ITWire

Ambient life invades the Halo environment for the first time, Emu style creatures dart between laser fire exchanged between Spartan and Covenant protagonists adding a certain level of tension in keeping with the pace of the game.

This pacing is worth mentioning, initial impressions are that it falls between the frantic gun-play of Halo 3, and the more ambient and mysterious level of ODST.  There is plenty of poking around in the aftermath of some event only to be attacked by Grunts and Elites before the team can unravel the mystery.

Straight from the multiplayer beta, fans will be happy to know that the Assassination animation makes its way into the single player campaign for those satisfying close combat kill moments.

Bungie have another hit on their hands, even those that were perhaps disappointed with Halo 3: ODST should take another look into the Halo universe; first impressions are that there is a lot of love and thinking that has gone into this title.

If you cannot wait for the September 14th release of Halo: Reach for Xbox 360,  you can while away a few minutes on Halo 2600, where Ed Fries has managed to squeeze the original Xbox Halo: Combat Evolved into the limitations and style of beloved home console the Atari 2600 VCS.  Check it out here.