Without a doubt one of the best games ever, giving every type of game a little something to keep them hooked.
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The story in this part of the Halo saga is truly epic. It is set shortly before Halo: Combat Evolved and follows the battles and missions of an elite squad of Spartans known as noble team. The character you play is Noble 6, the newest edition to the team after hints are made the last 6 had a messy end. Carter, the leader of the team warns you that you must be a team player before leaving for the very first mission. You are on the planet Reach, a human colonized world serving as the first defense against Covenant forces. ***SPOILERS*** As the game progresses the entire team, including your character give their lives in defense of an AI, that turns out to be Cortana, an AI that is the hope of preventing the human races extinction. The best part? You can customise your character for online play, as you have been able to do for many games, like armour colours etc, but how your personal Spartan looks, is how your character will look within the story. Its a truly ingenious addition which helps gamers have an added connection to the story and its characters.
VISUALS: The game, visually is stunning. The art design is beautiful and really shows great imagination as you fly through a burning city in a Hornet, fight through and enemy ship or even defend a landing platform as the famous Pillar of Autumn is cleared for takeoff in the background. There arent even any graphical glitches. This game is perfect to look at...its a fact.
GAMEPLAY: Gameplay has been updated for this latest addition to the Halo franchise, and the gameplay physics work so much better than in previous titles. Controls are intuitive and really set a new standard for games of this genre. Vehicular combat is much improved with responsive control systems and realistic movements. There is even a few new vehicles added including a UNSC aircraft designed for space combat.
AUDIO: The sounds in this game are unique as always. Halo is one of the few games where you can hear any random noise and immediately know its from Halo. Every sound is unique to the Halo universe. The one issue I had with the audio was issues with being able to hear what characters were saying clearly. Luckily though there are subtitles. No harm no foul.
OVERALL: The campaign is the best Halo campaign ever created without a doubt. Its a pleasure the play through again and again. Top class.
ONLINE:
Online play is extremely enjoyable. There is a rank progression system which grants a sort of status among other players and credits to spend on more armour for your Spartan. There are a huge amout of maps and play modes for players to explore together with four challenges a day that grant credits upon completion, as well as a larger credit bearing weekly challenge. The online play is nothing short of addictive and cannot be adequately described in this review, only experienced.
Altogether this game is a classic and will be remembered for a long long time