Reach is the latest great entry in the Halo franchise, with all that fans would expect plus some additions.
This Halo title, just like ODST, won't see you taking the role of Master Chief. Instead, you're part of the Noble team as they fend off a sudden Covenant invasion. Reach holds a larger cast of characters than the other games and attempts to create powerful bonds between the fighters of Noble team. None of the characters really stand out, but Bungie's attempt to even create a brotherhood between soldiers is a step in the right direction. The positive thing is that the story quickly builds momentum, with each successive mission proving more desperate and intense than the last, and if you enjoyed the plots of previous Halo games, then you'll probably fall in love with Reach. But there is truly little to make Reach stand out in the FPS genre from this standpoint, so conversely, if you've never liked the Halo storyline before now, it's unlikely to have any more effect on you than its predecessors.
Of course, if you've followed this franchise at all, then you're probably purchasing it for hours of high-octane action and not for complexity or variety. So don't worry, you'll get what you want. Almost from the beginning, intense gunfights will have you laying down fire, tossing grenades, and leaping your way deep into enemy lines to wreak havoc. Reach continues the Halo series excellence of vehicular combat, and as always, these are the greatest moments of the game. The battles grow in scale as you get deeper into the desperate struggle, so if you're looking for that epic edge, Reach is possibly the best in the series at delivering it. You can even play the campaign in an arcade mode to keep score, and this applies even when playing with up to three buddies. Even if you don't have friends next to you, you can join with others online for a deep cooperative experience. With the arcade style scores and higher difficulty settings that provide great challenge, there are many hours to be had with Reach's campaign. But the same weakness that has always been with the series is still here. If you're not looking for constant action and would like more, it would be easy for the Halo campaign to become mind-numbingly repetitive before the end. It still doesn't mix up the action very well besides the vehicle scenes, so be warned that you're still not getting the deepest game in that regard.
Regardless of whether the single-player campaign is up your alley or not, there's a lot to love in Reach's multiplayer, something that should come as no surprise to any gamer who hasn't been living under a rock. The amount of customization and game modes available in this competitive multiplayer is astounding, and an improved interface makes getting the changes you want (whether it be in-game options, character set-up, the type of people you want to play with, etc) much easier. Virtually all of what you loved in the previous Halo entries returns here, and the action is perhaps even more intense than ever before. A lot of powers and specializations that you can choose between before the battle starts have been added, such as camouflage and armor lock (which stops you from moving but lets you absorb powerful blows) and this allows for an element of strategy inexistent in Reach's predecessors. You can change up your load-out during the battle, which includes different guns, meaning Reach is not only the most strategically-rich game of the franchise, but it's the closest Halo has come to a truly hardcore competitive multiplayer. The new game modes, interface, customization, and specializations are a blast, and it's no surprise that Reach's multiplayer far outpaces its campaign.
Besides the competitive ranked and unranked matches, Reach has plenty more to offer. Halo's response to Gears of War's Horde, Firefight, returns with more additions from its appearance in ODST. It still holds the basic strengths and weaknesses that it did during its first appearance. The intense action that can be shared with other players, increasingly difficult waves of Covenant, vehicular combat pulverizing enemies, and a wide variety of maps and possible strategies make it truly worthwhile. Of course, the enemies don't all-out charge you like they do in Gears, meaning if you have the upper-hand, enemies will force you to go after them, resulting in long, drawn-out end-battle sequences. The option to use cheats also makes some of the achievements laughably easy. Of course, there are still many customization options available, so you can mix Firefight up however you want. Forge returns as well, as good as any mapmaker and game customizer consoles have ever seen, though people who have played Half-Life on their PCs still might not see what all the fuss has been about. Garnering points in all of these modes, including campaign, allows you to purchase many cosmetic upgrades to your character. While it won't affect the gameplay, it's always nice to create a character exactly the way you want him to look.
Complaints about Halo 3 and ODST's graphics can be silenced a bit with Reach. Characters and environments are far more detailed than they were in the previous two games, and the textures are sharper. Even large structures and environmental formations are highly detailed from a distance, making Reach one of the prettier games on consoles. There is some inconsistency with some of the areas not looking as good as the rest (you'll notice the first and last few levels look fantastic), but this is still a step up from previous Halo games. The problem is that the frame-rate seems to dip often when a large amount of enemies are on-screen, though this occasionally even occurs when there is no action, a disappointing problem considering that, as good as the game looks, there are better looking games with less framerate issues. The art also continues to impress, with some of the most interesting environments that will remind you of the best from Combat Evolved and Halo 3. To go along with these environments is the expectedly epic Halo soundtrack. While much of it remains the same, it's still as great as ever, and you can be rest assured that the music plays along to each different area, and the intensity of the action, as best as possible. From the music during the climax of battle to the soft atmospheric tunes when walking to another destination, Reach follows its predecessors perfectly with an inspiring soundtrack. The sound effects remain mostly the same, and of course there is little more satisfying than here the contact of sticky grenade on covenant or the splat of vehicle on grunt.
It should come as no surprise that Reach is a great game, following the footsteps of its forebears very well. The game carries all the strengths and weaknesses that the franchise has always had, but to fans of Halo, there is no doubt that this game will be everything they'd have hoped for. It contains the same campaign of relentless action, outstanding multiplayer with enough modes and customization to make it highly replayable along with a much more hardcore and strategic element, an expanded Firefight mode, Forge, and an awesome soundtrack. But at the same time, many will find the campaign's constant action to be numbingly repetitive, the story isn't quite as interesting without Master Chief, the competitive multiplayer will still be too simple and individual-based for some people, Firefight just isn't as good as Horde, and the frame-rate is sometimes even more choppy than the previous games. But regardless of the mixed reactions, Halo: Reach is a game that is hard not to recommend, and definitely worth a try.