Halo Reach multiplayer review

By goukijones — September 17, 2010
Tags: review

Halo CE filled my house with Jimmys. Halo 2 defined "Moving couch" and created friends all around the world. Halo 3 gave you equipment and introduced us to Forge. Halo Reach brings it all together for one final game.

Halo Reach multiplayer is why I play Halo, not because of the campaign. I haven't played much of the campaign so this review is going to be about the multiplayer. 25 hours of multiplayer is what I've logged at this point. I have almost 75000 credit. I'm saving for the confetti head explosion when I get shot. Like the Grunt birthday party Skull. That's gonna be cool. As far as the armor permutations go, not too excited about it. The armor effects such as Pestilence, a green cloud of flies swirl around your head while you play. Kinda like the opposite of the flaming head I guess. Then there's an electrical storm you can have around your head that shoots out little lightning bolts. Knee pads? Wrist guards? I'm gonna hold my ground here and even though I play Final Fantasy, I'm just not into dressing up my Spartan doll.

The guns are cooler than ever. Concussion weapons are not my favorite to use, but how they jack you up and the game becomes all distorted when you get hit by one. Awesome. DMR is the way to go for me. That gun reminds me of Halo CE so much. I love shooting it. The shotgun seems to be an expert weapon now. If you are not right up on somebody with a shotgun, killing them could take 2 or 3 shots and I'll bet money you don't have that kind of time. Still can't use the sniper. The pistol is cool, just enough rounds to kill a Jimmy if you are spot on his dome.

Gametypes now in multiplayer can be set up many different ways. Classic multiplayer, the new Arena ranking system multiplayer, you can do firefight with matchmaking if you're a loner. Also you can just jump into the campaign with a party too. You never leave the room with your party, you can stay together through every menu. "Moving couch" brilliant concept, very few game understand how important this is for online. The new Arena ranking has you trying your best each time and an individual while promoting teamwork. It's an excellent idea for competition between other teams and your team internally as well. No excuses now. Don't be a Jimmy.

Watch out for the Scorpion, it's extremely fast and very powerful. The covenant Corvette will terrorize you. The Mongoose seems to be extremely loose, better drive carefully Jimmy. The Warthog seems to be a little faster and tons of ground control, but once you're up in the air you can lose control quick. The turret has a cool down, so no more mad Warthog railing. The Banshee can turn on a dime at 90 degrees. It's still fast and the controls have been modified in the pilots favor. You can toggle between two different weapons, regular blaster and the cannon which locks on now. The Ghost is super fast and turns well even while boosting. Be mindful though, the Ghost's boost now has a cool down on it.

What upsets me most about the Halo Reach multiplayer is the lack of release maps. I know it's been consistent with the other Halo games, but almost half of these maps were made with Forge World. Believe I'm happy with the selection, old school map remakes of Ascension and Sanctuary are very cool. They're just not redone like Last Resort was in Halo 3. New maps like Boardwalk and Zealot also remind me a lot of Halo CE and I love both of those. Here's to new maps, no remakes and no more Forge World rig jobs in the first map pack dlc.

Armor abilities will make or break you. Don't spend a clip on a hologram. Learned that lesson the first night. Shooting Jimmys running out into the open and nothing is happening, except for me getting shot from the side. Yeah, no name or logo pops up when you move your reticule over the enemy, it's a clone. Don't be a Jimmy. Sprint on the ground level maps and jetpack on the vertical maps, that's what I say. I like to be able to move around on the map quickly. Using the bubble shield will keep you in the bubble shield. Negative. Armor lock is for nuabs. Armor lock in the beta would recharge your shields, doesn't work like that anymore. I'll pass.

Buy it. Multiplayer is a blast and you could be playing it for years if you get into it. I certainly will. I understand there's your earth war games and space alien war games. I like my science fiction in my shooters. Plus how many different war games do you need that take place on earth?

Halo Reach

Halo Reach multiplayer review

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