Customer Reviews

Halo Reach - Legendary Edition

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let's face it: even as collector's editions go the one for Halo Reach is unusually expensive. It's easily twice the price of those I've seen for other games. Yet this is honestly the first time I've ever felt that a game's special edition was well worth the money. No matter how impressive the Legendary Edition might look in the pictures, seeing the real thing in person is simply astonishing. Bungie went all out when it came to this product.

First is the size. It's huge. The whole box is about 14" x 15" x 12". That may not sound like a lot on paper and that is possibly the problem. I've seen frag box computers that are smaller. The weight is equally impressive; I was astonished when the UPS driver handed it to me. A friend of mine sent his wife to pick up his pre-order through a local retailer today and warned her ahead of time that she wasn't going to be prepared for how big it was. A few minutes later she called him -- shocked by the size, despite his warning.

Once you actually open the box, though, is when the real magic begins. Yes, the figurine/statuette is big and beautiful but in some ways it's eclipsed by the little details tucked away everywhere. There are "hand written" notes from the person who tracked down these artifacts and shipped them to you. There's a notebook bound with heavy string that contains pages upon pages of research notes. ID cards, data cards, an embroidered Noble Team service patch, maps, biometric data -- you name it, this package has it. You really feel like you're poring over a slice of history. (A second friend received his copy at work today. All afternoon he had people coming to his desk to enviously take a look at the package's contents.)

As for the game, it's every bit as fun as can be expected from previous games -- this, coming from a person who usually shies away from first-person shooters. In many ways it's also a lot more open. As an example, at one point I accidentally got split off from the friends I was playing with. Not sure how to catch up with them again I struck out in a direction that seemed promising. It actually led me to a Covenant outpost where I started picking off the enemy, clearing out the building with such tactics as happily firing into it with a rocket launcher that I'd found. After about 15 minutes of that, the storyline led my friends back around to where I was and all hell broke loose. Sure, I'd missed a bit of what they were doing but I also made a big difference at a key point.

I also have to say that the graphics are astonishing. The new engine truly outdoes itself. There are times when the Xbox can't quite meet its demands, leading to a briefly stuttering frame rate but this is easily overlooked. The world is just too beautiful and epic-feeling to nitpick. Especially since I've often seen worse issues in games that didn't begin to compare visually.

If you can still find a Legendary or Limited edition of Reach, by all means get it. I can't imagine anyone regretting this purchase.

Writing a review for the Legendary Edition of Halo: Reach is difficult, because there's a lot to talk about. Here's a quick rundown of everything that you get, in terms of packaging:

-Comes in a large printed cardboard box, styled like in-game crates.
-Right on top is a hand-written note (actually printed), which seems to be a message between in-universe characters regarding the shipping of this crate, and you're down the rabbit hole.
-Right below the note is a guide to assembling a few bits on your Noble Team Statue, and instructions on how to remove the statue from the box without damaging it.
-There's a large and incredibly detailed statue of Noble Team included, which is absolutely breath-taking.
-And you get the whole Collector's edition of the game.

Inside the Collector's Edition:
-The game, in a normal Xbox 360 game case.
-A journal, ostensibly from the character Dr. Hallsey, who is central in the Halo series' plot. This book is absolutely gorgeous. The spine is sewn, and the book has a magnetic clasp. The pages are filled with intricate insights into the Halo universe, and there's a pocket in back stuffed with additional materials. Some of the additional materials include a real cloth Noble Team iron-on patch, and a map of Planet Reach with annotations as to major story points.

When you finally fire up the game:
-Reach's singleplayer campaign is incredible. Every mission is something new, from outright slugfest going toe-to-toe with the Covenant, to driving missions, to new space combat missions. Everything is wonderfully presented and fun. You can also play Campaign in 4-player co-op.
-Firefight mode, wherein you face wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies. This mode is loaded with customizable options, and can be played over Xbox Live like all the other modes.
-Multiplayer, which includes everything from ranked deathmatch playlists to king of the hill games to capture the flag to who even knows what? Bungie rotates these lists frequently, so things are always fresh.
-Forge 2.0, the highly improved map editor that was so flexible in Halo 3 that players invented whole new gametypes- some of which became standardized for Halo: Reach (such as Zombie/Infection). Forge has improved massively, and the possibilities are endless.

