Halo Reach

Reach takes place in a futuristic science fiction setting during the year 2552, shortly before the events of the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved, and during the events of the 2001 novel Halo: The Fall of Reach. Humans, under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), have been waging a long war against a collective of alien races known as the Covenant. By the events of Reach, almost all of humanity's interstellar colonies have fallen. Reach itself is an Earthlike colony that serves as the UNSC's main military hub. The colony is home to over 700 million civilians in addition to the military presence.

The game follows the actions of "Noble Team", a UNSC special operations unit composed of elite supersoldiers known as Spartans. Players assume the role of an unnamed new addition to the team, identified by the call sign Noble Six. Noble Team's leader is Carter-A259, a no-nonsense soldier. His second-in-command, Kat-B320, has a bionic arm; together, Carter and Kat are the only two remaining original members of Noble Team. The other members include heavy weapons specialist Jorge-052, assault specialist Emile-A239, and marksman Jun-A266.

Gameplay

The player character fires their assault rifle at enemy Covenant forces, flanked by members of Noble Team.

Halo: Reach is a first person shooter. Players assume the role of Noble Six, a supersoldier engaged in combat with an alien collective known as the Covenant. Gameplay is more similar to the original Halo: Combat Evolved than later games in the series. The player character is equipped with a recharging energy shield that absorbs damage from weapons fire and impacts. When the energy shield is depleted, the player character loses health; when the character's health reaches zero, the game reloads from a saved checkpoint. Health is replenished using health packs scattered throughout Reach's levels.

In Halo 3, players could wield one-use equipment power-ups that offer temporary offensive or defensive advantages. This system of single-use equipment is replaced in Reach by reusable and persistent armor abilities which remain with a player until they are replaced. Among the abilities are a jetpack, active camouflage, sprint, and "armor lock", which immobilizes the player but grants invincibility for a brief period of time. In addition to tweaks and changes to existing weapons from the Halo series, Reach features new weapons fulfilling various combat roles.

Multiplayer

Reach supports player-versus-player multiplayer through splitscreen on a single Xbox 360, local networks (System Link), and the Xbox Live service. Reach includes standard multiplayer modes such as Slayer and King of the Hill, as well as gametypes 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. "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. "Invasion" is a six versus six mode with three squads of two on each team. The gametype pits Spartans against Elites; Elites vie for control of territories to disable a shield guarding a navigation core. Once the shield is disabled, they must transfer the core to a dropship—the Spartans must prevent this from happening. As the game progresses, new vehicles and areas of the map become open.

Alongside other multiplayer options is "Firefight", a version of which appeared in Halo 3: ODST. In Firefight players take on increasingly difficult waves of foes in a game of survival. Players can customize Firefight options, including the number and types of enemies. It has also been announced that a firefight versus is playable in which there is an Elite team trying to keep the Spartan team from scoring points. Game modes like Generator Defense are playable in Firefight. Although Firefight in ODST only supported matches among players that were on each others' friend lists, firefight in Reach supports online matchmaking between random players.

Forge, a level editor that first appeared with Halo 3, was updated for Reach, and can be used to edit the default multiplayer maps as well as a large blank map known as Forge World. Forge World itself is home to several Bungie-created Forge maps that shipped on-disc. Forge tools have been improved; objects can now be phased into other objects, and can also be snapped to specific orientations.

Plot

Noble Team, dispatched to discover why a communications relay has gone offline, discovers Covenant forces on Reach. Soon after, Noble team is deployed to "Sword Base", an installation belonging to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), to defend it from a Covenant vessel. The team meets the scientist Catherine Halsey, mastermind behind the Spartan program and their MJOLNIR powered armor. Halsey informs Noble Team that the Covenant at the relay were searching for important information.

Jun and Six are dispatched on a covert mission to assess the Covenant's strength and discover an invasion force. Noble Team assaults a Covenant ground base and removes fortified Covenant defenses. When a massive Covenant super-carrier joins the fight, Jorge and Six take part in a plan to destroy the carrier using a makeshift bomb. Using starfighters to infiltrate a smaller Covenant ship, Jorge and Six dock with the carrier and place the bomb. Its timer malfunctions, so Jorge stays behind and sacrifices himself to destroy the carrier. More Covenant ships arrive at Reach.

After returning planet-side, Six travels to the city of New Alexandria and aids the local military in fighting the Covenant. Six reunites with Noble Team and assists with the evacuation of the city. Kat is killed by a sniper. Recalled to Sword Base, Halsey shows Noble Team an ancient Forerunner artifact she believes is key to winning the war. Six, Carter and Emile are entrusted with transporting the artificial intelligence Cortana, and the information she carries, to the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn. Jun escorts Halsey to another base.

En route to the Autumn's dry dock, Carter is critically wounded. He rams his ship into a Covenant mobile assault platform, allowing Six and Emile to reach the shipyard where the Autumn is located. Emile takes control of a railgun emplacement to defend the Autumn while Six fights through Covenant forces to get Cortana to Captain Jacob Keyes. When Emile is slain by Elites, Six remains behind to take Emile's place at the gun, ensuring the Autumn's escape. The Autumn flees from Reach and discovers a Halo ringworld.

The post-credits scene puts the player in control of Six's last stand against overwhelming Covenant forces. After sustaining heavy damage, Six drops his or her shattered helmet and is overwhelmed. Years later, the helmet remains on the grassy plains of a now-rejuvenated Reach. A narration by Halsey eulogizes Noble Team, who ultimately enabled humanity's victory over the Covenant.