Like the title says. I went back to Halo reach for the first time in 6 months after buying Halo 5: I had an absolute blast. Why do you think Halo Reach is still so much fun and has a stable population?
I think,
Story/Art:
- unique atmosphere
- well designed campaign, each mission serves purpose (not feel like filler)
- color tone
- you design your own Noble Six, so you feel like truly yourself
Mechanism:
- lot of exclusive weapons
- most of time accompanied by an invincible Noble npc
- fighting complete Covenant (brute + elite + various Jackals)
- no flood (i hate flood)
The armor and the style it was made in. They weren’t all shiny and plastic looking like in Halo 4. It looked like real armor, not kids’ toys. The atmosphere is also really nice.
Just the really solid mission design that the Bungie Halo games are famous for. I didn’t think Halo 4 was bad but it’s the one Halo game on the 360 that I never replay missions for the fun of it.
But what about the multiplayer? I agree that the colour tone is beautiful and the 720p works great. But the multiplayer feels so much more playable than halo 5 and other more modern shooters.
The multiplayer is what keeps me coming back. Team Slayer, Infection, FF, and Swat. The armor abilities make for really interesting encounters you won't get from other games (H3 equipment; H5 spartan charge). And some maps are to live for. Sword Base is probably one of the best Halo maps in existence. It's also the last classic Halo game and for some reason that compels me to play it even more. I would play H3 more, but the population is way too low.
> 2535447940912902;6:
> The multiplayer is what keeps me coming back. Team Slayer, Infection, FF, and Swat. The armor abilities make for really interesting encounters you won't get from other games (H3 equipment; H5 spartan charge). And some maps are to live for. Sword Base is probably one of the best Halo maps in existence. It's also the last classic Halo game and for some reason that compels me to play it even more. I would play H3 more, but the population is way too low.
Yeah I guess you are right. The classic feel to it is what makes it awesome to play even now.
I like all of the variety in the multiplayer and campaign.
Firefight (over offline system link),
Forge (over offline system link),
Awesome story, atmosphere, and music
> 2535461412549528;3:
> The armor and the style it was made in. They weren’t all shiny and plastic looking like in Halo 4. It looked like real armor, not kids’ toys. The atmosphere is also really nice.
Really an excellent point, all the Halo put out these days is sparkly plastic toy-like armor/equipment/weapons etc. while Halos CE through Reach are all realistic sci-fi and the mechanics are much better than any of the 343I games I’ve played
> 2533274855810497;5:
> But what about the multiplayer? I agree that the colour tone is beautiful and the 720p works great. But the multiplayer feels so much more playable than halo 5 and other more modern shooters.
That’s because Armor Abilities don’t radically alter the core gameplay, at least not to the degree that Halo 5 does with it’s Spartan Abilities; in Halo: Reach you can only have one ability at a time, and allows you to choose the one that best fits your playstyle, while Halo 5 gives you 5+ abilities all at once and requires you to master them all.
I still play Halo Reach to this day. A lot of factors that seal the deal and make it soo enjoyable to me are as followed:
Story: The story is a really memorable and impacting one. When you play as Master Chief, you pretty much expect to win in the end. But with Reach, you have to watch your fellow Spartans fall in battle around you one by one, making you realize that Spartans aren’t so invincible. Plus, if you’ve read the books/know a bit of the Halo Lore, you knew how it would end on Reach so it just felt like you were in a constant uphill battle the would ultimately lead to your demise. The missions themselves were pretty well rounded and none of them felt like there was a surefire way to breeze through them. Plus there were missions types that hadn’t really been done in Halo before, like the Long Night of Solace where you go pilot a saber and engage in space combat. The AI in the game seemed to change up from one moment to the next that made you have to occasionally re-think about just always running in gun-ho. Tie in an amazing soundtrack with musical scores that fit their scenes like a glove, and you had one hell of a story.
Multiplayer: The multiplayer, like the story, was pretty well rounded in most aspects. Most of the maps were great to play on. I remember having a game night with my youth group at church one night…8 people on 4 TVs all linked together. We were so horse by 2 am from playing SWAT and Slayer. SWAT CTF with 1 Flag is super intense. And the Armor Abilities were a nice touch that each had their strengths and weaknesses…and none of them seemed to halt gameplay/flow because they each could be countered. I tried a little online/competitive play in Halo 3, but Halo Reach’s Multiplayer really got me hooked.
Firefight: While ODST had a pretty solid Firefight, Reach just improved on it. More enemy type/variety was a plus. And the custom settings allowed you to set up a Firefight session exactly how you want with skull modifiers, specific enemy types, weapons/abilities. It allowed you to play your way.
Player Customization: This one is probably one of my favorite features in an Halo title. Reach has the best player customization, hands down. While it is true that Halo 5 gives you more armors to choose from, you only get a few options when it comes to customizing your player (mainly Helmet, Body, and Visor.) Reach had way more. (with Helmet, Body, Visor, Left and Right Shoulders, Knees, Wrist/Hip, as well as special armor effects like Inclement Weather and the Flaming Helmets.) And unlocking the various armors felt both challenging and rewarding. In later titles, a lot of them seem almost given too you or earned with very little effort.
