I picked up Halo: Reach (Xbox 360) earlier this week. A friend came over and brought his copy so we could play around a bit before The Venture Bros. came on at 11:30pm. I'm not much of a Halo fan. I thoroughly enjoyed Halo: Combat Evolved (Halo 1) all those years ago, but Halo 2, Halo 3, and ODST were weak. I didn't like the changes they made. They took a perfectly solid game and added a lot of stupid features. I played through campaign on Halo 2, 3, and ODST with my brother, but other than that, I barely played MP.

That being said, Reach is fantastic. The SP campaign is OK -- the story is pedestrian, though those familiar with the Halo series should find it interesting enough. SP game play is good. It features two player split screen co-op, or 4 player online co-op.

The campaign is fun, but MP is where it shines. I haven't had so much fun playing MP in nearly a decade. The weapons, while few, are well balanced. Bungie got rid of the stupid dual-wielding introduced in Halo 2 and replaced it with "Armor" features like jump jets and active camo, which are used well.

Almost every aspect of the MP game is customizable, from simple things like points to win and scoring aspects; to which weapons are where, which items can be used, starting inventory, explosive strength and many others. It's also easy to forgo the options page and just right into a game - they experience isn't any worse. I see a lot of fun combos being developed with all of the available options. I haven't had a chance to use the Forge (the built in map editor) but I have played some user-made maps which were quite enjoyable. I'm sure with time, there will be a good supply of fresh maps to keep MP interesting.

Multiplayer is a lot more balanced than in previous installments. Gone are the annoying over-powered weapons. There are still stronger weapons, but they're no longer insta-win weapons like before. A rookie player can still have a good time playing against vets. I've never liked ranking systems that give gameplay awards to players (COD, etc). This systems keeps new players from improving, by giving school kids with lots of time better weapons than those of us with jobs and responsibility. Reach offers rewards in terms of titles, color options, armor appearance (that, as far as I know, have no gameplay effect), and other cool yet ultimately useless rewards.

The various game options keep things mixed up. Bungie has also implemented a "weekly challenge" feature where each week new MP challenges are introduced to keep things interesting (think XBox achievements that change from week to week).

I've only logged a few hours in online MP, but it's been a good experience. I recommend this game for any 360 owners who like FPS games, or people who enjoy MP - it's one of the better titles.

If anyone is interested, I play on Live as ProfessorSteven. I usually play 6-9pm PST, sometimes later if my mom wife lets me.

Also, I tried to play co-op with SillyC but he said no because he hates me

I want to get Reach but i can't justify the $60 plus getting Gold...

I've always loved Halo, I'm playing through them with my roommate again, he's never played them or many other games. I'm really enthusiastic about getting Reach and can't wait to afford it.

get it get it get it

buy me it buy me it buy me it (and i'll get Gold)

You forgot, I hate you too....

I had a good laugh about your clever gamertag, Prof. Steven. Not only that but your Massassi tag is Steven. I get it.

Dose anyone else at Massassi have a Live Gammertag or something thats the same (or nearly the same) as their Massassi Account?

Uhh, my name is Steven. In high school I always earned good grades with minimal effort and did much better than the druggies and dopey kids in my school, so they nicknamed me "Professor." I liked the nickname so I use it on Live.

There is a gamer tag thread on the game forum.

Go eff yourself, I was about to log off when you messaged me. But yes, Reach is proving to be far more enjoyable than any of the previous Halo's in my opinion. We'll have to get some co-op or multiplayer going sometime soon.

Damn, I liked dual wielding. Ah well.

Do you still jump around like some sort of toad while throwing tanks into the air?

Just popping in to say I wouldn't play MP even if the game was free. I'd only play it for the SP, and since apparently it's not even that great, totally not worth the time. Halo 3's MP alone was so incredibly dull, and the fact that I am absolutely sick and tired of fighting with the controller to play FPSes on consoles, I won't be touching this one.

Thanks for your contribution

Isuwen: throwing tanks?

WHA!?!? Have you been pampered by the mouse?:carl:

IF THE GAME WAS FREE

I spend 8 to 10 hours each day during the work week using a mouse and keyboard. One of the last things I want to do is use them recreationally. Console games let me drop in and out with little to no trouble. It's also a lot easier to have friends over and play games together.

That said, I have Halo: Reach. I like the single player - hooray, I have my pistol again! - and would love to play some online co-op. If anyone wants to give ODST a co-op run, too, that'd be cool.

I agree. For something that isn't an FPS.

I agree that mouse+keyboard is better for FPS's, but if playing them with a gamepad is so difficult you can't get past it and enjoy the game, you're definitely in the minority and there's a reason for that: it's not THAT hard, unless you have a disability with your hands (like severe nerve damage or something) or your brain (by which I don't mean retardedness, but perhaps a coordination problem, learning difficulties or something to that effect).

Halo is like gay marriage. It's popular & has lots of support. But it's not for me, and I wish the whole issue would just go away.


Actually, I'm for gay rights. Not Halo. F*ck Halo. I loathe Halo.

For me, if it's a single-player FPS game on the console, I don't mind. I can go at my own pace most of the time. But for multiplayer in FPS game, controllers just piss me off. It sresses me out trying to match my crosshair to the relatively unpredicatable movements of players and see the results hampered by the controller sensitivity. But I don't play console FPS matches online, and none of my local-multiplayer friends do either, so no loss.

Joysticks are meant for adjusting change in rate of rotation, not change in position. That's why they work great for airplanes and flight sims but are terrible for first person shooters. You want to be able to look to a specific point to aim, not rotate, wait, then stop rotating. It's clumsy. I'd like to try a good FPS with the Wii MotionPlus, it could solve this problem while still being simple enough to use while lying on a sofa.

less bіtching more topic pls k thx

I might pick this up, I haven't done any research but the trailer video I saw looks like the map customization has been improved. I don't mind controllers for FPS, I rock with them. Halo is ok, I don't see what all the fuss is about.

I have to agree on the whole mouse>joystick thing. I tried building a sniper in borderlands on the 360, got pissed, and purchased it on steam. I was instantly happier. Anything that requires specific aiming or sniping needs a mouse. Besides that I am like many others here who do not have the time of a high school freshman to overcome my learning curve on the controller. Using the mouse has become second nature for me since I began playing the JK series.

I'll probably rent this and buy it when its $20. If the SP mission is so-so the game holds little interest for me. I intensely dislike console online game play.

Yah, I don't know what ******* got us off topic like this, bringing up mouse and keyboard issues.

I just assume people who ***** about aiming in a console FPS either have poor hand eye coordination, or are too stupid to turn the controller's sensitivity up.

I used to play JK with a joystick. Pulling off that spinning swing with SBX3 was hard without sensitivity all the way up.

Picked it up today, just played for a few hours.

I enjoy it immensely, I'm with Steven, the multiplayer feels perfect (Except for the lack of maps so they can charge $15 for 2 months from now)

It's a great deal of fun. I really enjoy it.