So here we have what is likely to be the biggest selling game of 2010. While there are several other franchises still releasing in the coming months, none of them can match the fanbase, hype, and delivery of the Halo series. The game itself was released in 3 separate editions: Standard, Limited, and Legendary. It was also released alongside a Special Edition Xbox 360. I grabbed both the Legendary Edition of the game and the console. Let me start off by saying I'm reviewing the content of these two Halo: Reach products. This does not include a review of the game itself. I will give impressions, but more than likely will not produce a formal review (there's tons out there, and reviewing gameplay is tasking). If you're not interested in the product review, feel free to skip to the last section. You're more than welcome to use this topic to discuss gameplay.
Legendary Edition:
I'm a sucker for collector's items but even collectors had reason to be skeptical of this product. A few years ago, Halo 3 had a Legendary Edition of its own. It came with the game, some bonus DVDs (one including every cinematic from Halo 1 and 2), a "full-size" replica of Master Chief's helmet (for display only). While it was definitely cool, people scoffed at the price, calling the helmet a piece of "cheap plastic." Halo: Reach boasts quite a bit more in the box: "individually molded, hand-painted" statue of Noble Team, documents from a character present in the game, a few exclusive armors, and some ridiculously wicked packaging which was collector's item in itself. The question lingers; does it warrant the price tag?
The Case
This thing is huge. I measured it to be 14" tall, and 15" x 13" wide. Luckily though, it has a handle attached to the top of it to make it a lot easier to manage. The packaging itself is designed after UNSC packaging and looks great. It's thick and tough, so it can easily handle things being placed on top of it. They even went as far as to put custom printing on the sticker on each side of the box (I felt bad cutting through it). When you open it, you see just how sturdy they designed it to be.
The first picture also gives a good view of the packaging thickness I mentioned. The statue fits in the left half, then the right side slides down on top of it (followed by the lid). The container has tough foam to prevent any damage to the statue. The bundle all together could likely take quite a bit of abuse and come out just fine. The second picture shows the case the game comes in on the left and a flavorful note in the imprint next to it. The note itself has a light insignia present, and also has some notary notes on the back. When you take out the game case, you get this.
So you remove the black case, and then pull a handle on the top of it to slide the contents out. Again, the packaging on this is rather thick, not prone to bending or damage. When you get the contents out, the game sits snugly in there in a black case, as opposed to the standard green package seen on Xbox 360 games. The Halo 3 Legendary Edition also had its game in a black case, so it gives the standalone game case a sense of value as well. If you remove the game and the small bad its in, you find a black bubble package with a UNSC label on it. Inside is the diary of a character within Reach and provides more background to the Halo universe and events in the game.
So the packaging alone is very impressive, a collector's item in itself as I mentioned. But a package isn't enough to charge this much for a game, and that brings me to the hype of this edition.
The Statue*
*some assembly required
There was a lot of hype mixed with skepticism concerning the statue. It was quite evident there would be a lot of quality and detail but concerns still lingered because of the Helmet included in Halo 3. Here's what the statue looks like out of the box:
As you can see, there's some missing pieces. I originally thought I got a defective product but figured that it was very unlikely that I was missing 3 guns and 2 hands. After checking the box, I found the pieces. They hadn't fallen off; they were meant to be placed on after opening it. This made me pretty worried, as none of the pieces were easy to attach and I was paranoid I'd break it in some manner (there's not much room to maneuver). I did manage to get them on eventually. This whole experience provided a new perspective to the statue though. It really started to feel like 5 action figures glued to a base. On the other hand though, the figures are extremely detailed. It certainly didn't feel cheap, but at the same time it didn't seem as valuable as they made it out to be. All in all though, it looks fantastic.
Misc
On top the above items, the game also includes an exclusive Flaming Helmet armor effect. The biggest draw to this is that it was exclusive to Bungie employees during Halo 3 and now you can really stand out against other players. Cooler still is that Halo Reach lets you use your custom Spartan in all modes, including campaign, so it would have use outside of Matchmaking. The bummer is that the effect doesn't take effect during cut-scenes, and since the game largely takes place in first person, you often forget you even have it until you hop in a vehicle. Along with the Flaming Helmet, there is a code for a special Elite Armor design (this is also present with the Limited Edition and console bundle though) and a code for a recon helmet (given to all day 1 buyers, but this is in the package thus available if purchased afterwards).
