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| *SPOILERS/DO NOT READ THIS IF GONE DARK* | |
| Posted By: TravisSch | Date: 7/30/10 11:28 a.m. |
In Response To: New Halo: Reach Campaign Preview on IGN (TravisSch) IGN article in text form pasted below: *SPOILERS/DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE GONE DARK ALREADY* -------------------------------------------
Halo's campaigns have always been a relatively sombre affair – they may have often been painted in purples and greens beneath alien blue skies but they're kept in check with a melancholy score that could even bring one of their own gurning grunts to tears, their stories equally sombre exercises concerned with nothing less than the end of all things. Halo: Reach, unsurprisingly, is no different, but this time Bungie has cranked the melancholy – and much else besides – all the way up. From a bleak opening vista on the game's menu, all rain and threatened thunder, it sets a tone that the campaign will likely keep up until the catastrophic finale that we know all too well. It opens with a cracked Spartan helmet lying abandoned on the scorched surface of Reach, the UNSC's stronghold, before we flash back to see it intact in the player's own hands as they sit in the back of a warthog that's racing through storm blown shrubs. Each member of Noble team is soon introduced in turn, and while Bungie's skills in creating a cast who aren't swamped in cliche and glib characterisation hasn't improved since ODST its engine most certainly has; Halo: Reach really is a magnificent looking game, its visual splendour stretching from the Spartans themselves through to the game's moody vistas. Indeed Reach itself looks like being one of the greatest characters, a homely backdrop that's a fitting frame for the game's tale of human tragedy on an epic scale. Straw bales and farm yards pepper the rolling hills, and if it wasn't for the armoured suits, dropships and plasma grenades this could well be Kansas. What's also bringing the human element home is something altogether new to Halo; the humans themselves. For the first time in the series there's to be civilian NPCs, the first encounter coming as Noble team goes to investigate a colony with which contact has been lost. A group of farm-hands have hidden themselves in the midst of an abandoned and battle-scarred outpost, and there follows a tense face-off as the Spartan's ascertain whether they're friend or foe. They're not the only inhabitants of Reach, as some of the indigenous life is also featured in full effect. One fraught search of an abandoned settlement – complete with an overturned and aflame Warthog – is punctuated by a moment of surreal surprise as a group of ostriches streak by. And before you ask, it doesn't look like you can take them down; later on in the demo one runs dumbly in front of a speeding Warthog with no real consequence. These moments before first contact with the Covenant are infused with a brilliantly tangible tension, and Bungie seems to have pulled off the impossible, namely making us fear the same enemies we've killed countless times since the series began in 2001. It helps that it's cribbed from the very best in sci-fi horror, and not for the first time we're deeply ingrained in Aliens territory with the build-up mirroring almost blow-for-blow Ripley's investigation of the derelict colony on LV-426. When the fighting does finally commence it's almost a relief, and it's no surprise to see that the combat within Halo: Reach is as imperious as ever. A group of Jackals form the first real opposition, though they're soon joined by the Elites, making an appearance in their new more fearsome form. They're just as smart as before too, flanking and strafing Noble Team with cold-blooded cunning. As the first skirmish finishes up it becomes clear that the Covenant invasion has taken hold on Reach; a distress signal is sent from a nearby outfit, and Noble team saddle up on a civilian pick-up vehicle, strapping a hulking mini-gun on the back to ensure it's fit for military service. Battle is rejoined as Noble team combines forces, and our early look comes to a sudden close. It's a brief taster that suggests Halo: Reach's campaign will deliver all we expect and a lot more besides; dramatic, grandiose and more than a little solemn it's the perfect parting gift from outgoing developer Bungie, and we can't wait to see Reach's downfall for ourselves come this September.
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| Replies: |
| New Halo: Reach Campaign Preview on IGN | TravisSch | 7/30/10 11:20 a.m. |
| Re: New Halo: Reach Campaign Preview on IGN | wolfman | 7/30/10 11:22 a.m. |
| Re: New Halo: Reach Campaign Preview on IGN | TravisSch | 7/30/10 11:24 a.m. |
| Sweet, thanks... *NM* | wolfman | 7/30/10 11:28 a.m. |
| ^^^^^^^^^Link to spoilars inside^^^^^^^^^ *NM* | Gtag=Reluctant Chaos | 7/30/10 11:27 a.m. |
| *SPOILERS/DO NOT READ THIS IF GONE DARK* | TravisSch | 7/30/10 11:28 a.m. |
| Re: *SPOILERS/DO NOT READ THIS IF GONE DARK* | wolfman | 7/30/10 11:34 a.m. |
| *He's not kidding! DONT READ THIS* | PooBone | 7/30/10 12:35 p.m. |
| Re: *He's not kidding! DONT READ THIS* | VAVA Mk2 | 7/30/10 7:38 p.m. |
| Also New Screenshots Posted at Another Website | TravisSch | 7/30/10 11:33 a.m. |
| See you guys on the other side. | NsU Soldier | 7/31/10 6:34 a.m. |
| "Sierra-Three-Four to HIGHCOM, going dark now." *NM* | SPARTAN-034 | 7/31/10 10:59 a.m. |
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