Halo: Reach

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Halo: Reach
Halo- Reach box art.png
Developer(s) Bungie
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Director(s) Marcus Lehto
Producer(s) Matt Priestley
Designer(s)
  • Chris Opdahl
  • Chris Carney
Programmer(s) Ben Wallace
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
Series Halo
Platform(s) Xbox 360
ReleaseSeptember 14, 2010
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Halo: Reach is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios, originally for the Xbox 360. The sixth installment in the Halo series and a direct prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved , Reach was released worldwide in September 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with an alien theocracy known as the Covenant, which seeks to exterminate humanity. Players play as Noble Six, a member of an elite supersoldier squad, known as the Spartans, attempting to stage a defense of the human world known as Reach, which falls under Covenant attack. The game was the last in the series to be developed by Bungie.

Contents

After releasing Halo 3 in 2007, Bungie split into teams to develop two different games—what would become Halo 3: ODST and Reach. The developers decided to create a prequel to the original Halo game trilogy, freeing themselves from the obligation of addressing old story threads. As the game would take place on a human world doomed to be destroyed, they focused on making the environment a character unto itself. Longtime Halo composers Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori returned to compose Reach's music, aiming for a more somber sound to match the story.

Reach was announced at E3 2009 in Los Angeles, and the first in-engine trailer was shown at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. Players who purchased ODST were eligible to participate in a Reach multiplayer beta in May 2010; the beta allowed Bungie to gain player feedback for fixing bugs and making gameplay tweaks before shipping the final version. Microsoft gave Reach its biggest game marketing budget yet and created award-winning live-action commercials, action figures, and interactive media to promote the game.

The game grossed US$200 million on its launch day, setting a new record for the franchise. Reach sold well in most territories, moving more than three million units its first month in North America. Critical reception was positive; reviewers from publications such as GamePro , IGN, and Official Xbox Magazine called it the best Halo title yet. Critics generally praised the game's graphics and sound, but the plot and characters were less positively received. Reach was Bungie's final Halo game; subsequent games have been overseen by Microsoft subsidiary 343 Industries. The game was released for Windows and Xbox One as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection in December 2019.

Gameplay

The player character fires an assault rifle at enemy Covenant forces, flanked by members of Noble Team. Halo reach-lnos.png
The player character fires an assault rifle at enemy Covenant forces, flanked by members of Noble Team.

Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter in which players predominantly experience gameplay from a first-person perspective; the game perspective switches to third-person when using certain weapons, equipments, vehicles and when a player dies. [1] Gameplay is more similar to Halo: Combat Evolved than later games in the series. [2] The player's heads-up display shows and tracks a player's current weapons, abilities, and health; it also contains a compass and a "motion tracker" that registers moving allies, enemies, and vehicles in a certain radius of the player. The HUD changes when the player pilots vehicles. [3] : 2–5 

In the game's campaign, which can be played alone or cooperatively, players assume the role of Noble Six, a supersoldier engaged in combat with the alien collective known as the Covenant. [4] The Covenant come in eight distinct varieties with different ranks and classes for each type; for example, Elites are the leaders of a group, while Grunts are less intelligent and only dangerous in large groups. [3] : 11  The player is equipped with a recharging energy shield that absorbs damage from weapons, fire and impacts. When the energy shield is depleted, the player loses health. When the player's health reaches zero, the character dies and the game reloads from a saved checkpoint. Health is replenished using health packs scattered throughout Reach's levels. [5] The campaign's encounters with enemies are typically large, open spaces with weapons caches, cover from enemy fire and strategic vantage points. [6] New to the Halo series are dogfight sequences set in space. [7]

Reach features updated versions of old weapons, plus new weapons fulfilling various combat roles. In Halo 3, players can carry single-use equipment power-ups that offer temporary offensive or defensive advantages. This system of single-use equipment is replaced in Reach by reusable and persistent armor abilities that remain with a character until they are replaced by a different equipment. The abilities are sprint, which allows the player to move at an increased rate for several seconds; jetpack, which allows the player to fly for a limited time; active camouflage, which makes a player harder to see (the less the player moves, the more camouflaged they will be); hologram, which creates a facsimile of the player running towards a target point; drop shield, which creates a bubble that heals those inside and protects them from a limited amount of damage; and armor lock, which immobilizes the player, but grants invincibility for a brief period of time. When the player exits armor lock, they release a close range EMP, breaking nearby players' shields and pushing away movable objects. If a vehicle rams a player that is armor locking, the vehicle will sustain heavy damage. [8] When playing as a Covenant Elites, players also have access to an evade armor ability which allows the player to quickly dash in any direction. [8]

