Halo: Reach had the single most successful launch day of any Microsoft game in history this week, generating an easy $200 million in sales. That’s more money than any movie has ever made on launch day. In fact, that’s more than just about anything has made at launch.

It’s safe to say at this point that the folks at Bungie were successful in their bid to go out with a huge bang. But the big question is whether the sixth and final installment in the series lives up to the immense hype that surrounded it over the past year or so.

As someone who has never been a big fan of the Halo franchise, even I have to admit that the answer to that question is, “Yes.” I say this after having spent more than four hours across dozens of multiplayer matches ranging from Slayer to Firefight – more time than I think I’ve ever spent playing Halo in a single sitting.

From the new interface to the progression system to the game-changing addition of armor upgrades, everything about Reach is polished to a high shine. It’s clear that Bungie let it all hang out this time around, taking suggestions from the community and bringing back most if not all of the things that people loved about previous entries in the franchise. I can’t think of a single thing that’s missing from or wrong with this game. And again, I’ve never been a fan of the franchise.

I’ll leave you with that, if only because I want to get back to playing.