Halo: Reach Review

Halo: Reach marks the end of a decade for millions. Taking in ten years of countless controllers and plastic headsets, friends made, degree studies ruined and 3:30am finishes, from SD to HD and from videogame to cultural event, it bears a weight of expectation that goes far beyond sales records.

This is the kind of game built to last through years of playing and expansion, a firstperson shooter package that sets itself up as inexhaustible and begs you to try to exhaust it. It’s the most complete Halo experience yet, not only a refinement of the series but a comprehensive accumulation of proven features. The campaign is crafted solely around letting tightly engineered AI loose in open environments, the multiplayer offers an asymmetrical toolset of unparalleled variety and balance, and there are more ways to play than ever before.

Unlike those of Halo 3, every environment in Reach’s campaign mode has been built for four players. These levels comprise enormous spaces, allowing your team to spread wide in order to take on the clumps of Covenant thrown down, and narrow into tight-knit groups for the large-scale tear-ups that prove to be the highpoints. There are no real boss encounters, just complete faith in the AI’s capabilities to consistently surprise players. While you can’t help but miss Scarabs, it’s the right decision for a co-op-focused campaign, and it means there are few dull passages throughout its duration. Picking a collection of highlights means considering thousands of instants, survived or otherwise, in which the action comes down to a split-second decision and its execution.