Review: Halo: Reach

Each instalment of the Halo series has both divided and polarised the hearts and minds of gamers across the globe. It’s had many ups and downs, minor miss-steps, and incredible triumphs, but most of all, it defined a generation of console first person shooters, for better or worse, with the original Halo perhaps being the most highly regarded. So with that in mind, Halo Reach seems like a fitting end to the series by going right back to the very beginning, a conclusion that is the catalyst for all that has gone by, and all that is yet to come to past, even if it can never live up to the expectation of being called the greatest Halo ever.

Halo Reach tells the story of mankind’s first large scale conflict with the Covanent on planet Reach; the legendary training ground for the elite Spartan soliders and the iconic Master Chief himself. For those who haven’t read the books, it’s a battle which turns into a massacre, a disaster zone in which mass genocide, chaos and utter obliteration ensues. The tale of Reach is supposed to be a sombre, desperate one, connecting with the series more naturalistic, human side, whilst also setting the stage for that memorable first encounter on the original Halo ring that brought the series into the limelight.

But despite going back to the series beginnings it never feels like a homage title to the first game. Instead it crafts out its own unique feel and iconic legacy that ensures that it stands out from past instalments, whilst also bringing something new, and somewhat fresh to the table. Well, just about.


In-keeping with the game’s story and planetary settings, Halo: Reach feels far more organic than its predecessors. Both the music and the art design reflect an earthy tone underpinning the whole experience, whilst staying true to the series trademark, minimalist, almost contemporary, sci-fi roots. However the game also never quite achieves its heartfelt intentions, with both the storyline and characterisation being paper thin, and the cut-scenes simply doing very little to flesh out the apparent horrors of war being faced by the cast and planet Reach.

Touching down on the planet’s surface for the first time, shortly before engaging in your first close quarter’s encounter, it’s pretty clear that this isn’t Halo: CE. In fact Reach is actually quite different from past Halo games (being more like ODST than 2 or 3), cleverly integrating nearly a decades worth of upgrades, gameplay tweaks, and AI developments into its campaign. The familiarity of the series is there, and the overall feel rests somewhere between that of Halo 3 and ODST, but with the finer balance and finesse associated with the original game. Dual Welding is out, with the heavy firing assault rife, and the impacting pistol with the zoom sight going back in.


Throughout Reach you’ll be playing as Noble 6; a nameless, faceless new addition to the Noble Team of Spartan soldiers sent in to defined Reach against the growing alien invasion. You are in effect a clean slate, something in which to blueprint your own personality onto. At first this makes your part in the whole conflict feel a little soulless, but at the same time it is exactly the reason why Bungie decided to go with a faceless, nameless hero like Masterchief (it’s simply a military rank) in the first place. It’s your fellow comrades, which provide the game’s light semblance of humanity and character. And by that, I mean human character, and not that of the environment and enemies.

Unlike ODST, the game never gets bogged down with personal stories. Here, your only concern is Reach, and defending it from a sneaky alien invasion. Sure, each member of your squad has his or hers own distinct personality, but they never take centre stage. Although at times the game takes itself far too seriously. That said it is a vastly superior take on the ideas first explored in ODST, despite the fact that they are not explored quite enough given the underpinning subject matter. Characters that you feel like you are getting to know are killed-off almost as soon as they begin to stand out, and the whole start-to-finish story of planetary annihilation is paced far to quickly for any meaningful effect.

But then again this is Halo, and with the exception of the convoluted story behind Halo 2, the series has never been one to mince words, instead simply providing the basis for more thirty-second action, with a few set-pieces in between.


Onto the actual gameplay, and Reach presents the player with the classic Assault Rife and Pistol combo. A familiar sight for anyone who’s been with the series since the begging, and a welcome return to what many fans were calling their favourite weapons combination.

However, these aren’t exactly as you remember. Anyone looking to lay waste to an Elite by emptying a whole clip from their assault rife, before smacking them in the face using the but end of the thing, be warned. The powered up Spartan favourite has been balanced out accordingly, with a stock of Covenant weapons providing much-needed grunt on occasions where the human weapons fail. Plus, those nasty Elite’s are even nastier, tougher and more relentless than ever. But it’s not just them. Hunters are equally difficult, if not more so to eradicate, so you’ll be wanting to keep some sort of Covantent weaponry handy in order to take down their shields before going in for the kill.

Saying that, both signature weapons from the first game still feel rather aggressive, and several well-aimed, well-timed, blasts in combination with a melee attack will still reward those with a quick and gracious kill. The DMR – Reach’s replacement for the battle rife – is easily one of the best, providing ample damage, and a nice short-range zoom facility. If not, then sniper rifles and grenades put up a formidable fight against the alien’s powerful oversheilds, as does your armour abilities, protecting you when all else fails, which when used correctly evens things out a little.


Armour abilities now stay with you throughout the campaign, like with normal weapons, and can be swapped out at certain points in the game. Unlike before, they are all multiple use, relying on a small gauge found to the bottom left of the screen. It only takes a few seconds to fill back up after use. Some abilities, like the jetpack, and the sprint can be used in smaller increments giving you more control over how you want to use them. They’re inclusion in Reach seems far more deliberate, largely more useful than in Halo 3, and represent another balanced improvement on the Spartan side of the arsenal.

