Huh. It’s like Rogue One but better.

RATING: 10/10

Okay so since I got a new PC and shiz I’ve finally been able to play some games on the computer. I’ve never owned an Xbox console. Never plan on getting one. But  islethewolf informed me that there’s a Halo collection on Steam. You get five games for forty dollars. And seeing as how I’ve wanted to finish the trilogy, I went ahead and bought it. And after Isle told me that Halo: Reach is a prequel similar to Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (which I also love), I went ahead and decided to play it. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand it’s fantastic. :D

Plot’s simple. You’re cosigned Noble Six and you join the Noble Squadron. Your team investigates a relay signal going offline on planet Reach and you realize the Covenant is behind it. And then you do more investigation and you realize there’s a colossal Covenant fleet about to invade. Shit hits the fan and lots of people die. And I like that. This isn’t a criticism, but I have played the first two Halo games and I remember that halfway into both of them, the plot and tone shifts. First game turned into cosmic horror with the Flood; second game introduced the Covenant civil war and brought back the Flood on top of that. I get the feeling Halo 3 does the same. But Halo: Reach is basically straightforward and simple with its plot. The big “twists” are that your teammates gradually start dying as you progress.

I like the fact that the gameplay is basically the same as the first game, but they do incorporate new elements from other games into it. The Brutes are enemies, even though they didn’t show up until the second game. You can swap out some of your power-ups, such as cloaking and the ability to do stealth takedowns (granted you’ll lose your sprinting ability). The Grunts will sometimes straight-up kamikaze your ass with plasma grenades. Which is hilariously morbid and equally frustrating, because sometimes they’ll do this without warning and insta-kill you. You can use a jetpack. And that is all I need to say in regards to that. There’s a space combat mission.

GODDAMN, WAS THAT AMAZING.

Also, apparently Jackals have wings and can fly now. Apparently they do that in the third game, so looking forward to that. >__>


I really adore the voice acting. There’s a difference between saying your lines in monotone, overacting your lines, and coming across as a regular-sounding person who doesn’t scream and exaggerate everything they say. Aqua’s voice actress, Willa Holland, is a wonderful example of this. There are a lotta times where your team comes across as being somewhat stoic all the time, but whenever something startling happens or something tragic happens, they maintain their character without exaggerating. And that does help make the characters feel more believable. Nobody sits down and starts sobbing hysterically when a teammate dies; nobody monologues for five minutes about how much of a great person this guy or this chick was. They don’t have time for that; they’re in the middle of a war and they have to set those feelings aside. But I notice that whenever someone dies, your teammates sound more solemn, like they’re depressed or angry, but they gotta push forward.

This is also why I thoroughly enjoy the Noble Team. They don’t give you these vast introductions and lengthy speeches about where they grew up or a family they got back at home; that’s not important. You find out what kind of people these guys are as you fight alongside them in the game. Jorge is the compassionate big guy; Emile is the cynically realistic asshole; Carter is the leader the team respects; Kat is the tech expert who’s also badass and kind of sarcastic; Jun is the friendly sniper; Noble Six is the newbie, but he’s not the rookie, so he’s rarely talked down to and the Noble Team fights alongside him the same way they would anyone else. Are they wonderfully-written characters with layers upon layers built into their development? No. Most of them end up dying before that can happen anyway. But for this kind of game, it worked for me.

The campaign is actually kinda short; I beat the game in three separate sittings, all of which were about two-and-a-half hours long. So I beat the game in say…seven or eight hours. But, again, that kinda worked for me. Because you don’t want the game to be too long and repetitive, and since this game doesn’t have any major plot twists like the other Halo games, there’s only so much you can do before it becomes boring. I feel like the gameplay went on just long enough and had enough variety before it got to that point. Plus, this made the game very fast-paced and hectic. You’re always running around trying to stop the Covenant from fucking you over, and when you finally accomplish your goal, the Covenant fucks you over anyway, and you gotta come up with a new plan. From the fifth level onwards, you never have a chance to breathe; you always feel like something could go wrong if you relax.


Also can we talk about how this game’s themes aren’t beating you against the face with an anvil? War is hell—yes, we all know that. But the game does not have the characters crying over fallen soldiers or have people giving monologues about how awful war is or any of that type of shit. The game shows you how awful war can be. There’s a point in the game where you’re in a dropship mounting a machine gun and various groups of soldiers and civilians are begging for assistance. There’s nothing you can do to help them because the entire city that you’re in is getting swarmed and you are just one squad. You cannot protect and save everyone simultaneously. You just can’t.

Did you enjoy the space combat mission where you had to protect a human space carrier? Good. Watch as it gets torn to shreds by the Covenant after you finish said mission. Did you enjoy having mini-recruit soldiers join your crew? They can die if you fail to protect them, and the game with cross out their names and remove them from your squad list. Do you like Jorge, the burly nice guy with that Hungarian(?) accent? Okay cool. Watch him sacrifice his life to blow up a Covenant cruiser. Do you like Kat? Awesome. Watch as she gets shot in the skull by a sniper and dies immediately. Do you like being a one-man army fighting off hordes of enemies? Good news for you! The final mission has you do just that!

And then have you realize that one man cannot stop hundreds of Covenant soldiers charging towards you when you have absolutely no backup and no way of recovering health.


So would I recommend this game? I mean…I spent forty dollars for five games. So I got this game for eight bucks. And yeah, as far as I can say, my money was well spent. Thoroughly enjoyed the combat. Loved the voice acting. Liked the characters. Loved the plot. Loved the tone. Loved the fact that this game took a very realistic approach to its situation. I’m trying to think about something in this game that I do not like, and nothing comes to mind. Like I said, the campaign is short, but I feel like it had to be so it wouldn’t feel like rinse, repeat.

I feel like I shouldn’t have liked this game. The characters aren’t well-developed, but they’re developed enough given the situation, and I cared about them enough to feel upset when many of them died. The plot is simple and straightforward, but I enjoy the fact that the plot in question was incredibly dire and that stakes were involved. The gameplay is similar to other Halo games, but it has enough gadgets and variety to make it feel like it’s not just a case of copy/paste. The campaign is short, but it makes the plot very fast-paced and intense. There’s a very brutal theme present throughout the game, but it isn’t in your face all the time and the game isn’t lecturing you about said themes; it’s showing you said themes in a way that fits the tone and the style of the game properly without feeling forced.

All in all, thoroughly pleasant experience. Might actually review the next three Halo games after I finish with those.