Multiplayer

Reach supports player-versus-player multiplayer through split-screen on a single Xbox, local networks (System Link), and the Xbox Live service before servers were shut down in January 2022. [9] The game includes standard multiplayer modes such as "Slayer" and Capture The Flag, as well as game types new to the franchise. In "Headhunter", players drop skulls upon death, which other players can pick up and deposit at special zones for points. When players die, all their accumulated skulls are dropped. "Stockpile" has teams race to collect neutral flags, holding them at capture points every minute for points. "Generator Defense" pits three human supersoldiers, or Spartans, against three Covenant soldiers called Elites. The Elites' objective is to destroy three generators, while the Spartans defend the installation. After every round, the players switch roles. "Invasion" is a six versus six mode with three squads of two on each team. The game type matches Spartans against Elites; Elites vie for control of territories to disable a shield guarding a navigation core. Once the shield is disabled, they must transfer the core to a dropship; the Spartans must prevent this. As the game progresses, new vehicles and areas of the map become open. The gameplay for Spartans and Elites is similar, but not identical. Elites are larger, move faster, and can fully regenerate their health. [10] Depending on the game mode the player chooses, Spartans and Elites have different default loadouts. However, if playing locally, the player can alter the loadouts for both Spartans and Elites to be whatever the player chooses in the settings menu.

Alongside other multiplayer options is "firefight", where players take on increasingly difficult waves of foes in a game of survival. Players can customize the firefight options, including the number and types of enemies. Firefight versus allows a player-controlled Elite team to try to stop a Spartan team from scoring points. Game modes like generator defense are also playable in firefight. [11] [12] [13]

Also included with Reach is "Forge", a level editor. Players can edit the default multiplayer maps and a large empty map known as "Forge World", adding or modifying spawn points, weapons and items. Objects may be phased into other objects, and can also be snapped to specific orientations. [14] Other included features are the "theater", where players can watch saved films of their games and take screenshots and video clips for posterity, and the file share, where players can upload their screenshots, films, custom maps, and gametypes for public viewing. [3] : 20–24 

Campaign

Setting and characters

Reach takes place in a futuristic science fiction setting; the year is 2552, shortly before the events of the video game Halo: Combat Evolved, [15] and during the events of the novel Halo: The Fall of Reach . Halo: Reach largely ignores the canon and timeline of events established in the novel, leading to several plot inconsistencies in the franchise. [16] Humans, under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), have been waging a long war against a collective of alien races known as the Covenant. By the events of Reach, almost all of humanity's interstellar colonies have fallen. Reach itself is an Earth-like colony that serves as the UNSC's main military hub in the system of Epsilon Eridani. The colony is home to over 700 million civilians in addition to the military presence there. [17]

The game follows the actions of "Noble Team", a UNSC special operations unit composed of elite supersoldiers known as Spartans. [18] Players assume the role of a new addition to the team identified by the call sign Noble Six. Noble Team's leader is Carter-A259, a no-nonsense soldier. His second-in-command, Catherine-B320 (referred to by other team members as "Kat"), has a bionic arm; together, Carter and Kat are the only remaining original members of Noble Team. The other current members include heavy weapons specialist and surviving Spartan-II Jorge-052, assault specialist Emile-A239, and marksman Jun-A266. [15] [19] [20]

Plot

Noble Six meets the rest of Noble Team, shortly before they are dispatched to investigate why a communications relay has gone offline. They discover Covenant forces have invaded Reach. The team is relocated to defend Sword Base, an Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) installation, from a Covenant assault. After repelling the attack, Noble Team meets Catherine Halsey, a scientist and the mastermind behind the Spartan program and their MJOLNIR powered armor. Halsey enquires about Noble's engagement at the relay, suspecting that the Covenant were attempting to retrieve highly classified ONI data from the site.

Jun and Six discover an invasion force gathering on the planet. The UNSC launches an assault the next morning to repel the invasion. Noble Team assists the strike force, targeting key artillery stations and command posts. A cloaked Covenant supercarrier reveals itself; lacking a conventional weapon to destroy the carrier, Jorge and Six smuggle a slipspace engine onto a Covenant corvette en route to refuel at the carrier. With the timer damaged, Jorge drops Six out of the hangar of the corvette, remaining behind to detonate the engine manually and destroy the carrier. Another Covenant fleet arrives soon afterwards.