On the other hand, some of the Covenant weapons feel a little bit more useless than before. The needler in particular has seen a subtle downgrading in power, no longer being the series alien alternative to the pistol – its still one of the best though, still fully functional in the right hands. Whilst new additions like the concussion rifle and focus rifle are largely pointless, and act as a poor alternative to their human developed counterparts, if of course they actually have one. Case in point, the somewhat disappointing needle rife, comparatively less effective than the standard sniper rifle.

However, it’s not all bad. The plasma pistol becomes a deadly weapon for taking down Brute’s shields, and the quick firing, but reasonably powerful plasma repeater can break through an Elite’s armour in just a few shots - more so than either the Spartan pistol or assault rife. These provide a far greater balance between power and firing speed, being thoroughly effective weapons for dealing with most, but not all of the Covenant threat. Also, when used in combination with the less unusual human arsenal a few key weapons really come into their own, clearly affirming the human/covanent strategy that seems built for the game.


And strategy, albeit at a break-neck, split second pace is exactly what you’ll need, seeing as Bungie have laid down the gauntlet with some initially impressive enemy AI. Before, particularly in Halo 3 and ODST, it always seemed that every enemy (minus the grunts of course) was permanently on full testosterone, aggression duty. But not anymore.

The AI is still rather aggressive, although it now shifts depending directly on how you approach the situation, and how the odds sway during battle. It’s nothing revolutionary, with the whole thing basically coming down to: retreat, flank, attack, reposition, and then repeat again. But it’s the way it is done that commands your attention. AI patterns are always varied, usually interesting, and always make for a thoroughly entertaining, if not occasionally frustrating shootout experience.

Of course, if you want to pick holes, then you could say that most of the game’s seemingly intelligent enemies are used as a smokescreen for some basic AI routines, which are pretty easily exploited. The Elite’s in particular, can be made to do what you want by firing off shots on either side, and by positioning yourself in a way that constantly makes them want to attack you directly.


Using this kind of gameplay approach evens out some of your limitations. In Reach your overshield takes a lot longer to recharge than in Halo 3 or ODST, and while it is down you are even more vulnerable to taking damage than before. A single blast from a Grunt’s plasma pistol can instantly take down your shield if impacting head-on, and a few smaller, quick blasts can sap out your health just as fast. Rushing in is now no longer an option. Instead you now have to play it safe: a cat and mouse game of strafing, backing away, before rushing in for a briefly surprising counter-attack.

The gameplay then, feels different than before, almost more like an extension of the system found in ODST than in Halo 2 or 3, and very different to the one found in the original. Despite this Halo Reach feels very much like the game Halo 2 should have been, particularly when it comes to its visual style, and the more grounded, earthly nature of the environments so beautifully depicted throughout. Reach feels like earth, and one stage later on in the game looks like a direct homage to the opening level in the unfinished, canned original build of Halo 2. A nice nod to the fans there.


Somewhat disappointing is the size and scope of some of the battles, or rather the lack of. Bungie promised us ones that were meant to be huge. Epic, in fact, perfectly setting the tone for the eventual end of Reach. However, what we have been given is largely the same size battles as in Halo 3, maybe bolstered with a few more Grunts and one or two Elites. Most of the Epic scale stuff is contained within the cut-scenes, and the on-rails portions of the game, giving you only a brief look at the wider picture of the conflict potentially on offer here.

In the end the Campaign mode of Halo: Reach sticks to exactly what the series is known for: a close 30 seconds of intense shooting fun, never deviating from that blueprint, or attempting to add anything else to the proceedings. Thankfully, the scenery in the game is beautiful, with stunning mountain ranges, large wide-open vistas, and stark industrial complexes, complemented with a lavishly implemented graphical upgrade. You can read about it in detail here, and here in our tech analysis if you really want to know the details, but suffice to say that Reach finals comes out back on top with regards to its once high-end visual status.


Despite a few issues, and some ups and downs, the campaign in Reach is perhaps the most iconic that the series has seen since the original Halo. Pretty much every stage through the game was as memorable and as pleasing to see as the last. Perhaps all except the final few stages, in which things get very dark, and very gritty. The campaign is also a lot more consistent throughout. Whereas the first half of Halo: CE was clearly the best part of the game, Reach manages to keep things moving forward for longer, even if what’s here does feel a little tired, like you’ve been treading old ground over for the umpteenth time. And in essence you have, since this is yet another Halo title.

Outside of the Campaign Mode Halo Reach’s Multiplayer is slightly less fresh, and more overly familiar. Its no less good because of that though, and basically culminates in bringing together all the upgrades and tweaks that we’ve seen over the years in one finely refined package.


I’m sure some people will complain about the various weapon changes that have taken place (the slight downgrading of the pistol for example), they always do. Although weapon balance in itself is as good as it has ever been, and the new additions – some initially bizarre and in effective, others particularly outrageous – allow for plenty of variety and intricate mastery to take place.

It is the modes and maps however, that really defines just how good the game’s multiplayer will be. And in this respect Reach perhaps is as good, but not blindingly better than past titles, although not without the feeling that a few more classic stages wouldn’t go a miss, and that there really should be more outdoors, blue skies content for your killing needs. Then again, with Bungie promising further support by the way of downloadable content, it’s not a terribly large issue. Stuff like Bloodgultch has seen another return which is nice, although not many people seem to be picking it.


