As I continue to complete every game in the Halo: Master Chief Collection, I find myself particularly-excited for Halo: Reach, the last title that Bungie worked on before moving to Destiny. At the time there was a lot of hype to further explore the lore/beginnings of the Halo franchise, and the end result was a smashing success. Halo Reach was one of the best titles on the Xbox 360 in the latter part of its life cycle. So how does it hold up on a PC ten years later?

Standard with the rest of the titles (except 2 which got a huge touch-up), the models/framerates of the cutscenes are massively improved. The graphics could pass for a modern title thanks to the efforts of 343 Industries to bring the game to the PC. Also of note is that at an uncapped framerate and maxed out, my laptop’s fans didn’t have to kick in, signifying that this game didn’t have to push my system to its limits to bring great visuals and fluid gameplay to the screen.

Halo: Reach made a few subtle changes from the previous Halo 3, such as adding a contentious feature: sprinting. Master Chief maintained a jogging pace through 1–3, but Noble Six can navigate the battlefield with a blistering sprint. This is supremely useful for finding cover when your shields are down. Reach tends to be a bit more difficult than the other games in the MCC, both naturally from the vicious Covenant and unfortunately due to random, sporadic checkpoints. Sometimes dying can set you back several minutes, instead of seconds.

There are some intricacies worth noting. The Covenant doesn’t speak English like they do in the first Halo, likely due to them being fresh to invading the galaxy, and it’s a jarring change of pace. Also strange is that Brutes/Engineers appear, when they aren’t present until Halo 2/3: ODST, respectively. Plus, a lot of the weapons are fundamentally different than they are in Halo 1, despite the events of Reach taking place as a bridge to that game.

Nevertheless, gunplay is the name of the game in the Halo series. Reach has some of the best and most satisfying, as Bungie really found their foothold by this point. One-shot headshots are a joy, and enemies are somewhat less spongey in this iteration. I found myself whittling down shields with a high-DPS weapon like the Brute Plasma Rifle, then hot-swapping to a Battle Rifle to seal the deal. Hunters were a welcome challenge, as usual, forcing me to save grenades and wait for the right shot.

At $9.99, it’s hard not to recommend any game in the Master Chief Collection, as they’re all phenomenal in their own right and make for great, replayable campaigns. There’s a rabid fanbase for this particular game, and they’ll be happy to hear that it’s aged fairly well and plays like a dream on most machines. With that being said, Halo: Reach on PC is a no-brainer for fans of the series and a welcome entry point for those new to it!

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Halo: Reach

$9.99

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Prime Nostalgic Gaming
• Strong Optimization

Cons

• Inconsistent AI Difficulty
• Random Checkpoint System