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(More customer reviews)Let's face it: even as collector's editions go the one for Halo Reach is unusually expensive. It's easily twice the price of those I've seen for other games. Yet this is honestly the first time I've ever felt that a game's special edition was well worth the money. No matter how impressive the Legendary Edition might look in the pictures, seeing the real thing in person is simply astonishing. Bungie went all out when it came to this product.
First is the size. It's huge. The whole box is about 14" x 15" x 12". That may not sound like a lot on paper and that is possibly the problem. I've seen frag box computers that are smaller. The weight is equally impressive; I was astonished when the UPS driver handed it to me. A friend of mine sent his wife to pick up his pre-order through a local retailer today and warned her ahead of time that she wasn't going to be prepared for how big it was. A few minutes later she called him -- shocked by the size, despite his warning.
Once you actually open the box, though, is when the real magic begins. Yes, the figurine/statuette is big and beautiful but in some ways it's eclipsed by the little details tucked away everywhere. There are "hand written" notes from the person who tracked down these artifacts and shipped them to you. There's a notebook bound with heavy string that contains pages upon pages of research notes. ID cards, data cards, an embroidered Noble Team service patch, maps, biometric data -- you name it, this package has it. You really feel like you're poring over a slice of history. (A second friend received his copy at work today. All afternoon he had people coming to his desk to enviously take a look at the package's contents.)
As for the game, it's every bit as fun as can be expected from previous games -- this, coming from a person who usually shies away from first-person shooters. In many ways it's also a lot more open. As an example, at one point I accidentally got split off from the friends I was playing with. Not sure how to catch up with them again I struck out in a direction that seemed promising. It actually led me to a Covenant outpost where I started picking off the enemy, clearing out the building with such tactics as happily firing into it with a rocket launcher that I'd found. After about 15 minutes of that, the storyline led my friends back around to where I was and all hell broke loose. Sure, I'd missed a bit of what they were doing but I also made a big difference at a key point.
I also have to say that the graphics are astonishing. The new engine truly outdoes itself. There are times when the Xbox can't quite meet its demands, leading to a briefly stuttering frame rate but this is easily overlooked. The world is just too beautiful and epic-feeling to nitpick. Especially since I've often seen worse issues in games that didn't begin to compare visually.
If you can still find a Legendary or Limited edition of Reach, by all means get it. I can't imagine anyone regretting this purchase.
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The complete Halo: Reach collection. In addition to the game disc and the complete contents of the Limited Edition, the Legendary Edition includes a Noble Team statue expertly crafted by the artisans at McFarlane Toys. In addition to this, the statute is placed in UNSC-themed custom packaging exclusive and the game includes an exclusive, multiplayer Spartan armor effect - a flaming helmet.
