Halo: Reach "better across the board"

By Robert Purchese Published 12 January, 2010

Bungie's new engine is its best yet.

Bungie's shown Halo: Reach and revealed an impressive new engine that is far and away the best the series has seen.

According to an article in Game Informer magazine, scans of which have popped up on the internet, motion capture is being used for the first time. Image Metrics - the company behind the mesmerising Emily demo - is in charge of facial animation. State changes from walking to running to sprinting should also now look believable, as should pivoting on the ground.

There's a new weather system, and Bungie has made the sky into a real object that ships can descend out of and onto the planet from.

Whereas Halo 3 could handle three or four dynamic light sources on-screen at one time, Halo: Reach can handle 20 to 40. And there are double the amount of enemies on-screen in Halo: Reach, not to mention a greater visual quality both at range and up close.

There are gameplay changes, too. Bungie has brought mechanics in-line with Halo 1, the game Reach is a prequel to. Health bars again appear when shields are drained, and soldiers must find health packs to keep themselves standing. And flame grenades and spike grenades have been removed.

Halo 1 weapons like the sniper rifle, assault rifle and magnum pistol return. But there are also new weapons, such as the Designated Marksman Rifle: a deadly one-shot weapon that's lethal both at range and up close, should you be twitchy enough to make use of it.

On the Covenant side there's a Needle Rifle, described as a mid-range headshot weapon, that blows enemies up after three successful hits. The Covenant's Plasma Pistols, Swords and Needlers return.

Bungie's introducing stealth kills to Halo: Reach, which are context sensitive and performed by holding down a button when reaching an enemy undetected.

Halo 3's equipment power-ups been scrapped and swapped with new armour abilities, and these can be altered for the task at hand. The player swapped from a sprint ability to an active camouflage ability in the preview.

Halo: Reach follows Noble Team, a six-man group of Spartans - mostly Spartan IIIs. These are Carter-259 (the leader), Kat-320 (second in command), Jorge-052 (the only Spartan II), Emile-239 (the skull-painted silent type) and Jun-266 (sniper).

You'll be Noble 6, a fiery yet commended soldier recruited when one of Noble Team falls.

Bungie promises a darker and more emotional tale this time around, and wants to re-establish the Covenant as a threatening, scary foe. A new enemy type, the Skirmishers - cousins of the Jackals - should help, as they'll quickly form groups and attempt to out-manoeuvre you.

Halo: Reach is due out exclusively on Xbox 360 this autumn.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (67) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • wizlon #1 2 years ago

    This is sounding really good actually, I think everyone was hoping for a return to the Halo 1 way of doing things.

  • BabyJesus #2 2 years ago

    Whoa, that is my first time seeing that 'Emily' video.

    Hello Uncanny valley.

  • muscleblade #3 2 years ago

    GOTY 2010 no doubt.

  • RedSparrows #4 2 years ago

    Multiplayer details plx!

  • 43n1m4 #5 2 years ago

    Not being a big fan of the Halo series, I did play Halo 3 again a few days ago - and found the game extremely good, more so than I remembered it to be. So, yes, I think I'll be looking forward to Halo: Reach, even though I'm not too fond of prequels.

  • LHH #6 2 years ago

    what's the res of this one going to be then? 640x480? dohoho

  • miiiguel #7 2 years ago

    In order to be able to laugh at some jokes you realy need to be younger I think. Can't remember anymore. oh oh oh.

  • ps3owner #8 2 years ago

    sounds good. I am a sucker for halo, I admit it... bought the first xbox just for that game. I was a student back then... all that beer money. man... anyway, not sure if I am going to buy an xbox just for this one... even though it does sound good... hmpf... nope. need to save some dough.

  • mkreku #9 2 years ago

    Sounds like a great tech upgrade! I wonder if it will have antialiasing too? Or is that hoping for too much?

  • bad09 #10 2 years ago

    Reach has a new engine? I did not know that. I lost interest in Reach after the (IMO) awful ODST, but colour me interested again.

  • udat #11 2 years ago

    I'm quite looking forward to this. I'm really glad that the Flood won't be in it too. They won't right? It wouldn't make sense right?

