Halo: Reach

Halo: Reach
Studio	Bungie
Publisher	Microsoft Game Studios
Erstveröffent- lichung	September 14, 2010
platform	Xbox 360 , Xbox One , Microsoft Windows , Steam
genre	Ego shooter
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
control	Gamepad , keyboard and mouse
system advantages preconditions	Operating system : Windows 7 64-bit. Processor : Intel Core i3-3550 3.3 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 960T 3.0 GHz. RAM : 8 GB Graphics card : GeForce GTS 450 or Radeon HD 6850. [[Hard Disk]]: 20 GB of free space DirectX version: DirectX 11
medium	DVD-ROM , download
language	German English
Age rating	USK PEGI

Halo: Reach is a first person shooter developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios . The game is based on the Halo game series . It was released for Xbox 360 on September 14, 2010 . The game is set in the year 2552, mankind is at war with the Alliance on the colony of Reach. The player takes on the role of the fighter Noble 6, who belongs to an elite unit, the Noble team. In March 2019, it was announced that Halo: Reach would be added to the Master Chief Collection . The multiplayer should be available free of charge to everyone who already owns the Master Chief Collection for Xbox One , while the campaign and the firefight mode can be purchased as premium DLC from the store. The aforementioned collection was also released for PC on December 3, 2019 and Halo: Reach was the first game available for purchase. In contrast to the Xbox One version, the PC version is not split in two.

action

In the 26th century, humanity began to travel to distant planets and colonize them. Soon tensions arise between the outer and inner colonies, which escalate and lead to civil war. In response, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) founds the Spartans, people who are prepared in childhood to become super soldiers. In 2525, the Harvest colony is attacked by an alien alliance. In the next 27 years humanity will lose more and more territories due to the high technological superiority of the Alliance. The Spartans are proving to be an effective force, but cannot do much to counter the overwhelming superiority.

Of all the interstellar colonies, Reach ranks alone at the top. It is populated by 700 million people. Reach is the last line of defense from Earth, and if it falls, humanity is threatened with extinction.

The game follows the course of an UNSC special unit consisting of elite soldiers, also known as Spartans . The player slips into the role of a nameless, new member of the team with the callsign Noble 6, also Spartan-B312. The leader of the troop is Carter-A259, Second-Command and the technology and communication specialist is Kat-B320. Other members of the Noble team include Jorge-052, Heavy Weapons Specialist, Grenadier Emile-A239, and Sniper Jun-A266.

Halo Reach consists of nine missions and begins with a new member joining the Noble team. The team is now fully occupied again. Colonel Holland, Commander of the team, sends the Spartans out to see why a relay on Reach has failed and how bad the damage is. Instead of encountering rebels, the Noble team encounters the Alliance.

Shortly afterwards, the Spartans are sent to the sword base to defend them when Catherine Halsey, mastermind of the SPARTAN II program, informs them that the Alliance has been looking for important information at the relay. As a result, you are assigned to scout the enemy with the sniper Jun-A266 to determine his strength. When they discover a huge invading army, the data is transmitted immediately and the Spartans are ordered back.

The following morning, the UNSC attacks the Alliance in battle to destroy a dome that is used as protection for further supplies. When this is destroyed, however, a huge Alliance ship emerges, which destroys the frigate Grafton and causes chaos, while the Spartans and many other Marines can still escape.

Kat-B320 then develops a plan to destroy the Alliance's super-carrier. The team's plan is working; however, Jorge-052 sacrifices himself so that he can detonate a bomb near the super-carrier. This will destroy it; however, a short time later the entire Alliance fleet appears in orbit, and the battle for Reach now seems hopeless.

Noble 6 now helps evacuate the city of New Alexandria and the following night destroys three jammers that prevent Kat-B320 from sending the damage report to Colonel Holland. When the city is then glazed, Kat is shot by an Alliance sniper on the way to a nuclear shelter. The team now gets the order from Holland to penetrate the sword base and destroy the remaining data.

Soon after, however, it becomes clear that this was just an excuse to send the team to the sword base. In reality, the Noble team is supposed to be the laboratory of the living Dr. Protect Halsey so that the AI ​​Cortana can then be flown to the last evacuation point on the continent.

As it turns out, Cortana has stored all the data from a secret excavation that explains an ancient, but technologically superior complex under the sword base and which may be the key in the fight against the Alliance. Jun-A266 accompanies Dr. Halsey then to the castle base, so that only Emile, Carter and Noble 6 are left.

While Emile and Noble 6 try to reach the evacuation ship "Pillar of Autumn" as quickly as possible, Carter sacrifices himself to take out an opposing battle tank (Scarab).

