The embargo has been lifted and the waves of reviews for the upcoming Halo: Reach are making their way to the Internet. The reviews seem to echo the same theme, which is that for Bungie’s send off for the Halo franchise they have created the best Halo title yet and once again have raised the bar. This really comes as little surprise, since each of the Halo offerings that Bungie has done has surpassed the last release.

While initially many thought that the decision by Bungie to create a prequel for their final chapter in the Halo series might turn out to be a bad decision, it would seem that Bungie has succeeded where many others have failed. The new Reach story is very accessible and quite playable, according to the reviews, even if you have not have played the prior Halo offerings. While some suspected that the Reach game would follow the novel called “The Fall of Reach”, apparently there are some similarities, but not the story that the game tells here.

In Reach, you will play Noble Six; and it is obvious from the reviews that Bungie has learned a lot of about making Halo titles and has put the knowledge to good use. This means that the focus is taking what Halo is and tweaking it, rather than going in a new direction by adding new elements. This strategy appears to have paid off, as the reviews seem to agree that the game strikes an excellent balance and it is very playable.

The reviews do seem to all agree that Reach does push the Xbox 360 forward as far as the look and feel of the game. Some reviews have pointed out some frame rate issues during some parts of the game. While these frame rate issues might be more of a dip in frame rate during some of the single player part of the game, it doesn’t seem to affect game play in the multiplayer modes. For most players, it is unlikely that they will ever notice it, as most Halo players spend their time in the multiplayer modes of the game.

The news is good that the reviews already seem so positive and it is likely that Microsoft will be able to move a lot of copies of the title. Our retail contacts are already telling us that the new Limited Edition Halo: Reach wireless controllers and headsets are selling well and they have a solid number of pre-orders for the Limited Edition Halo: Reach Edition Xbox 360. It looks like all of the advertising and media spend that Microsoft has been making to promote Halo: Reach isn’t going to go to waste; and like most analysts, we expect first week sales to be brisk and thereafter spurred by the excellent reviews.