So, I finished my first proper Halo: Reach map yesterday, my Headlong remix – I call it Headrush.
It’s not a straight up 1:1 scale port, oh no, it’s more of an inspiration-based creation. It has recognisable elements from Headlong, but also additions and revisions that make it play better with Halo: Reach. This is because of the differences in scale between Halo 2 and Reach, and Armour Abilities like Sprint and Jetpack also meant tweaks to the original formula were necessary. I mean, why give you a Jetpack and then tell you not to go flying on top of buildings? I think I’ve been more than generous with the leeway you have on this map with regards to Jetpacks.
The most iconic part of the map, the red base, is a several story high building which is mostly faithful to the original. Things have been changed slightly, such as there being no breakable glass by the bomb/flag spot, and the wall being more transparent on the floor above that. Those Colosseum Windows are great, they made for amazing walls, and their asymmetric design meant I could position them in a visually distinct fashion and use their nice angles for entry points. With the map being expanded out, I felt that walkways going all the way from red base to the outer buildings would be ridiculous, so I replaced them with incoming man-cannons. That way, it’s easy to get in and attack quickly, and the cover on the landing pads give an attacking team a chance to regroup, but the long run home with the flag is fraught with danger.
Halo: Reach is officially launched on Tuesday, so I thought I’d take a look back at my time with the franchise – I can hardly believe it’s been ten years!
It all started way back in the days of working at Game, and the launch of the original Xbox. Halo was the big game of the launch and my manager at the time raved about it. I admit, I was unimpressed when he was telling me how the Pistol was the best weapon, and there were grenades that stuck to your enemies, and that one melee attack to the back of an opponent was an instant kill… But then I played it. Campaign at first, it was immense. I never really got on with other console First Person Shooters such as Goldeneye, Quake II or Perfect Dark on the N64 as they never quite felt right, but this did – the controls were sublime. Lugging an Xbox and TV to Craig’s flat was so worth it. Our Halo LAN sessions were never frequent, and there were only a few of them, but they remain a fondly remembered highlight of my life so far. Given that there were only eight of us playing, Sidewinder and Blood Gulch were probably not the best maps to choose, but man, those CTF games were epic, and it was incredible hearing the shouting and swearing come from the other room when we thwarted an attack and recovered our flag.