Back on the surface, Six assists with city defense and civilian evacuation and reunites with Noble Team, but Kat is killed by a Covenant sniper. Recalled to Sword Base for a scorched earth demolition mission, Noble Team is redirected underground by Halsey to an ancient alien artifact, which she believes is vital to winning the war against the Covenant. Noble Team is entrusted with transporting the artificial intelligence Cortana and her data on the artifact to the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn, docked at a shipyard. Jun leaves the team to escort Halsey to safety.

En route to the Pillar of Autumn, Carter is wounded and sacrifices himself to allow Six and Emile to reach the shipyard. Emile uses a mass driver emplacement to defend the Autumn against enemies while Six gives Cortana to Autumn's captain, Jacob Keyes. When Emile is killed, Six remains behind to operate the gun and ensure Autumn's escape. Cortana, using the data from the alien artifact, leads the Autumn to a Halo ringworld, leading to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. In a post-credits scene, Six fights a last stand against overwhelming Covenant forces. In 2589, Six's helmet remains on the grassy plains of a now-restored Reach. A narration by Halsey eulogizes Noble Team, who enabled humanity's victory over the Covenant.

Development

Reach's E3 announcement Halo Reach-e3 2009 trailer.jpg
Reach's E3 announcement

Announcements and teasers

Halo: Reach was announced on June 1, 2009, accompanied by a trailer at the Microsoft Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conference. [21] A press release announced that an invitation to the open multiplayer beta of the game would appear in 2010. [22] Reach is Bungie's last game development for the Halo series. Responsibility for developing future Halo games fell to Microsoft subsidiary 343 Industries. [23]

A trailer released March 3, 2010, showcased the game's multiplayer. [24] Bungie revealed parts of the game's campaign and Firefight at E3 2010. The game reached the "zero bug release" milestone on June 23, signifying a shift from content creation to troubleshooting; buggy artificial intelligence or other elements would be removed rather than fixed at this point because of time constraints. [25] Bungie released the complete list of achievements for the game on July 30, including their titles, symbols, and requirements, [26] and completed Reach between the end of July and beginning of August 2010. [27]

Design

After Halo 3 , development studio Bungie created an internal team to work on Peter Jackson's planned Halo game, Halo Chronicles . Chronicles was eventually canceled and the team began working on a standalone expansion project—Halo 3: ODST—while another team, led by creative director Marcus Lehto and design lead Christian Allen, [28] worked on Reach. [29] The team considered many different concepts and approaches to the game; among the rejected ideas was a sequel to Halo 3. [30] The team eventually settled on a prequel to the first Halo game in brainstorming sessions. It would take place on the planet Reach, during a pivotal time in the war. "Reach, as a fictional planet, was just a great candidate [to] play around with. It's such a rich world, with such a great fiction surrounding it," said Lehto. "We were like: 'Okay, that's it. We've just got a lot of things we can do there so we can build an immense story with it.'" [31] No longer burdened with continuing the story threads of the Halo trilogy, Bungie used Reach to introduce new characters and settings. [27] As Reach ends with the destruction of the titular planet, Bungie wanted to be sure players still felt a sense of accomplishment and success. "It is a challenge overall to ensure the player feels they're doing the right thing all the way to the end," said Lehto. [32] [33]

Lehto recalled that making a character-driven story was a great challenge—players would come to know more about them as they progressed through the campaign, but the Spartan characters also had to behave intelligently. [34] The Halo games consistently featured protagonists that were silent during gameplay sequences. Community manager Brian Jarrard pushed for allowing players to choose a female Noble Six and have the cinematics and dialogue change accordingly. [35] The post-credit game sequence was the subject of intense discussion; some at Bungie wanted to remove it. Executive producer Joe Tung noted, "the 'survive' component ... felt great to us. We definitely talked about different versions of how that was happening and different versions of ending [the game] cinematically, but I think the way that it ultimately ended up is just a really well-paced, significant and emotionally impactful ending." [36]

The developers originally intended to port existing Halo 3 assets to Reach and update them. [37] For Halo 3, Bungie had been forced to shrink parts of the game to fit the game engine's constraints, [35] but wanted to make Reach look better than its predecessors. [38] "The more we started looking into this, the more we found that realistically we could rebuild each asset from scratch with a huge increase in quality without significantly investing more time," said Bungie 3D artist Scott Shepherd. [37] Texture resolution and polygon counts for models increased; the Reach assault rifle is constructed of more polygons than an entire Marine character from Halo 3. [37] The prequel concept also gave the art team an opportunity to redesign key enemies, weapons, and elements of the series. Artists found inspiration in the original concept art for Halo: Combat Evolved; the shape for the redesigned Covenant Grunts came from a sketch that concept artist Shi Kai Wang created ten years earlier. [37] [39]

