Halo Reach...Ho Hum

[eor123]

I just completed the single player campaign on Normal Difficulty. It took  me 7 - 8 hours to compete it.

Go from point A to point B.
Hordes of enemies between A and B.

At point B, get objective to go to Point C.
Hordes of enemies between B and C.

Wash and repeat as necessary.

I've played almost every game in the Halo franchise and this is without a doubt the weakest of them all. There is an attempt to have the player bond with the characters but it just doesn't w@&k. Frankly, I  just didn't care about my fellow team members much.

And the game really doesn't capture the emotional shock and outrage of an entire planet of humans being wiped out. With the exception of some militia members who put up a good fight against the aliens in one objective, the human inhabitants...well...I just don't really care about them much. They are little more than mannequins and props.

They really missed the boat developing a sense of empathy. And it could have made this a really intense and interesting experience had they exploited this element. Stand the Spartans up in front of a group families with children waiting to be evac'd or escort them through the city and defend them from aliens. This aspect of the battle was barely touched..and those are the actions from which heros are made...not going into a building to throw a couple of generic switches to activate or deactivate some obscure device.

At any given time, I would have been hard pressed to tell you what exactly my objective was.  I was just along along for the ride, shooting as many aliens as possible.

And then it ended... and I thought, "Is THAT it?"

My step sons are very excited about the cooperative play and want me to join them. I will probably try it, but that really isn't my focus on gaming.

I want to be immersed...to get emotionally vested in characters, either liking or hating them.

Ironically, the epilogue was the only part of the game which generated any sort of emotional connection to a character, but nothing like the connection you made with the Master Chief in earlier versions.

And another gripe...probably a silly one, but I sure would like the option to turn of the music while playing. In the past, I enjoyed the the ambient music in Halo. Now, it just merely annoys me.

Maybe it's me... but it sure seems like they "went to the well" once too many times, perhaps twice considering Halo ODST. But I found that one to be much more enjoyable than Reach.

[JRD]

Nice review, eor123!  :-X

I never played any of the Halo, maybe because they are X360 exclusive (they are, aren`t they?) and maybe because the whole Halo idea doesn`t appeal to me.

Usually I`m not fond of aliens and all but I just finished Borderlands and had a great time shooting creatures, monsters and aliens. I guess is the don`t take me too seriously feel of BL with the cartoonish style and humor. Halo seems too over the top for my taste.

On a side note, feel free to rate that game if you feel like. Link to ratings from the main page, near game icons!  ;)

[fragger]

Thanks for the review, Eeyore :-X

Man, that's a short one, only 7-8 hours. I never played the Halo games either, but from what you've said, it sounds like it'd be a bit of a letdown for fans.

@JRD, Halo 2 was available for PC, but I don't know about the other titles in the series.

[Art Blade]

"Good" review, Eeyore (sounds ironical, hehe)  ;D :-X

I played H2 on the PC and frankly, I don't remember much. All I remember is that I was a little disappointed given the hype I picked up for some time regarding the original Halo which made me buy that game in the first place.

[deadman1]

Nice review, eor123!  :-X

I never played any of the Halo, maybe because they are X360 exclusive (they are, aren`t they?) and maybe because the whole Halo idea doesn`t appeal to me.

Usually I`m not fond of aliens and all but I just finished Borderlands and had a great time shooting creatures, monsters and aliens. I guess is the don`t take me too seriously feel of BL with the cartoonish style and humor. Halo seems too over the top for my taste.

On a side note, feel free to rate that game if you feel like. Link to ratings from the main page, near game icons!  ;)

Both Halo 1 and Halo 2 were available on the PC, never played H2 though.

[eor123]

I'm probably being a little too critical. It likely  does represent the best of its genre but I suppose I just don't care too much for the sci-fi / fantasy theme games and I've become somewhat hostile to "corridor-type" shooters.   

I did enjoy Halo 1 and 2. By the third one, it was starting to get a little stale but I liked the closure at the end and it seemed like the right time to wrap up the story.

ODST was milking the franchise a bit, but it had a fresh enough perspective it was enjoyable.

Reach has plenty of what people who enjoy that genre expect and it is wonderfully executed. It just didn't do much for me.

Within 30 minutes of completing Reach, I had FC2 back in the machine and was playing as a new character and experimenting with different weapon sets and tactics.  ;D