Halo: Reach

Halo Reach is part of the Halo computer series created by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The role of the series of games is centred around the experiences of the Master chief, who is a cybernetically enhanced human super soldier and his artificial intelligence companion Cortana. The games created for the Halo series have been heavily praised as the best first person shooting games available.

Unlike many other games, Halo games are exclusive to the Microsoft Xbox 360. This is due to the game being released by the Microsoft Game Studios. Halo Reach takes place in the year 2552 where humanity is locked in a war with the alien Covenant on the human colony of Reach. Halo Reach was released as the predecessor of Halo 3. Interestingly, Halo Reach will be the final game to be developed by Bungie, as after this the Microsoft owned studio 343 Industries will take over development for all future games in the series.

The game brought in 200 million dollars on its launch day, this was a record for the Halo games. The game sold very well, with more than 3 million units being sold in the first month in North America.

Many people have stated that Halo Reach is the best ever Halo game to be released, although this is a matter of individual opinion. Reach supports player-versus-player multiplayer through split screen on a single Xbox 360, local networks (System Link), and the Xbox Live service. Among standard multiplayer modes such as Slayer and King of the Hill, Reach includes game types new to the franchise.

In "Headhunter", players drop skulls upon death, which other players can pick up and deposit at special zones for points. When a player dies all their accumulated skulls are dropped as well. "Stockpile" has teams race to collect neutral flags, holding them at capture points every minute for points. "Generator Defense" pits three Spartans against three Elites (A type of Covenant soldier). The Elites' objective is to destroy three generators, while Spartans defend the installation. After every round the players switch roles. Halo Reach was sold in three different retail editions, unlike many other of the Halo releases. The standard edition which was available included the game and the user manual. The limited edition game offered an artifact bag which provided story information, different packaging and an exclusive set of in game Elite armor.

The third edition made available to buy was the legendary edition and this contained all of the limited edition features, different packaging, two hours of developer commentary, in game Spartan armor effect and 4.5kg statue which was created by McFarlane Toys. The game was made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace at a price of £1000, although this was for the purpose of media reviewers. Although the game was later hacked which made its download available to all, other Halo games were also leaked this way.