Action within ‘Reach’: Latest ‘Halo’ delivers a compelling prequel — with a jet pack! - Military Video Games, computer games, games, gaming - Navy Times

Action within ‘Reach’: Latest ‘Halo’ delivers a compelling prequel — with a jet pack!

“Halo: Reach” is the greatest video game in the “Halo” franchise since the original, the strongest first-person shooter so far this year, and well worth your time and money.

There’s more: “Reach” dispenses with almost all the failed additions and alterations that “Halo” has picked up over its 2.5 sequels — “Halos” 2, 3 and “ODST” — and returns to the joys of simple carnage and pure action that got us all addicted. It has great new stuff, too: a space combat level; new vehicles; night vision; a new grenade launcher; and — oh, man — jet packs!

You read that right: In “Halo: Reach,” you can get a jet pack.

Overall, the game succeeds because it returns to the outstanding fundamentals of “Halo” and deletes almost everything that made the other sequels annoying.

Each weapon feels useful and powerful, so no more time is wasted getting rid of silly pistols or submachine guns. You play as a human the whole time, safe from the awful dialogue of the alien-centric storylines, where characters were always droning on about how “the supreme high council will not countenance this dishonor; the era foretold by the ancient prophesies is at hand!”

Instead, you’re a space Marine stationed on the eponymous planet Reach, defending against an invasion by the hated Covenant, the alliance of alien bad guys that gamers have been shredding since the original “Halo.”

“Reach” takes place before the story of the first game and its sequels, and I know this won’t be the only review to say that “Reach” proves a prequel can be compelling and well done, a counterpoint to the now-infamous crimes of George Lucas.

“Reach” brings back the heavy-hitting, zoom-capable pistol from the original, precise enough to put your initials on an enemy’s forehead and with enough punch to drop him with only a few rounds. It dispenses with the impotent submachine gun and changes the three-round burst “Battle Rifle” into a precise, single-shot weapon.

The ability to wield two weapons at once, which almost nobody actually used, goes away.

More than just weapons, “Reach” gives players new sets of abilities that revolutionize online play. Before, multiplayer maps included just one power-up for invisibility or extra shields, but “Reach” gives you the chance to use those and other add-ons as soon as you start a game.

You can choose from invisibility, extra shields, a hologram of yourself that distracts enemies, the ability to sprint — long overdue in “Halo” — and the awesome jet pack, and use them throughout a multiplayer game.

The extras deplete with use and slowly recharge, adding a new element of strategy: Will you burn all your jet pack fuel to fly across the board, or will you feather it just enough to jump a little higher to get into position?

Although the look and story of the single-player campaign is paint-by-numbers “Halo” — apocalyptic alien peril, giant structures that pulse energy — it still includes some of the best combat in the series, and has levels you’ll want to go back and replay. (Of course, your computer-controlled colleagues are still useless.)

One new feature is a level in which you fly a space fighter and defend an orbiting station against alien attack. It’s well-executed and makes for a nice break from first-person infantry combat.

The multiplayer, too, with its new but somehow familiar maps, is classic “Halo,” yet elevated to its highest heights.

No game is perfect, though: “Reach” continues the latter-day “Halo” problem of taking a comparatively long time, up to several minutes, to find and start multiplayer games. Veteran players also will be initially tripped up by the new default controller settings, which, for some reason, now force you to take your index finger off the trigger to deliver a melee attack.

I also didn’t care for “Reach’s” hard sell of its custom armor, which encourages you to fine-tune every last detail about your character, from helmets to shoulder designs to the brand of deodorant your computer-self uses.

I guess kids today like this kind of sci-fi dress-up, but let’s be honest: You can’t see yourself, you never look at your teammates closely, and you never look at enemies any longer than it takes to fustigate ’em. A computer avatar could be wearing a sequined ball gown, but that shotgun blast is still going to taste the same.

But these are minor complaints.

What’s important is that “Halo: Reach” easily clears its own advance hype and brilliantly restores an iconic franchise to its former glory.

Buy? Rent? Skip?

• Our verdict: Buy