  • booner #12 2 years ago

    Finally, a return to covenant being a scary and unknown foe.....gone are the days of the enemy being friendly. I hope they can turn this franchise around with this game.

    I too, saved and bought an Xbox for Halo 1 as a student. I lost interest in the sequels.

  • MaFlippinHeadHurts #13 2 years ago

    I'm really looking forward to this again. ODST although quite good actually made me lose a little interest in Reach, however this is totally going to kick ODST's butt

    This game can't come soon enough for me

  • Batfink #14 2 years ago

    Anything that tries to replicate those feelings from Halo CE is a good move :)
    Very much looking forward to this now.

  • Nodebug #15 2 years ago

    Ok, new engine and a reboot of the covenant is all I needed to get interested in Halo again. Look forward to see some epic battles with dropships coming down from space above my head.

  • jambo74 #16 2 years ago

    Got to be better than the currnt pumping out of samey 2008 engined HALO games.

  • gav_and_the_gavster #17 2 years ago

    Part of a 6-man squad...could that mean 6 player co-op perhaps?

  • darkmorgado #18 2 years ago

    Still wondering if the squad of Spartans means more tactical combat this time round. Perhaps the ability to give orders?

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #19 2 years ago

    I also saved up for the original Xbox just to play Halo. Well, I say "saved up" but what I really mean is "spent my student loan".

    However, I also happen to love all the sequels, too, and I'm really, really looking forward to Reach - even more so having just read this!

    Also: rather impressive and a touch creepy, that video. But I like the fact that it was posted by someone called Pikey1969 with a photo of Alex Ferguson as their profile pic :-)
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 10:49

  • agparrot #20 2 years ago

    @gav Part of a 6-man squad...could that mean 6 player co-op perhaps?

    I bet it means you never get to play as two of the characters.

  • Darren #21 2 years ago

    And this new engine is running at 720p with AA I take it? Because the sub-HD resolution and abundance of jaggies in the previous two Xbox 360 Halo games were the only things that really let down the games' otherwise impressive visuals IMO.

  • stodgypudding #22 2 years ago

    Please no more 'comedy' grunts

  • JahB #23 2 years ago

    so they got rid of their 12 year old art director and actually put somebody in charge that understands the concept of contrast without using neon colors?

    if so, day 1 purchase.

  • richardiox #24 2 years ago

    @Last Ninja - have you even played God of War 3 to make such a bold claim?! I had a go at the Eurogamer Expo - it's good and the graphics were nice and all but it certainly didnt make every 360 game look outdated. In fact, GOW3 graphics were not really any better imo than Dantes Inferno and/or Bayonetta - or the new Castlevania even.

  • bad09 #25 2 years ago

    I shouldn't, but I have to ask. What has a hack 'n slash got to do with a FPS The_Last_Ninja?

  • cianchristopher #26 2 years ago

    Sounds really good, Halo 3 is one of my all-time favourite games but there's no doubt that it was built on ageing technology when it came out - and it looks really dated today!

    I don't care too much, though, cos graphics always get old sooner-or-later - what matters is gameplay. And the Halo series has it in spades! I'd even put Halo up there on the same pedestal as Mario, just for that pure videogaming "magic" (but that's just me)...

    Still, eh? Let's hope for some anti-aliasing this time, shall we?
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 11:07

  • sneetch #27 2 years ago

    @The_Last_Ninja
    God of war 3 makes every Xbox 360 game look outdated, sad but true. Halo Reach looks good for a Halo game. I like that it's going for a darker more mature setting. But PS3 is really overshadowing everything MS is putting out lately. As others have said, God of war 3 is Microsofts worst nightmare. I't s so good it will make the most hardened 360 fanbouy convert, it's as good as gaming gets and nothing on 360 can compete.

    Bring on the red arrows, but it's the truth

    Really, fan-boyism is the most baffling thing. Bayonetta competes with GoW3, it does so very well and is on both PS3 and Xbox. I'm looking forward to GoW3 (actually, both God and Gears) but this OMG best game evar nonsense is just that, nonsense.

