Earlier today, some screenshots for Halo Reach were released. That said, nobody seems to be speculating on what’s in the screenshots, so i’m going to offer up my opinion.
It is very important to realise that Halo Reach is far from finished – the game isn’t due for release until next year at least. It’s also important to realise that these screenshots were, of course, leaked, and as such is content that is Bungie & Microsoft didn’t want us to see yet. We don’t even know if these screenshots are legitimate or not. That said, lets get on with things:
Here we’re in first person holding a Rocket Launcher – you can see that the crosshair for the Rocket Launcher is different than usual. Whether the Rocket Launcher functions differently to how it did in Halo 3 is unknown. Also take note of the person standing in front of us – it’s a Spartan. You can also see a symbol next to the Motion Tracker and some text next to it, but it’s too blurry to make it out.
Here we get a full view of the Heads Up Display. As you can see, the shield + health system in the first Halo game seems to be making a return. The general look of the HUD looks similar to the HUD of ODST. In fact, i’m pretty sure that the compass above the shield bar is identical to the compass that was in ODST, but it could just be a placeholder.
Again, there are some symbols next to the motion tracker – more than there were in the previous screenshot, but again, it’s too blurry to make anything out. Additionally in this screenshot you can see a Banshee, a Needler, and some kind of town/city that looks like it’s on fire.
Another view of the HUD. Most prominently you can see a new weapon that looks very similar to the Battle Rifle that was in Halo 2 & 3. However, it looks like it’s had a bit of a redesign. The base of the weapon looks like a Submachine Gun, but with an Ammo Counter and a Scope attached to it. It also looks like this “Battle Rifle” has a smaller clip size than the one that we’re accustomed to in Halo 3. Also take note of the crosshair design, it looks much bigger than the crosshair for the Battle Rifle in Halo 3.
In the distance you can see what I assume are Marines (But they could be Spartans). You can also see some kind of huge gun emplacement on the left of the screen. An anti-air weapon maybe?
Here we’ve got what looks like a redesigned Spartan Laser. You’ve got some Banshees flying around in the distance, and there’s also some kind of screen on the Laser. To be honest, we have no idea if this is even a Spartan Laser. It could be something else for all we know.
Here we’ve got what could be the most bizzare looking weapon i’ve seen so far in the Halo series. The gun that the player is holding here looks like a cross between the Needler and the Carbine. It’ll be interesting to see how this works. You can also see a Warthog, with what looks like an ODST in the drivers seat. It also looks like the chain gun on the Warthog has either been removed or replaced by something else.
Next up is the Pause Menu, which looks largely unchanged from the menu in Halo 3. Unfortunately there text is quite blurry so it’s hard to make things out again. Underneath the pause menu you can see where the player has paused. You can quite clearly see the Assault Rifle in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. It has a 32 round magazine, so presumably it’s the same Assault Rifle that we saw in Halo 3. The crosshair for it looks bigger though.
Finally we’ve got a glimpse at what the Main Menu might look like. It just looks like a piece of artwork with some options laid over the top. What’s in the artwork intrigues me though. The structure to the left of the screen looks similar to the Portal to The Ark that was in Halo 3. The structure to the right also interests me. It’s either a strange building, or smoke from a pretty large explosion.
So they’re all of the screenshots of the game that were leaked. Like I said earlier, we don’t know if these are legitimate yet. If the screenshots are legitimate, then the game still has a lot of development to go through. Feel free to speculate, but also remember: It’s not done yet.






