And that's not all!
-A new Armory system allows you to gain credits with everything you do, from playing Campaign to online multiplayer. Spend your credits to unlock visual flair for your Spartan (cosmetic only), and even different voices for your character to use in Firefight mode. The most expensive items will reward the stalwart player who keeps coming back.

In short, there is a LOT of content in the Halo: Reach Legendary edition. The price at launch was absolutely worth it. The Noble Team statue is a centerpiece in my Halo collection now, right beside the SPARTAN helmet from the Halo 3 Legendary Edition. The game itself is rocking fun, and an incredibly appropriate farewell to the series since Bungie has sworn this is their last Halo title (at least for now). There's so much extra content that this space is too short to cover it all. If you are a Halo fan, this is the ultimate edition of Bungie's ultimate game.

Halo: Reach - Circa 2010


GOOD:
- Tried and true (Halo) FPS experience that many other games have copied over the years.
- Great Co-op Gameplay allows up to four players to go through the entire game from start to end.
- Great graphics which look way better than that of Halo 3 and ODST; also there are a lots of new animations for the characters as well as tons of new unique enemy voice work to boot.
- Vehicle and turret shooting are the same as ever (for a Halo game); which is good; but the nice addition here is the new helicopter type of vehicle and even a small section of the game where you can control a space fighter.
- Armor Abilities really help out and give you a new edge in combat. Also you have a night vision mode which works and looks like the one from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
- Intense multiplayer versus action either by yourself on a team; the mode has plenty of different options to choose from. This is a pretty good upgraded version of the famed Halo 3 multiplayer that now has new maps, modes, abilities, and graphics for you to enjoy.
- Fire Fight mode allows up to four players to fight waves of enemies on unique maps (based on those in the campaign) using team work and skill.


BAD:
- Some slight lag and slight blurring at the more intensive moments in the game (with lots of things happening all at once).
- Can't play Forge maps in Fire Fight mode.


IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A Sci-Fi First Person Shooter with quick pacing and intense fire fights. Note: that unlike Call of Duty: Modern Warfare this is a sci-fi First Person Shooter and as such your guns must first break an enemy's energy shield before you can really hurt them also everyone is wearing battle armor so you'll still need lots of shots to kill an opponent. The thing to do here is make your shots count more so you will need to do overall less of them to an opponent; example use energy type guns to break an enemy's energy shield and always try to do head shots to your enemy for extra damage. Coming at an enemy guns blazing and either not using the right guns and/or not aiming well will only get you killed pretty quickly.
- Gameplay wise this plays pretty much like Halo 3 but with the life bar from Halo 3: ODST. The missions themselves are pretty fun and take the best bits from Halo 3 and ODST into new experiences.
- The campaign levels can be played by either yourself or with up to four other players cooperatively at one time on any stage.
- The Story is an overall a combat story going from mission to mission with nothing really tying into the overall Halo lore until the last chapter.
- Intense multiplayer action online through Xbox Live with matches as small as one on one and as big as 16 players (and even offline without using Xbox Live using either spilt screen, or system link). Halo Reach is set up similar to that of Halo 3 but with some new modes and all new maps. But much like Halo 3 in the sense that you're given a rank when you play multiplayer (this rank can go up or down at any time) this rank is representative of your skill and your matched with others of your skill type, that way new unskilled players and hardcore veterans will not often play against one another, unless they make a special match themselves that ignores rank.
- An all new Fire Fight mode (Fire Fight was originally in Halo 3: ODST), Fire Fight which plays similar to Hoard Mode in Gears of War 2 is a mode where either by yourself or with up to four other players cooperatively can play a stage about the size of a multiplayer stage and you fight against enemies that are found in the games story campaign levels in waves. You get points and an overall score on your performance for these stages.
- There is no Master Chief in the game as well (the famed character from Halo's 1 through 3). Instead you play an assortment of different SPARTANS who were on the planet Reach when it was attacked. As far as the overall Halo story goes, your team is made up of SPARTAN IIIs (with one SPARTAN II). SPARTAN IIIs are cheaper to produce and have a bit less overall combat ability then the famed SPARTAN IIs (Master Chief is a SPARTAN II). Luckily for your team they have been given all sorts of prototype armor and weapons normally left only for the SPARTAN II's to have (note not even the Master Chief had a chance to get this stuff yet).
- NO FLOOD, it should be noted this Halo title has no FLOOD aliens within it (if you've played Halo's 1 through 3 you'll know what I am talking about).
- Forge World works like a much upgraded version of Halo 3's Forge mode is a mode that lets you make and edit your own map and build your very own maps from the ground up but adding/placing walls, ramps, towers, ect you can add or take away any and all of the objects, weapons, vehicles, spawning points and flag zones. This is all done in real time in one huge worlds (and not separate maps like in Halo 3) and you can even invite your friends into this mode while you're making the map(s) or just goofing off.
- Theater Mode works just like in Halo 3 it is a video editor that lets you record and play back any and all matches from Campaign, Multiplayer, and Fire Fight, and even Forge World from the point of view of any player that was there in either first person or third person (you can even swap to a in a orbit-cam where the camera circles around the player) all of this in real time. You can also pause the video/action at anytime and still look around as a camera as well as well as fast forward and rewind the events as they unfold. BUT don't forget you must save your videos before you turn off the game or you will lose the ability to save those matches. Also note that while viewing these "videos" you can take a picture or record a snippet of footage at any time and save it to your Xbox 360 and have your friends check them out later on your profile.


