Halo is a legendary series. An important game. A trusted name. And, undoubtedly, a consistent cash source. Its legacy will continue on regardless of what you might think, and that's why we're getting Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition this autumn. It's an important release, not only because it symbolises the tenth year of Halo's creation, but because it also presents questions about future re-releases in the same vein. Isn't it time that these remake games offered more of what we loved in the original, instead of 'balancing' our vintage gameplay?

Halo: Combat Evolved was the seminal title that started it all. You've heard this line a myriad of times, but it doesn't change the facts. Halo is an important game because of what it brought to the console market; first-person shooters were never as solid, didn't run nearly run as smoothly, and definitely didn't have the addictive gameplay or - most importantly - multiplayer functionality that the original Halo did. The closest title I can think of is GoldenEye 007, released during the Nintendo 64 era, but let's be honest: that game doesn't come anywhere close to what Halo has become.

Saying all that, it's been ten years since Halo: Combat Evolved pleasantly surprised the console world, and now - surprising us again - is a re-release, or a 're-imagining', of the original game. Set to release on the 15th of November, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is the complete original Halo game with new, additional high-definition visuals and other unique features. Just some of these features include the ability to swap old graphics with the new on-the-fly, online co-op, and remastered versions of old maps available for multiplayer (as if that wasn't already guaranteed).


Forgive my satire, but this 'new' Halo game is a bastard child. It's another short-lived, uninspired way to cash in the Halo name for something that really doesn't have to be remade at this very moment. Unfortunately, this game has no place in the library of titles out there and will do nothing but augment the apprehension we'll all feel when more of these 'remakes' hit store shelves. Regardless, the first game was pretty grand; yes, it had its flaws such as awful level design later on, but it was a solid title that left quite a bit to build on. A remake sounds great on paper, but in reality it's nothing more than a retail, super-expensive expansion pack for Reach.

The best part about this game is that 343 Industries are remaining true to the original campaign and leaving it relatively unscathed and unmodified. The pistol is still going to be an insanely powerful side-arm, vehicles won't explode and the Energy Sword - or any other crazy-ass weapon, for that matter - simply won't be useable or might not even exist. Yes, I'll admit, The Library is a horrible part of the original's campaign, which I'm sure many would like to see changed in this re-release, but that brings me right onto my next question: should a remake change the original source due to its infamy? My answer is a resounding "no".

If your game is getting the remake treatment, it's almost certainly because someone upstairs believes that there's a fanbase for it, one that will snatch up your remade product and make you some nice, easy money in the process. But these fans want to see the game they loved, the one tucked away in their memory alongside a big serving of nostalgia, not some abomination that's been tweaked to make the game play 'better'. It may sound contradictory, but the game actually plays 'better' when it's true to the original source and, whilst I hate to say it, The Library is something that defined the original Halo. It wasn't good level design, and it wasn't fun to play through, but it served as an integral part of the game that has become nothing short of a legend. I wouldn't be opposed to having the option to play through a modified or uncut version of a game (like the way some movies present you with a similar option), but the original basis for the remake must still be present.

This is something 343 understands, but still ignores.



Announcing the fourth, fifth and sixth Halo iterations at once at this year's E3, 343 decided it was a good idea to throw some canon into the anniversary game, as a prelude to the release of Halo 4 next year. That means we'll get to access terminals akin to the ones found in Halo 3 for Halo 4... in the original game. It's as stupid as it sounds. Certain changes are needed, I agree, like the implementation of Xbox Live to make co-op play possible over the internet. Modifications like that are fine as they aren't making any tangible changes to the core gameplay. Adding terminals that cater for future Halo games is, however. And that's worthless.

Speaking of modification and change, the multiplayer in this game is already laughable. One could make the argument that the game is simply devoid of multiplayer altogether. You'd think, would you not, that if you're making a stand-alone remake of the original Halo, you'd have to throw the multiplayer in there as well right? Apparently not, because the Combat Evolved play-style is not coming to consoles this November. Instead, seven maps from the original Halo are going to be ported to Reach.