Making their way back for this latest, and last instalment in the series, from Halo 3 and ODST, we have both Forge World, and Firefight. Both have seen a range of tweaks and upgrades, mainly in allowing for more customisation and control over what the player can do.

Firefight in particular has seen some interesting inclusions in the way of customisable features called Files. Files can be created by both players and the developer, and basically consist of fixed, custom match set-ups. Things like enemy types, weapons, and more can all be set, mixing things up from the usual match options via the use of the series infamous Skulls. Player created files can be uploaded onto Xbox Live, and then Downloaded by other players to try out. Amongst these is one made by the developers themselves, allowing players to easily gain all the available achievements in this mode. Nice!

Forge World allows you to move around large parts of the scenery in real-time with other players, giving the option for more finite customisation of various game types whilst making traditional maps almost unrecognisable. It’s here that all new takes on classic game types can be made, and bizarre twists on initially balanced maps can be turned upside down for all to see. Far more impressive is the fact that you can work with other players in crafting the stage, thus bringing a real community feel throughout the whole process.


Classic modes like Team Slayer and King Of The Hill make their successful return, as does Capture The Flag and plain old Slayer, much to the delight of many fans, and especially myself with the inclusion of classic slayer, although its inclusion is somewhat overshadowed by endless twists on the formula. Many traditional modes have been beefed up with new twists, and a wider range of variety when in matchmaking. Sometimes it can be quite hard to just play one single style of game type over short’ish sessions, with a distinct lack of control over what you can and cannot play.

Quite why I cannot set-up a matchmaking option where I just choose one game type with no variations is, in this day and age, rather disappointing, and a somewhat major oversight to an otherwise solid matchmaking system. However, having a system like this encourages players to try out other modes, which is obviously a good thing, and prevents the online community from feeling stale from simply playing similar games.

New modes like Invasion sets up two teams against each other, one playing as the Spartans and the other as Covenant Elite’s, with each side trying to capture the other ones turf in a series of simple objectives. Whilst Stockpile sees players accumulate skulls upon each kill with their aim to deliver them to the drop off point before getting killed themselves. Invasion adds a touch of teamwork and strategy to the proceedings, while Stockpile often descends into madness, arguably being almost as fun as Team Slayer on many occasions.


In the end Halo: Reach’s multiplayer is once again the backbone of the game, not only propping up the single-player Campaign mode, but also being the needle-injection of addictiveness the series is known for. The vast range of game types and different takes on these is impressive, and the inclusion of Firefight matchmaking is a big plus. Although, the lack of being able to either, start matchmaking custom games, or simply one type of selected game (like Classic Slayer) is pretty disappointing. You can of course do this via individual player invites, but it would have been nice to be able to do this with all players as well.

Perhaps the only other issue is that the whole thing feels a little too familiar and samey overall. Halo 2 brought the series multi-player into the limelight, and it could be argued that Halo 3 ODST vastly elevated it, while Reach tries to perfect it, albeit with strong but also mixed results. Multiplayer, like with the single player Campaign can never be everything to everyone, although Reach does provide the best overall social slaughterfest the series has seen to date, regardless of whether or not the maps you so love are or aren’t included.

On the flipside Bungie have promised to update the game periodically, including tweaks and changes to modes and matchmaking options, and like always, with a string of new maps, making this a progressive experience rather than a final one.


When it comes down to the crunch, Halo Reach is still quite possibly the best game in the series, although it doesn’t always feel that way. It may not be quite as iconic as the first, and the single player campaign isn’t quite as expertly structured, but in terms of the whole package it is pretty much as good as you were ever going to get.

Bungie have brought the series back full circle, without reinventing the wheel, or even delivering some of the changes expected from a series that has been going for so long. It does however, provide another enjoyable slice of first-person shooting action, which although feels a little too samey, holds up far better up against Halo: CE than any of its past sequels has ever done, especially with regards to the Campaign. That said, I think that the series has finally run its course, and that Reach could be described as a reasonably good, often excellent, fitting finale to the series as a whole.

The real question though, is whether or not it was really worth waiting nearly a decade for. And sadly, that answer is obviously a decidedly firm no. Instead, I’d perhaps describe Halo: Reach as the game that Halo 2 should have been, but nearly ten years too late, with loads of tweaks and upgrades, a far better campaign, and more than a touch of unwanted over-familiarity.

VERDICT: 8/10

Tech Analysis: Halo Reach - Final Game Update

Up until now, the Halo series on the Xbox 360 has always been somewhat lacking in the graphics department. Halo 3 ruthlessly cut back on the high levels of image quality and texture detail expected from a title this generation in order to include what was, and is still, arguably the most advanced HDR lighting solution we’ve seen in any game so far. Whilst ODST merely added a brief lick of paint to the proceedings, upping the quality of the texture filtering slightly, and bringing in a post process blur effect to smooth out the upscaled framebuffer.

For Halo: Reach Bungie have completely gone back to the drawing board, stripping out, and rewriting most of the engine with alarming success. So much so, that the game now ranks as one of the prettiest on the 360 – no meant feat when considering the series dwindling reputation for graphical prowess.

We first took a look at the tech behind Reach in our analysis of the Beta way back in May. But now, as we blast our way through the final game, we take an updated look at the title, now focussing on the Campaign and the drastic graphical upgrades that are apparent over the ones originally seen in the game’s impressive range of multiplayer modes.


