Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: First person shooter
Metacritic Rating: 91/100
Copies Sold: 4.7 million (As of September 2011)
Release Date: September 2010

Halo: Reach assigns players roles as shooters mostly from the a first-person point of view. Each player is given a role in the Noble Six and assigned to do battle against a collective of aliens called the Covenant. Players have roles known as supersoldiers, and the basic game play resembles that of Halo: Combat Evolved. Each character has an energy shield that can be recharged and that deflects fire from the enemy. Hits cause the shield to deplete and the player to lose health. A zero health score causes the game to reset from a saved point, and the player can replenish with health packs located throughout each game level.

Equipment use is a bit different in Halo: Reach than in some previous versions. Single-use weapons from Halo 3 are a thing of the past. This kind of equipment had only temporary defensive and offensive advantages. The weapons in Reach can be reused and have lasting armor abilities that a character can keep until he or she replaces them. These upgraded capabilities include sprints, jet-packs, and camouflage. An added armor lock feature freezes the character but also gives him/her temporary invincibility. Previous Halo weapons have also gotten upgrades in this game version, and new ones also fill a range of roles in combat.

Multiplayer Capabilities

Halo: Reach allows for gamers to compete against one another with the Xbox’s split screen feature. They can also use the Xbox Live service as well as local networks. The standard Reach multiplayer modes include Capture the Flag and Slayer. Other game types are first introduced in Reach; these include the Headhunter feature. It works by one player dropping skulls for others to find and use for accumulating more points. Teams playing the Stockpile feature collect a number of flags that are designated neutral. Keeping these flags at capture checkpoints translates into higher scores.

The Generator game type pits three elite members of the Covenant versus three Halo human supersoldiers. These six players then swap roles after each round of combat. The Invasion game mode pits three groups of two fighters each against one another. This kind of combat entails Elite Covenants versus Spartans. The Elites fight for dominance over certain territories and try to disable the shield that protects a core of navigation. After they are able to disable the shield, they then have to move the core to a dropshipping feature. The Spartans’ entire mission is to prevent this from happening. More equipment and geographic area becomes available as the game keeps going.

Firefight is a Halo game type in which players vie for survival in an increasingly difficult set of enemy battles. The number and type of foes can be customized according to preferences. A team of Elites can also be controlled by a set of players to prevent Spartan scoring. Other game modes such as Generator Defense can also be played in Firefight.

Forge is a specialized editor in Halo: reach that allows players to make various edits they prefer. They can change the maps of multiplayers and modify a vast empty player map called the Forge World. Weapons, spawn points, and other specialty items can be added to this editor as well.

Halo: Reach has made a record $200 million in sales soon after its initial release. This figure surpasses that of other Halo versions. The strong sales suggest that recent slow video game sales could pick up in the near future. This game also sold about $350 million worth of related merchandise during the first two weeks of release. Most countries saw Reach move to the top of the Xbox 360 sales charts within a relatively brief time period. Figures from the NPD Group estimate that Halo: Reach sold about 3.3 million units in North America during the first month of release. The only other games to do as well are Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3 for the generation of consoles that include PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Reach also became the third best selling game of 2010 after Madden NFL and and Call of Duty: Black Ops. As of September 2011, Reach has sold about 4.7 million copies.

Reach has also done well in the UK, reaching the fifth-best game launch in this particular sales region. It bypassed Halo 3 by about 20,000 sales units by the first week. Reach become the second best seller in the UK during its second week, right after the race game F1 2010. It remained the top seller in North America during this time. Halo reach had a strong start in Japan but leveled off in sales fairly quickly. It began with 44,413 units sold, less than Halo 3′s 61,143 sales figures within the first week of release.

Halo: Reach Trailer