It all sounds too familiar. Big talk, ads that have little to do with the final game, and the buildup of overwhelming hype and anticipation. It all sounds too familiar.

I don’t believe any ad campaign for any video game has come close to that of Halo 3. Anywhere you looked, touched, walked or bumped into was something telling you to buy the third and “final” instalment of Bungie’s franchise. It was the first time the gaming world had seen such marketing and promotion, which had normally been saved for the latest overblown Michael Bay blockbuster. There was huge promise, and the expectations were sky high. Everything, apart from the actual game, couldn’t be described in any other way but spectacular (I still have and watch those TV spots on my Xbox 360). But in the end, the final product really didn’t meet the hype that preceded it.

Don’t get me wrong, Halo 3 was still a quality game. It deservedly got strong reviews, and nobody can deny that it was a well made product. But if you were to get the Bungie team in a private dark room and ask whether they felt the game lived up to its high expectations, they might say no with a very heavy heart. The single-player campaign didn’t deliver the epic scope promised in the adverts, with the story lacking the sense of exploration and discovery of the original game. Their ace in the hole, the multiplayer modes, really did nothing to improve on its trend-setting debut on the original Xbox with Halo 2. Where Halo 2 wowed the world with the capabilities of Xbox Live, Halo 3 seemed to take a step backward. Can someone please tell me which genius said it would be a good idea to remove clans?

Bungie now find themselves in a dogfight with Modern Warfare, which stormed onto the scene with eye-gouging, next-gen graphics and realistic gameplay that put you in the heat of battle. It yanked away a good number of Bungie’s multiplayer family, leaving only their loyal and hardcore fans. Bungie know they are going to have to wake-up and realise that it’s not 2004, when they were sitting pretty and had no competition. We live in the next-gen world, and gamers expect certain graphical standards to be met.

Halo: Reach was never meant to happen. Bungie were supposed to be working on another title now, having left a lasting legacy with Halo. Right now, we’re all supposed to reminisce about the greatness that was the Halo series and wonder whether anything could come close to it. The script took a turn Bungie did not anticipate. The very fact that they are developing Halo: Reach is evidence that they feel they have something to prove. It was all there in a documentary, in which they pretty much admitted that they lost their way in Halo 3. For Bungie it’s now about going back to basics and trying to rekindle the fire that once made the Halo name revered and respected.

Bungie know they are way behind their competition with regard to graphics and presentation. Halo 3, to put it bluntly, was shoddy in comparison to Modern Warfare. To think that it apparently came out on a next-gen console makes one scratch their head and wonder if the team know how to properly utilise their hardware. The latest images and videos coming from Halo: Reach are definitely an improvement, but still fall way behind Modern Warfare, which came out years ago.

I just get that sinking feeling that I had when I saw the in-game graphics of Halo 3. I just don’t get why Halo: Reach just looks like Halo 2 on steroids. Yes, I saw the video that compared the graphics of Halo 3 and Reach side-by-side, but in all honesty, there wasn’t much difference. I had to strain really hard to notice the minimal differences. That doesn’t bode well for the improvement that Bungie needs to make.

Halo: Reach‘s success won’t be measured by its sales figures, or units sold, or how many good reviews it receives. Bungie will know whether they hit the mark or not by how the game impacts the industry. It will be the opinions of the people on the ground, locked away in their bedrooms and bashing away on the forums, that will matter. We all know the problems that Infinity Ward is having with the Call of Duty franchise hanging in the balance, but the maverick duo of Jason West and Vince Zampella are rebuilding and recruiting their talent and will be aiming to prove they are the architects of the best next-gen online FPS.

September is just four months away, and the eyes of the world will be on Halo: Reach. The pressure will be on and Bungie will be under more scrutiny from the gaming community than ever before. We await their response.