Now while multiplayer in Reach looks pretty much identical to the Beta version – still representing a true current-generation look over Halo 3 and ODST- it’s absolutely nothing compared to the visual majesty of the Campaign mode. Here the game ramps up its graphical polish considerably; textures are noticeably more detailed, bump-mapping has been expanded and hugely refined in the process, the full range of Bungie’s trademark HDR solution is not only evident, but also combined successfully with a new, real-time, dynamic lighting system, complete with baked shadow maps and much improved use of local lights (like in the beta each projectile has its own light source).

Furthermore, you’ve also got improved smoke and particle effects, which don’t appear to be rendered using vastly lower res alpha buffers. In fact both of these effects have been expanded with far more in the way of alpha transparencies than before. Plus, adding to this is a range of impressive post process effects; including object-based motion blur, and different screen distorting filters, used in varying scenarios throughout the game.

Most of these have been seen before in the multiplayer beta, just not quite to the level on offer in the Campaign mode – and that includes the online co-op campaign as well.


The title’s use of SSAO (screen-space ambient occlusion) – previously only used for indoor areas of the beta – can now seen in both inside and outside spaces accordingly, adding an extra layer of depth to the scene and its already high-end approach to lighting.

Evidence of this is very subtle however, although you can definitely tell that its there when seeing the game running in real-time. The most obvious places where it appears are near buildings and bespoke areas of scenery. The look that the effect provides is reasonably recognisable, if not also a little inconspicuous at times in Reach.


Amongst all the accomplishments, there is one compromise. In order to conserve on bandwidth the game does use an A2C blend on foliage. As you may be aware this is a process of rendering certain alpha effects in an interlaced-style, half-res manner, but without simply downing the overall resolution of the buffer.

The effects can be seen in the screenshot below. Just about. For most of Reach the usual side effect of using A2C (dithering and a screen door look) is largely inconspicuous unless you actually go look out for it. And when you do, you’ll se that the effect is far better implemented than in most other games that use it.

Thankfully, you’ll find that it is only the foliage that suffers from this; other key visual elements like water and fire are rendered in full resolution using proper alpha blending – none of that low res stuff there.


Outside of the additional polish applied to the game’s use of visual effects and advanced rendering make up, the basic framebuffer and method of anti-aliasing remains the same as the Beta.

Halo Reach renders in in 1152x720 for both single and multiplayer modes, and uses a custom form of temporal anti-aliasing, though the effect is most visible on static objects. The reduced horizontal resolution, and use of a non-standard form of anti-aliasing is required for the game’s framebuffer to fit into the 360’s 10MB of EDRAM without the need for titling.

Effectively, using regular 2xMSAA would mean that parts of the frame would have to be broken up and rendered using tiles, which results in an additional geometry processing cost due to the large amount of triangles needing to be rendered multiple times across different tiles – not helpful in maintaining performance, whilst also taking up more in the way of overall memory outside the FB.

Instead Bungie’s custom solution works extremely well, and just about fits into the tight memory constraints given to the framebuffer by the machine.

However the use of the temporal AA solution does have some drawbacks. For one, only objects that are static get the majority of AA. And this mostly disappears immediately when you start moving – some AA is still present, just not as effective. Plus none of the 2D, sprite-based foliage gets any edge smoothing either, making some jaggies apparent regardless of whether the AA is working or not. In reality however, this seldom makes a large difference at all, with the game’s use of post processing effects (like motion blur) keeping the overall image clean and smooth.

The temporal AA also has some odd, but extremely subtle side effects. For example, there are times when only parts of the screen receive any AA. Though this is only visible on a frame-by-frame basis (not during actual gameplay), and doesn’t happen all the time. Well-trained eyes can see the bizarre occurrence in the screenshot below.


Another is a blurring, or rather what looks like ghosting of the image while fast sideways movements or sharp turns occur. In still frames you can notice what looks like a double image, but with no AA. This is basically caused by the way Bungie’s AA solution actually works. Two separate frames are combined to form the anti-aliased image, although a successful blend only happens in still scenes due to a time delay between both frames being blended. The result: the aforementioned double image ghosting that manifests itself in these situations.

However this particular issue now only seems to affect the surrounding environment, and not the weapon you are holding. Other than that it is exactly the same as in the beta, and can be found in both multiplayer and the campaign mode of Reach.


Performance wise, Halo Reach is pretty impressive, enabling an almost constant use of v-sync and hardly ever deviating from its targeted 30fps update. However, there are times when the game does drop frames quite badly, and this is perhaps the biggest discrepancy between both the Campaign mode and the multiplayer.

In multiplayer, like the beta, reach holds to an almost constant 30fps with only very minor, small deviations in performance. Screen tearing is also kept to a bare minimum, practically never occurring at all. Campaign mode however, is a largely different story.

Interestingly, this mode is also v-synced, pretty much solidly so. And this can, and will on occasion severely impact on performance. Like with the multiplayer, and the beta, Campaign mode runs at 30fps for most of the time, only dropping frames in the most strenuous of situations. Small dips happen here and there, but nothing but the slightest blip. Until, that is, all hell breaks loose.

In the first encounter you have in the game, the framerate drops below the 20fps mark, becoming a temporary slideshow. While this is all going on your sense of control is adversely affected; latency spirals, and all attempts at getting a steady aim go out the window. It’s hardly the best of starts, and would be a rather constant annoyance if it wasn’t for the fact that examples like these are few and far in between.

