Halo: Reach: Review

I hope none of our readers need to be reminded that computer games are the most perishable media product. What caused inhuman delight, say, three years ago, now you look at with slight bewilderment. There’s probably nothing to explain here – just launch some old GTA: San Andreas, and then compare it with the monumental fourth part.

So, if you and I lived in the Matrix, then Halo – both the entire franchise as a whole and Reach in particular – in this regard, in all seriousness, one could safely consider it something like a failure of reality. This game is like a fine wine: the content doesn’t seem to change dramatically, but it only gets better over the years.

And this is really strange, especially if you take into account the fact that the first Halo was released not two, not three years ago – it came out in 2001, at a time when interactive entertainment had not even really realized itself as a full-fledged part of art (which we quite sincerely consider them to be now).

Of course, like any great work, Halo has always been the easiest to criticize. Speaking about the popularity of this series, it is generally very difficult to clearly identify the true reason for its success: either all the power was concentrated in the impeccable multiplayer component, or in the epic single player campaign.

Evil tongues have completely refused to notice a good action movie in Halo; it has always been easier for them to refer to a traditionally strong marketing campaign: they say, with a publisher like Microsoft, You can even sell tomatoes under this brand!

But it was like that before. Reach finally gets rid of superstitions and prejudices.

Before moving on to a detailed analysis of the technical side of the issue, in order to better understand the essence of the problem, it would not be superfluous to first dwell on such prosaic things as plot and narration.

So, Reach – this is the most important and colossal episode of the long-term saga (and the last authored Bungie) about the bloody confrontation between people and the intergalactic conglomerate of extraterrestrial races – the Covenant. And this episode will tell us in detail about a terrifying tragedy – about the last hours of the life of the notorious planet Rich. To make it clearer: in terms of epicness and significance Reach Halo is what Revenge of the Sith is to Star Wars. That is, the basis of the foundations, the starting point for the entire epic. The plot centers on the events described in the novella Erica Nilanda Halo: The Fall of Reach.

If anyone is suddenly not in the know, let us explain: almost the entire military potential of earthlings is concentrated on Rich. Here, new types of weapons are being developed, as well as the selection and training of those famous super-soldiers called Spartans. But the worst thing is that this is the last frontier on the way to Earth.

The synopsis is as https://heyspin-casino.uk follows. On the calendar, October 24, 2552, that is, there are still a few weeks left before the events of Combat Evolved. Last night we lost contact with one of the outlying colonies. The government quickly decides that this is another local uprising, but since there has been no news from the reconnaissance group for several hours, it sends the elite Spartan special forces Noble Team, which includes us, to the place.

Upon arrival at the indicated point, we discover something terrible: mutilated bodies everywhere, the walls around are stained with blood. Those few who survived claim that Covenant forces have been spotted on the planet, and the enemy’s star fleet of thousands is already moving towards Reach..

If now you are suddenly in the mood for amazing universal conspiracies and dashing plot twists, relax. In terms of organization and overall narrative structure, the game now looks less like a polished sci-fi epic like Starship Troopers and more like… a war newsreel. From now on, the hero is not a glorified knight, the last of the Mohicans, a messiah and a cult figure rolled into one. Our sponsored character is a simple fighter with the code name Noble Six, who, by the will of fate, was thrown into the very epicenter of an intergalactic conflict. Together with other members of the squad, we are rapidly moving forward towards the inevitable end.

We assure you that nothing bad happened. Instead of an interesting story (which, by the way, went away with a loud slam of the door back during the third part) Bungie offers something much more valuable – to participate in those very epoch-making events about which legends have been circulating all this time; feel the agony of the planet at the moment of invasion; and at the very end you will certainly know the great price that humanity had to pay for the defense of Rich.

The best shooter in the world

However, no matter how intriguing the stories of the first two Halos were, these games have always been valued and respected primarily for their gameplay. Perhaps these are the most intelligent and balanced sandbox shooters in the world. For all this time, only one obvious imitator has appeared – Crysis, a bold attempt from a German studio Crytek on genre transformation. An action film that took several confident conceptual steps forward and failed miserably under the weight of ambition. It’s not surprising – Bungie it took nine long years to hone and polish its own formula, and Reach – a kind of crown of this evolution.

