by Loran
Don’t you miss the days when weapon packs were really common in “solider” toy lines? It was before my time, but I happen to recall G.I. Joe having one a year for several years back in the 80’s. It was a great gimmick. You could get new weapons to replace ones you lost or broke, or get ones you wanted but didn’t want to buy a whole figure for. For something like Halo, I think that’s important, especially considering how bland the assortment of weapons on the figures themselves is…
Reach’s weapon pack came in assortment five, the same one that brought me some of my personal favorites like the Gungnir Custom and the Elite Ranger. Unfortunately, it seems to fall a bit short in some regards, especially when put against those great offerings. For one, there isn’t much stuff here. While I never got the weapon set for Halo 3, I can tell you it had a LOT more equipment at the same price point. Second, the actual assortment isn’t all that great, consisting pretty much entirely of stuff that’s been seen before. Why no sniper rifle? There aren’t any Reach Multiplayer Spartans with one, to my knowledge.
I’ll get the lame stuff out of the way first.
No surprise here, the set comes with an Assault Rifle. Really, this has been included with so many Spartans I can’t see the point of including it here. Why not the sniper rifle? I’d get some mileage out of that one…
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Reach set without a pointless amount of grenades! This time you get two frags AND two plasmas! Again, WHY? I think we all have more of these things than we know what to do with.
Now for some GOOD weapons.
The shotgun is one I wish we’d see more often, as it is one of my favorite weapons in the game. It looks great on the Operator Spartan I made with the CQB Custom pack, though I’m definitely giving it to Sarge once I have the proper head to make him.
I’m REALLY surprised more figures don’t include the DMR, which is one of the games most-used weapons, along with the pistol. I like them both here, and the figures hold the DMR much better than the assault rifle. The peg on the pistol looks utterly ridiculous, so I just keep it in the hip of whatever figure I have holding it.
Can’t forget the pistol, which is also known as the bane of my existence in CEA Multiplayer. Again, I’m surprised most figures don’t have this, but I imagine that due to its small size, McFarlane only puts it in larger sets.
The best accessory in this set is, of course, the jetpack, and why I bought the set in the first place. It’s great to have one without having to buy one of the ODSTs. I do wish there was an “off” version, or if the jets were on hinges. It just looks silly to have your Spartans running around with their jets activated.
The Covenant weapons are also okay: Concussion Rifle (my favorite of the bunch), Needle Rifle, and Plasma Rifle. No sword, unfortunately. They’re all decent enough, but nothing really difficult to get a hold of. Again, it would’ve been nice to see more uncommon weapons like the sword or maybe plasma repeater, but the selection isn’t terrible.
For the same price as any Reach figure, McFarlane really could have done better for a big set of repacks. Still, it’s very much worth it if you have a lot of armor pack figures that need guns, or an air assault that needs a jetpack. I can recommend it for those reasons and those reasons alone. Otherwise, get any other great Reach offering from us at FPNYC.