Quite why these occasional, heavy dips in performance weren’t optimised out is unknown to me – when they happen they’re worse than anything Halo 3 had to offer in this regard. Perhaps Bungie thought it best to try and maintain v-sync as best they could in these types of situations. Although in practice, having a little screen tearing is better than a large increase in latency in the middle of battle, and that’s without the intrusive eradication of a smooth framerate.

Despite this Halo: Reach performs incredibly well, with very little in the way of large overall framerate drops, and almost no screen tearing in either the campaign or multiplayer modes.


Cut-scenes fair a little differently though, with Bungie freely upping the level of detail on characters and objects safe in the knowledge that performance can be more tightly controlled. And in that respect, with the additional load that it is pushing, does so quite admirably, though not without faltering slightly.

In many of the game’s real-time cinematics tearing was clearly visible across the entire screen, with different tears appearing on screen for different lengths, and the frame rate also took quite a few steady dips below the 30fps mark. On some occasions the framerate drops I witnessed were almost as bad as those in the minus 20fps sections of the single-player campaign. However, as the action isn’t controllable the effect it has on the game is far less important.

Ultimately, what IS important, is that the game performs smoothly for the majority of the time with only minor dips here and there. And in that sense Bungie have succeeded with Halo: Reach. What’s even more impressive is that the developers have been able to do this whilst upping the game’s framebuffer resolution, along with stringing out more intensive graphical effects, all the while still including their trademark HDR lighting system without compromising it.

On top of that you’ve got the inclusion of SSAO, a mix of dozens of dynamic light sources perfectly complementing the use of plain old, baked light and shadow maps, and a mildly tweaked version of their custom temporal AA solution. All of this manages to not only be rendered in a final framebuffer image which fits into the 360’s EDRAM, but also a game that from both a visual, and a tech perspective, is right up there with the best titles on the system.

The debate on whether Reach is the best Halo game yet is still ongoing – I myself still prefer Halo: CE’s campaign to this one’s so far – although the undeniable fact that it is by far the best looking is not.

For the first time in nearly ten years Bungie have produced a game that once again can be used to show off the graphical capabilities of a flagship console, devoid of the restraints of the past, and the rushed development cycles that once impacted on past performances. Sure, the slightly plain, angular, and almost barren style of the series’ architecture may look tired or stylistically unimpressive, although in a raw technical sense, without fail, it commands your complete attention.

For those of you who either don’t like Halo, or have grown tired of the series many attempts to match the raw brilliance of the original, there may not be much to tempt you back into Bungie’s world of Spartan soldiers and religious alien zealots. But at least now the franchise truly looks great again, and that definitely counts for something. At the same time that classic Halo gameplay seems to have been refined down to a fine art, and a few campaign issues aside, Reach as a whole may well be the best game in the series since the original.

Thanks go out to Mr Deap for the screenshots, while AlStrong once again counts the pixels.

Feature: Halo Reach Legendary Edition Unboxing

Being a huge fan of the halo franchise I was extremely excited when I was able to get my hands on the Bungie space crate. Following a delicate unboxing I was not disappointed. Fans planning on getting their hands on this edition of Halo Reach will be getting not only the definitive edition of the game, but also a whole lot of fan service in the form of notes letters from the Halo universe. Then of course there is the Noble team monument and Dr. Halsey's personal diary on creating a Spartan.


The crate in which all this goodness is packaged in is a fairly durable collectors piece itself, designed to be something you would expect to find in the halo universe. Once inside you are greeted with the collectors edition of the game and a letter both snugly fitted in to tight polyester. What grabbed my attention was not only the quality of design of the collectors edition box but the accompanying letter. The letter explains on how the Noble team monument was actually a museum piece which was rescued and had been passed down eventually to you.


The collectors edition packaging is actually one of the most satisfying pieces of game packaging I have ever handled, and I do like my collectors editions of games. This even trumps the legendary edition of Halo 3 in terms of case quality. Though I don't think anything could beat the Halo 3 helmet in terms of functionality - being able to store the master chiefs trilogy plus ODST in one commemorative helmet was a master stroke. But the Reach packaging stand alone is not only durable but impressive - the feel of it as you pull it from the outer ONI black box is nothing short of legendary.


The game is encased in it's own little section which detaches away from the main box. It is here where you get some of the best fiction a company has ever released as an companion piece. Dr. Halsey's journal is a work of sheer quality as is the various clippings featured with it. I don't wish to ruin it so I shall leave it at that, fans of Halo will not be disappointed.


The Noble team monument, crafted by the guys at McFarlane toys, is every bit the quality collectable any halo fan would want. Sculpted and moulded to perfection, complete with adjustable weapons this monument captures each of the noble team with pinpoint accuracy. This piece along with the letter explaining it's origin, plus all the contents of the collectors edition is what makes this Legendary edition of Halo Reach truly Legendary.

Leon Goldstone, Contributor

Tech Analysis: Halo Reach Beta

You may remember that we did an initial tech analysis on some of the first in-game screenshots of Halo Reach way back in February, in which we discovered that the underlying engine behind the game had been completely reworked, and overhauled in such a way, that there was a large noticeable jump in quality over both Halo 3 and ODST.

