Halo: Reach will satisfy some, and others, rage.
Graphics:
Artistically, the graphics are fantastic, both as a Halo game and a 2010 game. Everything from the pebbles on the ground, to the bullets shot from the DMR, to the Spartan Armor Permutation models. Everything looks fantastic and for what it sacrifices in color, it makes up for in atmosphere.
On the technical side of things, the frame rate does dip, but it only happens every once in a while and will normally just last a couple of seconds, not nearly enough to deter you from playing.
Audio/Visual Presentation:
The soundtrack and voice acting are fantastic as ever, Marty O'Donnell bringing in some fantastic pieces of music once again. The voice acting is also pretty good too. In addition to bringing in actors such as Freddy Bosche (Carter) and Alona Tal (Kat), we also see the return of Halo veterans Jen Taylor (Catherine Halsey/Cortana) and Pete Stacker (Jacob Keyes) among a few.
The soundtrack makes you feel as though you're fighting a hopeless war, but at the same time a war that needs to go on for the continuation of the human species. It really is fantastic.
The set pieces are also nice and varied, from the city on New Alexandria, to the ONI facility Swordbase, to the shipyard in Aszod. The draw distance is also impressive, especially noting that Halo 3 had one of the largest draw distances at one point. Being able to see the Battle of Reach happen in the sky as you're fighting Elites on the ground helps you feel the scale of the battle.
Story:
This is where some people will see some issues, especially compared to the Halo novel "Halo: The Fall of Reach".
Let's start with the characters. First, we have Noble Six, your typical quiet protagonist in a first person shooter. However, unlike other shooters, you will see Noble Six in cutscenes as well as hear him speak, and while he doesn't speak much, it's still a good start. He's also one of those "I can't tell you much because of lack of clearance/presence of black tape" kind of guy, implying he's a super trained assassin of some sort.
Next we have Carter, the uninspired leader of Noble Team. He looks cool and all, but aside from telling Noble Team where to go, he doesn't feel much like a leader.
(Sidenote: Despite the fact that it's Noble "Team", there is only one mission in which all of Noble Team is present in the level (excluding cutscenes)
On Winter Contingency, everyone is here, including Jun, who's in a Falcon.
On ONI Sword Base, you start off with Kat, who you drive with for some of the level. Then when you reach the base, you meet up with Jorge inside, Emile is up top, and either Carter and/or Jun were absent in this level's gameplay.
On Nightfall, it's you and Jun sniping through an army of Covenant at night.
On Tip of the Spear, we have Kat in the beginning in the Warthog, and you end with Jorge as you advance to the Spire.
On Long Night of Solace, you start with Carter, Kat, Jorge and you, yet no sign of Emile or Jun anywhere in the level at all. Where did they go? In addition, once you are in space, which will take about 5 minutes from the start of the level anyway, it's you and Jorge. And from then on, there are no missions with all of Noble Team because Jorge dies within this level)
Next we have Kat, the team's technician who can seemingly make any and all tech work if given the right amount of time. Did I mention she has no arm?
Then we have Jun, the stealthy, Asian sniper of the group, who happens to speak more than Six.
Then Emile, the stereotypical black badass of the group who thinks he's amazingly tough because he carved a skull into his helmet.
And lastly we have Jorge. who is the big tough guy but who's secretly a softy on the inside. He's also the only character I truly cared for when he died.
Despite these stereotypical characters, I still enjoyed the game for what it was in the campaign, which was a depiction of the end of Reach.
In the actual plot, you play as Noble Six, who recently just joined Noble Team to replace the previous member who died in a previous operation which costed Kat her arm. Your team heads to a communications outpost to check for rebels who may have messed with the comms, when you find out it's the Covenant, who have found the location of Reach and are now invading Humanity's "doorstep" to Earth. You go from location to location to find out why they are invading and to see if there is anything you can do to stop or slow down the invasion. In the end, your efforts prove futile as dozens of Covenant ships appear at the end of "Long Night of Solace" which will inevitably end Reach as we know it.
These are some questions that come to mind in the campaign for those who have read and played Halo The Fall of Reach and Halo Reach.
Why was the Pillar of Autumn on Reach? Why was Cortana with Halsey? Why wasn't she already with the Autumn? Why did the game take place over the course of a few months when the book's battle only lasted mere hours?