The developers redesigned the game engine, the software that handles rendering and much of gameplay. [40] Bungie hired an expert in motion capture to develop more realistic character animations. [34] Building a motion capture studio in-house saved Bungie time as motion capture data could be applied to the game models the same day it was shot. [41] The developers sought to increase replay value by focusing on improving artificial intelligence. [38] Rather than scripting enemy encounters, they focused on a more open world or sandbox approach to battles. [40]

Audio

Martin O'Donnell scored Reach with additional music by Michael Salvatori. O'Donnell wrote "somber, more visceral" music since the plot is character-driven and focuses on a planet that is already known—in the Halo fictional universe—to have fallen. [42] The first music he wrote for Reach was played for the game's world premiere, and he used it as a starting piece to develop further themes. [43] O'Donnell began work on Reach while ODST, for which he also wrote the music, was still in production, but did not begin composing until August 2009. Past Halo collaborators Salvatori, C. Paul Johnson, and Stan LePard assisted O'Donnell. Both Reach and ODST don't have the Gregorian chant. With Reach, he did not give them strictly divided responsibilities. "I decided this time to come up with some themes, tempos, keys, and other basic starting points for musical ideas," explained O'Donnell. "I shared these with all the other composers and just asked them to take off if they felt inspired by any of that material." The works-in-progress they came up with were either retouched by O'Donnell or sent back to be finished by their composer. [44]

In previous Halo games, sections of music overlap and change depending on player action. Reach's system of interactive audio was much more complex, featuring the ability to combine up to seven layers of instrumentation compared to Combat Evolved's two. [45] Developers also expanded the sound effect system. Every interacting object in Reach produces two sounds for respective objects; for example, a Warthog vehicle that hits an armored Covenant soldier produces a crunching metal noise based on the two colliding elements. [46] The interaction between objects and terrain was demonstrated in an in-game environment that O'Donnell called "the stripey room" after the bands of alternating colors on the objects and environment. [45]

Halo: Reach (Original Soundtrack)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Overture" Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori4:47
2."Winter Contingency"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori12:09
3."ONI: Sword Base"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori8:28
4."Nightfall"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori5:41
5."Tip of the Spear"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori6:05
6."Long Night of Solace"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori11:47
7."Exodus"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori7:19
8."New Alexandria"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori8:42
9."The Package"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori6:56
10."The Pillar of Autumn"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori9:40
11."Epilogue"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori4:30
12."From the Vault"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori4:59
13."Ashes"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori2:46
14."Fortress"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori1:08
15."We're Not Going Anywhere"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori1:14
16."At Any Cost"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori2:30
17."Both Ways (remix)"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori2:17
18."Walking Away"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori1:53
19."Ghosts and Glass"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori2:42
20."We Remember"Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori2:05
Total length:107:24

Multiplayer beta

Reach's multiplayer beta was open to owners of Halo 3: ODST. More than three million copies of ODST were sold by November 2009. [47] Bungie estimated between two and three million players for the upcoming Reach beta, compared to the 800,000 that participated in Halo 3's trial. [48] [49] Development schedules forced Bungie to release a six-week-old beta, fraught with bugs and issues already addressed in newer builds. Though concerned that these issues might tarnish the game's image, Jarrard noted that they had little choice but to ship it as it was and communicate with players concerning the fixes. [50]

More than 2.7 million players participated in the beta, which lasted from May 3 to 20. [51] The game was rolled out from an internal group of Bungie and Microsoft employees, with the total number of players in the thousands. When the beta went public, more than a million played the first day, causing back-end servers to struggle to handle the traffic. While the engineering team had overestimated server load, bugs in server clusters caused game uploads to become backed up, slowing matchmaking until the underlying issues could be fixed. Jarrard noted that the 16 million total hours of play time and large-scale rollout of the beta was vital to seeing how Reach would perform. [50] [52]

Bungie used the beta to fix mistakes, glitches, and balance issues within gameplay elements. [53] "We needed our fans to provide feedback," said Lehto, adding that having a large audience to "hammer" on the game allowed them to gather useful feedback to mold the finished product. [54] The game automatically collected statistics such as upload and matchmaking speeds, as well as game preferences; sorting out what Jarrard called "the more subjective anecdotal feedback" from emails, notes, and forums proved more difficult. The Reach beta generated over 360,000 forum posts on Bungie's community forums. Bungie created official threads for groups of issues to manage the high volume of feedback; "We tried to give people a little bit more of a direct avenue to give that feedback and to make our lives easier. It was definitely a lot to assess and digest," said Jarrard. [50] Certain feedback from the players did not correlate with the statistical data obtained from the matches during the beta. Chris Carney, the lead designer for the multiplayer mode, recalled vocal dissatisfaction with the pistol early in the beta; by the end of the beta, the weapon was responsible for most of the kills coming from newly included weapons in the game. Bungie deployed special test matches to eliminate lurking variables, balance gameplay, and make other informed changes. [55]

