Halo: Reach was created as Bungie’s last entry in the series before it left for Destiny, and despite not featuring the Master Chief, it’s one of the best Halo games ever made. It was only available on Xbox platforms up until today, but Microsoft and 343 Industries have finally brought the acclaimed prequel to PC.
Released as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for both Xbox One and PC players, Halo: Reach is available to those who already own the Xbox version for an additional $10, though you will get the multiplayer component as a free update. If you buy The Master Chief Collection starting now on Xbox, the whole game will come with it.
Reach is currently the only game in the collection available to PC players, with the other games all scheduled to arrive before the end of 2020. For those subscribing to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Xbox Game Pass for PC, you get access to the game for free.
If you prefer to purchase your games on Steam, Halo: The Master Chief Collection is also available there for $40, or you can purchase Reach on its own for $10. Regardless of platform, you’ll need an Xbox Live account in order to play the online multiplayer.
Halo: Reach is a tragic story in the series’ often-dark timeline, taking place just before the events of the original game. As the doomed Noble Team, you work to fight off the enormous Covenant army attacking the titular planet Reach, and meet several characters featured prominently in the other Halo games. Its vicious multiplayer also features more customization options and tremendous map design, often beating the high standard set by Halo 3 a few years earlier. Even if you aren’t usually interested in spinoff games, it is an essential part of the Halo series that you can’t afford to skip.
Halo: Reach for Xbox One and PC will have to do for the next year. With the launch of the Xbox’s Project Scarlett in 2020, we will also get Halo Infinite, which is the next step in the Master Chief’s story. The game will also release on Xbox One and PC.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.