I just can't understand why a company would attempt to remake a classic game, but orchestrate such alien devices on one of its most beloved assets. People want to play online multiplayer Combat Evolved-style: they want to use the pistol to destroy you repeatedly, but it's just not going to happen. It's akin to putting cover-based shooter Gears of War up for a remake in a few years, but deciding to make its online component Blitzball. Who the hell wants to play Blitzball?

Halo Anniversary is a remake, and I remind you that the original game is already available to download from Xbox Live. Come November, you're essentially spending upwards of forty dollars on merely a graphical update and seven new, old maps for Reach. Whilst the terminal thing can easily be overlooked, the absence of Combat Evolved's original multiplayer component cannot be. This is unacceptable, especially since future remakes of other games will likely follow in this game's footsteps. Never should there be a game of this calibre being remade with a key, core component omitted. If HD remakes like Sly Cooper and God of War can get it all right, Halo should have no problems rivalling them.

Labels: 2011, 343 Industries, Andrew Whipple III, Bungie, Feature, Halo, Halo Anniversary, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition, Microsoft, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360

This is a second review of Halo Reach, by Andrew Whipple III. Our original review can be found here.

Halo: Reach marks Bungie’s last title in the Halo era. All is not over: whilst Bungie may be moving to make games for Activision, the Halo series will be retained by Microsoft and handed to new devs, 343 Studios. Whatever comes of that, Bungie’s last foray into their own creation is a refinement of the highest calibre and poses 343 Studios with quite a challenge to surpass. Reach is, simply, everything you’ve come to expect from a Halo game.

But that might not be a good thing.


Depending on which side of the conflict you’re on, you either enjoy Halo or you cringe at the very mention of another game set in the popular universe. Halo is a fast and frenetic affair that has won over millions of gamers and, more importantly, its mechanics helped shape a console-centric industry into what we see today. The Halo series is an important asset to gaming, and as the swan song for Bungie, Reach offers the most out of any of the previous games.

Everyone knows the ending to this story. Often hinted at, referred to in other games and even brought-to-light in a book surrounding the incident, Reach is doomed to fall victim to the Covenant onslaught. If that doesn’t make any sense, this is a prequel to all the events in the Halo universe. The planet Reach is a militarised world, upon which rests a significant amount of human technology, which plays an integral role at beating back the planet's alien invaders. You play a decisive role in the war as part of an elite squad of Spartan soldiers called Noble Team. As Noble Six, you and your team are tasked with taking down various objectives in an attempt to thwart Covenant advances. Of course, it will all be in vain, but certain cameos and events link directly with the Halo games which can make it all worth something upon the game’s completion.

It was only recently that we were first able to play through the games with more than two of our friends, a feature which was first heralded in by Halo 3, returned in ODST, and is also present in Reach. It’s definitely the best way to go through the campaign, but you can elect to play solo if it’s more to your liking. Just as in Halo 3 or ODST, you can also manipulate the scoring and the different skills available to make the game more challenging. Unfortunately, the campaign this time around isn’t as good as you might expect, and suffers from a myriad of issues that can only be described as frustrating.


The game’s campaign is built around a cooperative experience, which is all well and good, but - like Lost Planet 2 - you really need those other players to make the game feel the way it’s supposed to. You see, the enemies occupying Reach are in their thousands - they're everywhere. There are so many that I found myself running past conflicts just to progress to the next checkpoint. It doesn’t help that the game doesn’t scale depending on how many people are in your game either; if you’re at one section with four people and have to fight several Hunters and twenty Elites, that number won’t go down if you’re playing solo. It might not seem like a big issue, but even playing on the recommended setting of Heroic for Halo veterans (like myself) was a labour.

