While Reach did stray away from Halo's roots, it is still a solid game.
Great graphics
Solid campaign
Forge is much improved
THE BAD:
Multiplayer doesn't meet expectations
Firefight gets boring quickly
Halo: Reach is Bungie's highly-anticipated swan song to their epic Halo franchise. What made it so anticipated was the fact that Bungie stated that the game would not be like any Halo before; that it would be a completely different Halo game than its predecessors (or successors, if you want to go in chronological order in the Halo Universe). Bungie did deliver on that promise that Reach would be a whole new Halo experience, however, that does not mean that it is necessarily a good thing.
The Campaign follows Noble Team as they try to defend Planet Reach from the Covenant Invasion. You control Noble Six, the hyper-lethal new member of the Noble Team as you fight for Reach's survival. The visuals are stunning to say the least. The level where you are fighting in fighter ships above Reach is quite breathtaking. One problem I had with this Campaign was that the characters had almost no development in them. But, there was really not much Bungie could have done about it, since the Noble Team had one game, while Master Chief had three, so Chief obviously will have more character development than Noble Team. The difficulty of the game is also turned up a few notches, as Halo: Reach on Legendary is much harder than Halo 3 was. This provides players with a bigger challenge and it also helps players overlook the fact that Reach's campaign is not that long. It isn't Call of Duty short, but still a bit short. However, the campaign is still a fun experience.
Custom Games, Forge, and Theater make a return, and they are almost the same as in Halo 3. The main difference is with Forge, where there is an entire map solely dedicated to Forge mode, rightfully named Forge World. It is a vast, empty canvas for Forgers to create their masterpieces on. As I said before, Customs and Theater are not really different, so nothing to report on these things.
Matchmaking is where most of Reach's changes took place. Those who played the Halo: Reach Beta have an idea of what I am talking about. The biggest addition to Matchmaking is Armor Abilities, which give players a certain ability at spawn. Things like Sprint, Active Camo, and Jet Pack are some of the abilities players gain at the start of the match. Armor Abilities have received almost an equal amount of praise and criticism, most of the criticism being due to the balance of the abilities, as well as these abilities making Reach more of a class-based game. Many players argue that they ruined the "Golden Triangle of Halo" (Weapon, Melee, Grenade) with Armor Abilities. One of the most criticized abilities is Armor Lock, which almost gives players a second chance if they are about to die. The player goes into lock, making him/her invulnerable to all damage for a short time. Many players feel that Armor Lock is mainly used as a crutch for players who cannot otherwise do well in Matchmaking.
Another major change in Matchmaking is the ranking system. Instead of being a 1-50 system like in Halo 3, or something similar, Reach implemented a system like Call of Duty, in which points are given after each match, and leveling up has nothing to do with winning or skill. This new system also messes up the Matchmaking in that players are not paired with others based on skill as often as in Halo 2 or 3. Bungie says that Trueskill is being used in Reach, we just can't see it. I am doubtful of this because there are plenty of games I've been in where one team crushes the other team, more than I've experienced in Halo 3.
Some other complaints of Reach's Matchmaking are slow-paced gameplay compared to older Halos, unbalanced weapon bloom (reticule going in and out after each shoot), and maps that are lacking compared to previous Halos. While I do agree with most of these arguments, I feel that it is better than Bungie just recycling Halo 3 and giving us Halo 3.5. I applaud Bungie for trying something new and different. I just think that they tried to change too much at one time. That, and they essentially fixed something that was not broken.
So, in conclusion, Halo: Reach is a good game and a must-have for any Halo fan. While it is different from any Halo we've ever played, you should still give it a chance if you haven't already. I will leave it at this; Reach is not for everyone.