Certain things still eluded us however, such as the game’s final rendering resolution, or whether or not Bungie could still afford to keep their trademark high-end HDR lighting system firmly stamped in the final build. The beta we said would finally be the place in which we could get a tangible look at the tech behind the game. And so today at IQGamer that’s exactly what we’ll be doing, ripping apart the engine behind Halo Reach and revealing just how far it’s come from its early Halo 3, and original Xbox beginnings.

The first thing to say, is that the engine powering Halo Reach is more of a giant evolutionary step forward rather than a brand new revolutionary driving force. That said it is a vastly superior beast in every way shape and form compared to the engine used in the previous two games. Boasting numerous improvements, from rendering resolution, texture work, lighting, shader effects, and character modelling, everything has seen an overhaul. Some areas have only been subtly enhanced, while others have been completely changed, making for not only a large boost in image quality, but also a smoother looking game as a result.


One of the main complaints in Halo 3 and ODST besides the lack of any anti-aliasing, was the game’s sub-HD rendering resolution. Both titles rendered at 1152x640 in a dual framebuffer, which came together to form the final 640p image. For Reach Bungie have upper the game’s resolution, albeit ever so slightly, just enough it seems to be able to be loosely qualified as 720p. Reach basically renders in 1152x720p, keeping the horizontal resolution the same as Halo 3 and ODST whilst upping the vertical res - which is the one that the human eye is most sensitive to, thus the most important to increase.

It is also likely that the developers opted for this 1152x720p resolution in order to keep the framebuffer firmly fitting into the 10MB EDRAM, which is something that seems to be a priority for Reach. Even with all the enhancements and additions made to the game engine, they still want to avoid tilling.

In addition to this increase in resolution, Halo Reach also retains the unique HDR lighting implementation from the last two games. The effect has been reduced somewhat, appearing to be of a slightly shorter range compared to the ultra wide range lighting on offer in the last game. However it has been bolstered by the use of far more local lights, and a brand new differed dynamic lighting system featuring dozens of individual lights on screen at once.


This new lighting system means that there can be upward of thirty or more light sources on screen at once, given off via weapons fire, explosions, and environmental lighting, such as the glow given off from lights inside buildings. All of these light sources are real-time, and interact with their surroundings. So a gunshot, or rounds from a Needler will light up surrounding areas, and change the shadows created by moving objects. Each individual projectile from the Needler also has its own light source, as do many other projectiles in the game, which is a first for the series and is exactly what you’d expect from next-generation lighting techniques.

Shadowing is a mix of pre-baked and dynamic. All the environmental shadows in the game are baked shadow maps, stationary and un-reactive. Moving objects however, are given the proper real-time treatment, with full dynamic shadows to complement the use of multiple light sources in the game. Shadows on these react to both other objects and the environment, with neighbouring light sources affecting how they are displayed.


SSAO (screen-space ambient occlusion) is also present in the beta, though it is only visible on indoor areas, and isn’t used anywhere else. It’s implementation is pretty much artifact free, and blends almost perfectly with the baked shadow maps in the dark areas which use it. Bungie had originally stated that it wouldn’t feature in the beta, but clearly, its here for all too see, if very subtle at this point. We expect that the use of SSAO will extend to the outdoor areas in the final game, if only for the single player campaign.

In terms of texturing, detail, and filtering, Reach has seen a massive improvement over Halo 3 and ODST. Texture detail has been significantly increased, with better use of normal and environmental bump mapping creating a depth and detail that simply wasn’t there before. Texture filtering, one of the main complaints with the last two game, has seen a huge boost. Reach uses what looks like a combination of anisotropic (AF) and trilinear (TF) filtering for all of its textures, meaning that detail is now visible for longer distances than before. You can see this at work in the screenshot below.


The other main complaint from the last two games, the lack of any anti-aliasing, has also been approached, though not completely dealt with. Reach uses a form of AA known as ‘temporal anti-aliasing’, which works by blending two separate frames together whilst combining them during a time delay, creating a 2xMSAA look on certain objects and geometry when the game isn’t moving. However, the down side is that when there is any movement this form or AA causes a distinct blur effect, not unlike the motion blur encountered on a old LCD TV, and one which is highlighted by the game’s use of a post process motion blur effect.

Also, another downside is that certain objects, such as the 2D foliage, aren’t affected by this form of AA, leaving them with noticeably jagged edges. This doesn’t blend in too well with parts of the game that do benefit from the temporal AA, and just showcases another problem with using this technique. A proper MSAA solution would have been far more beneficial, though Bungie would have then have to use tiling to fit the framebuffer into the 10MB EDRAM.


Despite these issues, Reach in beta form is still a great looking game, and features some impressive high resolution particle effects, debris at lower resolution, good use of transparency effects, tessellated water, and a nice bit of bloom lighting to top it all off. The whole visual range feels a lot more organic than before, even with the Halo series’ typically clean lines and smooth industrial look.

All this is backed up with an accurate post-process motion blur effect, one that is even more impressive than the one created by Namco for use in the PS3 and 360 versions of Tekken 6. Reach’s motion blur technique, like in Tekken 6, works on an individual object basis, and is incredibly accurate. Unfortunately, it so obviously interferes with the temporal AA used in the game, creating some unwanted ghosting and being pretty intrusive when you least want it to be.


Like with Halo 3 and ODST, Reach aims to maintain a constant 30 frames per-second at all times, without breaking the v-sync that’s in place. Occasionally it does do this creating some mild screen tearing, but this is usually relegated to one or two frames appearing at the top of the screen. The game does slow down however, mainly in busy scenarios, but that scarcely seems to affect the amount of tearing that appears to any great extent, meaning that the v-sync is working as it should do.