All the enemies are much tougher now: Jackal shields can take a huge amount of punishment, Elite shields sometimes take a full clip to take down, and even some Grunts take more than one shot to the head to kill. At one point I shot a Hunter over twenty times in their exposed weakness with the DMR (the new Battle Rifle), struck him twice with Plasma grenades, and fired two rockets, only to see the bastard still standing. It gets especially frustrating when Grunts, Brutes and the Golden Elites all come at you with Fuel-Rod Cannons, which are hands-down the most annoying weapon to deal with in the campaign. It isn't nearly a large enough deal to ruin the game if you’re playing with friends, though, because you’ll just respawn if killed. For instance, there was a point in the latter half of the game when I encountered a Brute with ridiculously strong shields and, of course, a Fuel-Rod Cannon. I hit the guy with my own cannon five different times but he still didn’t go down. I had to wait for the game to send AI in to have even a remote chance against him. If I had companions in the game with me we would just throw ourselves up against the thing until it died. It’s things like that which detract from the overall experience.

The biggest problem, though - even after the AI and scaling issues - is the story. You already know how the story ends, leaving Bungie with many creative possibilities when it came to conveying the story. They had a chance to enthrall you with some very emotional roles or maybe involve you in something you’d remember long after the credits rolled. Unfortunately they failed in that area pretty badly. Voice acting falls flat on several occasions and, more importantly, you just don’t care about the people you’re fighting with. There isn't enough development when it comes to your crew to establish working relationships, and when something does come up, it doesn’t feel like anything. Even the final event (which I won’t spoil here) ended abruptly because of a wonderfully placed Fuel-Rod Cannon shot.


I have to say that, visually, this game is astounding. From the game’s onset you can see how meticulous Bungie is when it comes to detail. The sun reflects off your pistol’s surface; Spartans and Covenant alike are superbly animated; the explosions and set-pieces are wonderfully put together. The much anticipated space battle is actually one of the best parts of the game and, as it turns out, one of the best-looking sections too. It’s all extremely striking and if you’ve ever played other Halo games there’s no comparison: Reach easily takes the prize for the best aesthetic. Hell, anything was better than the muddy, messy faces in ODST.

Any gamer with sensibility will be constantly firing up the multiplayer long after they’ve finished the story. Thankfully, Reach’s multiplayer is the best the series has seen. Bungie has overhauled and augmented just about everything you can think of when it comes to online play. The interface is extremely intuitive, allowing you to drop into friends’ games or even queue up to join in the next checkpoint of the campaign. You also earn credits based on how well you perform (well, actually, you earn credits for practically everything you do). Once you’ve accumulated enough you can enter the new armoury section, which allows you to purchase a variety of armour pieces to customize your Spartan. It’s pretty addictive and an excellent idea.

Firefight, Halo’s take on Horde mode, returns in Reach and has been beefed up from its rough implementation in ODST. Now you can enter matchmaking mode instead of being required to play with people you know. As an added bonus, you can also edit just about anything about the mode or even play preset modes like Gruntpocalypse. It’s pretty cool to jump in and play with your friends, but when it comes to matchmaking it’s an entirely different beast. Instead of having a set amount of lives, Firefight gives you unlimited lives and ends after one set, effectively breaking its entire purpose. It doesn’t matter if XxSniperLordxX gets destroyed fifteen times in the game, you’re always going to win. Sound amazing? It sure isn’t.


Team Slayer, and Halo’s more competitive modes, remain the definitive reason why this game is worth its asking price. There’s nothing more satisfying than utilising Reach’s new armour abilities while performing incredible feats of strength. For instance, the new Armour Lock move allows you to become invulnerable, but also immobile, for a short period of time. However, if you time it right you can reflect missiles, destroy accelerating vehicles, or knock back that annoying sword dude. There are other abilities too such as the excellent Sprint and even a Jetpack to ride around with. You’ll actually find these abilities in the campaign but it’s pretty clear that they were all built with the multiplayer in mind.

