Halo: Reach Preview

Put a ring on it.

You didn't think they were actually done with Halo did you? Please. The whole human race will all be dead and buried for several years and they'll still be pumping these things out. Not that it's a bad, mind you, quite the opposite. If anything, Halo will only continue to get better and better, until Bungie reaches their ultimate goal of a Master Chief president by 2020. At which point we'll all be property of Microsoft anyway, so it will hardly matter. But that's not the point here... What we're really here to talk about is the newest game to soon become part of their global agenda, the highly anticipated "prequel sequel", Halo: Reach.

The year is 2552. The war against the Covenant is at its apex and things aren't going too well for the human contingent. You are Noble 6, the latest prototype in a line of super-elite Spartans who precede the coming of the Master Chief model. Essentially, you're the genetic lab rats that will eventually save the universe. But odds are you and your squad won't be around to enjoy that victory. This is Reach we're talking about here, the epic battle that's talked about throughout the original trilogy. While your survival is speculative to say the least, it's only a guess as to what exactly is going to happen, as the game is still in early production phases.

If anyone is going to make it out this alive, it's probably your squad: a team of rowdy, rough-necked Spartan 3s, each with unique skills and personalities... and faces!?!? Yep. Taking a cue from ODST, for the first time ever in the series, the Spartans are more than a seven-foot tall, faceless HUD of a killing machine. They've got feelings too. Interactions between the squad will propel the story forward and reveal some insight as to what the hell actually happened in the imaginary world of Halo.

Bungie has been busy re-building their engine from the ground up to make this not only the most visually compelling Halo to date, but also the one with the most epic skirmishes. Reach was a serious butt-whoopin' of a SNAFU and it's already a given fact that,(Spoiler Alert!) they blow up the frigging planet at the end. So of course they had to make sure that battles were intense enough to reflect the direness of the situation. And that translates into more Covenant fodder than you'll probably have ammo for. While it's still in early production phases, what we did see showed several examples of just how grand gunfights will get. Banshees flying through the air bombing UNSC forces on the ground as they try and stop an oncoming flurry of elites. And that was just a glimpse of what's to come.

It's difficult to say exactly how much gameplay is going to be like Combat Evolved or ODST, but they did say that health packs will be making a return at the very least. So hey, there ya go. The most pertinent piece of information you could ever possibly want. If you happen to own a copy of Halo: ODST though, you may get a chance to find out more soon, as Halo: Reach will go into open beta on May 3rd through copies of that disc. Stay tuned for more news about what's sure to be one of-if not the-biggest games of 2010.