Bungie’s last take on the Halo franchise finally hit stores on September 14, 2010 – I have been skeptical on whether or not it would feel like another Halo 2 clone [referring to the Halo 3 release] – or if it would feel as if they re-imagined the Halo series itself.  Halo 3 was still a great game, but I feel it was slightly overrated and seemed to be more of a HD-clone of Halo 2.  Would Halo: Reach have the same aftertaste in the end?       The Halo: Reach campaign surprised me and bored me at the same time – often feeling repetitive and unimaginative.  The campaign does nothing different from previous installments, it tried to add a little more dramatic elements into the story-line, and there are a few scenes in which this element is done remarkably well… mainly the final scene in the game after the credits.  But!  There were scenes throughout the campaign that you can tell the developers of the game wanted you to feel a certain way about one of your colleagues’ or teammates’ demise – but unfortunately I didn’t feel anything towards my colleagues throughout the game whatsoever.  I did, however, gravitate towards the lead character – they did a great job putting you into the game and creating a new character that wasn’t Master Chief, but I never felt any sort of connection with anyone else in the game.  Never feeling any kind of connection with any other character besides my own, I questioned why I should feel a certain way when someone dies, or better yet… why am I even doing this?  Why am I risking my own life for people that I couldn’t connect with?  The campaign flows like every other Halo campaign, there were no surprises in any of the storyline or different aspects that would bring me back to the campaign after beating it the first time.  That connection I had to my character is what kept me going – what kept me driving to that next save-point and eventually beating the game.  And this is a game you must finish, not for the storyline, not for the characters, but for the ending – it has one of the best emotionally driven endings I’ve seen in a very long time.      Another aspect of the game that I did highly enjoy are the new “powers” in the game; which include: Hologram, Jetpack, Sprinting, Armor Lock, Active Camo, Evade, and Sprint.  Although I feel that the Armor Lock power is useless in the campaign and online matches.  The power is supposed to help you re-group and recharge during a battle by pounding your fist into the ground while you form a force field that cannot be broken until the sequence is over in a few seconds.  Unfortunately anyone you were battling mere seconds before this will just wait for the few seconds to be finished and then complete the inevitable.  Regardless of what you may think, I am a big Halo fan.  But it has never been about the story or campaign for me, I usually try to go through it and beat the campaign before leaving myself vulnerable in an online match.      Feeling letdown from what the Halo 3 multiplayer experience had to offer – I was hopeful to say the least -- hopeful that they had enough time to re-imagine what we should experience from the next Halo addition.  Not just by adding HD graphics, but adding new elements and new level designs that aren’t just clones or photocopies of the original.  Halo: Reach delivered in nearly every way, shape and form.  The level design featured in nearly every map is amazing – each with their own character and appeal.  The new powers (that I talked about earlier) work remarkably well online, even though I found the jetpack a little useless after awhile… you’re more like an easy to shoot down target, but as long as you only use it in bursts to try to advance to another level of the map that would normally take you a minute or two to get there – it worked perfectly.  The Forge feature was even beefed up beyond belief – it’s never been easier to manipulate your own online experience.  Firefight is a fun and competitive feature to the online and single-player experience.  Much like the horde feature in many games, this mode enables you to fight waves and waves of enemies – all while either competing with a friend online or playing solo.  FYI, this is a great way to rack up achievement points!      Halo: Reach has rekindled my flame for the franchise – a flame that has been slowly flickering away for a few years… and was completely drenched in water with the release of Halo 3: ODST, but luckily Halo: Reach was able to take a blowtorch to stir up an all new wildfire that will certainly last a long time.