    Microsofts worst nightmare? Pah!

  • Douche #28 2 years ago

    @The_Last_Ninja

    Hmmmm, coming on a Halo Reach thread to call God fof War 3 Microsoft's 'worst nightmare'? Everyting about your comment screams 'i'm a fucking twat.'

  • miiiguel #29 2 years ago

    so they got rid of their 12 year old art director and actually put somebody in charge that understands the concept of contrast without using neon colors?

    This fellow video-gamer wants BROWN!!!!
    If you don't like purple you don't like Halo, play CoD, plenty of brown there, for manly dudes.

  • Widge #30 2 years ago

    I love Halo but I guess I'm not going to get a chance to go through the Halo games this generation.

    :(

    Might do some asking around to see if I can borrow a 360 for a bit! Slap in a free Live code etc!

  • smithdown #31 2 years ago

    I played the GoWIII demo and thought it was dull, and really not all that attractive. And how EASY?? Man up and go import Demon's Souls instead, my lvl 152 Wanderer will make Kratos eat his own feet.

    Anyway, back on topic: I hadn't picked up Halo 3 for at least a year, but was at a mate's house last night and struggling to find a decent 4 player game, so we had a bash at Halo 3, 4-way splitscreen online MP. I haven't laughed so hard and had such a good time playing a game in ages. You forget just how brilliantly balanced and enjoyable Halo 3 MP is, Bungie got it pitch-perfect. It's inspired me to have another bash at the single-player, and the fact that it coincided with the latest news about Reach has got me really excited for this game.

  • JahB #32 2 years ago

    @miiiguel

    "contrast" and "brown" are two quite different things.

  • killuminati2911 #33 2 years ago

    @The_Last_Ninja

    See, I'm amazed how is still be possible for gamers in 2010 to not understand the difference in terms of graphics/calculation performance for the machine and the graphic engine, to render an almost open space world (at least areas) like HALo or any other FPS alike, and a action game with fixed number of enemyes avery time on screen, no particle animation and other effects.. I'm not an Halo fans but your comment is useless at best... why o why SupCom 2 deosn't have the same graphic of FORZA 3?? Why Why...

  • General_Zod #34 2 years ago

    hehe Halo, more like Failo am i rite? High Five!

  • Monkey_Puncher #35 2 years ago

    "High five"

    *moves hand*

    "Too slow!"

  • abcd #36 2 years ago

    I hope the flood have drowned in this version.

  • miiiguel #37 2 years ago

    @JahB : It doesn't make sense asking Bungie to drop neon and purple, it's Halo DNA, it's like complaining about jrpgs "fabulous" hairdos. Either you like it or you don't.
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 11:51

  • IneptPercy #38 2 years ago

    "The player swapped from a sprint ability to an active camouflage ability in the preview"

    Anybody else thinking Crysis there?

    This does look to be going back to what it should be, colour me interested.

  • RedSparrows #39 2 years ago

    Anyone would think Halo 2 and 3 were terrible games going by the comments here! ;)

  • mcmonkeyplc #40 2 years ago

    Halol sucks

  • muscleblade #41 2 years ago

    @Last Ninja

    I actually dont think GOW 3 will be better than Bayonetta (360 version) to be honest. Even Dantes inferno can compete with GOW3 from what ive seen.

  • Murton #42 2 years ago

    So this new engine is "far and away the best engine used in the series" now I don't know a whole lot about Halo but I do know that it's been using the same engine, plus tweaks, since Halo 2, so is it really that impressive a claim?

    Judging by the new features listed it's nothing new, it's been done before in Halo and in other games such as Crysis with the whole suit abilities thing. But despite not being anything new or original it'll still sell more units than bread and milk as it's another instalment of THE Xbox franchise. No matter how stale Halo becomes it'll continue to sell because of the momentum of its multiplayer modes and the requirement to have the latest version in order to keep up with the rest of the multiplayer crowd. Not bashing Halo as I can sort of see the appeal, but this is just something that is true of all the big franchises, a brief glance at CoD and the EA Sports franchises will back me up on that.