In many ways Halo: Reach is simply using the backbone of the previous game engine, reworking and enhancing it along the way, using it to blend in new graphical improvements with tried and tested old ones. At the same time it still manages to work in the tight constraints of the 360’s EDRAM. Not so surprisingly we don’t get a proper 720p (1280x720) rendering resolution, or multi-sampling AA. However the game’s cleaver new LOD system allows the screen to be filled with dozens of detailed objects and light sources, whilst retaining most of the HDR lighting from the last two games, and still include some excellent texture filtering.

So far the multiplayer beta has certainly impressed, especially with its use of effects that we thought would probably just feature heavily in the single player campaign. Instead Bungie have seen fit to try and include all of the technological improvements the revised engine has to offer for both single and multiplayer modes. The game is clearly visually superior to its predecessors in nearly every way, minus the blur caused by the AA, and still has a good couple of months to go before its done and out the door.

It should be interesting to see just how far the main campaign has come along, and whether they have managed to further improve on the foundations laid down in the beta. Certainly, what we’ve seen today looks better than the early screenshots of the single player gameplay, and no doubt that the final code will look even better. How much better though, will largely depend on how much they insist on pushing the engine for the multiplayer side of things.

All things considered, Halo Reach looks like every bit the next-generation Halo game that it predecessors should have been. Of course, the sparse slightly bland look that comes with the Halo universe isn’t going to go away. After all, that IS the look and feel of the series. But at least, for the first time the franchise has actually transcended its old Xbox roots into something that actually feels it belongs, from a visual perspective anyway, on Microsoft’s 360.

IQGamer's Top 5 Tech Titles For 2010

Over the next couple of months this generation is set to witness another wave of technically proficient and defining titles, following on from last year’s Uncharted 2, this year’s God Of War 3, and Crysis, from a few years back. It’s for this reason that IQGamer has presented you with our top five titles to look out for on a technical level. Games which potentially, will not only push the barriers of what is possible on their respective platforms, but that will also showcase the perfect blend of art and technology fused together for outstanding graphical excellence. Some of these of course will transcend that notion, being as relevant for their gameplay as well as their graphics.

1: Alan Wake

Remedy Entertainment’s unique take of the survival horror genre has been in development for six long years, and in that time scarcely anything has been seen of the title. The recent trailers however, have shown that those six years could well be worth the wait, with an eerie, Stephen King meets Silent Hill style approach to the mood and atmosphere, and a action focused, episodic style of gameplay which looks set to bring freshness to a somewhat worn out genre. Visually, the game looks like being the poster boy for lighting for the 360, with some of the most impressive dynamic lighting seen outside of PS3’s God Of War 3, whilst also providing a range of post process filters, and some amazing texture work.



2: Halo Reach

Microsoft’s 360 exclusive sets to re-write the rulebook of just what is possible on their white box of tricks in the eyes of rabid PS3 fanboys. In reality the 360 has always been capable of such graphical feats, but having a title display them all at the same time is a welcome sign that developers are finally trying to seriously push the machine. ‘Reach’ is one of the first titles to be pushing up too 40 lights sources on-screen at once, from the glow given off from firing your Plasma rife, to the reflections shining off the surrounding lights. In addition, a healthy use of normal-mapping combined with improved texture detail, gives far more depth to the various surfaces found in the game, whilst a higher rendering resolution and trillinear filtering brings up the image quality significantly from Halo 3 and ODST.

There’s more of course, but for now why not check out the impressive gameplay video below, which showcases exactly what we mean.



3: The Last Guardian

More of an artistic inclusion that a purely technical one, but a game nevertheless that has the potential to truly blend artistic beauty with awe-inspiring technical brilliance. We’ve already seen the wonderfully smooth and completely natural looking animation from earlier trailers, which by far moved me in a way most games routinely fail to do, ‘feeling’ alive rather than just looking like it. A mixture of detailed texture work, painted textures, hand drawn inspired main character model, and lovely HDR lighting effects combined with ‘that’ animation make this one to look out for. More intriguing though, will be the bond between the boy and the creature, and the unique gamplay mechanics it could bring to the table. This is easily one of the most exciting titles for us at IQGamer, regardless of any technical merit that might be bestowed upon it.



4: Lost Planet 2

Capcom’s sequel to the 2006 hit is looking every bit as sweet as the first game, with bigger and badder enemies, huge screen-filling bosses, and some of the best particle effects we’ve seen so far on both PS3 and 360. More detailed texturing, improved lighting, better filtering and an overall higher image quality is just some of the things this sequel brings to the table. The first game however, introduced us to much of this anyway, so it will be far more interesting to see how the co-op campaign works out, and how the collecting of alien residue is still required for survival. Despite not being high on many people’s hype list it is right up there on our radar, and we’ll be sure to be taking a long hard look at the game upon its release.



5: Crisis 2

Maybe this one should be higher up on the list but you will find out why not in just a moment. The first game is still, by a long way, the most technically accomplished game ever made. If you have the PC to run it Crysis will push around on ‘enthusiast’ settings pretty much every graphical effect buzzword known to man. And at 1080p 60fps for a short while, if you’re lucky. ‘Crysis 2’ is attempting to do exactly the same thing but with a strong focus on consoles this time around.

