The only way for most to get into Bungie's Halo Reach multiplayer beta on May 3 will be through the key given away in copies of Halo 3: ODST. But because we're very special we managed to get a few hours with the online tryout ahead of next month's kick off. Here are our thoughts on what we saw:
After four games of pure, genre-topping deathmatch, the development team at Kirkland, Washington have rather wisely decided to shake things up - and there's a lot here that will surprise and unsettle Halo super-fans.
Character classes, special abilities, experience points (or 'Credits) and character customisation are all key pillars of Halo Reach's remixed multiplayer mode - features we're more used to seeing in Modern Warfare than intergalactic Spartan III combat.
At the end of a Halo Reach session you're now rewarded with a fanfare of numbers and medals - as the game tops up your Credit count for acquiring the series' traditional array of awards.
You can then spend these Credits on customising your metal-suited warrior in a system that's far more in-depth than anything we've seen before in a Halo game. Your Spartan can be tailored right down to individual sections of his helmet, and Reach's emblem editor is both more aseptically pleasing and easy to use.
Purists will be glad to hear that traditional game modes such as Slayer, Capture the Flag and King of the Hill still feature - but we reckon you'll be far more interested in the new stuff Reach brings to the plasma rifle-filled table.
WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT? The first new mode, 'Headhunter', is definitely a favourite. It's a ruthless, back-stabbing 'party' game (don't wince) where the goal is to collect and capture the most skulls. Basically, upon death players drop a skull, and you'll look to pick it up and carry it to a designated skull deposit zone that moves around the map.
You can carry multiple skulls, but if you're killed before scoring, you'll lose them all, allowing other dirty scroungers to pick up your dropped loot. Naturally then, our first strategy was to camp near the deposit zone with a dirty great rocket launcher, blasting any skull-carrying mofo foolish enough to waddle close enough... and then nick his payload.
This didn't prove to be the most effective strategy - because quickly the desposit zone switched to a different area and we were left standing in a corner, looking like a disappointed Advance Wars rocket man.
The killer twist in Headhunter though is that the number of skulls a player is carrying is prominently displayed above their Mjolnir Armored bonce, for all to see. What this means is that after preying on others with dodgy deposit zone-camping tactics and collecting a few skulls, you'll quickly find that everyone in the game is falling over themselves to blow you into smithereens, and collect your precious bounty.
Because of this, Sprint and Active Camo - two of Reach's new armour abilities - are by far the powers of choice for Headhunter. Grab a few skulls, and then sneak or leg it to the deposit zone - simple.
REACH FOR THE STARS The array of Halo: Reach screenshots and video footage released on the internet give the impression that Reach is simply another extension of Halo 3 - but it really is an all-new Halo.
Not only does it look fantastic compared to the series' previous pair of offerings on 360, but Bungie's stance has been geared more towards a gritty, realistic take on the franchise.
Weapons feel and look meatier than in ODST. Bungie's brand new game engine has afforded Reach spectacular, particle-spraying explosions, along with the huge scale we've come to expect from Master Chief's outings (we flew high in the sky in a Banshee on the Boneyard map).
The first change you'll notice come May 3 is the new armour abilities, which shake up the tiring deathmatch formula and add a bit more fun to affairs. The first is Sprint, a Call of Duty-style dash of speed that's useful in the HeadHunter game mode and when generally legging it around the map.
Active Camo is fantastic for sneaking behind unaware opponents to pull off one of the new assassination moves - which are executed by melee attacking an ignorant foe from the rear.
Our favourites, though, are Armour Lock, which gives you a brief, last-ditch spell of invincibility, with the trade off that you can't move or shoot - fantastic for tricking your opponent into emptying their clip - and Jet Pack - a God-send for flying around in King of the Hill and Capture the Flag.
FUTURE BATTLEFIELD The last and most interesting Reach beta game mode we got to try out was Invasion - which is unlike any other scenario we've seen before in the series.
It's basically a Battlefield style, Spartans vs. Elite big man war, with lost of vehicles, character classes and objectives for each team to perform.
In the map we played - 'Boneyard' - the objective for the Elites was to infiltrate a UNSC base, steal a power core and return it to a hovering Phantom outside. Spartans must stop the elites from achieving their objectives... by shooting the shite out of them.
You start the game by first choosing your character class. For both sides this will start off with variants of Assault (who carry an assault rifle/plasma repeater) and Scout (who carry a needle rifle/marksman rifle). These evolve as the Elite team progresses through its objectives, with Grenade Launcher and Jet Pack classes later becoming available.
You can change your selected class every time you respawn, which works by choosing a currently-alive team mate to reappear next.
Naturally all this character class mischief gave us a chance to try out some of Halo Reach's new guns, of which there are many. The new designated marksman rifle (DMR) feels like a less accurate, but faster firing version of the battle rifle - and you can pretty much say the same thing about the new plasma repeater compared to the old plasma rifle.
Another interesting - and awesome- addition is the Covenant plasma launcher, which locks on and charges up much like a spartan laser, only with this you can target other players (and not just vehicles), sending a three balls of plasma spiralling and sticking to your opponent before exploding violently.
By far our favourite addition to the Halo arsenal, though, is the new UNSC grenade launcher, which Bungie's dubbing 'the noob tube'. We're proud to say that in our hands, this thing was an elite-destroying death tool.
It worked by holding down the right trigger to fire a grenade, and then releasing the trigger to initiate exactly when we wanted it to detonate.
These work a lot like GoldenEye's remote mines, once you worked out that you can detonate them on the fly with the N64's A and B buttons. The dynamic detonation makes the Reach grenade launcher a stupidly accurate, devastating piece of kit. At times we were even taking on the entire Elite team single-handed, limited only by ammunition. Use it wisely: This thing is going to get nerfed.
Invasion is less pure than Vanilla Halo deathmatch, but certainly a nice change of pace after four comparatively by-the-numbers multiplayer experiences. Hopefully it won't get repetitive, because from our few hours with the mode we had a fantastic time - and not only the bits with the grenade launcher.
You'll get to try the Halo Reach multiplayer beta for yourself when it kicks off on May 3. Until then, have a gander at the wealth of new media on this page - and we'll soon see you online.
Was looking forward to this but now I am in doubt as it sounds like the gameplay is just going to be a halo/MW2 rip off and from the sound of things it will even have the same crapy unbalanced game play as MW2. Think I will be sticking to BFBC2 for now.
Wow!!! Calling the grenade launcher a "noob tube" how original! Its not as though they've been called that in games for over 4 years now
That's not what they call it, I thought it was the 'pro tube' but it seems I was wrong:
Another weapon included in the beta is the grenade launcher, aka 'the pro pipe'. "This was primarily designed to fill a similar role to the plasma pistol and give the Spartans an EMP-capable weapon
Was looking forward to this but now I am in doubt as it sounds like the gameplay is just going to be a halo/MW2 rip off and from the sound of things it will even have the same crapy unbalanced game play as MW2. Think I will be sticking to BFBC2 for now.
Oh well, Beta's a Beta. I think MW2 has taken enough s**t, it's the consumers fault for buying it and it was quite easy to see it added nothing new.
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