"Does anybody remember where we parked?"

The current issue of Gameinformer magazine features a ten-page spread on Bungie’s latest foray into the canon of Halo, Halo: Reach. Chronicling the fall of mankind’s greatest military outpost, the planet Reach, the game will put players in the shoes of Noble 6, the newest member of Noble Team, a group of Spartan III’s that take on the UNSC’s most difficult missions and live (mostly) to tell the tale.

For those of you who’ve been living under a rock in a cave under the ocean in the sea of La La Land, the Halo games tell the story of Master Chief, a super solider with metal underpants and mankind’s fight against the war mongering Covenant who were originally dead set on finding the Halo rings (not the Tolkien kind, the orbital station kind) to obliterate mankind, but then became our buddies when the Covenant accidentally release the Flood, a parasitic race of killer ferns. But then, in Halo: ODST you go back in time to New Mombassa, playing the world’s worst nameless, rookie ODST member looking for the rest of his squad only to arrive just in time to relive each squad member’s death. Confused? Welcome to Halo!

Anyway, there are several key enhancements to the gameplay that should take the Halo franchise to the next level, namely that you’re back in a suit of Mjolnir armor and not a puny mortal without regenerating shields.

1. No Master Chief – As Noble 6, you’re a Spartan III, whereas Master Chief is a Spartan II. The difference being that Spartan III’s are cheaper to train and produce, and are more quickly sent on suicide missions.
2. New Weapons – Namely the Needle Rifle, a headshot weapon with exploding ordnance and the DMR or Designated Marksman Rifle. The DMR combines the power and accuracy of a sniper rifle with the mid range capabilities of a single shot rifle.
3. Two Grenade Types – Only the standard frag and plasma grenade return to action, in order to minimize inventory clutter.
4. Urban Environments – Reach is a colonized planet: players will be exploring a world with actual life, not a lifeless orbital platform. Players will be able to explore colonies, military outposts as well as sprawling landscapes.
5. New Enemy Type – The Skirmisher, a cousin of the Jackal, makes an appearance as a pack-hunting enemy that loves to flank your squad.
6. New Vehicles – The Falcon, an armed UNSC dropship that combines a helicopter with a Pelican, will be the main method of transport throughout reach, but players will also be able to commandeer civilian vehicles on the fly.
7. Stealth Kills – Taking a page from Sam Fisher’s book, players can now sneak up on unsuspecting Covenant forces by holding down the melee button and execute a context sensitive stealth kill.
8. Armor Abilities – Throughout the game players will discover armor augments that can only be equipped on at a time. Augments such as an active camouflage give the player brief periods of invisibility, and the sprint augment provides a burst of speed. All armor abilities will function on a cool down timer much like the Biotics in Mass Effect.
9. New Characters - The members of Noble Team breath new life into the franchise with individual personalities and armor: Carter-259, in blue-ish green Spartan III armor leads Noble Team, Jorge-052 is the heavy weapons specialist and the only member of Nobel in he bulkier Spartan II armor, Emile-239 has the most noticeable armor with a white skull painted on his visor, Kat-320 is Carter's second in command in blue armor with a cybernetic right arm and last is Jun-266, the quiet sniper of the group.

Written by :

Hispanic At The Disco

 

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Maneatingcow23

Re:Halo: Reach Details Revealed Jan 13 2010 18:57:45 So wait, what's a Spartan I? I thought Master Chief was the biggest badass in the universe. But apparently he is only a Spartan II. So confused.

#14683

Hispanic At The Disco

Halo: Reach Details Revealed Jan 13 2010 19:03:16 Welcome to Halo!

#14685

Maneatingcow23

Re:Halo: Reach Details Revealed Jan 13 2010 19:06:41 Unfortunately I'm well behind the curve when it comes to Halo. Never played the first game, only played multiplayer on the second at a friend's house, and absolutely suck at (and am confused by) Halo 3. I know, I know...but I had a Playstation 2 back then. The fact that every time I go online some 9 year old makes me feel like it's my first day gaming doesn't help any either.

#14686

Knight

Halo: Reach Details Revealed Jan 14 2010 17:29:06 Actually SPARTAN IIIs don't use MJOLNIR armor they use SPI armor, which isn't as awesome(no shields). Seems like health packs are definitely making a return in this game. You should go to the Halo wiki page to catch up. There is a ton of info. I'm actually reading the books right now. I finished First Strike and The Flood so far this week and I am currently reading through Ghosts of Onyx. My love for Halo is slowly making a return. By the way SPARTAN Is are humans originally created to put down the rebellion in the outer colonies. They only have mental and biological enhancements, no special armor(that I can recall). Little known fact: Sgt. Johnson was a SPARTAN I.

#14693

edgeofblade

Halo: Reach Details Revealed Jan 14 2010 20:31:06 Spartan III's, huh. Cue the PS3 snarkaholics and their inability to understand that SPARTAN III's were in service before Halo:CE...

#14695

PhantumPhyr

Re:Halo: Reach Details Revealed Jan 17 2010 16:17:00 My friend (Who is far better at Halo than I.) didn't know the Battle of Reach took place just before the halo series. People don't look into stuff anymore. It's a shame. And even though MJOLNIR is alot better in protection....SPI armor is too cool looking to even make the MJOLNIR a competitor, except maybe Jorges.

#14705