HALO REACH

Just think, you only have to wait until May 3 to play Halo: Reach. That's the official date for when the multiplayer beta, included with copies of Halo 3: ODST, will open to the public. It's a good thing we only have to wait that long because after getting my first glimpse of Halo: Reach, I don't think I can wait until the fall to get my fix.

Bungie gave its first semi-public showing of Halo: Reach at Microsoft's X10 event in San Francisco. The demo began with Marcus Lehto, the Creative Director for Halo: Reach, offering up a brief overview of Bungie's vision for what it is calling the "definitive Halo title." Take any aspect of Halo and you can be sure that at some point during this demo, Bungie assured attendees that it would be improved for Halo: Reach.

This will be a darker tale than what most Halo fans are accustomed to, even setting out to make Halo 3: ODST look like a walk in the park. That is because it is a prequel to the Halo trilogy, set on the planet Reach. This colony is the center of humankind's military might, the birthplace of the Spartan program, and the home to over 700 million civilians. "We want people to understand that there's a real living breathing culture to this planet," said Lehto as he scrolled past some concept art of houses and living spaces.

All of this will be gone by the time Halo: Reach finishes. The planet is destined to fall to the Covenant.



Watch the latest Video Documentary.Before all of that destruction, there will be a desperate struggle for survival. That's where you come in as a new member of the Noble Team. This group of Spartans is battle tested and weary. Only one is a certified Spartan II (the same class as Master Chief). The rest are Spartan IIIs, a sort of mass produced version of the super soldier destined to save the human race.

These Spartan IIIs were described as being used in "fire and release" situations. In other words, they're sent on suicide missions. That's definitely the case here. Your only hope for survival is to work together with the rest of Noble Team. Even then, don't expect a happy ending.

Unlike past Halo games, this won't be a story of a single hero with little to say. Bungie promised to remove the helmets and flesh out each character in the squad, which seems like a fitting next step from the storytelling advances in Halo 3: ODST.

Though I didn't get to see any of the campaign, the description of where it is heading sounds like Bungie has taken Halo 3 and dialed the experience up to the max. If you thought there were big battles in Halo before, prepare to be amazed. Descriptions of battles against 30 or so enemies, with the entire Noble Team squad and extra marines were given. In short, this will not be a corridor shooter.