Halo Reach's Art Style

Halo's art style has always been important to the brand. It was established in the first game, Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001. It was later evolved through Halo 2 and Halo 3. But when Bungie created Halo Reach they changed the art style a lot. Creating something different from what many see as Halo. This continued when 343 Industries took over and created Halo 4. The art style continued to differentiate from the original trilogy of games. Not going back to the old art style until Halo Wars 2. This time, it was a mix of 343's art style and the classic art style. It kept on having the mixed art style in Halo: Infinite which will be released in 2021. But let's get into how the art style could and actually should have been in the other Halo games.

Halo Reach

In my opinion, Halo Reach had a lot of problems with its art style. This was the beginning of the change of art style in the series. I believe the biggest problem with the art style in Reach is the fact that Reach was supposed to be a direct prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved. But because of the art style change, it feels off. Here are some redesigns I have made for Halo Reach. 

Assault Rifle

Here is the Assault Rifle I made for Halo Reach. I decided to do a mix of the Halo Reach Assault Rifle and the Assault Rifle seen in Halo: Combat Evolved. The idea would also be to have it work as it does in Halo: CE. The biggest problem in Reach is how the Assault RIfle changes within a few minutes when Combat Evolved starts. So I decided to fix that.

Battle Rifle

In Halo Reach, a new weapon was introduced. This was the DMR. I like the DMR but introducing an all-new standard UNSC weapon in a direct sequel doesn't really work. It would've been better if we saw an earlier version of the Battle Rifle. 

The Battle Rifle was first introduced in Halo 2 as the main weapon instead of the Assault Rifle. I believe the Battle Rifle would've worked better than a DMR as it is a weapon we've seen and it is also a way to celebrate what has come before. I also believe the Battle Rifle should work more like the Halo 2 demo version of the weapon. In the demo, the game was still a burst weapon but it changed to a bolt shot weapon when aiming. You could even call it a DMR Class Battle Rifle. A special variant of the weapon only found on Reach. 

Magnum

The Halo Reach Magnum has a good design but I believe it has to resemble the Combat Evolved Magnum more. This design is a mix of the Reach and CE variants. It isn't much changed really. Mostly the colors, the main shape, extended mag, and the fact that we've gotten rid of the red dot sight. I also believe the Magnum should work more as it does in CE than Reach. 

Shotgun

My version of the Halo Reach shotgun isn't much different. It s the same idea with a color scheme more in line with the Combat Evolved version. I also made sure the shotgun has the same barrel as the CE version. Or at least a closer one.