Bungie basically took the story of the book, authored by the very talented Eric Nylund, and said "Let's make this into a game about a whole team that no one knows of". The book, while better than the game's plot by a very large threshold, wouldn't have completely worked unless the game also included Chief's origin, which would have worked, but Bungie wanted to focus only on the battle for the planet.
Despite these flaws, I still felt engaged in the campaign. I felt like I was Noble Six fighting the Covenant in space, or in Aszod, or the mountains of Reach. I felt like I was protecting a planet with it's own life, cities, and infrastructure. I felt as though my efforts were in vain but those efforts were at least given.
Once you beat the campaign however, you may just want to stick to multiplayer.
Gameplay:
Reach introduces elements to the gameplay that made it feel drastically different from the other Halos.
First, Armor Abilities, which were abilities you could spawn with/pick up and use in gameplay. These consist of Sprint, Active Camo, Armor Lock, Evade, Jetpack, Hologram and Drop Shield. These abilities make up for the fact that Spartan III's can't run as fast, jump as high or have as effective armor as IIs. However each of these have their Pros and Cons.
Sprint: Sprint makes up for loss of speed since you play as a Spartan III, not a Spartan II. While it does speed you up, it requires a quick recharge period and should have been implemented in the controls in the first place.
Active Camo: As long as you use the ability, you are invisible. However, if you move around, unlike other Halos, you become more visible. This promotes camping as well as just not allowing as much fun with the sniper.
Armor Lock: Locks up your armor to prevent death/damage. However, the length in which you stay in Armor Lock is long, but you are vulnerable when exiting Armor Lock.
Evade: Used to roll away from a situation. Can be used twice before recharge.
Jetpack: Used to reach high places. Will require a recharge period which may make you vulnerable and/or likely to die if in the air high enough (Fall damage)
Hologram: Distracts enemies with a similar looking hologram of your model. Disappears after being hit twice, shot or when it's time to recharge.
Drop Shield: Similar to the bubble shield from Halo 3, drops a bubble around the player but this time, it heals player's health bar. Can be damaged by being shot.
All of the abilities were an interesting concept, but probably would have worked better as pick ups, rather than an element which you spawn with. In the end, they either end prematurely or are used to piss off other players, and in the end makes them rather annoying to encounter.
Next we have the return of the health bar. The health bar, which was present in CE, absent in 2/3/War and then once again present in ODST (known as stamina rather than health), is used to promote strategy among players, by making them think if they can survive their next encounter with an enemy who may have full shields and health and has them think whether or not to risk fighting or getting a health pack. The health bar works well, but it does get annoying when it's depleted by fall damage. Speaking of that..
Fall damage returns as well. While it does make the game more realistic, Halo was never about realism and most of the time, I either die from fall damage or it brings me down to 1 bar of health, which usually results in death anyway.
Dual wielding is absent in this game, despite the fact that a Spartan, with all of their strength, can pick up a whole turret, but yet, cannot pick up a second pistol. It may have also been an issue with balance that prevented it's return. Dual pistols probably would have gotten old fast.
Some new weapons have also been introduced, including the Needle Rifle, the DMR, the Target Locator, etc.While some of the new weapons are fun to use, others are just there for being there and for nothing special (For example, the grenade launcher launches both grenades, which you can just throw, and can cause an EMP, which a plasma pistol already could, rendering the weapon useless)
While it is fun to kill the Covenant, and challenging to kill some of the Elites, (especially on Legendary), the Brutes are absolute bullet sponges, and they also take plasma pretty well also. The vehicles, while they control just fine, operate like easily destructible plastic toys.
In the end, you either like the gameplay or you don't, If you are new to Halo, you might like it. If you are a Halo veteran, you might take up another game's gameplay over this one's.
Closing Comments: Halo Reach, despite it's flaws, is one of my favorite games personally in terms of the multiplayer. While many of the changes that were done to the game from other Halos don't necessarily work, they (Bungie) at least tried to mix up the gameplay to some degree. With great graphics and textures, a great audio/visual presentation, a decent story, and a relatively different gameplay structure from it's predecessors, Reach, while not the best Halo, is still a pretty fun game if you give it a chance.