How Far Will Reach Have to Ummm……Reach?
With the NPD numbers just released it looks as if Halo has been de-throned as the fastest selling console FPS game by Modern Warfore 2 selling a combined 6 MILLION between the 360 and PS3 versions. 4.4 million on 360 alone making it the fastest selling game on the 360 platform.
Halo has just done been bitchslapped! Something many people thought wouldn’t happen for a while. Now it’s really not surprising considering how popular the Call of Duty franchise is and the difference in installed base when each game was released. However taking a look at Halo 3: ODST s numbers and Modern Warfare 2s, there is quite a difference.
I know for me personally, Halo has kind of lost it’s touch. Don’t get me wrong, I still loves my Teh Halos but to be honest, it’s been more of the same across 3 games and an expansion. I really thought ODST would be a kind of re-booting of the franchise but I was let down as it played identically to Halo 3 except instead of being a somewhat silent Spartan, you’re a silent rookie ODST…….but alas! Whats this I hear? Halo Reach might actually be that re-boot I was hoping for?
Tomorrow night is the Spike Video Game Awards, and normally these would give the likes of us a huge WHOOOOOOOO GIVES A SHIT!? But this year is different. This year they will be showing the first gameplay footage from the upcoming Halo game. They will be showing what could quite possibly be the most important Halo release in history. With already an expansion and a spin off(Halo Wars) out in the wild the Halo name is being spread pretty thin and people seem to be realizing this and quickly slowing down the console juggernaught.
COD has alway been popular but it never really hit the megastream until InfinityWard refreshed the series with COD4: Modern Warfare. They realized WWII was being played out and they did something about it. To put it simply, Halo: Reach needs to be the series Modern Warfare in order to pick up speed again and win back some of it’s loyal followers that have recently jumped ship.
Early leaked screenshots of the game as well as some comments for Geoff Keighley(host of gametrailors TV) Lead me to believe that Reach will indeed be something new. New engine, new gameplay, new assets and a new experience overall. Although no one knows for certain what exactly Bungie has in store for us, beside Bungie themselves. ….and ofcourse Microsoft.
Leaked shot from Halo: Reach
“Halo: Reach will be the biggest game of 2010.” Was a quote xbox exec Aaron Greenburg gave www.gamasutra.com. Now I wouldn’t argue that it could end up being the best selling game of 2010 but it is a year in which a lot of incredibly anticipated games are coming out including Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Gran Tourismo 5, Mass Effect 2 and the most anticipated PC game likely EVER, Starcraft 2. Ok lets leave SCII out of the picture and stick mainly with console releases here. I still think even if Halo Reach does not redefine the series it could still come out as the top seller next year, but I really hope Bungie/MS isn’t settling for that. Now is the time to kick the series in the ass and not let it turn into a diminishing franchise such as Guitar Hero or Tony Haw. Reach will need to show gamers it’s actually a “new” Halo in everyway. They will need to steal back some of the trigger happy couch cowboys from MW2. The whole “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” bullshit doesn’t cut it with gaming. Us gamers get bored after a while and we’re too damn easy to lure towards something more sexy and enticing. Bungie, lets hope you’re giving us the Reach we all want and not the Reach around we’d all be embarassed about.
Either way, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out. What will it be? Will Halo Reach turn into “just another Halo game” or will this be the game to skyrocket the franchise right back into 1st place?
what did you think of the trailer?
disappointed there was no gameplay footage but still offered some insight of what to expect
Definitely disappointed that there was no gameplay and didn’t really feel like we got a good idea of what the game is going to look like. Even if that trailer was “in-engine,” trailers and such can still be doctored up before they get shown. I’m in the “believe-it-when-I-see-it” mode.
Yeah that makes sense, Halo has pushed a lot of people away. Unfortunately not me though but I’m expecting big things from Reach after ODST. Oh and great podcast guys keep it up
Hey Shill11 thanks!
ODST was an overall disappointment for me but I still enjoyed it somewhat. I just feel Halo needs to evolve and it’s engine is starting to wear thin. THat being said, the trailer they showed on the VGAs looked awesome. A huge improvement from the in game cutscenes in either Halo 3 or ODST. Sure I’d rather have seen game footage but this is Bungie…they like to tease.
There are some big hints in the trailer though as to what type of game REACH will be.
Every Spartan is wearing different armor and holding a different gun and/weapon. THis to me would hint at a class based game(which I think would be RAD) Also right before the the Spartans get into the helicopter the cammander says “first things first, you gotta get that lone wolf mentality out of your head”….and the other dude replies with “So he’s going to be our 6?” I’m sure it’s safe to say this will 100% be a squad based game for the campaign….and the fact he mentiones the number 6 has me thinking 6 player co-op online…but that part I might be reading into a bit much.
Either way…Bungie did it again….after a weak ODST they’ve managed to get my interest back into Teh Haloz!!
Hey Geoff
Its me Scott in case you didn’t know, you really think its going to be that squad based? For some reason I feel like it will take the same approach as ODST, 6 main characters and you play as all of them through different parts of Reach. I mean when I think of Halo and squads, I think of a Spartan leading a bunch of crappy peons who die in the first 30 seconds of the level, but hopefully I’m wrong and this will be totally different and yes I do see them throwing in some sort of 6 player co-op thing, even if its like Firefight or MW2 Spec Ops
Oh hey Scott! I shouldn’ve realized it was you actually.
Well I’m not sure if you followed the story of REACH at all but it’s basically a huge war in which all of the Spartans basically get whipped out and REACH gets destroyed. SO I’m thinking it won’t be you playing different Spartans but a member of an elite Spartan squad that they’ll likely flesh out more.
Plus them pointing out the “lone wolf mentality” and saying that you’ll be number 6 of a 6 person squad has me pretty convinced it’ll def be a squad based game.
I’m sure you’ll be with different members at different times at some points in the game but I really think the main stroy will be based around those 6 guys….kinda like a band of brothers kinda deal.
Yeah see I was going to mention that I’m planning reading the book starting Saturday so I wanted to minimize plot spoilers haha. Unfortunately I know Reach is destroyed so I was logically thinking all the spartans are spread out and thats how it falls … 6 Spartans are to much badassness to lose lol … dont clarify what happens please lol
Oh another thought I had was maybe you can choose what spartan you play as … you know like in RPGs each spartans has its its strengths and weaknesses …. but thats me pulling stuff out of left field lol
But yeah your probably right in the squad thing, but its nice to have ridiculous speculations though