Hand Grenades explode. Plasma mortars tear holes into a once lavish metropolis known as Reach.

The intensity of battle is flourishing through your hands as you give your all to survive the endless waves of Covenant forces. “Halo: Reach” is absolute awesomeness, like a cool drink of water on a hot summer day; the games campaign and multiplayer are damn near flawless.

Even problems with difficulty and terrain vehicle driving mechanics seem almost insignificant, because the player is too immersed in badassedry (a real word in the official Student Voicetionary) to even notice. Hell you might not even notice your girlfriend just left you because you’re so drawn into this game’s glory.

“Halo: Reach” opens with a brooding sense of doom as a single Spartan helmet lay on the apocalyptic wasteland grounds of what was once known as the flourishing Earth colony, Reach.

This helmet, bearing a single bullet hole through its visor, shows this is not a story of hope, but how hope was destroyed and how a single Spartan was the driving force to keeping even the smallest glimpses of hope alive in the Halo universe.

You play as a Spartan known simply as Noble- 6, a new recruit to Noble squadron who is sent on a routine mission to check a distress signal on the outer portions of Reach.

To Noble, it’s a surprise when what is believed to be rebel disturbances end up being the beginning of a Covenant invasion; a theocratic alliance of alien races hell bent on the destruction of mankind and ruling supremacy of the cosmos.

The fall of the last human colony Reach is played out in this grand finale taking place mere weeks before the events of the first Halo (Halo: Combat Evolved). The game plays out with the dread of failure as each mission is fought to retreat and every step forward results in two steps back.

But Spartans take sadness and failure and stick a plasma grenade to its alien abdomen and pump a full clip of hot lead into its face.

Excellence shines through in gameplay mechanics with various different control schemes enabling the player to decide what best fits their playing style.

The addition of sprint also helps while you’re in a jam, which is an interchangeable perk to which you can switch for other perks in the game such as shields and a jetpack.

Some problems do arise with difficulty sometimes, but this can be easily fixed by just changing your difficulty settings.

On the other hand there’s no easy fix to the terrain vehicles handling like a sack of bricks, sometimes leaving you defenseless to Covenant bombardment.

Overall, though, these things almost seem minuscule as you immerse yourself in the heartbreaking storyline that is “Halo: Reach.”

Though “Halo: Reach” has a phenomenal campaign story mode, multiplayer offers a wide array of challenges that are easy and fun to pick up for any gamers.

From the classic “team slayer,” a run of the mill, up to 16 player team death match, to the new “firefight,” where up to four players fight off wave after wave of Covenant forces.

In most of these modes, there are different choices for the types of weapons and perks setup you desire.

One of the best new perks is the jetpack. One of the most satisfying feelings is to come swooping down like the mighty eagle on its prey, pumping an entire clip into your opponents head.

Map selection is slim, but with the “Forge” map editor, it’s easy to just edit an existing map or work from the ground up, creating a little variation in map selection.

The cooperative campaign mode is another feature where up to four players can fight through the campaign, but for each player, the game doubles the Covenant forces, making for an all-out fire fight experience.

Ranking systems are points based and unlock many upgrades like changing your “firefight” voice and new armor; completely customizable armor is available in multiplayer and campaign. Creating variation in characters is a new venture for the Halo series.

Even though “Halo: Reach” has a story that, no matter what, ends on a bleak note, one thing stays true throughout; hope is always a good thing to hang on to, no matter how awful the odds are because somehow, some way, a Spartan will finish what has been started.

Reach is the end of one Spartan’s story and the beginning of another.

Reach 2 (Courtesy of Bungie)

Reach 1 (Courtesy of Bungie)