What do you get when you combine every Halo game in the past in roll them into one amazing package? Answer: Halo Reach.
Halo: Reach is everything you would expect from the franchise, but better. The campaign rivals the first game, and the multiplayer has so much variety that you would have to be brainless to pass this one up. Everything you loved about the other games in the franchise is here; emotional campaign, the enemy AI is ruthless and intelligent (especially on Heroic and above), frantic and diverse multiplayer (including matchmaking Firefight!), and the Forge is bigger, better, and more complex. Simply put this is the best game in the franchise by far and easily a top contender for Game of the Year. So why not give it a 10? Well, my only gripe is the lag that is unleashed upon characters during the Firefights. I expect this to be patched sometime fairly quickly and it's a small gripe but this was the part I was looking forward to the most. Naturally, it disappointed me.
Story: 5/5: The best! It's very hard to talk about the story without spoiling it because all the best parts happen near the end of the game. You are put into the visor of Noble Six, the newest member of Noble Team. Your first mission is to investigate a camp of rebels and when the Covenant shows up, things go awry. People die and the game quickly turns into all-out war. Anyone who knows Halo lore will know what happens to Reach in the end.
Graphics: 4/5: A few hiccups here and there due to the XBox 360 not being able to keep up with all the things going on. That being said, the game is absolutely gorgeous. When compared to Halo 3 (or even ODST), the graphics are a huge upgrade. The characters, guns, gunfire, the environment, everything has been improved. And I do mean EVERYTHING.
Music: 5/5: Martin O'Donnell does it again! The soundtrack is on par with every other game in the franchise. It's lost the Halo theme once again, but it is not missed. O'Donnell definitely put his heart into this game's soundtrack and you must hear it to believe it.
Play Control: 5/5: The new engine is incredible. The game is frantic and fast-paced, there's hardly ever a dull moment (especially in multiplayer). The drop-items are no longer "dropped". Once you obtain an item you keep it until you either die or simply find another. After a small cooldown time, you're able to use the item again. The items range from the sprint, to the armor lock, to the (overly awesome) jetpack. The new control scheme may take you a little while to learn, but once you get across that hurdle, you'll find that Halo plays better this way.
Difficulty: 5/5: I'm going based on played on Heroic and Legendary, so keep this in mind. Halo: Reach is very unforgiving and you'll find yourself repeating the same scenarios multiple times. The enemies are a lot smarter, and they are definitely nastier. They can (and will!) find every possible way to kill you and avoid their own death. This is topped by some of the worst ally AI I have ever encountered. The game would be a bit simpler if your allies could simply fire their weapons. I'm not even joking.
Overall: 9.5/10: Halo: Reach is definitely my game of the year thus far. The campaign is amazing and it overshadowed by the amazing multiplayer. There is something here for everyone and it's definitely a great way for Bungie to depart with it's golden-boy. I look forward to seeing what they do next and I look forward to playing Halo: Reach in the upcoming years.