Halo: Reach

Author: Efrain Silva

Plot

Halo : Reach some call, technically, a bit of a prequel game, but in a good way. It happens only several days before Halo : Combat Evolved. What happens in the main story is this --- a Spartan elite squad known as Noble Team, it seems, loses a transmission communication line from an outpost and is thus ordered to go and find out what the heck happened. Col. Urban Holland is not happy about it, and that’s why he orders them to further investigate ; upon doing so, they find that the malicious Covenant is back at work again, invading as only they are known to do. Ugh --- these annoying aliens...when are they ever going to give it a break?

Anyways, you furthermore come to find that the Covenant was actually --- interestingly enough --- seeking information that could pertain to their own religion. And throughout the story, you find Noble Team infiltrating numerous ground bases of this Covenant and does its best to conquer and destroy, as it's been so well - trained to do ; along the way, Noble Team also engages in a few defense missions here and there. Some terrific game footage shows you much more as that story unfolds, including one of my favorite plot twists, in which Kat conjures up a plan for blowing Covenant out of the water and getting payback, so to speak. Her plan involves activating a special bomb (slipspace) on a carrier known as the Ardent Prayer, at the right time and place.

Yet in war, of course, things never go quite as planned --- and there seems to be a malfunction, which Jorge sacrifices himself to fix. He gives his own life in order to ensure the bomb still goes off and the carrier is destroyed. But not too long after, the battle continues, and an even bigger carrier of Covenant shows up --- this time, Covenant is not happy at all. Uh oh….

Gameplay

You get to play in the year 2552, so no complaints there, very futuristic feel. And you can embrace it, the very moment you step into the shoes of your character. That’s always a nice little feeling, especially so in future - based, sci - fi action shooters like this one. Yes, this first - person game seemed to get it just right, once again. But hey...with the ongoing success of the Halo franchise, at this point already, that was really no surprise ; fans expected “very good”, and they got “excellent” here once more.

In the gameplay, you also get to see the actions and dialogue of Team Five and Team Six of Noble Team, which is inarguably pretty cool. You get to explore these characters a little further as well. But I’m not going to spoil too much on that…..

Weapons

Here’s some more detail on some of the unique weapons you’ll get to see, as well as ones that have made their return once more:

Weapons Used by the UNSC

Weapons Used by the Covenant

Levels

There are 11 unique Campaign Levels / Missions you get to fool around in (or play seriously through, heh. Your choice….). Each one is unique both visually and dramatically, playing a crucial part to the overall story, no less. The 11 are listed as follows : Noble Actual, Winter Contingency, ONI - Sword Base, Nightfall, Tip of the Spear, Long Night of Solace, Exodus, New Alexandria, The Package, The Pillar of Autumn, and Lone Wolf.

Uniqueness Overall

What makes this game unique from the other Halo titles? Well, for one, as just briefly mentioned, it’s a prequel game. Think of it as a backstory, closer - look type of game...just as George Lucas did with his second Star Wars trilogy, for instance. Here, you get the same thing, but better ; you get a closer look at the characters, at the time before the Covenant, and their rising, at the world Halo was in, and much more….

There are also some very distinct indigenous characters that are found within this particular game. A few examples? Well, we have the Gúta and Moa creatures, for instance, which you’ll find all throughout the main Campaign.

You find the Gútas on planet Reach. They are gigantic and look like trolls. They’re of a dark, greyish color.

As for the Moas, they’re the same color but with dark pink thighs. They are basically flightless birds and look just like them. Their heads are like lizards’. Humans on Reach are known to eat these creatures.

Try the game out!