Release

Reach was released on September 14, 2010 in 25 countries. Tens of thousands of stores signed up for midnight launch events; sponsored events took place in London, Oslo, Stockholm, and New York. [56] [57] Three editions were sold. The standard edition consisted of the game and its manual. The limited edition featured an artifact bag with story information, different packaging, and an exclusive set of in-game Elite armor. The "legendary edition" contained all the materials from the limited edition, a different packaging, two hours of developer commentary on the game's cutscenes, an in-game Spartan armor effect, and a 10-pound (4.5 kg) statue created by McFarlane Toys. [58] North American players who purchased a first run copy of the game (in-store near launch day or pre-ordered) received an in-game Spartan "recon" helmet customization; players in other regions could earn it only by pre-ordering. [59] Reach also came bundled with a limited edition Xbox 360 Slim that sports Halo-themed sounds and finish and two controllers. [60]

Microsoft later listed Reach as an Xbox Live Marketplace download on August 12, 2010, at a price of 99999 Microsoft Points (~US$1250). [61] A spokesperson confirmed the download was for media review purposes, and that there were no plans to distribute the game to the public through Games on Demand. [61] Four days later, hackers managed to access, download, and distribute the game online; [62] [63] Microsoft stated they were investigating the matter. [64] Halo 2, Halo 3, and ODST were similarly leaked ahead of their planned release. [65] Bungie released a demo on May 24, 2011, featuring a single player level from the game's story mode, a multiplayer competitive map, and a cooperative firefight mission. [66]

Halo: Reach was released for Windows and Xbox One as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on December 3, 2019. [67] [68]

Marketing

According to Jarrard, the team decided to have much more "grandiose" marketing for Reach than that of ODST. [48] Microsoft gave Reach its largest game marketing budget at the time, surpassing the scale and $6.5 million cost of Halo 3's award-winning marketing. Marketers focused their efforts on connecting with consumers via universal themes, rather than outdoing Halo 3's push. [69] Interpublic Group of Companies' AgencyTwoFifteen handled strategy and video development for the marketing push, while AKQA developed interactive components. The agencies were involved with Halo 3's marketing. The advertisers' brief was simple: "Remember Reach. Focus on the heroes, not the victims. Expand our audience beyond Halo fanboys." [70]

The advertising campaign commenced in April 2010 with the live-action short "Birth of a Spartan". [70] A series of online videos highlighting a day in the life of average Reach citizens before the Covenant invade, began on August 23, followed by TV spots on August 29. [71] The series concluded in late August with another short, "Deliver Hope". [72] As part of the promotions, Microsoft created an interactive light sculpture; users logged onto a website where they could direct a KUKA industrial robot to plot pinpricks of light; over 54,000 points created a monument to Noble Team that faded unless more points were plotted. [73] Reach's marketing won several industry distinctions, among them thirteen medals from the MI6 Game Marketing Conference Awards. [74]

Several lines of tie-in merchandise were launched. McFarlane, who had produced toys for Halo 3, created a line of five-inch action figures, [75] while Square Enix's Play Arts toy label created additional figures. [76]

Sales

Reach made $200 million in first-day sales, a record for the franchise. Its strong sales suggested to analysts that core titles in the holiday season could reverse sluggish video game sales in 2010. [77] In its first sixteen days the game sold $350 million worth of merchandise. [78] Reach premiered at the top of Xbox 360 and multi-platform charts in most territories. [79] Figures from the NPD Group estimated that Reach sold 3.3 million units in North America, making it the third game for its console generation (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) to sell more than three million units during the first month of its release (alongside Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2 ). [80] Halo: Reach became the third bestselling game of 2010 in North America, behind Call of Duty: Black Ops and Madden NFL 11 . [81] It sold 4.7 million units by September 2011. [82]

