Written Sept. 15, 2010 – Last night I got my first taste of Halo: Reach and the first thing I wanted to do was go through co-op campaign mode with friends who were also playing it for the first time. Why was that? The main reason was that I didn’t want any part of the campaign to be spoiled by someone who had already gone through it and screaming out all to good parts before it happens. I hate that.

<No Campaign Spoilers Here.>

With that being said, I went through 5 missions of co-op before finally calling it quits for the night. This is just a first impressions review so it’s not going to be as in depth as a normal review. In fact, this isn’t really a review at all. It’s more like a bunch of bullet points about what I liked and disliked so far.

Likes

• Graphics are amazing. Everything from the character models to the environment are stunning to look at.
• Level Design – Much better with less repetitive type maps that have more variety. I’m also very impressed with how open the maps are and how they allow for a few different paths to your objective.
• No Master Chief – You know that you no longer play as Master Chief. Instead, you play the part of Noble Six – a Spartan who isn’t quite as powerful as Master Chief but in my opinion, has way more character. In fact, the entire team of Spartans has more individual character than Master Chief does. I always felt that Master Chief was too much like a robot and less like a human. The Spartans on Noble Team all have their own personalities and it really shows in the cut scenes. These guys aren’t just soldiers, they’re also humans.
• The enemies are way smarter. They take cover. They hide. They retreat to regroup and recharge. They are overall much harder and I like it.
• Yay, scoped pistols are back!
• Real fun playing with friends especially when it gets very hectic and we are all yelling at each other.

Dislikes

• Nothing I can think of right now.

A full review to come later.