  • miiiguel #43 2 years ago

    "a brief glance at CoD and the EA Sports franchises will back me up on that. "

    Diference being that you had 3 Halos in 8 years, and Halo 2 is still played by thousands. Sorry it has nothing to do with FIFA or CoD games. Realy.
    One thing that's very interesting about Halo is that it is played by milions of users who must do the most extreme/weird things to exploit the game, though you don't ever see the mess that is other popular MP games. So much so that I can't remebember if there was ever a patch for any Halo.
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 11:56

  • RedSparrows #44 2 years ago

    There have been tweaks, and one largish patch for some things for Halo 3 MP - but that was largely gameplay balance than fixes.

    Halo is not like CoD, except you fire guns. The franchise might go that way, it's teetering, but it's so different - in attitude more than anything.

    Murton, H3 ran on some H2 tech and some new tech asfaik. Yeah, it was jaggy, but it still looked great. If a new engine is better, I take that as only a good thing, not a pyrrhic victory ;p

  • chrisola #45 2 years ago

    hopefully the guns will sound better.

    Halo always felt a bit light weight to me, with the floaty jump and puny sounding guns.

  • altitude2k #46 2 years ago

    According to GI, Reach uses an "overhauled" Halo 3 engine rather than a brand new engine.

  • spekkeh #47 2 years ago

    God of war 3 makes every Xbox 360 game look outdated, sad but true. Halo Reach looks good for a Halo game. I like that it's going for a darker more mature setting. But PS3 is really overshadowing everything MS is putting out lately. As others have said, God of war 3 is Microsofts worst nightmare. I't s so good it will make the most hardened 360 fanbouy convert, it's as good as gaming gets and nothing on 360 can compete.

    Cool, I remember when I was a 14 year old fanboy. Too bad you're not actually allowed to play God of War when it comes out though.

  • KayTannee #48 2 years ago

    Suit modifications - Hello Crysis. Not a bad thing, its good fun in Crysis. I thought Halo 3 was pretty good fun, nice for coop and stuff. Halo 1 on other hand, by the middle/end of game, it was actually painful to play, repeatative corridors. Hopefully they're not going too far back to Halo 1.

  • TruWari3r #49 2 years ago

    Anybody else miss the mentioning of physics?

  • metalmike25 #50 2 years ago

    Maybe i'm in the minority but i really liked Halo 2 and i think the 3rd game is probably the worst one out of the 3. They really needed someone the player could identify with as the Master Chief doesn't really have a personality. I think this was why i liked the Arbiter. Maybe the spartan you play as in the new one will have more character. If they get that right and spend more time on the single player game i think reach will be amazing

  • Murton #51 2 years ago

    Apparently Halo, a game that has used the same engine throughout is nothing like COD, which has used the same engine throughout. Development time doesn't matter when you factor in the fact that COD has two studios on it, compared to Halo's one studio. EA Sports titles have been using the same engine with modifications for years, and as a result these games rarely bring in any new features. Graphical improvements and new entities (weapons, characters etc) but no new features as such.

    I expect a few minus scores when being critical of Halo but it does seem that people completely misunderstood my previous post.

  • Leolian #52 2 years ago

    Man, who wrote that article? A 10 year old?

  • skx #53 2 years ago

    just switch the Art Work to a more adult experience, and everyone is peleased :)

  • darleysam #54 2 years ago

    And with one article, I now have a new game to get giddy about. I just couldn't work up much hype for ODST, but Reach sounds absolutely delicious.

  • Skooch #55 2 years ago

    Whatever people say about Halo it led the way for console FPS's and its multiplayer balancing is second to none. I love Gears and MW2 but so many games are ruined by glitches and exploits that to their credit Bungie manage to keep to an absolute minimum. Throw into that the enemy AI that is also second to none and the physics of Halo and it really should get more praise than it does. The fact that grenades actually have a mass and that explosions will force rockets off track, or that you can shoot down bruteshot shots using a turret gun, or that you can stick a spike grenade to a frag in midair.....I could go on....but enough Halo loving for now.