In the United Kingdom, Reach's opening week was the fifth-best launch in the territory, beating Halo 3's debut by 20,000 units and ODST's by 200,000 units. [83] In its second week on the UK charts Reach was the second bestselling title, displaced by the racing game F1 2010 . [84] Reach continued to hold the top place in North America. [85] [86] In Japan, the game debuted at first place with 44,413 units, but fared poorly in the long-term (as have other Halo games). This showing was above ODST's sales of 29,734 in the comparable timeframe, but below Halo 3's 61,143. [87] Reach dropped out of the top 20 best selling titles entirely its second week. [88] [89]

Downloadable content

Reach supports additional downloadable content (DLC). Bungie released the game's first DLC, dubbed the "Noble Map Pack", on November 30, 2010; [90] this map pack contains three maps, unique in that they are not based on Reach campaign levels. [91] Microsoft partnered with Certain Affinity, which had worked on Halo 2 maps, [92] to produce the second, "Defiant Map Pack", [93] made available for download on March 15, 2011. [94]

A "title update" was released by 343 Industries for Reach that modified game mechanics such as bullet spread and melee damage. The update also contained playlists for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary . [95] Purchasers of anniversary edition received a voucher to download the game's seven multiplayer maps directly into Reach, the map pack was also made available to purchase via the Xbox Live Marketplace. [96] [97]

Reception

Halo: Reach received critical acclaim upon its release. On aggregating review website Metacritic, it holds an average of 91/100. [98] Critics such as 1UP.com's Thierry Nguyen, the staff of Edge , GamePro 's Matt Cabral, and others considered Reach the best Halo title yet. [99] [101] [105] [116] Reviewers noted there were few major changes to the Halo formula; [107] IGN's Erik Brudvig wrote that Reach was not "another rehash", though franchise veterans would feel immediately at home with the game. [4]

Nguyen, Tom Hoggins of The Daily Telegraph , and others wrote that Reach took the best elements from previous games and combined them in Bungie's final entry. Hoggins noted that this approach made Reach "a blistering, breathless crescendo to a decade's worth of work", but also that it was unlikely to convert non-Halo fans. [99] [115] [116] The Daily Mirror 's Kevin Lynch praised Bungie for introducing new gameplay mechanics like jetpacks without ruining the title's learning curve or game balance. [116]

Brudvig praised the campaign for avoiding the "repetitive landscapes and circuitous, difficult to follow plots" of past Halo titles. [4] GameSpot's Chris Watters and others felt the artificial intelligence of friendly non-player characters was less advanced than that of enemies, especially while driving. [107] Steve Boxer wrote for The Guardian that Reach's story made previous entries feel "amateurish"; [114] Nguyen felt that whereas previous Halo titles had become mired in inconsistencies and Star Trek -like technobabble, Reach told a broader and more accessible story. Despite this, he contended, the game suffered from archetypal characters with which players spent little time: "I almost forgot that Noble Four (Emile) even existed for a big chunk of the campaign, as I rarely saw him." [99] Wired 's Gus Mastrapa unfavorably compared Noble Team to the marines of Aliens , writing that most of the characters were unmemorable and one-dimensional. [7] Nguyen also faulted the game for occasional lapses in exposition, but summed these up as "minor quibbles" compared to the improvements. [99] In contrast, GamesRadar's Charlie Baratt opined that Reach's campaign was better than ODST's, but lacked the "franchise-changing potential" it promised. [108] Lynch judged that while Bungie still had not learned to create a perfect story, "[Reach] does expertly set up bombastic scene after scene". [116]

Ben Kuchera of Ars Technica enjoyed the multiplayer component of Reach for its scope—"no matter how you play, you will find something to like." [117] Reviewers lauded the many customization options available to players: [108] Watters and Kuchera praised the concept of psych profiles to hone more agreeable teammate selections, but questioned its effectiveness; [107] [117] G4 considered Reach's Forge World more expansive and impressive than Halo 3's Forge offerings; [113] and Lynch wrote that the sheer quantity of multiplayer options would give the game a long life cycle for players. [116]

Critics considered the audio-visual components a marked advance over Halo 3 and ODST's. The New Zealand Herald 's Troy Rawhiti-Forbes wrote that with the improved graphics and animation, "[Reach] looks just like a big-budget Hollywood project." [118] Official Xbox Magazine acknowledged better graphics in other games, but praised Reach for "eye-catching beauty and breathless scope", noting that the inclusion of wildlife and civilians heightened the impression of a planet under siege. [111] Martin Robinson of IGN UK appreciated O'Donnell's moody score and the redone sound effects, writing that the new weapons "feel like they're about to tear your hands off". [110]