The two Spartans can fight their way up to a mass accelerator that defends the Pillar of Autumn. Emile takes over the mass accelerator, while Noble 6 secures a landing zone for the commander of the Pillar of Autumn. This takes Cortana, but cannot take in the Spartans, as several enemy dropships are approaching. In the ensuing battle with the detached ground troops, Emile dies, and an Alliance cruiser appears in the sky, heading for the Pillar of Autumn. Noble 6 then fights its way back to the mass accelerator, takes over and shoots down the Alliance cruiser and enables the Pillar of Autumn to escape. Then the Autumn Reach leaves, flies into orbit and thus escapes the Alliance, while the Spartan watches the ship and draws his weapon. This is where the events of Halo: Battle for the Future begin .

You can see Noble 6 standing alone on the battlefield and looking up at the sky. After a few seconds, DropShips drop troops nearby. In the subsequent firefight, Noble 6 kills numerous troops before they finally manage to wrestle and kill him.

Forty years after these events, Reach can be seen again with healthy green grass despite the glazing. The humans begin to inhabit Reach again and Catherine Halsey notes for posterity that the humans can start the rebuilding with the courage of the fallen Spartans and that the war is finally over.

Gameplay

Armor abilities

There are seven new skills that you can acquire by collecting the right items. But you can only use one at a time. In theory, they can be used as often as you like, but are usually not available for a short time after use, for a recharge time. The following skills are available during the game:

Holographic bait ( hologram )

A hologram of the player goes to the point that the player is aiming at. The enemies are thus deceived and attack the hologram. This method is useful for targeting ambushes or distracting the enemy, but it can withstand limited fire. The hologram lasts about ten seconds, then the user can generate a new one.

Jetpack

The rocket backpack can be used to cross slopes or to reach elevated platforms. The maximum duration of use depends on the behavior: If it is used continuously, a charge lasts about three seconds. If it is only used in spurts, it immediately begins to recharge, which increases the range if used skillfully.

Armor shield

The armor shield makes the player invulnerable for a short time. In return, however, you cannot move during this time. It has a strong gravitational effect on the ground. When the armor shield is deactivated, a short-range electromagnetic pulse is fired that paralyzes vehicles and shields.

Protective shield

The protective shield, which is similar to the dome-shaped bubble shield from Halo 3, protects the player from enemy attacks. All persons who are in the protective shield are healed. In contrast to the bubble shield from Halo 3 , it can be destroyed with heavy weapons or strong external fire.

sprint

This ability is mostly only available to Spartans. The sprint can be activated for a short time and is used to overrun enemy positions, advance quickly and catch up with fleeing opponents. While sprinting, the user cannot fire or throw grenades, but can perform melee attacks. If the user jumps while sprinting, the jump height is not increased, but the range is increased so that some places become accessible.

Evade

This ability is mostly only available to elites . It allows the player to evade a role in any direction. It can roll twice before the ability needs to recharge. The role is faster than the sprint and reduces the attack surface, but has shorter range and is more difficult to control. When dodging, the user cannot fire, throw grenades, or make melee attacks.

camouflage

With the camouflage feature, the user becomes invisible and adapts to the environment. However, the effect wears off as soon as one moves, is hit by gunfire or grenade impact, or even opens fire. A radar jammer is also activated, which simulates enemies on the radars of enemies and allies in the area of your own radar. These protect the user, but it is difficult for them to detect real approaching threats and, since the radar takes into account height differences, the radar jammer also generates pseudo-enemies that cannot exist.

There is no such thing as “best” armor ability. All of them have advantages and disadvantages that the user has to carefully weigh up when choosing. In multiplayer games, a suitable set of weapons is often supplied with the armor capabilities that can be selected. Certain combinations of armor and weapon (s) can be extremely effective in certain situations or against certain enemies; some are already in the spawn selection, some have to be compiled in the field. Many players prefer certain armor skills because they are best at handling them and their tactics and strategies are based on them .

In the campaign, the player usually starts with the sprint. However, other armor abilities can be found. In online multiplayer mode, the player can choose an armor ability when spawning, or all players have the same armor ability. In theory, armor skills can also be added in multiplayer mode.

Credits

For playing, both alone and via the individual online offers, there are experience points ("credits"), which on the one hand help to improve one's rank, and on the other hand serve as currency to buy new parts for armor and thus yourself to create an individual character. The change only relates to the appearance and has no further advantages.

The ranks are modeled on the US military up to the general ranks. The ten highest ranks (from Field Marshall) are fictional and partly come from Halo 2 .