There are a few other small details like the Ranking/Leveling system, cR/Armory system, and a few tiny details here and there that really made Halo Reach such an amazing game for me.
I feel that Reach hits the sweet spot in armor customization, medal sandbox, commendation sandbox. I mean, I found H3 a bit lacking in those aspects, and I feel that H4 overdid those things. Think the ‘Daily Challenges’ are cool, I like the ranking system, … And the UI is just perfect. All in all, the quality of life beyond the actual gameplay is amazing.
On actual gameplay, I prefer some other Halo campaigns, but Reach is still very cool. Firefight is amazing but I am sad you can’t make Set 2 grow more difficult than Set 1 (like in H3: ODST Firefight). Think I would prefer Halo 3 multiplayer, if matchmaking worked better (perhaps that’s just a population thing though), if the game ran more smoothly and looked a little better. Don’t like the impact AA’s have on the game, though I love using some of them… I guess I would prefer to have them only in Campaign and Firefight. I like how barring a few gametypes (Invasion, Elite Slayer), the loadouts aren’t much different (compared to Halo 4). Anyway, as it is, I am willing to see past what I see as a few flaws, because so many other aspects are perfect in Reach. Think Assassinations are an awesome addition, as is the Grenade Launcher. There’s so many cool maps in matchmaking. Love the art and sound style. Love Forge World. Love Theater. I would’ve gladly paid for a Legendary Edition, had I known at the time how great this game was.
The nostalgia, games worth of positive experience, a system that makes you feel like you are your character. Take your pick.
Honestly for me its the movement, gunplay, and aesthetic that keep me coming back. Everything just looks good, particularly the armour (gungnir gen 1 w/CBRN is best helmet). I’ll admit I burned myself out on it getting to mythic a few years back, but now I’m back and working towards that inclement weather (and maybe a cheeky 100% armoury while I’m at it)
Interesting to see peoples opinions, here’s mine:
-
Armour/unlockables that you can actually work towards and unlock of your choosing, unlike 5’s REQ RNG system.
-
Art style looks great and captures the feel of Reach well. 4 and 5’s designs for the armour look a little ridiculous and 5’s in particular looks like shiny power rangers
-
Reach is the most modern feeling Halo without changing the formular too drastically. 4’s was too much like Call of Duty and 5’s is way too fast with the Spartan Abilities. Reach, whilst having some balance issues with its own armour abilities, doesn’t feel too fast and still feels relatively close to the original trilogy.
-
Story is replayable and the feel of being your own character helps to make it that much more enjoyable and replayable.
Still, I dislike the fact most of Reach’s maps were Forge world (grey and washed out) and i didnt like that they dropped their competitive roots in favour of the XP progression system alone. They should have kept competitive playlists in as well.
Reach isn’t perfect and started the cracks we have in the fanbase to this day but it tried to modernise Halo without making too drastic changes and was an admirable attempt.
> 2574155679901782;16:
> - Reach is the most modern feeling Halo without changing the formular too drastically. 4’s was too much like Call of Duty and 5’s is way too fast with the Spartan Abilities. Reach, whilst having some balance issues with its own armour abilities, doesn’t feel too fast and still feels relatively close to the original trilogy.
Agreed! =]
> 2574155679901782;16:
> Still, I dislike the fact most of Reach’s maps were Forge world (grey and washed out) and i didnt like that they dropped their competitive roots in favour of the XP progression system alone. They should have kept competitive playlists in as well.
I agree somewhat, but most? Not if you looked at what maps are played most, right? I mean, more Team Slayer games are played on [Boardwalk, Countdown, Powerhouse, Reflection, Sword Base, Zealot] then on [Asylum, Pinnacle, Uncaged], right? And I don’t even think those three maps look bad at all. Community maps are mostly very grey and similar, I agree, but there’s really no way to prevent that, is there? Unless Forge World were vastly more advanced than it was.
It’s a little worse in Big Team, but that’s because a way higher percentage of maps played are community maps, I think Hemorrhage looks great as well.
Wish I still had it but damn everything, such an incredible game!
Literally everything it’s the most fun Halo to play to date, I think it’s a nearly perfect Halo game, except for -Yoink!- armorlock
> 2533274855810497;1:
> Like the title says. I went back to Halo reach for the first time in 6 months after buying Halo 5: I had an absolute blast. Why do you think Halo Reach is still so much fun and has a stable population?
Because it is absolutely the most FUN!!! Halo Reach is my favorite Halo game and it is my absolute favorite to play online. The graphics I think look the best even better than four and five. The armor looks real unlike the plastic and cartoonish halo 4 and 5. the complete and almost depressing atmosphere of the game just makes it feel alive. Yes Halo Reach is the one game that I keep coming back to.