Awards

YearDateAwardPresented byCategoryResultRef
2010December 6GG Awards 2010 Good Game Best SoundWon [119] [120]
Game of the YearNominated
December 11Spike Video Game Awards 2010 Spike Best MultiplayerWon [121] [122]
Best ShooterNominated
Best Original ScoreNominated
Best Xbox 360 GameNominated
Best Performance By A Human Male [nb 1] Nominated
Game of the YearNominated
December 22Game of the Year 2010 GameSpy Shooter Game of the YearWon [123]
2011January 5Drunk Tank Awards 2010 Drunk Tank Podcast Game of the YearWon [124]
February 1 9th Visual Effects Society Awards Visual Effects Society Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action CommercialWon [125]
Outstanding Real-Time Visual Effects in a Video GameWon
Outstanding Animated Character in a Video Game [nb 2] Won
February 11 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Action Game of the Year Nominated [126]
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay Nominated
March 1NAVGTR Awards 2010National Academy of Video Game Trade ReviewersControl PrecisionNominated [127]
Original Dramatic Score, FranchiseNominated
March 16 7th British Academy Games Awards British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best ActionNominated [128]
Technical InnovationNominated
Best MultiplayerNominated
GAME AwardNominated
  1. ↑ Award was for Nathan Fillion as Sergeant Edward Buck
  2. ↑ Award was for the character of Kat

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Halo: Combat Evolved is a 2001 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox. It was released as a launch game for Microsoft's Xbox video game console on November 15, 2001. The game was ported to Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2003. It was later released as a downloadable Xbox Original for the Xbox 360. Halo is set in the twenty-sixth century, with the player assuming the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier. The Chief is accompanied by Cortana, an artificial intelligence. Players battle aliens as they attempt to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo, a ring-shaped artificial world.

<i>Halo 2</i> 2004 video game

Halo 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. Halo 2 is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved. The game features new weapons, enemies, and vehicles, another player character, and shipped with online multiplayer via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. In Halo 2's story mode, the player assumes the roles of the human Master Chief and alien Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict between the United Nations Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and later, the parasitic Flood.

Cortana (<i>Halo</i>) Fictional video game character

Cortana is a fictional artificially intelligent character in the Halo video game series. Voiced by Jen Taylor, she appears in Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite. She also briefly appears in the prequel Halo: Reach, as well as in several of the franchise's novels, comics, and merchandise. During gameplay, Cortana provides backstory and tactical information to the player, who often assumes the role of Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. In the story, she is instrumental in preventing the activation of the Halo installations, which would have destroyed all sentient life in the galaxy.

Master Chief (<i>Halo</i>) Fictional character in the Halo video game series

Master Chief is the protagonist in the Halo game series and spin-off media. Also known as Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, the character appeared in the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, a science fiction first-person shooter that became a long-running video game series. The character also appears in spin-off Halo media such as the 2012 film Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, the 2022 Halo television series, and several graphic novels and books.

<i>Halo 3</i> 2007 video game

Halo 3 is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the Halo franchise following Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) and Halo 2 (2004), the game's story centers on the interstellar war between 26th-century humanity, a collection of alien races known as the Covenant, and the alien parasite known as the Flood. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he battles the Covenant and the Flood. In cooperative play, other human players assume the role of allied alien soldiers. The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay elements familiar and new to the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, file sharing, and the Forge map editor—a utility which allows the player to perform modifications to multiplayer levels.

Halo is a military science fiction media franchise, originally developed by Bungie and currently managed and developed by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios. The series launched in 2001 with the first-person shooter video game Halo: Combat Evolved and its tie-in novel, The Fall of Reach. The latest main game, Halo Infinite, was released in late 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Staten</span> American writer

Joseph Staten is an American writer best known for his work at video game studios Bungie, Microsoft Studios, and 343 Industries.

Marketing of <i>Halo 3</i> Marketing campaign for the video game

The first-person shooter video game Halo 3 was the focus of an extensive marketing campaign which began with the game's developer, Bungie, announcing the game via a trailer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2006. Microsoft, the game's publisher, planned a five-pronged marketing strategy to maximize sales and to appeal to casual and hard-core gamers. Bungie produced trailers and video documentaries to promote the game, partnering with firms such as Digital Domain and Weta Workshop. Licensed products including action figures, toys, and Halo 3-branded soda were released in anticipation of the game; the franchise utilized more than forty licensees to promote the game, and the advertising campaign ultimately cost more than $40 million.