The main feature that instantly elevates this project above its competitors is its external simplicity, which is fraught with great complexity. The fact is that this is a very deep shooter in terms of tactical capabilities, but at the same time there are no conventions here. You don’t lead a group of specially trained “bots”, you don’t mark deployment locations on the map with a flashing special effect, instead, all your actions are a reflection of constantly changing circumstances, one continuous improvisation. And no matter how pretentious it may sound, here you are not watching a blockbuster, as, for example, in the thoroughly staged Call of Duty, here you are creating it with your own hands.

Of course, such an amazing effect would never have been achieved if there were no interesting opponents. And yet they are not just interesting – Bungie showcased the most impressive work on artificial intelligence since F.E.A.R.. Without going into details, let’s just say that in the story campaign you sometimes get the feeling that you are playing a multiplayer game with real people.

Part of the Internet community has already burst out with angry statements in the spirit of “This is the second time the game has turned out to be too hardcore.”!». However, if you die in the same place for the twentieth time, it’s entirely your fault, and not the crooked designers, as happened all the time in the same Mafia 2, the tactics were simply chosen incorrectly from the very beginning. And this is not at all annoying, on the contrary, it awakens the excitement of battle. When, after a long series of trials and errors, you finally find the right key to the situation and rise above the circumstances, the reward will be the deepest moral satisfaction from your own coolness.

To put it bluntly, Reach is a game that uses mechanics from nine years ago. But even here it’s not so simple. Bungie introduces exactly two new variables into its familiar shooter environment.

The first of these is special armor modifiers. These are powerful tactical tools that, when used correctly, can make your life a lot easier. The effects of them are very different: some open huge spherical shields (just like in Halo 3), others project a holographic double to temporarily disorient the enemy, others turn on active camouflage, allowing you to temporarily try on the famous “outfit” of the Predator. But the jetpacks are of greatest interest. Microsoft In general, she got the release date right, literally one step ahead Sony, because ambitious multi-level gameplay is the most advertised feature Killzone 3 after 3D – full-length available now on Xbox 360.

The second innovation – duels on starships in outer space – caused some concerns. The fact is that in the trailers shown, these battles, firstly, absolutely did not maintain the overall dynamics, and secondly, they were seen as a vile attempt by the authors to artificially stretch out the action – just like tank missions in the early parts of Call of Duty. However, these fears were not confirmed: the space episodes turned out to be extremely spectacular, but fleeting, and the control of the aircraft was done no worse than in a wonderful arcade simulator Ace Combat 6.

And finally, just a few words about the multiplayer: it’s amazing as always. This is the most thoughtful and balanced multiplayer component this side of CoD: Modern Warfare 2. The only thing that saddens me is that there are not enough cards. Besides, we’ve already seen most of them before. In general, we are looking forward to the release of the Map Pack, which should improve the situation.

It’s time for the people who invented the Theater option to erect a miraculous monument. From now on, not a single juicy moment from a multiplayer session will sink into oblivion. You can always save a recording of your favorite match so you can brag to your friends later. How convenient is it to take screenshots and videos this way?!

And only two things Reach cause frustration.

It’s a shame that it came out in this generation of consoles. The bitter truth is that there are almost no large-scale scenes at all, and in particularly hot moments the engine starts to freak out a lot, dropping the bar below the critical 30 FPS. But this is perhaps the only significant drawback; otherwise, everything is done at the standard level of modern Current-Gen. The series has finally gotten rid of its main ailment – repetitive levels, and all the main characters have finally acquired normal, human faces. Such a folklore concept for video games as “acting” is now fully applicable to Halo.

The second sad news is that this is the last Halo from Bungie – from this moment the fate of the franchise passes into the hands 343 Industries.

We all remember Master Chief’s sacramental phrase “Wake me… When you need me,” which he said at the end of Halo 3. There is no doubt that in the future Microsoft will release both the fourth and fifth parts of the series… Just what will it be – masterpieces or those same branded tomatoes?

In the meantime, there’s simply no better reason to finally buy yourself an Xbox 360 and join one of the biggest crazes in the recent history of interactive entertainment.

Pros: exciting single player campaign; reference multiplayer; co-op for four; incredibly smart AI; high complexity in a good way; abundance of tactical possibilities; the best implementation of the sandbox in shooters; magical music by Martin O’Donnell.
Cons: few truly large-scale battles.