Why you should play Halo Reach

[Kim]

I used a jetpack to hijack a banshee.

'Nuff said.

[Magus]

Shouldn't I play the first eleven before playing this one?

Although it is a super-prequel (the best kind of prequels), right?

[Azisien]

Yes. I mean a lot of the weapons and vehicles are superior to the Halo's afterwards. But uh, yes, prequel!

[Kim]

It's easily the best the series has seen. It's only tenuously tied to the other games, and even then only at the very end. It looks gorgeous, and the plot is actually pretty decent, which is impressive for a series that has only had it's plot go downhill in my experience.

[Magus]

Yes. I mean a lot of the weapons and vehicles are superior to the Halo's afterwards. But uh, yes, prequel!

Yeah, I get a kick out of how plot continuity always falls in the face of needing to add new elements to the gameplay in prequels.

Although it wouldn't have been impossible to pull off a prequel where the technology felt less. Like have them use machine guns instead of lasers or whatever. Well, I know the other games have machine guns too, but anyway, there was probably some way they could pull it off.

Also, as for it being "tenuously connected", that doesn't make a lot of sense. The villain is the Covenant, right? The first time humanity encounters them. The main characters look like they wear Halo powerarmor. Seems pretty connected, all in all.

[Kim]

Yeah, I get a kick out of how plot continuity always falls in the face of needing to add new elements to the gameplay in prequels.

Although it wouldn't have been impossible to pull off a prequel where the technology felt less. Like have them use machine guns instead of lasers or whatever. Well, I know the other games have machine guns too, but anyway, there was probably some way they could pull it off.

Also, as for it being "tenuously connected", that doesn't make a lot of sense. The villain is the Covenant, right? The first time humanity encounters them. The main characters look like they wear Halo powerarmor. Seems pretty connected, all in all.

Halos 1-3 are about Master Chief and the Halos and the Flood and the Guiltysparks and the Covenant want to destroy the universe except the elites blah blah blah. Halo Reach is about a group of Spartans, none of which are Master Chief, who are on a planet that canon says is scorched until glass by the end of the game, and the opening cutscene shows your protagonist's helmet with a bullet hole through it lying on the glassed surface. They are trying to keep this planet from being destroyed. This really has very little to do with the recurring plot threads of the main Halo games, except for some stuff near the end that connects them.

Also, Halo Reach actually improves the gameplay by returning to the first Halo's single wielding of weapons and combination health and shield system.

[Azisien]

Also, Halo Reach actually improves the gameplay by returning to the first Halo's

I'll give you

combination health and shield system.

that but certainly not

single wielding of weapons

that.

[Kim]

I'll give you



that but certainly not



that.

I like not seeing everyone else running around with a charged plasma pistol in one hand and machine gun in another. Maybe it's not as common online as my experience offline, but that's my feelings.

[Magus]

When I was playing Halo 2 at one of those Halo 2 parties about 7 years ago I ran around with duel magnums because that's how I roll.

Frankly it was the only way I could figure out how to beat the alien guy who has the lightsaber in whichever mode it is where the one player is the alien guy who has the lightsaber.

[DFM]

Halo Reach is balls awesome Noncon what's your GT do you do co-op? I do co-op. I do firefight too. I firefight fire with fire and jetpack jump onto tanks with exploding grenades so that I get the last laugh that day.

Is your GT Gaymer I bet it is Gaymer

[PyrosNine]

The Jetpack reminds me of Tribes (if only I had an explodey disc launcher...), the active camo's pretty cool, the new battle rifle sucks, the needler rifle is awesome, the throwing arc for grenades is much easier to aim but you can't bank grenades very well...and the schizo tech makes no friggin sense.

I mean, first we learn that master chief isn't given in his suit the nifty night vision stuff that makes the invisible covenant visible that is given to the expendable ODST, now we learn that before he even set off in the pillar of autumn, he wasn't given any of the cool upgrades given to the slightly less expendable Spartan III's, and none of this technology was ever reused or renewed for the war on the home planet!

I mean, one could assume Reach was the number one sciencey research place, so thats where they were making all this state of the art tech, so when it was destroyed humanity was set back in technology a few dozen years, but it is a little weird when you move back in time and have characters use technology superior to what was had later in a relatively short time span.

Anyway, you should Play Halo 1 to get a feel for the basics, Halo 2 to see where they fudged the basics, Halo 3 where they fixed the problems but people still whined, ODST where they thought: oh yeah, halo 1 was awesome, let's make a game with Halo 1's controls with the Halo 3 engine...and added members of Firefly and created the best gameplay mode ever. Halo Reach is them taking every thing from all these games and cramming them into one, from the cool weapons, to the power ups, to the ensemble cast, and adding it onto a story that lets you make the final, ultimate battle for you as a Halo player in the halo universe.

[Arcanum]

Reach could've used more Firefly. That's the only thing I have against it. I mean it's cool that Mal Reynolds a.k.a. Sgt Buck a.k.a. Nathan Fillion had a voice cameo in Reach, but it wasn't enough.

