Halo: Reach Preview

30 Jul 2010 at 19:55:00 by

Halo: Reach is, by far, Bungie's most ambitious Halo project. It's set in the time before Halo: Combat Evolved, and tells the story of the planet Reach, the starting point of what will turn out to be a galactic war. We already know you'll take to space and have levels of space combat in the campaign mode, and we've also been told that we can expect a few more surprises in the game's campaign mode.

The campaign mode is a good place to start, and we're introduced to planet Reach by means of a cut-scene which shows off the game's engine. According to Brian Jared, Bungie's community manager, all the cut-scenes in the game are done in real-time and using the game's graphics engine, so there isn't much of a change in quality between the cut-scenes and the in-game play. This is evident when you see it and the detail of the new world is just incredible. The planet, which is naturally very Earth-like, is populated with indigenous animals, local civilians and some interesting fauna and flora. It's a lush environment and seems very serene and calm.

We're introduced to Noble Six, the newest recruit of the Noble team (a group of Spartans before the Master Chief generation of Spartans), and the guy you'll be taking control of. Because you're new to the team and don't know the world you're in, the AI does something quite clever in the way of guiding you through the game world. The first thing you're tasked with doing is figuring out why a comms station has been disabled. There have already been a group of ground troops dispatched to the site, but they've not been heard from since arrival, which means there's no other option than to go and investigate.

After a brief run around, you find the troops dead and the civilians locked up in their homes, with the Covenant already running riot. The rest is where the game begins and Halo fans will know that it's going to be all action from this point on.

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