By Luke Quigley
HALO: Reach was, in it’s prime the textbook example of a thriving, varied and endlessly entertaining online community.
From the online matchmaking playlists where you could go it alone in close-combat orientated Rumble Pit to the vehicle centred Big Team Battle where Rockets and the Spartan Laser were invaluable counters to Banshee bomb spammers and Scorpion spawn killers. Reach, certainly offered the chance for different play styles whereas the Custom Games Lobby delivered that organic, creative space to make your own game within the game, staged on unique and inspiring maps moulded in Reach’s very own expansive Forgeworld editor. With solid gameplay and options to explore at the foundation, throw in a minimalist lobby design and a consistent framework for finding other players easily and you had, in Reach, the setting for an involved and eccentric online community.
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