humanity.

Story wise it is very compelling there are some real gut wrenching moments that add such great tension and the delivery was fantastic I was never disappointed by cut scenes they were super action packed, which provoked some really big “OOH RAA!” moments.

I highly recommend playing Halo: Reach especially now with it’s really slick 4K graphics and the ability to revert back to it’s original design is fantastic, it was very nostalgic to be able to play things at different qualities, it truly gave a nice perspective on how far the Halo franchise has come since my teenage years.

Reviewed by Evie Gibbons @eviezgames on January 8th 2020
Images: https://halo.bungie.net   https://halo.fandom.com