Review Slice: Halo Reach's Forge Mode

He looks guilty to me.

Halo: Reach sure delivers the goods. A robust story mode (as extolled by my homey Scott Kieffer over at That Gaming Site); an outrageously fun multiplayer offering; and to top it all off, an extensive level editor.

In the above mentioned level editor, known as Forge Mode, you embody the Guilty Spark of Halo 3 fame (whom I erroneously thought was named Silent Cartographer which was odd as he was not at all silent) and make your way around an enormous series of islands, building pretty much anything your heart desires. You are given a huge portion of the pre-built assets from the game proper, so all you have to worry about is where to put the sand bags instead of having to actually make/texture/map/code weight etc.

The suite also has smaller elements for a more customized space if that's what you really want, though the pieces come in standardized sizes and figuring out how to change that is a real pain.

Where Forge Mode really shines though is the allowance of co-op. That's right, you can build stuff with a friend. Let him jump off your ramp and see if he dies. Have him fill the room with guns while you go build another bunker. One would never really think about it, but it's far easier and more fun to be creative when you have someone to help you.

If all of these positive aspects seem too good to be true, that may be because they sort of are. A major caveat to the mode is also Halo's biggest feature. The Xbox 360 controller, as shooter-friendly as it is, is just awful for the type of precision something like Forge Mode requires. The limited amount of buttons means that all of the assets and options have to be accessed through menus and since nearly every button is already in use, some useful commands simply aren't available. Most notable is the inability to create objects inside a structure. Since your cursor has to be pointing at the sky in order to enable the context sensitive creation menu, everything you want to be in a room had better be there before you put a roof on the place. It's a gripe about something I'm sure was insurmountable from a design perspective, but it would have been nice to be able to use a mouse and keyboard.

Overall, Forge Mode is an excellent addition to what is almost surely an excellent game. Alone it may not be worth $60, but if you already have the game, you should try it out with a friend. If you're on the fence, get off the fence and hop on Forge Mode. Upload your horrible map and let people play it. Or just make fun of other people's maps that are all just penises.