Multiplayer

Firefight

The firefight mode is a cooperative game mode, consisting of different game modes, in which you have to survive online against increasingly stronger hordes of enemies, alone, in pairs or in a team of up to four players. The game ends when the time is over or the team has used up all the lives from the common pool of life (classic variant). The points that are earned depend on the type of enemy (different types of infantry and vehicles) and the type of killing (multiple kills, headshots and close combat). At the end of the round, the points are calculated separately for each player to see who is the best in the group. This so-called game report includes the type and amount of killed opponents / vehicles, the destruction tool of the respective player, the medals acquired (multiple kills, assists, assassinations, driver bonuses, headshots, etc.), the deaths and the longest series of kills. The modes in the firefight are freely adaptable and editable and allow you to manipulate the enemy waves, activate / deactivate different skulls (difficulty and point multiplier), to create up to three new skulls, which e.g. B. affect the hearing or the abilities of the opponent / player to activate generators that you have to defend, or to activate / deactivate weapon drops and ammunition boxes. There is also a firefight player search, in which you can (unlike in Halo 3: ODST) find players and do not have to invite players who are on the Xbox Live friends list.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer mode consists of twelve different game modes:

• Team Slayer (4v4 Team Deathmatch)
• Super Slayer (4v4 Group Deathmatch)
• The Arena (There are team and individual deathmatch modes in the arena. Very classic, except for the new feature that seasons are played. A season lasts a month. If you complete at least three games in ten days, you will be evaluated and given points a rank in the league (Trueskill system). Thought to be able to measure yourself against others and to be assessed.)
• Rumble Pit (everyone against everyone (also called "free-for-all" or "ffa") with eight players)
• Living Dead (Consists of two game modes: "Infection" and "Alpha Zombie" . Basically, some of the players start out as zombies. If a zombie kills a person, they become a new zombie. The game ends when all players are or are zombies time is running out. In "Alpha Zombie" the zombies have the Sprint ability instead of the Dodge ability .)
• Team SWAT (no shields, no motion sensors, unlimited ammunition. Particularly suitable as target training, since headshots mean a one-hit kill)
• Team Snipers (players start with ranged weapons, e.g. the sniper rifle )
• Team Objective (4v4 goal-based games such as Capture the Flag)
• Double Team (2v2 Team Deathmatch)
• Multi team (four teams of three members compete against each other in different modes)
• Big Team Battle (8v8 mix of Slayer and Objective game types)
• Invasion (6v6, the teams fight for areas and a data core)

Community

In this playlist, community game types are played on community map variants, consisting of:

• MLG (the official playlist for major league gaming)
• Team Classic (The classic Halo, with custom settings and no armor abilities)
• Action sack
• Grip ball
• Flag stravaganza

the forge

Die Schmiede is a tool with which the players can change the multiplayer cards in the game conditionally and make them available online. You can do this by transforming yourself into the Illuminati, a game character discovered by humanity in the first halo . It is an extension of the Halo 3 forge. With it, it is much easier to create your own maps. With the ability to slide objects into one another, practically any idea can be implemented. Numerous new features also simplify handling. In addition, objects or vehicles and weapons can be selected and freely placed in the forge.

The forging world

The Blacksmith World is the largest map in a Halo game so far and serves as the basis for several maps from the multiplayer game types.

reception

Ratings

• The Guardian 5/5
• Eurogamer.de 8/10
• GamePro 93%
• PlanetXBox 360 10/10

Sales figures

In August, Halo: Reach had 1.07 million pre-orders, beating StarCraft II with 965,000. By Halo: Reach Bungie took on the day of publication of 200 million US dollars, becoming the most successful launch of a computer game in 2010. In North America in the first month three million copies were sold worldwide more than 8.5 million. In September 2014, the game was available for download free of charge for XBox Live Gold members as part of the Games with Gold campaign .

Add-ons / downloads

343 Industries released the so-called Defiant card package on March 15, 2011 and thus celebrated its premiere in the first-person shooter part of the Halo series. There are two new multiplayer maps (Highlands and Condemned) and a firefight mission (Unearthed), on which you can unlock three new achievements that bring you 150 gamerscore. Highlands offers a large area and a vehicle connection, Condemned is kept small and plays in a spaceship. There are no new weapons, vehicles or other items. Previously, Bungie's Halo creators had launched the Noble Map Pack.

On November 15, 2011, 343 Industries released the Anniversary Card Pack. It includes six new multiplayer maps (Battle Canyon, Breakneck, High Noon, Penance, Ridgeline and Solitary) and a new Firefight map (Installation 04). You can unlock seven new achievements on the cards, each with a value of 250 gamerscore. Buyers of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary are provided with a code to download the map package. Otherwise you can buy it in the Xbox Live marketplace.

Soundtrack

• 2010: Halo Reach (2 CDs) by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori

Web links

• Official Halo website (multilingual)
• Halo: Reach at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Release . In: Wired . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
2. ^ The Guardian Rating . In: The Guardian . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
3. ↑ Eurogamer rating . eurogamer.de. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
4. ↑ GamePro rating . In: GamePro . Archived from the original on October 14, 2010. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 26, 2010. 
5. ↑ PlanetXBox 360 rating . In: planetxbox360.com . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
6. ↑ Halo: Reach: Bungie's Shooter makes a record start . In: hddaily.de . Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 26, 2010. 
7. ↑ Sold copies USA . In: Video Games Zone . Retrieved October 26, 2010.
8. ↑ spieletipps.de An overview of the Halo series. Accessed September 11, 2012.