New multiplayer options also mean new modes, so Invasion - the best of the bunch - is very welcome. Invasion is an assault/defend mission where you either take the side of the Spartans or Elites. Each has unique weapons and abilities to choose from and more options open up as the game unfolds. Unfortunately there are only two maps for Invasion, and with some of them being so huge it sometimes feels empty amidst the chaos.

One of my personal favorite things about Reach is the return of certain Halo 2 maps. Ascension (Pinnacle) and Ivory Tower (Reflection) were two of my most liked maps and both never saw a release in Halo 3. Even the ever-changing Blood Gulch (Hemorrhage) map makes its re-emergence here, but this time it’s in its original Halo: Combat Evolved form, which couldn’t be more awesome. Easily one of the most addictive features, Theater mode, is back allowing you to upload and share your insane shenanigans with your buddies once again. You can also experiment in Bungie’s refined Forge World map, which is enormous; and you can make all sorts of bizarre creations, maps, modes or whatever you feel the game is missing. If customisation is your thing than you’ll be pleased to know Reach allows it in huge quantities.

Bungie plays it safe with Reach, but for what it’s worth it really is the definitive Halo package. The multiplayer is fun, the gunplay has weight to it and features like the new armour abilities and Theater mode will easily keep your attention. It’s too bad that the lacklustre campaign, stagnant gameplay and small multiplayer annoyances affect the total package. It’s fine to take an “if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it” approach to something like Halo, but a player can only take so much before they require something more enticing.

7/10 [?]

Labels: 343 Studios, Andrew Whipple III, Bungie, Halo Reach, Microsoft, Review

2001 - the year console shooters changed forever thanks to a little game called Halo: Combat Evolved.
2004 - the year online gaming on consoles exploded with Halo 2's stunning multiplayer.
2007 - the year Bungie redefined the word epic, and delivered the complete Halo package with Halo 3.
2009 - the year Bungie created one of the most addicting co-op experiences ever in Halo 3: ODST.

Now, it's 2010. Halo: Reach is the end of an era; a send-off for one of the most respected FPS developers in the industry as Bungie end their association with the Halo franchise and go off to work on something new for Activision. It's fitting, then, that that Halo: Reach is the Halo fan's dream game - an epic campaign, tonnes of multiplayer content and the same fun gameplay.

Now, whilst the multiplayer is what will keep people playing, the campaign is what Bungie have been pushing. The incredible amount of money spent by Microsoft on marketing this game with some truly stunning live action shorts has all been focused on one tagline: Remember Reach. Just the thought of fighting a battle that is destined to be lost against the Covenant in all their glory is probably enough to get a die hard Halo fan wet around the trousers, but what surprised me is how well the story was told. Last year's ODST was an interesting diversion which suffered because the one dude that everyone associates Halo with wasn't there: Master Chief. Heck, Cortana wasn't there either and it wasn't even set on a Halo. Whilst all those things ring true in Reach (although a few cameos are excellent fan service), the story is strong enough to keep even the casual fan engaged.

You take control of Noble 6 (who, for the first time, is your own customizable character rather than the set appearance of Master Chief or an ODST), the new member of the elite Spartan squad known as Noble team, as they are drafted in to help protect the human planet of Reach. Now, everyone knows how the story ends - the adverts told us as much - but the way in which you get to the end is full of some really cool plot points as well as some likeable characters and great fan service. Bungie have created a fantastic universe full of rich lore, and all their experience of telling stories within said universe comes to the fore in Reach. The Spartans are likeable, you get to know them far more than you got to know Master Chief over the course of the games (although admittedly none of them are nearly as badass), and like I said, the cameos from characters in prior games are handled well without being thrust into your face as if to say 'HEY! REMEMBER THIS GUY?!' The campaign's tone is spot on and is in great contrast to previous games in the series which were all about Master Chief kicking arse and saving the universe. Reach is solemn and depressing: just when Noble team think they've achieved a great victory, something happens that makes them think all hope is gone.

