UP gamers Reach for new Halo game

By Scott Chia, Photojournalist -- chia13@up.edu

Do you like the sound of explosions? Perhaps fierce weapons, firefights and why not some aliens too? If so then I'm sure you have heard of Halo: Reach.

For all you gamers and Halo followers, the anticipation is over! Halo: Reach, the newest game of the Halo franchise was released last week. As many of you gamers probably pre-ordered the game, I found myself at the game store with my roommate as he waited to receive his preordered game.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the gaming world, you're probably wondering what exactly Halo is. Halo is a first person shooter game developed by Bungie inc. for the Xbox console. Halo Combat Evolved, the first in the franchise, was released in 2001. It won the Game of the Year by Electronic Gaming Monthly and sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Halo: Reach, in the first day of its release, grossed over $200 million, setting a new record for the Halo Franchise.

"I hear about peoples' roommates going out and buying it, beating it in two days," sophomore Jonathan Squires said.

In Halo: Reach, you play as a Spartan soldier fighting alongside other Spartans in a war against the Covenant. Halo: Reach is the fourth game in the Halo saga but is the predecessor to Halo 1: Combat Evolved. Although the story line does not continue that of Halo 3, the Campaign is still great. It brings you into the battle and also incorporates more character development as you begin to grow close to your squad mates.

The other portion to Reach is the online multiplayer hosted through Xbox Live. On this online network you play against people from all around the world. After customizing your Spartan to look however you want, you are thrown into the battlefield. Players are able to choose from over 10 game variants so the game never gets old.

"I was in The Commons and I overheard some people talking very loudly about who was better at Halo: Reach and all the battles they were in," sophomore Alex Dickinson said. "I've heard about people talking about Halo: Reach, about how someone's roommate was playing all the time."

All in all, it seems Bungie did it again in providing another great Halo game for the gaming world. Halo: Reach, with its competitive option of online multiplayer and engaging single player campaign, should keep gamers entertained for some time, at least until the release of Call of Duty Black Ops this November.

But until then, for those of you who aren't gamers, I hope the next time you walk past a room filled with the sound of explosions, you stop and join in on the fun. And to all the gamers out there, keep on gaming.