GAME IT'S MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)
- Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360/PS3/PC)


ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- There is three small cameos from characters from previous halo games, honestly the cameos are very small and are not earth shattering to the games over all story.
- Don't put down that controller once you beat the game as there is a surprise post credits.
- People who pre-ordered this game either at Amazon.com or Gamestop got a preorder code for some extra armor parts for their characters.
- The Limited edition comes with a download code for more extra armor parts for your character as well as a Halo Reach patch and a mini book with some back story on the game from the point of view of one of the stories characters.
- The Legendary edition comes with everything found in the limited edition plus even more download codes for more extra armor parts for your character (like giving you a avatar a flaming helmet much like the Bungie staff had in Halo 3's multiplayer) as well as a small figure set of the games main characters design by Todd Mcfarlane of Spawn fame.

I rarely write reviews but i was impressed enough with the product when it arrived that I decided that it was time to give it a good review as well. No matter how much the reviews prepare you for a big box, you never really realize how big the entire box it till it arrives. The details on the box to the figurines are immaculately amazing and impressive.The details in the Limited Edition journal is amazing. There are pullouts, maps, patches, and other goodies hidden in it. I haven't gone through it slowly so I can't really list out what is inside. I guess i feel like it is worth it because i got this for the retail price of the original game when this was on discount on Amazon so I definitely got it on a bargain. However, even with the price increase, the contents of this edition make it worth the full price. It is worth mentioning that it has been a long time since i've seen a Limited Edition Video Game with such good reviews. For example: Splinter Cell: Conviction had faulty USB with cheaply printed material. Dead Space 2's model weapon was cheaply assembled and lacked detail. Black Ops Prestige Edition has a remote control car that has a badly angled camera that makes it difficult to drive. Arkham Asylum Limited Edition had a sad looking Batarang.

Halo Reach Legendary Edition has surpassed all standards. :) So worth the cash... Especially for fans :)

Was this worth the money? Yes. Not only are you getting a piece of Video game history when you buy this. But your getting a HUGE monument of Noble Team. It is very large. It easily takes up half the box. The marketing, with the hand written notes, and the back story is all very sweet.

Also, to comment on the PRICE. When you have marketing/packaging that is this customized, this themed, its going to cost. Period. There's no way to get around it. If you just look at whats in the box, and think simple packaging.. you have no idea about all the work that had to go on behind the scenes, to pull this together. Logistics.. That stuff cost money, big time. Don't buy it unless your a hardcore fan. Because there is no denying to lay down a 150 dollars.. that's a decent amount of money.

Really, if your a solid fan of the Halo games, if you've been with them from the begging, this is a set to buy.
Admittingly, I didn't buy the Halo 3, limited edition. I didn't feel it was worth it. I bought #2 Limited edition, though. But this set, is definitely worth it to me.

I don't regret the purchase one bit.

