‘Halo’ reaches in cookie jar once more

The “Halo” franchise has been a staple of Microsoft’s lineup since the launch of the Xbox.
It is their flagship franchise, thanks mostly to developer Bungie.

“Halo: Reach” is Bungie’s last “Halo” game before it goes off to create a new, multi-console franchise — and it’s the developer’s finest one yet.

The single-player campaign is the most polished of all the games. The pace is brisk and the story is the strongest, focusing on more human characters rather than the faceless Master Chief. All the missions are solid; there isn’t a single level that feels unnecessary, a first for the series. The most memorable sequence has players fighting to get to a spaceship before really rumbling in said ship.

The multiplayer has the most replayabilty of any game I’ve ever seen. The sheer amount of options, from co-op survival mode to firefights to the suite of level creation tools, there is so much to do in the game.

It’s rare to feel the $60 was truly worth a game, but every dollar is worth at least an hour of game time.