Other than that, goddamn do I love this game. Currently on my 4th playthrough (co-op legendary), and I still love the story, and the levels, and goddamn is the jetpack level fun. My gamertag is Hyperion MBD if anyone is interested in playing some co-op/multiplayer/firefight.

[Magus]

, and adding it onto a story that lets you make the final, ultimate battle for you as a Halo player in the halo universe.

I have the feeling there will continue to be final, ultimate battles for Halo players. :D

[DFM]

Yeah, prolly, but none made by Bungie so basically none at all ever.

[Doc ock rokc]

A little laugh for us. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZiBLDiPjS0)
I want to play this (or more of I want to play with the gravity things in forge. But my Xbox died! Fucking Microsoft.

[Marc v4.0]

Yes. I mean a lot of the weapons and vehicles are superior to the Halo's afterwards. But uh, yes, prequel!

Reach was the Earth's largest and most important military installation, housing and developing weapons technologies for the Spartan programs. A great deal of highly advanced weapons and gear never made it off the planet in any form because the Covenant bombarded the surface until it was literally glass.

Fail safes were enacted to ensure the location of Earth and other important military outfits were not discovered. Outbound transmissions were cut, and entire memory banks emp-killed. Much of the gear on Reach was unknown to anyone but high ranks and the people who created them, who were likely on Reach at the time of the attack.

The "new" Covenant weapons (the plasma rifle that isn't a plasma rifle, plasma-grenade shooter and the Force Gun) are easily prototypes of later weapons or experimental technology. Reach was attacked by a fleet consisting of as much of the Covenant forces as possible, so it isn't a far stretch to think that some of the units had stuff that others might have lacked.

Both the Needle Rifle and Force gun share aspects of the energy sniper that they use later in the timeline

Yay Backstory and Theory!

[CABAL49]

Unfortunately since I have an Xbox Slim, I cannot do firefight or co-op. But other than that the game is freaking amazing! I finally get the jetpack I've always wanted.

[Arcanum]

The "new" Covenant weapons (the plasma rifle that isn't a plasma rifle, plasma-grenade shooter and the Force Gun) are easily prototypes of later weapons or experimental technology. Reach was attacked by a fleet consisting of as much of the Covenant forces as possible, so it isn't a far stretch to think that some of the units had stuff that others might have lacked.

Both the Needle Rifle and Force gun share aspects of the energy sniper that they use later in the timeline

Yay Backstory and Theory!

Well actually, Halo: Reach takes place before the gigantic invasion of Reach that happened in Fall of Reach (the book). The invasion force all started with the team of Zealots trying to recover Forerunner artifacts, basically a spec-ops team, which would make sense that they were equipped with more advanced prototype tech (though with the amount of weapons produced I think it's tough to call them prototypes).

But yeah, the entire game of Halo: Reach you're fighting against this advanced force that wasn't really meant to take out the planet, just recover the artifacts and put in some sabotage so that the main army would have an easier time to take over the planet. And with that in mind it makes sense that they would have more advanced tech to make their job easier.

That's just my take on it though.

Also, I remembered another thing that really bothered me about the game. After the mission where you attack the giant Spire, there's the cinematic before the mission "Long Night of Solace" where Kat borrows Emile's knife to fiddle in the dirt for some reason. I still have no idea why she does that. I mean, there was no movement to show she was drawing a visual aid to help her plan, and nobody on the team looked down at what she did with the knife. She just kind of stabbed the dirt. It makes no sense!!

[Melfice]

Unfortunately since I have an Xbox Slim, I cannot do firefight or co-op. But other than that the game is freaking amazing! I finally get the jetpack I've always wanted.

Wut.

Why wouldn't you be able to do Firefight or Co-op, simply because you have a Slim?

I have a Slim, and that shit works just fine.

[Regulus Tera]

But I hate fpses, Nonsy.

[Arcanum]

Wut.

Why wouldn't you be able to do Firefight or Co-op, simply because you have a Slim?

I have a Slim, and that shit works just fine.

4GB Slims can't play co-op. (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/15/halo-reach-co-op-requires-hard-drive-4gb-xbox-360-slims-have-t/) Though MS claimed that they were working on a fix, I have no idea if it's been implemented yet.

[Magus]

Yeah, prolly, but none made by Bungie so basically none at all ever.

I remember when Halo Wars was going to be Bungie's last one and the rest were going to be made by a different developer, sooo...

Really, they already did a prequel with Reach that is going to make them lots of money, who's to say they won't go ahead and make a prequel to the prequel with Harvest. They heard people like prequels so they'll make a prequel to their prequel so you can play the prequel while you play the prequel.

[Arcanum]

I remember when Halo Wars was going to be Bungie's last one and the rest were going to be made by a different developer, sooo...

Except Halo Wars was made by Ensemble Studios and not Bungie. Also, Microsoft owns the Halo franchise, hence why 343 Industries will be continuing work on the Halo games and not Bungie, since Bungie is now working for Activision.

The only way for Bungie to make another Halo game is if Microsoft gives them a green light, but then Activision will require a cut of the profits since they'll be the ones publishing the game. In the end it probably wouldn't be worth it for anyone since a) Microsoft now has 343 to make Halo games for them (with Frank O'Connor, a former Bungie staff member, being one of the head honchos of the 343 team) and b) Bungie probably wants to move away from Halo and finally start developing a new IP.

