Halo Reach Review(unfinished)

Bungie's most recent project, Halo Reach, for the Xbox 360, has officially been out for a week now. Since then, most players have been able to get accustomed to the newest installment in the Halo franchise.

So what does Halo Reach do to differentiate itself from the previous installments? Many things, but at the same time, it does not stray away too much the core gameplay that the previous Halo games have established. The biggest, and most noticeable change to Halo Reach is the addition of Armor Abilities and Loadouts.  Loadouts, are chosen when a match starts, which consists of an Armor Ability and a weapon set. But, Loadouts can be changed only in the beginning of a match, round, or if you're waiting to spawn. Armor Abilities are exactly what the title implies; they add abilities to your Armor. These armor abilities are all different and work different in each scenario.

Armor Lock gives the player temporary invincibility, but the player becomes immobile as long as Armor Lock is active. It's really good for taking out vehicles, such as a Ghost, that are rushing towards your direction, or EMP'ing multiple enemy shields if you're surrounded. Also, if you're near death, you can extend the time it will take to kill you, giving you the opportunity to ask for support- though this is usually frowned upon the community, and is seen as a cheap tactic. 

Active Camouflage is exactly what the title states: the player, upon activating the Armor Ability, becomes invisible. This works really well if the player is trying to play stealthy or trying to assassinate an enemy going by. Though sudden movement causes the player to lose their camouflage, this can be avoided by crouching. Beware, this jams your radar and can confuse you!

A squad inside a Drop Shield, restoring their health.

The Drop Shield is a mixture between the Bubble Shield and Deployable Cover, both found in Halo 3. The Drop Shield retains the same bubble shape from Halo 3, but like the Deployable Cover, with enough damage, it can be destroyed. But, that's not all it does; the players inside the Drop Shield restore their health, that would otherwise have to be restored with Health Packs found around the maps.



Evade and Sprint, like the Armor Title state, give Spartans and Elites the ability to either Evade by rolling, or Sprint for a certain amount of time. Both can easily cover ground in seconds, but the downside is that the user is unable to attack while using either ability.



Jet Pack gives the user the ability to use a Jet Pack and reach higher places. This Armor Ability is great to give support from the air to your teammates that are on ground. Beware though, since Halo Reach has fall damage, your Jet Pack fuel is not unlimited and you'll have to use it wisely if you're not planning on landing on top of high ground.

ODSTs using Jet Packs to reach and clear high ground.

The final Armor Ability, Hologram, creates a Hologram of the user that runs in a straight direction. Though the Hologram cannot shoot, and will only walk in a straigh line, wherever directed to, it creates great distraction between multiple users. This can be used to deceive a sniper that may have you pinned down, and give you time to escape through an alternate route.




Now, the Armor Abilities and Loadouts in Halo Reach aren't "stealing" perks from the Call of Duty franchise; you don't have to level up and unlock Armor Abilities or unlock weapons and make your classes- or upgrade them for that matter. Armor Abilities and Loadouts solely depend on the gametype you're playing. For example, if you're playing playing Team Slayer Pro on Countdown, you'll only be able to choose from 2 loadouts: a DMR(Designated Marskman Rifle) with a pistol as a secondary and two Frag grenades; or the loadout that has a Needle Rifle, with a pistol as a secondary, and two Plasma grenades. Both these loadouts only have the Sprint Armor Ability. But, in contrast to Team Slayer Pro, BTB(Big Team Battle) Slayer consists of all the Armor Abilities. This gives variety to the players and each one can benefit from the other, if teamwork is present.

Many of us are familiar with this.

Breaking from the old, unhealthy habits that Halo 2 and Halo 3 established, Halo Reach, much like ODST and Combat Evolved have fall damage. If the player falls from a place too high, he or she will take damage for falling. But, with enough practice and timing, fall damage can be negated if the player crouches when they're about to land. Also, much like Halo 1 and ODST, the player will not regenerate health, to an extent. Health only "regenerates" up by thirds, on certain occasions. But if the player has red health, then he or she will have to scavenge for a health pack.

The shooting mechanics are similar to Halo 3, but not a rehash of it. Bungie decided to give bloom to weapons in order to give weapons their appropriate role and not be abused in other ranges. Though weapons like the Assault Rifle can still be effective at longer ranges, the bloom makes the player carefully burst- fire for successful hits.


to be continued...