    Safe to say I am looking forward to this :-D

  • sammyc #56 2 years ago

    Wort wort wort!

  • RedSparrows #57 2 years ago

    'Apparently Halo, a game that has used the same engine throughout is nothing like COD, which has used the same engine throughout. Development time doesn't matter when you factor in the fact that COD has two studios on it, compared to Halo's one studio. EA Sports titles have been using the same engine with modifications for years, and as a result these games rarely bring in any new features. Graphical improvements and new entities (weapons, characters etc) but no new features as such. '

    Except each new Halo iteration HAS brought large scale, important new features? Of course dev numbers matter, because it's how the franchise is treated! It's churned out yearly. Halo might go that way, we've yet to see, but Halo is not, yet, quite as regurgitated as the CoD series or an EA Sports release. That's just insulting to each iteration, all of which are, like them or loathe them, complete packages.
    Edited by 1 at 12/01/10 @ 14:41

  • Pasco #58 2 years ago

    "The player swapped from a sprint ability to an active camouflage ability in the preview"

    NOOOooooooooo! I hated that in Crysis. The designers probably thought they are letting me enable some cool skill but I felt like I was disabling four cool skills instead. I never understood why I had o switch to big-jump-mode in order to make big jumps instead of just holding down the jump-button a little longer. This is retarded.

  • Widge #59 2 years ago

    Yeah. Keep Halo PURE.

  • Bravestinsane #60 2 years ago

    I really hope this is true, Halo could do with some half decent visuals.

    AA wouldn't go a miss, i'm playing on a Monitor thats just above 1080p and sitting close to a monitor playing xbox games can be a chore, some games look amazing however i found Halo ODST very jaggy.

    Really enjoy the games so i hope this is a little better

  • warbo #61 2 years ago

    Sitting 7-8' from a 37" 1080p TV, I can barely spot the difference between 720p and 1080p. 720p with any kind of AA would suit me fine. The comparisons with Halo 3 in GI show a fairly enormous upgrade to the visuals.

    Little details like civilian vehicles, and sprinting are nice. As is 40 enemy and 20 vehicles on screen, over just the 20 in H3.

  • IMD1_Pk #62 2 years ago

    @TruWari3r and Skooch said
    Yes I totally agree. Halo 3 and ODST's physics created some of the best moments I have had in gaming ever. Sometimes absurd things happen as a result and sometimes some of most insane kills happen as a result because of a weird chain of events like a car crushing an opponent when jump out of it while rolling it off a cliff onto someone. Those types of things rarely happen in other games because of the static fixed nature of them. The new additions sound very promising. I want to be intimidated by the crazy battles that will happen and Halo 3 felt way to easy even on Legendary. More enemies always sounds like a good idea :) especially in a game like Halo where the A.I is so great. I'm not too concerned about the AA because it's already been said that they have added AA. I doubt it will be very strong but a minor amount will still make it look a lot better. I'm certain the dynamic range has been dialed down for this game because it caused a huge strain on the engine in big explosions in Halo 3 and ODST. If they haven't taken out the double buffer I don't know how else they could render so much without performance hits. Regardless of what they are doing it is sounding really promising now. I'm looking forward to the magazines coming out soon in Feb with new details

  • markymark22 #63 2 years ago

    Ooooh this sounds good, hope there's a new 360 by then cause i might re-purchase one!! I dont want much just a silent fan. The 360's just too loud. Is that so much to ask for microsoft?! If the ps3 can keep improving so should the xbox.

  • patchbox360 #64 2 years ago

    @markymark22

    i hear you. playing final fantasy 13 with that constant fanning would be too much.

  • gnrlstuart #65 2 years ago

    i cant wait for the beta, hopefully it gives us a head start in the rankings.

  • muscleblade #66 2 years ago

    @markymark22

    Your wrong. If you install the games to your HDD its just as quiet as the PS3 (that actually forces you to do this LOL)
    If you dont its loud, thats true. I guess the PS3 would be too.

  • spekkeh #67 2 years ago

    eh, that's weird... Did Last_Ninja's comment actually disappear?

    Can't remember putting him on ignore.