Halo: Reach is a last great Hurrah! from Bungie, and delivers the same action that all fans have come to know and love.
Gone is the blandness of Master Chief who is replaced with 5 characters with differing personalities and yourself whose face is never seen. Your mission is to fend off the Covenant attack on the home of the UNSC, Reach.
The campaign mode is short and sweet with a compelling story, large areas to traverse and, in a later level, one very hectic attempt at running through a hoard of Covenant.
Fortunately, the campaign never feels like it's just 'tacked on' and is as pulse-pounding, frustrating, rewarding, and unique as the other Halo titles.
The multiplayer features the classic modes everyone has played before: 2v2, Big Team Battle, snipers, SWAT, etc. Added to the multiplayer is the new Firefight, which is similar to Gears of War 2's Horde Mode: you face increasingly difficult waves of enemies with teammates with either a set number of lives or infinite.
Spartan customization is back but with a small array of options at the beginning, it'll take some time to buy everything and future DLC can improve. These customizations are only cosmetic and don't play into the overall game; armor upgrades don't provide any more protection or ammo capacities.
The graphics are improved from Halo 3 and ODST but only a slight bit, you'll still feel like you're in the land of ODST from traveling through a city that resembles New Mombasa in architecture and Halo 1 from the level Nightfall. Regardless these areas feature details that you may often find yourself stopping to take a look at.
The sound is something to really be impressed by, the music features another great score by Marty O'Donnell. Subtle at times of inaction but ramps up with the heat of battle.
The voiceacting is superb but the lines of dialogue might wear a bit thin if you die and have to restart from a checkpoint.
The explosions, gunshots, enemies yelling, teammates talking through the radios and everything else is clear. The closer you get to your teammates, the radio chatter turns into normal speaking. The space-flying action is quiet, the vacuum of space hiding the music but disrupted by the sounds of explosions around you.
Halo: Reach is a great last "Hurrah!" from Bungie and a good place to start for those who have hated the franchise due to its popularity. But if you want to hold out and say you'll never buy it, at least rent it. More than likely your mind will be changed. Come for the campaign, stay for the multiplayer.