Honestly I could go into a lot of depth, about the intricacies of the packaging, but I would just be repeating everything else everyone else said, and same goes for the game, so I am going to be vague.

The game is very enjoyable, mainly firefight co-op. Especially infection. That' cracks me up.
The online is a blast.

Now the story is good, compared to the other games. You really feel for some of the characters. But its not a story I think.. that any of the Halo fans are going to be used to. You'll see why when you play through campaign.

One of the biggest things I love about this game, is the Customizable armor. It rocks. I love this feature the most. Really adds individuality to your character online. But the credits are tight.. It really takes a lot of grinding to earn the credits needed for armor upgrades.

Daily and Weekly challenges help boost this though. Sucks I have to do these though just to get more credits. Luckily so far I have been able to accomplish most challenges.

Now one thing that did bother me. IS there still lacking on the emblems you can concoct. Your still limited it seems, to pretty much what was in ODST. There seem to be a few new ones.. but it really needs expanded on. And you can't rotate them or do any real editing to them...

Cool game it is really fun. I had the game in download play but I knew I needed a hard cover. The package should be arriving soon.

Halo Reach legendary addition was by far the best purchase I have ever made in my life. Included in this product:
Noble team statue (absolutely gorgeous)
Files and papers from Dr. Halseys life + journal
Noble ID card
Artifacts from Dr. Halseys lab
and of course...the flaming helmet

I highly reccomend this to any fans of the halo trilogy. The best buy of my life.

Halo Reach, the latest incarnation in the Halo universe is an interesting play. For starters, it tells the tale before the original Halo game. Which means just like Halo ODST, there's no flood. It's just you verses the Covenant. And once again your not playing Master Chief. There are several more weapons available than even in Halo 3. I must admit I like the redesign of many of the older weapons. However, while the shotgun looks cool, its rate of fire is slower making it less effective as a close range weapon. The Covenant needler sniper rifle is actually as good as the Covenant Carbine introduced in the second game. But there's another sniper weapon (can't remember its name offhand), that's nothing more than a remake of the drone beam beam gun introduced in Halo 2. It has a more effective scope like the sniper rifle, which unfortunately still does not have thermal imaging like it did in the first Halo game. On that note, the Infra-Red imaging in Reach is not as effective as the light-enhancement vision in ODST. Targets are not highlighted in red and can be just as hard to spot in normal vision. The grenade launcher for our hero is nothing more than a human single-shot brute shot (which is not available to the Brutes to begin with) and is not as effective as the covenant weapon. Case in point: Even if you hit an enemy gun turret or vehicle, the grenade will still bounce off it without detonating. Going back to the Brutes, I'm not really sure they add anything to the whole game except to add more targets. They're certainly a lot easier to kill than most of the Elites. And some of the new Elites are virtually impossible to kill at legendary level! Which I haven't completed yet. And where's the dual wield? It's missing in this game and ODST. You clearly see several elites, especially on the last level before you can kill the Covenant Cruiser at the end. A red Elite clearly has two plasma rifles in its hands. That puts our hero at a clear disadvantage in this game. This adds a huge amount of frustration to getting past areas where you need to kill all the bad guys before the next area opens up so you can advance in the game. It's actually the hardest game to play in the series. I still give it an 8 out of 10 though.

Hopefully the next game will continue with Master Chief on that Forerunner/Mechanical planet. Maybe they'll pit him against other cyborgs or killer robots like the ones in Palladium books Mechanoids. Now that would be killer.

James Hanson, the person the game was bought for.

