- Obi Wan Stevobi
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- Exalted Mythic Member
I don't know. As much as people -blam!- about it being the start of Halo 4, there is a very important distinction. Reach never spawned anyone with an ability or weapon unequal to what was available to the opposing team. Armor lock was annoying at first, but after I learned not to get in close range of an armor locker, it was never any serious hindrance. I really disliked Sword Base, and felt that the Ascension and Ivory Tower remakes never really worked in the new game. SO, 4v4 maps weren't very strong at the start. On the other hand, I enjoyed Sanctuary, Zealot, Boardwalk, and Caged.
I think the biggest issue was DMR bloom. It could have used a nerf earlier. To me, that wasn't a huge deal, but there are a few times it became obviously annoying. Reach was the first full Halo game after the MS/Bungie split. That caused support issues. Bungie was contracted to make the game, one map pack, and provide initial stats, file hosting, and MM sustain. MS owned the game and was responsible for any title updates. Because MS was a bit slow in turning 343 into an actual studio, there was a huge lapse in game support that angered a lot of people, where DMR bloom tweak and the armor lock nerf could have come much sooner.
But, despite those issues, I thought it was a solid game. Don't think I'll ever log as many hours in any game as I did Halo 3, but Reach is definitely second. I especially enjoyed the first map pack and the addition of the squad slayer list. 6v6 and 5v5 on Tempest was amazing.