Halo: Reach review: Yeah, it’s great

Don’t let that last statement trick you into thinking that “Halo: Reach” is lacking on the multiplayer front. All the popular gametypes from past “Halo” titles return, many with additional polish. “Reach” also sports a few new modes, such as the excellent Headhunter, which has players collecting skulls from their victims and racing to return them to a designated area before they, in turn, are killed by another player.

Wanna feel outnumbered? Try the improved Firefight mode.

Despite the new additions, as well as a more user-friendly, expanded version of “Halo 3′s” level-editing and video features, the biggest upgrades to “Reach’s” multiplayer are to “Halo 3: ODST’s” popular Firefight mode.

Firefight, which pits a team of Spartans against waves upon waves of computer-controlled Covenant, felt like a trial balloon in “ODST.” It returns as a full-featured component of “Reach’s” multiplayer. Just as they’ve been doing in other modes for the better part of a decade, “Halo” fans will be able to add incredible amounts of customization to Firefight games.

The most fun I had while previewing this game was when another journalist set up a Firefight match with low gravity, extra health, boosted-up shields, insane speeds and infinite ammo. We played on the toughest difficulty setting, flew around like kids and blasted Covenant into oblivion with our rocket launchers, safe in the knowledge that the only thing that could kill us was when our own stupidity sent us jetpacking clear out of the arena.

This combination of stupid fun with the “Halo” franchise’s most emotionally resonant story is what makes “Reach” the greatest “Halo” game. But while “Halo: Reach” is a fantastic way for Bungie to depart before unveiling its next, Activision-published franchise, there’s plenty of opportunity for someone else to come in and take Microsoft’s baby in a bold new direction. It’ll take a brave but talented developer to overhaul the cover system and evolve the combat as the genre continues to mature, all while keeping intact the community features and everything that makes “Halo” great. But unlike the task of saving Reach, it’s not an impossible one.

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