This review will be split into separate parts to cover each aspect of the legendary edition.
The game:
Compared with other halo games, Halo Reach has the best graphics by far. Playing it in full hd is gorgeous, and lives up to any expectations that were set by Bungie through their weekly updates, etc. I have not been able to enjoy this game on a nice system, but from what I have experienced it through (2.1 speakers, and Tritton 5.1 surround headset), it sounds really nice. Through the Trittons, I am able to hear every audio detail, regardless of position on the map, and be able to tell exactly where everything and everyone is. This, in my opinion, is how game audio should be mixed.
As for story-wise, this has a decently entertaining campaign to play through. You don't get to play as the old master chief, but I don't see how that matters, as its not like your playing a totally different character anyways. What I mean by this, is that you are still a spartan, and you still are playing in a halo world. This time around, health packs were brought back, along with shields, so now one must take into account the need for health recovery during a firefight instead of just waiting for your health to come back. As usual, there are some levels that aren't as fun to play through, but they do not take away from the story line. A nice feature that was added to the game, is where your armor customizations play into campaign. Any customizations you make show up on your character through every cut-scene, and during real-time play. Although the majority of the game isn't played with your character visible, it is still some very nice eye-candy for when it is shown.
Multiplayer feels like any other halo multiplayer. Some new features that have added in are armor abilities and reticle bloom. The former is a set of different abilities that are given as options at the beginning of matched, and when the player respawns. Sometimes the game types only allow certain abilities, or have different sets. Regardless of the ability, players have the option to use that ability a pre-determined set of time, and once that time is up, the user must wait a recharge period before using again. The later, adds reticle expansion to the aim cursor whenever projectiles are being shot. This makes the weapon being used less and less accurate the more it is being continuously shot. The reticle returns to its normal size after a short time of non-use, varied by each individual weapon. The vast majority of maps are taken from levels from within the campaign. In my opinion, these levels are not all that exciting, especially after campaign playthroughs.

The limited edition cases:
The game comes packaged in the limited edition case (black box edition). It comes with all of the materials and documents that the limited edition comes with, and I must say, they look fabulous. The black box is nothing fancy, but is definitely a unique game case to house the collector's journal, game, and advertisements. I have not read through all of the bonus material, but skimming through was amusing to say the least.

Legendary case:
The legendary case is by far the largest case I've seen for any game. It comes with its own carry handle, and has very nice halo-style markings on each side. Although each side is covered with markings, it appears that they are the exact same markings shown on each side. The statue itself is very unique, and definitely solid craftsmenship-wise. If I remember correctly, each figure of noble team has their own removable weapon, and limited adjustable movement. The color, detail and size is nothing short of amazing.


All in all, if you enjoy every halo game, and have not yet gotten this edition, I would recommend it. Especially since it costs no more than the limited edition (at retail). To my knowledge, there is no limited edition numbering or serialization, but this entire package definitely offers eye candy to anyone who enjoys action figures, collectibles, and/or halo.
The only problem I have had with this package was that the legendary bonus video content was only offered as a streaming option through "Halo Waypoint" on xbox live. As it stood shortly after launch, the video would not detect the correct bandwidth and always selected the HQ version. This version loaded for 5 minutes, played for 10 seconds, throughout the entire video. The video itself, was a decent length of an hour or so of video, and waiting 5 minutes every 10 seconds was not enjoyable. I finally was able to watch it through months later. Was not a bad video, but would have greatly appreciated a disc or download format.

Halo: Reach is an amazing game. Bungie really gave it their all for their final Halo game. The singleplayer - chronicling the fall of Reach and a Spartan team's desperate effort to defend it - is easily on par with Halo: CE. Like in Halo: CE, you need medkits to heal yourself and your shields take longer to regenerate - meanwhile, your foes once again mock you in alien tongues and are more vicious than ever. Firefight - the mode where you can take on waves of Covenant with friends - returns better than before, and multiplayer is back with a full suite of options (my favorite new mode is invasion, an objective-based mode that pits Spartans against Elites. Unlike in Halo 3, Elites have faster recharging shields and don't need medkits to fully heal, but are slower and larger targets). The game also adds armor abilities you can choose between, such as sprint and armor lock to mix things up. The game looks and sounds better than ever. The frame rate does drop sometimes, but not often enough to ruin the game.

I am glad to see Bungie poured the same painstaking effort into crafting the legendary edition that it did into the game. Even the container the game comes in looks like something from the Halo universe. The game comes in the same "black box" as Halsey's journal, which actually looks to be written by hand. The game comes in a black DVD case with the same box art as the regular edition - though this may sound unimpressive it still stands out on your shelf (I'm not a big fan of steelbook cases after several scratched discs). The DLC, which includes an avatar prop and the flaming helmet effect as well as Elite Officer armor for use in multiplayer, is just icing on the cake. The statue is large, hand-painted and absolutely beautiful. This collector's edition is well worth the extra money and any Halo collector should be proud to have one.