<i>Halo 4</i> 2012 video game

Halo 4 is a 2012 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. Halo 4's story follows a cybernetically enhanced human supersoldier, Master Chief, and his artificial intelligence construct Cortana, as they encounter unknown threats while exploring an ancient civilization's planet. The player assumes the role of Master Chief who battles against a new faction that splintered off from remnants of the Covenant, a former military alliance of alien races, as well as a new enemy: mechanical warriors of the Forerunner empire known as the Prometheans. The game features a new selection of weapons, enemies, and game modes not present in previous titles of the series.

<i>Halo 3: ODST</i> 2009 video game

Halo 3: ODST is a 2009 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The fifth installment in the Halo franchise as a side game, it was released on the Xbox 360 in September 2009. Players assume the roles of United Nations Space Command Marines, known as "Orbital Drop Shock Troopers" or ODSTs, during and after the events of Halo 2. In the game's campaign mode, players explore the ruined city of New Mombasa to discover what happened to their missing teammates in the midst of an alien invasion. In the "Firefight" multiplayer option, players battle increasingly difficult waves of enemies to score points and survive as long as possible; Halo 3's multiplayer is contained on a separate disc packaged with ODST.

<i>Halo Wars</i> 2009 real-time strategy video game

Halo Wars is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Australia on February 26, 2009; in Europe on February 27; and in North America on March 3. The game is set in the science fiction universe of the Halo series in the year 2531, 21 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. The player leads human soldiers aboard the warship Spirit of Fire in an effort to stop an ancient fleet of ships from falling into the hands of the genocidal alien Covenant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">343 Industries</span> American video game developer

343 Industries is an American video game developer located in Redmond, Washington, part of Xbox Game Studios. Headed by Pierre Hintze, the studio is responsible for the Halo series of military science fiction games, originally created and produced by Bungie, and is the developer of the Slipspace Engine. Named after the Halo character 343 Guilty Spark, the studio was established in 2007 after the departure of Bungie after the release of Halo 3.

Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington, and a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones's game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete. Originally based in Chicago, Illinois, the company concentrated on Macintosh games during its early years and created two successful video game franchises called Marathon and Myth. An offshoot studio, Bungie West, produced Oni, published in 2001 and owned by Take-Two Interactive, which held a 19.9% ownership stake at the time.

<i>Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary</i> 2011 video game remaster

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries, Saber Interactive, and Certain Affinity. It is a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), developed by Bungie. Publisher Microsoft announced Anniversary alongside Halo 4 at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It was released in November 2011, the 10th anniversary of the original Halo, for the Xbox 360 console, and re-released as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for the Xbox One in November 2014. A Windows version was released in March 2020.

<i>Halo: Spartan Assault</i> 2013 video game

Halo: Spartan Assault is a twin stick shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and Vanguard Games. Part of the Halo media franchise, the game was released on July 18, 2013, for Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms. The game subsequently released on Xbox 360, Xbox One, Steam, and iOS. Halo: Spartan Assault is set between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4. Players control the human soldiers Sarah Palmer and Edward Davis as they fight a new splinter faction of the alien Covenant. The game launched with 25 single-player missions; an additional campaign released as downloadable content. The console versions also feature an exclusive cooperative horde mode.

<i>Halo 5: Guardians</i> 2015 video game

Halo 5: Guardians is a 2015 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries, published by Microsoft Studios, and released worldwide for the Xbox One game console on October 27, 2015. The plot follows two fireteams of human supersoldiers: Blue Team, led by Master Chief, and Fireteam Osiris, led by Spartan Locke. When Blue Team goes absent without leave to track down the artificial intelligence construct Cortana, Master Chief's loyalty is called into question and Fireteam Osiris is sent to retrieve him.

<i>Halo: The Master Chief Collection</i> Video game compilation

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a compilation of first-person shooter video games in the Halo series. The collection was released in November 2014 for the Xbox One, and later ported to Microsoft Windows and the Xbox Series X/S. The collection was developed by 343 Industries in partnership with other studios and was published by Xbox Game Studios. The collection includes Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4.

Bonnie Ross is an American video game developer. She served as Corporate Vice President at Xbox Game Studios, and was the head of 343 Industries, the subsidiary studio that manages the Halo video game franchise. Ross studied technical writing and computer science in college, and worked at IBM before getting a job at Microsoft. She worked on a number of PC and Xbox games, becoming a general manager at Xbox Game Studios.

<i>Halo Infinite</i> 2021 video game

Halo Infinite is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the sixth mainline installment in the Halo series, following Halo 5: Guardians (2015). The game's campaign follows the human supersoldier Master Chief and his fight against a mercenary organization, known as the Banished, on the Forerunner ringworld Zeta Halo. Unlike previous mainline entries in the series, the multiplayer portion of the game is free-to-play.

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