Whilst the story is very well done, I did have a few problems with the pacing of the campaign. Reach starts very slowly, and it took me a good two or three missions before I was really back into my stride and the missions became more interesting. The first few missions held your hand as you moved through fighting off dropship after dropship of Covenant with no real variety. From then on, though, the campaign really picked up and, whilst I don't think it quite reaches the epic scale of Halo 3, it gets pretty damn close. There are intense gun fights, large scale battles, vehicle segments, a space sequence, an anti-gravity fight scene and plenty else. Reach's core gameplay is spiced up a bit with new weapons and vehicles as you'd expect, but the stand out new gameplay mechanic is the armour abilities, including jetpacks, sprint, shields and more. These are available in all modes and really add a new level of strategy to the game.

However, the campaign does feel unbalanced, the first few missions drag on, the next five or so are brilliant and then it crawls towards the ending with a tedious final mission. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a very strong campaign and it took me over eight hours to complete on Heroic difficulty which is a pretty lengthy shooter, when you think that Modern Warfare 2 took me less than 6 hours on Veteran, and some people even less than that. Of course, with the usual four-player co-op (which finally supports matchmaking!) as well as the scoring and skull powerups, there's plenty of incentive to go through the campaign multiple times.

As well as the campaign, there is plenty else to sink your teeth into. The excellent Firefight mode from ODST returns and is just as addictive as ever. In my opinion it's definitely the best spin on the standard survival mode in any shooter, beating Left 4 Dead 2's Survival mode and Gears of War 2's Horde. The maps are well designed and all the armour abilities, weapons and even some vehicles cross over from the campaign as well. The big change in this mode from ODST is that you can now play as the Covenant. Whilst we eagerly await Beast Mode in Gears of War 3, Bungie has provided its own spin on this cool idea by allowing players to step into the shoes (do aliens wear shoes?) of the Covenant. Firefight is also expanded by the same awesome customisation options that you find in the multiplayer, allowing you to tweak the behaviour of your enemies and that sort of thing. Thankfully, Firefight now supports matchmaking as well, so if your friends aren't around you can jump in with some strangers. Sure, they might be pricks, but at least you can play some co-op, right? Overall, Firefight is far more interesting and feature rich than ODST's version of it.

Multiplayer has always been a massive part of Halo, and Reach delivers competitive online goodness in spades. There are tonnes of game types, plenty of maps and the ranking system has been given a much needed overhaul, putting it more in-line with Call of Duty. Of the new modes, Invasion is definitely the stand out. Unlike many of the game types, one team actually plays as Elites in Invasion, and they come with their own set of special moves. The Elites' objective is to assault a giant industrial complex, fight their way to the rear, steal a data core and take it to a waiting Phantom for removal from the area. The Spartans have a time limit in which to stop the Elites from advancing to each stage of the map. The Elites basically have to complete objectives to push the Spartans back and eventually capture the data core. Each time the Elites advance, more weapons and vehicles become available and the classes upgrade. It's really, really good.

The multiplayer can be taken even further with the Forge mode, which allows you to edit maps or create entirely new ones using Forge World, a huge open environment in which the only limit to your map-making creativity is your imagination. Like Halo 3, players are also able to create their own game types to play with friends, which can then be uploaded to their File Share space for others to download.

File Sharing also extends to the familiar Theater mode, which records all your recent exploits in all modes of Reach and allows you to edit clips and photos to show to your friends. These can also be uploaded to Bungie's website to show off to an even wider community.

Visually, this is by far the best Halo game yet. The game looks sharp and detailed, especially the character models, and some of the vistas are stunning. The epic scale of the war is also felt through some fantastic action sequences. This visual splendour has a downside though, in that the framerate can dip quite noticeably during cut scenes and also during gameplay. On the plus side, the cut scenes are real-time, meaning that your custom Noble 6 will look just as you want him to in all modes of the game. After the dated looking Halo 3 and the embarrassingly ugly ODST, it's good to see Reach update its graphics to stay competitive with the behemoths of Gears of War and Call of Duty.

