Halo Reach is a stellar game and has so much content, you could be playing for years!
You play as part of Noble Squad, an elite squad of Spartans on the planet Reach. Convenant forces are invading and you need to defend the planet by killing the invaders. Looking out for your team mates is more important this time around and you'll get closer with them in the cutscenes as they take off their helmets (not you). The campaign is fantastic. It's a ton of fun and will last you 8 hours on the normal difficulty, longer on the higher difficulties.
When you begin the game, you arrive in the armory. Here, you can customize your spartan, from helmets to legs. You spend credits on these items, which are earned by completing challenges or playing any game mode in the game. There are tons of options and it will take you a long time to get enough credits.
Firefight Mode from ODST is back, now with matchmaking. Here, you and 3 other players fight off increasingly difficult waves of enemies. It's addictive, especially with friends because matchmaking is sorta broken and unplayable due to lag at the time of this review, but if you have 3 friends, you're in luck.
The multiplayer is why Halo is so big, and Reach excels on every level. There are over a dozen maps which are well designed and have plenty of weapons and neat places to find. Modes range from infected and rally, to standard deathmatch options. It takes a lot of bullets to kill players in Halo, which may be off-putting to Call of Duty vets, but it's a ton of fun.
The great thing about Reach is the flexibility in everything. Firefight allows to tweak various settings including enemies and time limits. And custom games in multiplayer allow endless ways of playing thanks to Forge. Forge allows some crazy designs of existing maps. Add weapons, vehicles, scenery, gadgets and more to maps, You can do and make so much in Halo Reach, it is absurd. And Bungie is sure to make updates and with such a huge following, you'll be able to download awesome maps, modes and films.
The game really looks and sounds great. While not Modern Warfare 2 visually, the game looks quite striking. The artistic style looks really good, and animations look great. The effects looks superb as well, from the lighting to the explosions. Sound is equally impressive with epic music and great voice work.
Reach is not just another Halo game. It combines all of Bungie's best work and adds awesome content all in one package. Even if you didn't love previous Halo's, this is still a game worth checking out. And if you do love Halo, then you are going to freak out with all the content on the disc. Halo Reach is an instant classic.
Visuals- 8.5
Audio- 9
Control- 10
Gameplay- 9.5
Replay- 10
Multiplayer- 9.5
DLC- N/A
Overall- 9.5