Verdict: So, is it worth the money? Yes. Is it worth actually getting? I'm going to say yes to that as well, but obviously not for the everyday gamer. The statue isn't all it was hyped to be but still looks fantastic, and I don't think I've mentioned how awesome the packaging is enough. The flaming helmet is certainly sweet but has hardly any impact. This product is very clearly aimed at collectors and Halo fans, and neither will be unsatisfied by purchasing this.
_____________________
Special Edition Console
So back at E3 Microsoft announced a remodeled Xbox 360 with built in wireless and internal storage, among other things. This bundle comes with the newest model Xbox 360, 2 controllers, and a wired headset, all with custom case designs related to Halo Reach.
This was just to compare the new power bricker versus the old.
So is this worth getting? Most definitely. If you've been looking into buying for the first time or upgrading to the new model, this is a fantastic incentive to make the move. The design is gorgeous, it includes a second controller that regular consoles lack, and has the game included in the price. The bundle comes with codes for the Limited Edition Elite armor, the Day 1 Recon helmet, and an episode of Halo Legends via Zune. There's really not much else to comment on besides the value because it does nothing more than any other 360. Definitely worth the purchase unless you're absolutely content with your current 360 to or already own the new model.
_____________________
Halo: Reach Gameplay
Like I said I won't be reviewing this, but I do have a few impressions. The one thing that baffles me about this game is the sheer amount of game modes, I can't imagine ever touching them all myself. I really like the new loadout mechanics. Armor abilities add a ton of variety to gameplay, not just in Matchmaking but also in Firefight (and Campaign to an extent). I just wish Campaign would let you select what ability you want at the beginning of each level. Firefight is as awesome as I thought it would be and then some; Armor Lock is so ridiculously useful after the Catch skull activates. Some of the maps don't sit too kindly with me but they'll probably grow on me. I dislike wraith mechanics. I find myself jumping on them, having to press the grenade button 2 or 3 times before it'll register, and then delay on dismounting which hurts. I never had that problem in ODST. I haven't gotten to play much matchmaking to test out the preference-based searches but I think that'll make online play so much funner. I'm looking forward to it.
Sorry if this last bit was run together, I'm sick of typing and wanted to be done. Discuss, and if you want to talk Campaign please include spoiler tags.
Legendary Edition:
I'm a sucker for collector's items but even collectors had reason to be skeptical of this product. A few years ago, Halo 3 had a Legendary Edition of its own. It came with the game, some bonus DVDs (one including every cinematic from Halo 1 and 2), a "full-size" replica of Master Chief's helmet (for display only). While it was definitely cool, people scoffed at the price, calling the helmet a piece of "cheap plastic." Halo: Reach boasts quite a bit more in the box: "individually molded, hand-painted" statue of Noble Team, documents from a character present in the game, a few exclusive armors, and some ridiculously wicked packaging which was collector's item in itself. The question lingers; does it warrant the price tag?
The Case
This thing is huge. I measured it to be 14" tall, and 15" x 13" wide. Luckily though, it has a handle attached to the top of it to make it a lot easier to manage. The packaging itself is designed after UNSC packaging and looks great. It's thick and tough, so it can easily handle things being placed on top of it. They even went as far as to put custom printing on the sticker on each side of the box (I felt bad cutting through it). When you open it, you see just how sturdy they designed it to be.
The first picture also gives a good view of the packaging thickness I mentioned. The statue fits in the left half, then the right side slides down on top of it (followed by the lid). The container has tough foam to prevent any damage to the statue. The bundle all together could likely take quite a bit of abuse and come out just fine. The second picture shows the case the game comes in on the left and a flavorful note in the imprint next to it. The note itself has a light insignia present, and also has some notary notes on the back. When you take out the game case, you get this.
So you remove the black case, and then pull a handle on the top of it to slide the contents out. Again, the packaging on this is rather thick, not prone to bending or damage. When you get the contents out, the game sits snugly in there in a black case, as opposed to the standard green package seen on Xbox 360 games. The Halo 3 Legendary Edition also had its game in a black case, so it gives the standalone game case a sense of value as well. If you remove the game and the small bad its in, you find a black bubble package with a UNSC label on it. Inside is the diary of a character within Reach and provides more background to the Halo universe and events in the game.