As always, Martin O'Donnell's music score is brilliant. There are some familiar tracks which will send a shiver down your spine, but the new tracks do a great job of setting the tone. The voice acting is also impressive - in fact, it's arguably the best in the series.

Like I said at the start, Halo: Reach is the dream game for any Halo fan. It has everything you probably loved from prior games in the series, but it doesn't ever tread outside its comfort zone which in the end keeps it away from the legendary status that other games in the series have achieved. This is a great send-off for Bungie as developers of the Halo franchise, but when Microsoft takes over the series it might need to put its creative hat on; for all its brilliance, the Spartans are looking rusty.

9/10 [?]

Labels: 360, Bungie, Halo, Halo Reach, Microsoft, Review, Tom Acres, Xbox 360

Oh Halo, the hours and hours I've lost to your stupidly addicting online multiplayer. Halo: Combat Evolved on the PC had incredible multiplayer; Halo 2 was amazing on the Xbox; Halo 3 topped it; Halo Wars was surprisingly good; and I sunk many an hour into ODST's excellent Firefight mode. However, along came a game called Modern Warfare 2, quickly followed by Left 4 Dead 2 and an obsession with FIFA 10 that led to me rather neglecting my Halo games. Then, on May 3rd, Bungie dropped the multiplayer beta for Halo: Reach, and I was sucked right back in again for the 16 days it lasted.

Now, there are some pretty significant changes in terms of the way Halo works now. There's a class system for a start and they all have their own starting weapons and unique abilities such as a jetpack, invisibility, a dash move, a shield and some other neat and useful ones. The way these affect the gameplay is noticeable in all the game modes that were available (Slayer, Team Slayer, Free-For-All, Crazy Kings, Oddball, Capture the Flag, SWAT) but are most useful in the new game modes created for Reach.


First of all you've got Headhunter; a fast and frantic mode in which everyone in the game carries a flaming skull which they drop when they die. The other players have to collect the fallen skulls and take them to a capture point to score points. The points are constantly changing, and what makes it even more challenging is that the number of skulls you're carrying shows up above your Spartan, making you a more likely target for the opposition if they see you have a nice collection of skulls. I had 6 skulls at once one time. I died quite quickly.

Stockpile was the next available new mode, which tasks you with picking up neutral flags from all over the map and taking them back to your team's base. It's basically capture the flag on steroids, and it's a hell of a lot of fun. You can't use your class abilities whilst your carrying the flag, creating a challenging game mode, but making it a shame that you can't jetpack your way across the map, holding a flag aloft.


The final two modes are kickass to say the least; Generator Defence and Invasion. These are both setup as Spartan vs. Elites (you can't be an Elite at any time like in Halo 3; only for these modes) and each team has different weapons and abilities available to them. Elites can run faster at normal speed but Spartans can sprint; Elites can become invisible but Spartans have jetpacks; Elites can do rolypolys and dash but Spartans can power up a shield. It's perfecly balanced and both modes are great fun.

In Generator Defence, the Spartans are defending and the Elites are trying to destroy the generators. The Elites have to destroy all three generators within the allocated time, but the Spartans should be okay as long as they can save at least one generator.


Invasion is the real big daddy of the Reach multiplayer experience (unless Bungie announce something even better). The Elites' objective is to assault a giant industrial complex, fight their way to the rear, steal a data core and take it to a waiting Phantom for removal from the area. The Spartans have a time limit in which to stop the Elites from advancing to each stage of the map. The Elites basically have to complete objectives to push the Spartans back and eventually capture the data core. Each time the Elites advance, more weapons and vehicles become available and the classes upgrade. It's really, really good.