The game already seems to be implementing ambient occlusion, along with simulated god-rays, dynamic lighting, volumetric effects and various specular and refraction techniques also. Not too mention particle effects and an impressive real-tie physics system. Sadly, it all currently looks rather poor when shown in high definition on the consoles, with low resolution textures, bilinear filtering, no anti-aliasing, and slightly sub 720p rendering res. These two screenshots here and here show what were talking about, whilst the vid below shows how impressive it can look in motion.



So there you have it, IQGamer’s top five technically advanced titles to look forward to. All of those are definitely no-brainers in terms of graphical might and technology, but some of them might also genuinely take their respective genre’s in altogether different directions, doing for gameplay what others have done for graphics. Or maybe, some will in fact do both, proving we have lots of power and imagination left to be gleamed from the current batch of consoles. Either way you can expect us to be providing our flagship tech analysis on at least three of those above five titles, and most likely full reviews for all of them too.

Lastly, you might be wondering why there aren’t any Wii titles on that list. Well, seeing as it IS a list of the most technically advanced titles coming to consoles, we didn’t think something that can push Nintendo’s little white slab to its limits quite justifies a place amongst titles running and competing on superior hardware. Artistically speaking, both Metroid Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are certainly candidates for the race of ‘best visuals’, just not in the overall technical sense. Although, you cannot deny that both games are technically beautiful, working in and around the constraints of the aging Wii hardware.

Halo Reach Engine: Early Tech Analysis

A few days ago Bungie released the first batch of in-game screenshots from their newest Halo title. Interestingly these appeared to be in full 1080p (1920x1080) resolution, and didn’t seem to be upscaled. In addition, the screens at first glance also showed off a few improvements to the Halo engine, such as possible AA (anti-aliasing) and for the first time, AF (anisotropic filtering).

Whilst it’s not uncommon for companies to release higher resolution rendered screens to the press with higher IQ than the final game, and Bungie did the same thing with Halo 3 (remember those 720p native screens?), the first official sighting of Reach’s gameplay looks to hold some truths in regards to the engine used in the final game.



The above screen was posted on Bungie.net and is obviously in 1080p. However there appears to be a huge level of AA on display, far more than the 4xMSAA used in certain 360 titles such as Dirt 2 and Race Driver Grid. This simple excess of AA can be explained away with the use of supersampling, a simple process in which an image is rendered at a much higher resolution, and then downsampled to form a cleaner smoother final image. This is basically a form of AA which requires a huge amount of processing power, due to having to render at a higher resolution than the one you want to display at, but is also very effective at eliminating jagged edges across the whole scene.

It seems that this shot was originally rendered at 2560x1440 (thanks to AlStrong for the pixel counting) with no AA, and then downsampled giving the smooth 1080p image. This is certainly something that won’t be seen in the final game. Instead we expect Reach to render either in full 720p, or using the same dual 1152x640 buffers found in the previous two games. Currently we have no idea on whether any form of AA will make it into the game, that all depends on if they’re using the same HDR lighting method from before, or if they have adopted the use of tiling in order to fit a 2xMSAA frame buffer into the 360’s 10mb edram.

Either way, in order to render in 720p or using the 1152x640 dual buffer method with MSAA, they will need to title. Especially as they claim to be pushing more enemies and vehicles around on screen than before at any given time.

However whilst we can’t judge what AA will be used (if any), or at what resolution Reach will be rendered at, it is possible to see at least 4x AF + maybe trilinear at work, or just AF with a bias towards certain textures. If you look closely at the ground you’ll see it blur much further into the distance than with both Halo 3 and ODST.

Texture detail in itself, has also been improved, with greater levels of normal mapping and improved shaders on many surfaces. Combined with the use of AF, the numerous bumps and curves of the cliff faces and surrounding scenery are much more apparent than before.

You can also find small elements of SSAO (Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion), particularly on some of the environment details, although rather subtle. It doesn’t appear to be present in the entire scene, with only a few points of visibility in other areas. A clear example can be found in the screenshot below, look at the metal shelving in the bottom right. The shading there isn’t quite correct, a usual side effect of using SSAO.



There’s no sign of the improved lighting model in the first-person screenshot either, though it’s very hard to tell, especially without seeing the same area, but from different angles as to analyse the shadowing and lighting. At present it looks very similar to ODST, and there’s no sign of the multiple independent light sources that Bungie stated is going into the game. Though those have been witnessed in other screenshots released, showing what looks to be from in-game engine cut scenes. (see above)

Arguably the gameplay build we’re seeing here is very early, and is almost certainly likely to see a noticeable improvement by the time the beta launches. Between now and then, we still have many questions that need answering. Will Bungie still be keeping the benchmark HDR of the last two games, in addition to the 30 or so real-time light sources being added? Are we going to be seeing AF plus a proper 1280x720 frame buffer. Or will the HDR be dropped for an easier 1152x640 with 2xMSAA and AF approach using titling?

We just don’t know yet, and I guess the beta is when we will find out about some of this stuff. The rest will no doubt have to wait for a more complete single-player build of the campaign, in which nothing will be paired down to deal with lag, split-screen and other concerns, which almost certainly impact on graphics.

Anyway, this small insight into Halo Reach’s graphics tech is all we have for now. But stay with as, as we’ll be following any developments very closely.