Halo: Reach brings nothing new to the series. If you've played Halo 2 you've played them all. *SPOILER ALERT*
So it's 2010 (if your reading this in the future, ignore that) and I didn't even bother with ODST or Halo: Wars (I know it was RTS, but it wasn't a good one at that). I heard about Halo Reach last year at E3 '09. I didn't care for the game at first, but then I hear that its a prequel, which makes me curious about the things they could change in the gameplay for the franchise. and, you bet'cha, NOTHING CHANGED. I know about the jet-packs, but c'mon, is that really a significant difference.
Well first I'm gonna start with the plot. You play as a SPARTAN in a team of SPARTAN'S called the Noble Team, and you guys are in charge of taking care of a human planet called REACH. The story is the same old military yada-yada. Go rescue survivors, Go stop the bomb, go plant the bomb, do-this, do-that. I don't really pay attention to that in these games though, I pay attention to the characters interactions. If we're gonna start about characters though, I might as well skip to the important parts *SPOILER ALERT*. All of Noble Team dies throughout the game. Everyone has their own, sad, heroic, and sometimes just plain funny deaths. By the end of the game, your character (Noble Six) is the last one standing and you are eventually is outnumbered by a group of Elites, and you have your own heroic death. I give the game 1 point out of 1 for the story, although I never really cared for the story, which leads to the main parts of the game.
Gameplay short version of review: everything's the same as all the other Halos out there.
Long version (if you haven't played Halo before): The game mechanics are simple FPS game mechanics, although a complaint I've had of the series for a while, too simple. The controls are just left-stick to move, right-stick to aim, A to jump, X to use equipment, Y to switch weapons, B is melee, RT is to use your primary weapon, LT is to throw grenade, RB to reload, and LB to switch grenades. These other controls (which I find very annoying and should be put somewhere else) is tap left-stick to aim, and tap right-stick to scope. These are mediocre (would be good if it weren't for those pesky scope and crouch placements) controls. There is a HUD/HUB to help you in your adventures that consists of a Life/shieldpower-bar, radar/map, and a targeting mechanism. This makes the game much easier, as I set the options to no HUD, which made the game almost impossible to play. There is a new addition to the series though (I still think they need more change though) and you may have seen these in other games (most likely ones featuring a certain Italian plumber). There called power-ups and I'll name three: The Sprint, which I absolutely love. I always thought that Halo needs a sprint feature, and at least Bungie fixed that. There's the Armor Lock, which makes you temporary invincible, at the cost you stay in the same spot. And finally, the most popular one, Jet-Pack, which I really shouldn't have to explain. I give the gameplay 3 points out of 5 for keeping it simple and functional, but still has major faults.
The online play is smooth, and fun. And so far, if you try getting online, there is a 101% chance you will find a suitable room. I give online 2.5 out of a possible 2.
There is my review for Halo: Reach. Good game, but need some changes. Final score 7.5. Keep in note, I reviewed the game as an entry in a series, instead of a normal game. Sorry, but that's just the way I see things, but just to make up for it I'll another score, that only counts for people that started the Halo series with this game: 8.5 for great game, mediocre controls and slight campaign problems. Thank You for reading my review, and feel free to comment and message me.