Halo Hype Claims Another

AS POSTED AT SFX-360.COM

Perhaps I was one of the only gamers in the Universe that was not excited about Halo: Reach. Before you all flame me off the interwebs, let me explain…

Let me give you some background. I am a Call of Duty/Gears of War kind of guy. I like the Halo series and I find it entertaining, but I lack the fan boy drive that makes me want to eat, sleep, and dream about John 117. I have played the campaign and I have fought numerous multi-player battles, but for some reason, something was always seemed to be missing from the franchise for me. Perhaps it is because I am not that skilled on the multiplayer front. I can hold my own, but as a matter of routine, I receive free lessons from the community on the finer points of the tea bag. There is something very humbling about getting dismantled by a 11-year-old and then being told all about it in the lobby. My humility aside, new Halo games and Halo map packs were reason for the “Halo Kids” to stop screeching in my ear on Call of Duty and move back to the lands of Cortana and the Flood.

All of that changed two days ago. My new issue of Game Informer arrived in my mailbox and I was immediately enthralled by the cover. This front and back beauty provided a little taste of what Halo: Reach was about in beautiful muted tones. I gawked at the hulking Spartan, I looked over the shoulder of a leader Spartan, I saw a smaller Spartan, I gazed at a Spartan with a skull design painted on his helmet, I scanned over a ravaged landscape. Excited, I flipped right to the Halo: Reach article and dug in. I devoured the article word for word and carefully dissected the pictures. Shocked by what I was doing, I stopped. I could not believe what was happening to me. I became genuinely excited for this game, giddy even.

Wrestling with my thoughts, I began to think through what was making me so excited for this game. Now that I am thinking more clearly, I have compiled a list of reasons below for our faithful readers:

Squads: We have seen what one Spartan is capable of. Imagine what kinds of awesome a squad of Spartans can provide?

Class Based: Working in conjunction with the squad theory, it seems fairly obvious that Halo: Reach will be class based. Finally, you will be able to specialize in your favorite brand of combat. Does this mean no more races to the sniper? Heavy Gunner, Sniper, Scout; they all seem to be represented in Reach.

New Weapons/Armor/Vehicles: The Game Informer article briefly touched on some of the new weapons. A needler rifle? A Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR)?, Armor abilities, a Falcon attack/transport vehicle? Yes please.

Back story: The Halo Universe is deep and well crafted. The events of Reach allegedly take place before Halo: Combat Evolved. Any prequel that shines more light on the Halo Universe is sure to be gripping.

An updated Halo Engine: If the Game Informer screen shots are any indication, serious upgrades have made to the Halo Engine. This means better graphics and a better overall game play experience.

Modern Warfare 2: What? Yes. Modern Warfare 2. For once, Bungie has a challenger to the FPS throne. Modern Warfare has swiped Bungie’s thunder and has become the premier FPS (sorry kiddies, it’s true). This forces Bungie to up the ante. Competition leads to better products and service for the consumer. This is Bungie’s chance to regain the FPS heavyweight title and we all benefit from it.

The Public Beta: Modern Warfare 2 may be the current king, but a number of bugs and glitches have left dissension among the ranks. A public beta would have served it well and likely would have prevented a number of bugs and glitches that pushed some players away in the first months. That said, Bungie realizes the value of a good public beta. Allowing throngs of the biggest Halo fans to pound on an early code of game will provide Bungie with invaluable data and hopefully prevent game breaking glitches. Let us not forget about the obvious here; the public beta also gives early access to the most anticipated game of the year.

Bungie’s Last Hurrah: Halo: Reach is also Bungie’s last (announced) Halo game. If this really is true, you can bet your right arm that they are going out with a bang. I, for one, am really looking for to it.