Exclusive: Halo Reach Sneak Peek

Last night I had the privilege to sit down and play the upcoming xbox 360 mega-release "Halo:Reach" for about four hours. How I managed to do this is beyond me, but let's just say it involved secret pass codes, lasers, and disguised doors. Either way I got my hands on the most anticipated video game of the year and let's just say I was blown away. When this thing drops on September 14th, I will probably be playing until my hands go numb. It's very familiar but also incredibly new and wildly fun. So let's check out three things that really set it apart.

1. Custom Load Outs - Sure people know about these from the Beta, but I can't exaggerate how wild they make the multiplayer experience. You have people flying around on jetpacks, which creates a whole new wealth of possibilities. Thislalife readers will know that I really love jetpacks so having one that controls so easily in a game is a true gift. Also there is a hologram mode that creates a running copy of your character to distract other players. You will not believe how often you get fooled by this. Yes, it is exactly like that scene in Totall Recall

Sorry, I had to include the Total Recall song

2. Size of the Maps - The maps that I played on were not just enormous, they were tall. What does tall mean in a video game? Tall means that at one point I was on a structure looking down at ant Spartans, now there is not insect armor in the game, but I was so high up they looked so miniscule. This and the jet-packs lead to a whole new dimension of Halo Combat. It used to be the combat was rooted to the ground, side for an occasional banshee attack, but now each base has really really high points which just makes things crazier.

3. The Falcon - You see that helicopter ship thing in the background? That's called a Falcon and boy is it fun. Think of it like a warthog in the air. There is one driver in the front who controls it, on the side are two turrets where players can sit. When a player gets in the gunner position it goes into a Modern Warfare esque chopper gunner, first person view. I was playing with my buddy racking up points with this thing, I can only imagine what it's like with two gunners. By far this was my favorite thing about REACH.

All in all, this game is the real deal folks. Going back to Halo 3 after playing this is going to be tough, luckily I only have to wait about 2 weeks!