So the packaging alone is very impressive, a collector's item in itself as I mentioned. But a package isn't enough to charge this much for a game, and that brings me to the hype of this edition.
The Statue*
*some assembly required
There was a lot of hype mixed with skepticism concerning the statue. It was quite evident there would be a lot of quality and detail but concerns still lingered because of the Helmet included in Halo 3. Here's what the statue looks like out of the box:
=Statue]
As you can see, there's some missing pieces. I originally thought I got a defective product but figured that it was very unlikely that I was missing 3 guns and 2 hands. After checking the box, I found the pieces. They hadn't fallen off; they were meant to be placed on after opening it. This made me pretty worried, as none of the pieces were easy to attach and I was paranoid I'd break it in some manner (there's not much room to maneuver). I did manage to get them on eventually. This whole experience provided a new perspective to the statue though. It really started to feel like 5 action figures glued to a base. On the other hand though, the figures are extremely detailed. It certainly didn't feel cheap, but at the same time it didn't seem as valuable as they made it out to be. All in all though, it looks fantastic.
Misc
On top the above items, the game also includes an exclusive Flaming Helmet armor effect. The biggest draw to this is that it was exclusive to Bungie employees during Halo 3 and now you can really stand out against other players. Cooler still is that Halo Reach lets you use your custom Spartan in all modes, including campaign, so it would have use outside of Matchmaking. The bummer is that the effect doesn't take effect during cut-scenes, and since the game largely takes place in first person, you often forget you even have it until you hop in a vehicle. Along with the Flaming Helmet, there is a code for a special Elite Armor design (this is also present with the Limited Edition and console bundle though) and a code for a recon helmet (given to all day 1 buyers, but this is in the package thus available if purchased afterwards).
Verdict: So, is it worth the money? Yes. Is it worth actually getting? I'm going to say yes to that as well, but obviously not for the everyday gamer. The statue isn't all it was hyped to be but still looks fantastic, and I don't think I've mentioned how awesome the packaging is enough. The flaming helmet is certainly sweet but has hardly any impact. This product is very clearly aimed at collectors and Halo fans, and neither will be unsatisfied by purchasing this.
_____________________
Special Edition Console
So back at E3 Microsoft announced a remodeled Xbox 360 with built in wireless and internal storage, among other things. This bundle comes with the newest model Xbox 360, 2 controllers, and a wired headset, all with custom case designs related to Halo Reach.
This was just to compare the new power bricker versus the old.
So is this worth getting? Most definitely. If you've been looking into buying for the first time or upgrading to the new model, this is a fantastic incentive to make the move. The design is gorgeous, it includes a second controller that regular consoles lack, and has the game included in the price. The bundle comes with codes for the Limited Edition Elite armor, the Day 1 Recon helmet, and an episode of Halo Legends via Zune. There's really not much else to comment on besides the value because it does nothing more than any other 360. Definitely worth the purchase unless you're absolutely content with your current 360 to or already own the new model.
_____________________
Halo: Reach Gameplay
Like I said I won't be reviewing this, but I do have a few impressions. The one thing that baffles me about this game is the sheer amount of game modes, I can't imagine ever touching them all myself. I really like the new loadout mechanics. Armor abilities add a ton of variety to gameplay, not just in Matchmaking but also in Firefight (and Campaign to an extent). I just wish Campaign would let you select what ability you want at the beginning of each level. Firefight is as awesome as I thought it would be and then some; Armor Lock is so ridiculously useful after the Catch skull activates. Some of the maps don't sit too kindly with me but they'll probably grow on me. I dislike wraith mechanics. I find myself jumping on them, having to press the grenade button 2 or 3 times before it'll register, and then delay on dismounting which hurts. I never had that problem in ODST. I haven't gotten to play much matchmaking to test out the preference-based searches but I think that'll make online play so much funner. I'm looking forward to it.
Sorry if this last bit was run together, I'm sick of typing and wanted to be done. Discuss, and if you want to talk Campaign please include spoiler tags.
