So - I write this, bleary eyed, at 5am to confirm what I had suspected, and what I think others fear would not be the case:
Halo Reach really IS a 5 star game. It really is awesome.
Disclaimer - I've never played Halo 1, and cannot get all the happiness of "oh wow, X thing is Halo 1", and "Oh, good they went back to Halo 1", etc, etc.
What I do know is?
OKgamers worked with Red Bull and other companies to bring love to the
Gamestop Midnight Launch of Halo Reach. It was a pretty big turn out from what I saw, maybe a bit less than Halo 3. Which fits - the promotions seem a little bit less, gamers seem a bit less interested - it feels like we just got a 4th Matrix, and everyone is going - huuuh?
Bungie did go out and "knock it out of the park" though, imo. (Great scenery, awesome toys, interesting refinements.)
Anyway, after the launch, I stumbled in, picked up my copy as well, and went to the house with a few other OKgamers types. Since it's only CO-OP for 2 screens locally (you can lan/xbl more), and Rislone had to wake up early anyway, Rislone and Eric watched, while Afro and I started campaign. Slowly, they faded off, but for Fro and I, well... We were locked.
3+ hours later, the ride was already extensive. The new weapons, a whole lot of fun. The experience - way more than the average shooter has been to me in quite some time. It's been - a real awesome experience. All the natural game play of Halo 3 seems to be there, with surprising little benefits. The BR single shot seems to have taken my old BR skills and sniping skills and combined them. No one talked about the fact the new grenade launcher - can take down ARIAL targets as well! Over and over again, I found new things to talk about, fun to be had. The camo - fades on shooting, and moving - balance restored lol. The armor stuff in campaign also goes away on death - not sure about multi-player yet...
...and the interface? You can tell they finally got to use an HD layout - not held back by keeping it ready to play on SD tv's. It's - quite pretty. Well laid out. Seemingly, quick and easy to use - I'll know more once I poke around.
I'm an adult, so I've got things to do, and places to be - but man. I really would love to continue right now. Blarg to restraint!
In the end - I wanted to just put out a little write up from a gamer who does enjoy the occasional shooter, and has played a lot of Halo 3? But also - didn't really KNOW if this was going to be big... And the more I think about reactions, kinda feel a lot of you may have done? You have been holding back, to see what non-TV people thought? Well, I'm no pro, but from a fan of Halo 2 and 3, I'm really enjoying this (Yes, H3 has it's issues, but haven't most of those been resolved with Reach?). Trust me - get with a friend, check it out yourself a way your happy - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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