Forge Review!
(Posted By: Alex Deckard)
Halo: Reach has finally arrived, and Bungies last hurrah for the series does not disappoint. I'll be focusing on the aspect of Forge. Firstly, it's a whole different ballgame then it was in Halo 3. Seriously. There is a ridiculous amount of customizability inherent in the level creator. Making a decent (or even, *gasp*, GOOD) map in Forge is easy. You can take platforms and jam them in to walls. This sounds stupid, but think about it. Big-ass Cliffside with a bunch of platforms and rooms sticking out of it? Cool. That, but with jetpacks? Awesome as hell.
Read more after the break!
I was literally able to have more fun building and troubleshooting a level then I thought I could playing the game. And while we're on the subject, the new map, Forge World, IS HUGE. It's not mindbogglingly huge, but it's still pretty damn big. The only real complaint I have is that the boundaries are not well defined. You could be getting chased, and since you've flown over about six small ridges and cliffs so far, logic dictates that the next one will work the same. Nope! That's the edge of the map, and now you're going to die, either by changing course and getting shot, or by continuing and getting blown up by the game. Seriously Bungie, was it so hard to build up some huge cliffs that we can't overfly? Screw it, I'll just put up some huge ass walls.
And that's where Forge really shines. With several areas of varying terrain, you can have any kind of map you want. Firstly, there's a big box hanger embedded in a cliff face. It's a nice, small indoor space. Outside and to the left, there's an area called "Pillar". It's an island that is shaped like, well, a pillar. You can stick platforms in it, maybe put a Capture Point on top, the possibilities are endless. Also, there's a more squat and spread out island called "Island" where you can have some less confined fun. Again, a good place for KOTH or CTF, but also great for Slayer. Okay, everywhere is great for Slayer, but you know what I mean. Then, you have a large cave that empties out in to a canyon called "Canyon".
This canyon is hauntingly familiar. This is because it's Blood Gulch. In fact, the built in Forge World map variant "Hemorrhage" is just Blood Gulch from Halo: CE. It's a box canyon with two bases. Why are there two bases in a box canyon? Who cares. It's awesome. Unlike Blood Gulch and Coagulation, you can totally go up on the canyon edge, areas referred to as "Alaska" and "Montana". The whole thing is indescribably large. It's fun. You can confine your game to a small area, or build across all of it and have a snipe-fest. Nothing feels better then sitting on a tower on the flat area above the hangar (for some reason called "Quarry") and picking off some guy manning a turret all the way across the map at Red base in Blood Gulch. This is the best multiplayer map I've ever played. Granted, I don't have Live (this job doesn't pay people), so I can't have big matches on it, but damn. Just the idea of such a well put together map is great.
Point is, you can burn endless hours just building Forge maps. It's awesome. You get in game money for doing it. Plus, you get to play your kick ass map afterwards.
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