Halo: Reach Hits Xbox One Backward Compatibility Today

With the library of backward-compatible Xbox 360 titles coming to Xbox One growing after today’s announcement, it’s another great time to return to some of your favorite games from last generation… or check out some titles that you may have missed. Thanks to the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, there are now only a couple of Halo games not natively available on Xbox One. One of those games, the excellent Halo: Reach is now available thanks to Xbox One Backward Compatibility, allowing you to experience the fantastic tale of the Spartans who defended against one of the most iconic attacks in the entire Halo mythos.

Halo: Reach is the sixth entry in the Halo series and has the distinction of being the series’ only prequel, leading directly up to the opening events of the original Halo: Combat Evolved. Fans old and new alike can dive into the action head on to experience for themselves the riveting story that foreshadows the first Halo game.

As a prequel, Halo: Reach plays like a modernized version of Halo: Combat Evolved. You control Noble Six, a new Spartan recruit on the Noble Team, which – as you might have guessed – is a team fully staffed with badass super-soldiers. Reach was the first time Halo got to see a whole team of Spartans at work. Oh, and if you’ve been playing Halo 5: Guardians, you’ll undoubtedly recognize Dr. Catherine Halsey, the creator of the SPARTAN program – who plays a major role in the events of Reach.

There are a lot of reason to love Reach. Abilities like the jet pack, camouflage, and sprint add elements to the game, allowing you to customize your Spartan in new ways. Plus, having such a diverse group of Spartans expands the world of Halo in ways that were previously only covered in franchise novels and comics (Halo 3: ODST did this, too, providing new insights and perspectives on the war).

And of course, we can’t talk about Reach without bringing up its incredible multiplayer features. The game added numerous new modes – notably Firefight, a co-op survival game that pits you against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Reach’s multiplayer also let you control teams of Covenant Elites in various modes, mixing up the very traditional Spartan-only gameplay that Halo is known for.

Halo: Reach is available now via Xbox One Backward Compatibility. Whether you’ve experienced the tale of Halo: The Fall of Reach or you’re new to the game, this is definitely one Halo that you don’t want to miss.