Xboxist

What is Halo: Reach? We've Got Ideas!

What is Halo: Reach? It's a valid question for consumers to ask, especially hapless ones who bought Halo Wars expecting FPS action but brought home brainy RTS instead.

Bungie is mum on details. All we know about the game is what we can glean from the trailer and promo art. And where's the harm in speculation, right?

Considering the fact that purchasing the upcoming Halo 3: ODST will get you the code for Halo: Reach Xbox Live multiplayer beta, it's pretty obvious that Halo: Reach will return to form as a proper FPS. No more unit and resource management in this spin-off, thank goodness. But what kind of FPS can it be, coming so soon after the heels of Halo 3: ODST?

Halo 3: ODST is a prequel and standalone expansion for Halo 3 that pits players as human UNSC soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs). Gameplay wise, it stays pretty similar to Halo 3. So what could possibly distinguish Halo: Reach from Halo 3: ODST then?

Halo: Reach takes its name from the Halo: Fall of Reach novel written by Eric Nylund. Its takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved, the first game in the series, and is set in the 26th century and spans across several planets. The novel describes the events leading up to the game and fills in the origins of the Spartan II super soldiers.

Now take a look at the promo art for Halo: Reach and you'll notice the silhouettes of five soldiers. Who are they? According to the game trailer, there are Spartans -- yep plural -- defending the area and you can hear radio chatter stating with confidence, "You've got Spartans on the ground, sir. We're not going anywhere."

So here's our prediction -- Halo: Reach will be a squad-based shooter much like Team Fortress 2. It is a prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved and follows the origin story of the Spartans (that's why it's not titled Halo 3: Reach), just like in the novel. Each character will have a specialty such as spy, munitions, sniper or heavy weapons expert. The poster shows this pretty clearly.

Starting from left to right: there is your heavy with a large gun, then a light female spy/sneak character, then your balanced infantry guy, a Spartan holding a grenade (your munitions expert), and finally your sniper with a long-range rifle.

A squad-based shooter is a natural progression for the Halo franchise, considering the evolution of co-op play over the years. Halo 2 introduced 2-player co-op and Halo 3 surprised everyone with 4-player co-op. The next level is a team of at least 5 characters, each with their own special skill, operating in a squad. Who knows for sure, but the clues are pointing to this possibility.