I mean, it's entirely possible that way down the line when Bungie stops working for Activision that they might decide to re-visit Halo and make a new game, be it prequel or sequel, but we'll be getting a couple of Halo games from 343 before that happens.

[Marc v4.0]

I think Bungie still owns rights to Master Chief himself, but that is just what I have heard

[CABAL49]

4GB Slims can't play co-op. (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/15/halo-reach-co-op-requires-hard-drive-4gb-xbox-360-slims-have-t/) Though MS claimed that they were working on a fix, I have no idea if it's been implemented yet.

I can always by the HD addon for $130, but that defeats the purpose of getting the cheap Xbox.

[Kim]

Friend let me borrow his copy for a while, since he doesn't have internet at his place, so here are my thoughts after playing more online.

1. Both Infection and Safe Haven are terrible gameplay modes. I'm going to say the former is worse, however, because at least I haven't encountered Safe Haven in Zealot. Infection in Zealot is quite literally the least fun thing you could possibly be doing with your time. Prying your fingernails out is a more enjoyable experience.

2. Sword Base is either a really fun map, or a really awful one, and it depends entirely on the group you're playing with. If you are playing with a good group, you get to run around shooting each other on a multi-tiered level and that's always good times. If you are playing with a bad group, everyone with a sword or shotgun is hiding in a corner, masturbating, and waiting for you to walk by. If they do not have a sword or shotgun, they will be hiding next to the exit of the green vent in the level and will start fucking you over the moment you come out of it. To be fair, this is true of many maps. It just seems especially bad in this one.

3. I need to be able to punch people in the genitals every time they're douchebags in this game.

[synkr0nized]

What? Energy sword zombies are fun, man.
They get even better when you and a group of friends make them invisible and give them super speed (note: It is possible to commit suicide due to the combination of said speed and the evade armor ability meeting with walls and other players or launching you too high/off cliffs).


I must be getting better groups than you. The few campers I've run across are people with the sword, which is really a good way to play with that weapon -- crouch to get off the motion tracker if the game mode has it and do assassinations.

I don't do as well in them if it's not snipers, but I really like Big Team Battles. I think it's the whole "two armies throwing vehicles at each other" bit.


My gamer tag should be obvious.


Also feel free to nerd out with me about Halo Lore/Story. I love that stuff.

[Kim]

What? Energy sword zombies are fun, man.

I will now tell you how every single Infection round in Zealot goes. All the Survivors run to the low grav area at the tippy top and stand on distant platforms. Any Zombies who try to attack are shot out of the sky by pistols during the painfully long time it takes for them to actually land on the ground, because they are completely, utterly defenseless while airborne and, so far as I can tell, have no way of getting back on the ground sooner. This will repeat until the Survivors run out of pistol ammo or until the match ends. Alternatively, the Survivors sit up top, and the Zombies just stay below, leaving you with several four minute rounds of absolutely nothing. This isn't just "NonCon sucks at Infection" either. I've won, in terms of kills, the last couple matches of Infection I've played. Even one in Zealot. I just don't like killing myself as a zombie until they're out of ammo.

[Melfice]

Online, I really prefer stuff like SWAT and Big Team Battles.
Team Battles is also fun though, but only if it's just Slayer or SWAT.

I really can't stand Sniper, unless it's with a really, really awesome group. With an awesome group, I can just run around being a spotter.
I don't rack up too many kills, but since I get two snipers following me at a distance shooting everything dead, I'm not complaining. =3

[synkr0nized]

hahaha Oh that would suck. I've not gotten in groups of players that do that, and I myself don't like just sitting there.

[Kim]

hahaha Oh that would suck. I've not gotten in groups of players that do that, and I myself don't like just sitting there.

I have not played a single round of Infection in Zealot where this doesn't happen. When it isn't Zealot, there's about a fifty-fifty percent chance of it either being kinda fun or just everyone with guns hanging out in a corner waiting for you to charge them. I'm a more aggressive player, so I really can't stand it.

[Arcanum]

Apparently an update is going to be happening tomorrow that will rearrange the playlists a bit. In other words, Snipers won't pop up as much, and both regular and big team battle variants of SWAT will be available in their own SWAT playlist. Thank God. I absolutely hate SWAT, because that's all anyone ever votes for if it pops up.

[Melfice]

Apparently an update is going to be happening tomorrow that will rearrange the playlists a bit. In other words, Snipers won't pop up as much, and both regular and big team battle variants of SWAT will be available in their own SWAT playlist. Thank God. I absolutely hate SWAT, because that's all anyone ever votes for if it pops up.

I can see why people would hate SWAT, and I tend to vote for just Slayer or whatever, but SWAT isn't horrible in my opinion.

But, y'know. That's my opinion. :P

[synkr0nized]

In other words, Snipers won't pop up as much, and [...]

:(
:(
:(
:(


The Swat movement could be nice, though. Everyone votes for that and nothing else; still, I worry that it's rather drastic to move it to its own playlist. You'd have to leave matchmaking and reset it to change instead of just hoping for different votes.