The base gameplay is very similar to Halo 3 but the abilities really push it up a few notches. What helps are the new weapons too; there are some really awesome new guns in Reach and there'll be plenty more in the full game. Some of my favourites from the beta were a Needler/sniper variant for the Elites, a grenade launcher for the Spartans and, best of all, a plasma grenade launcher for the Elites. Using that against a Warthog is ridiculously satisfying. Games seem more tactical than before too, thanks to the new modes and abilities. It feels like a nice mix between Call of Duty and Battlefield, which is no bad thing at all. Having said that, it doesn’t feel as viscerally brutal as rival shooters such as Modern Warfare 2. Instead, Halo Reach multiplayer plays like a peculiarly violent sport, perhaps a little like if Sky Sports decided to give tazers to all the players before Arsenal took on Chelsea.


Reach's matchmaking and menu systems are also upgraded to the extent that they're actually worth mentioning. It's incredibly easy to hook up with friends, with no need to enter the Xbox 360 dashboard: just nudge your analogue stick to the right and you get a list of all your friends online, represented by their custom-made Spartan. You can see what they're playing and invite them into a match as easily as pressing a button.

Speaking of custom Spartans, the feature has been expanded a little for Reach too. The new armour pieces are purely cosmetic, but there's more satisfaction in how you earn them compared to Halo 3. Master the new weapons and game modes and you’ll amass in-game points that can be traded for new bits of armour. Colours and emblems are also available. However, you cannot customise your Elite, but as you can only play as them in 2 modes (and you might not even play as them in these modes anyway) it wouldn't be a worthwhile feature if you were able to.


Graphically, the Reach beta was more impressive than Halo 3, but not quite by the massive margin that Bungie had led us to believe. Fair enough, it's a beta with a while until release, and it's multiplayer, so the single player will probably look better, but I was still a tad disappointed. Whilst the Spartan models looked really good, everything else was a bit bland and underpar. However, the sense of scale is something that I haven't seen online outside the Battlefield series and that was something especially impressive in the Invasion game mode.

By the time the beta was over, I was very impressed. The additions are really fantastic and, at the end of the day, it's still Halo and therefore still very fun. Of course, this is just a portion of the online multiplayer, and Bungie have shown hardly any of the campaign or the co-op. With four months for Bungie to polish and perfect, I'm confident that this could be the greatest Halo game yet.

Tom

Labels: 360, Beta, Beta Impressions, Bungie, Halo Reach, Microsoft, Tom Acres, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE

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Ever since the release of Halo on the original Xbox, the Halo series has both set the bar and dominated the realm of console shooters. With the main story being wrapped up in 2007's Halo 3, series developed Bungie decided to created an offshoot to the franchise entitled Halo 3: ODST. Marketed as an extension to the Halo 3 experience, ODST puts the player in control of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) instead of the usual super soldier, Master Chief. When ODST was announced, it was first determined to be a straight up expansion to Halo 3, but through the course of its development, it has evolved into a full on retail package with its own multiplayer modes and campaign. However, the question is whether or not Bungie was once again successful in pleasing their die-hard fan base, or if they should have left the series with the closure it had.

ODST takes place during the events of Halo 2 and the beginning of Halo 3, in the Earth city of New Mombasa. The game kicks off with you taking the role of the rookie of an ODST squadron, barrelling toward the Earth in a pod with the rest of your squadron - hence "Orbital Drop". Upon impact though you are knocked unconscious for 6 hours and awake to find that it is already nightfall and the rest of your squad is nowhere to be found. You then take it upon yourself to find out what happened to the rest of the squad by exploring the open world streets of New Mombasa. By following waypoints marked on your minimap, you find objects such as a helmet and broken sniper rifle. These objects act as the start of a mission and once you find one, you are put into the shoes of one of your squad mates in a flashback scene. These flashbacks uncover story elements to help solve the mystery of what happened while you were asleep. The story in ODST is nothing special, but it is a series highpoint. The constant unravelling of story elements is incentive to keep players entrenched, and the flashback scenarios ensure that the levels are always varied from the last.

Now, stories are all fine and dandy, but what gamers are going to want most out of ODST is the gameplay. As expected, Bungie have not lost their touch. Using the same engine as Halo 3, ODST controls really well, allowing players to quickly pull off satisfying kills against their alien foes. There is no shortage of weapons to do this with either, as all of the weapons from Halo 3 have returned (sans the Battle Rifle) and two new weapons have also been thrown in. One of the weapons is simply the SMG from Halo 3 with a silencer on the end for added stealth. The other weapon that is added to your arsenal is one that will make long-time Halo fans quite pleased; a pistol. This isn't any old pistol however - this pistol resembles the Halo 1 pistol: with a 4x scope and a powerful kick, it delivers devastating head shots that can kill many of the game's enemies in one hit, even on the highest difficulty. The main difference to the rest of the series is, unlike Master Chief, these troopers do not possess recharging shields. Instead, the player's health depletes in two ways. The first is stamina - similar to shields, if you avoid combat for a moment, you stamina will recharge. If you take damage after your stamina is depleted however, you will lose health which can only be replenished with med-kits. ODST's gameplay doesn't stray much off the path of the previous installments,which means that your enjoyment of ODST boils down to whether or not your a fan the series.

ODST is also a gorgeous game. Although it uses the same engine as Halo 3, a lot has been refined. The weapons have a shine that wasn't present before. Also, the character and enemy models look great. The biggest change in the graphics occurs in the environments however. From lush African wildlife settings, to claustrophobic cities,the world of ODST is breathtaking. The night-time environments also allow for the use of one of the games new features, the VISR. Short for Visual Intelligence System Reconnaissance, the VISR allows players to see in the dark. In addition to simple night vision, the VISR allows highlights important things in the environments; enemies in red, teammates in green, and clues in yellow. It's a helpful tool for dark fights, but brightness is increased which turns the screen almost entirely white if the VISR is used during the day.

After completing the campaign, players will want something else to keep them occupied. This is where the game's 'Firefight' mode comes in. Similar to Gears of War 2's Horde mode, or World at War's 'Nazi Zombies', Firefight allows players to team up with 3 of their friends to fight off waves of enemies. With a constant increase of difficulty, Firefight quickly escalates into a frantic grasp for survival. "Skulls", switch on and off during sessions as difficult modifiers. They do things such as give the enemies a huge amount of grenades, or make the only way to regain stamina to melee attack enemies. Players share a pool of lives, which makes teamwork essential. With this focus on teamwork, Bungie decided to eliminate matchmaking from Firefight, meaning that your teammates are limited to those on your friends list. It is an excellent mode that can keep gamers occupied for hours on end, but your enjoyment is unfortunately limited to whether your friends have the game.

Halo 3: ODST also comes packed with a second disc. Dubbed the multiplayer disc, it included the full multiplayer experience of Halo 3, including every downloadable map free of charge. This is one of the best multiplayer shooter games available to Xbox 360 owners, but many gamers will already own it if they were Halo fans to begin with. The extra maps are a good incentive to pick up the multiplayer again if you have been away from Halo for a while. Although it is a great competitive experience, the multiplayer disc feels like a last minute attempt to justify a full price on the package.

If you are a Halo fan, you probably already own ODST or don't need to be sold on it. If you've never experienced a Halo game however, this is the best time to jump into the series. With a fresh new story, fun gameplay and beautiful visuals, Halo 3: ODST is a great single-player game. The addition of the Firefight mode guarantees for a great time with friends, and the inclusion of Halo 3's multiplayer ensures that this game will last you quite a long time. If you're not a fan of Halo, ODST will not change your opinion, but everyone else should have a great time playing this spectacular game.

Tyson

Labels: Bungie, Halo ODST, Microsoft, Review, Tyson, Tyson Breen