Halo: Reach Beta Released Today

Yup today is the day that the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta will start. For myself I will not be in the beta as my Xbox 360 died quite some time ago and I have yet to buy a new one.

However that wont keep me from giving you all the news you want and need for this beta. Rather than getting right down to the nitty gritty I figured I’d start things off with a quoted article from the South Bend Tribune.

I have to start off with a possibly condemning admission before I get into the review of Halo: Reach.

I have never played a Halo title on Xbox Live. In fact the only Halo titles I’ve played were the first and second entries, and that was briefly over local multiplayer.

I realize to some I should throw away my credentials as a gaming journalist at that statement alone, but let’s try to be optimistic and say that I have a fresh outlook on the franchise that other people don’t have.

So, on to the review.

Halo: Reach is the latest installment in the industry-changing Halo franchise. Developer Bungie has big plans for this beta, and according to them they plan to have three million people signed up for the beta before it’s over.

Booting up the demo, the first place I went was the customization menu. Right off the bat you can alter your character and icon colors, but armor customization comes at a price.

Accomplishing certain in-game feats (like getting the first kill or a double kill) or simply by playing a match through to its end earns the player credits, which can be used to customize your character. The additions don’t have any in-game effect, they only alter the appearance. It was nice to see an upgrade/experience system that didn’t yield benefits to more vested players, but still rewarded players with something tangible for their playtime.

So with the knowledge that I was about to become a noob in one of the biggest game franchises around, I jumped into my first multiplayer match. After about 20 matches, I’ve come out on top two or three times.

There are a number of modes to select from, and the variation is nice to see from a beta. There’s free-for all, team deathmatch, capture the flag, territory capture, and other game modes available. The multiple game modes are backed up by four selectable maps which feature indoor and outdoor combat. Overall it is a pretty robust offering for a beta, and second only to the Starcraft 2 beta in polish, content, and delivery.

Powerhouse was my favorite map, giving both close quarters and wide open combat possibilities. The multi-tiered structure of the level always kept you guessing where the next attack could be coming from.

With the addition of new abilities depending on what class you select, you never quite feel safe in any single location. Depending on which class you choose when you spawn, you can either have a sprint meter, active camouflage, an impenetrable shield, or a jetpack.

It was nice to see the teamwork already forming around the different classes. On one occasion I was about to kill a character who turned on his energy shield, making him invincible for a short amount of time. While I was waiting for the shield to run out, a stealthed character came up behind me and dealt me a pride-crushing melee attack.

The graphics look clean and crisp, and don’t go over the top with bloom or other special effects. Textures are well done, and the characters in game move fluidly and have solid animations when running and reloading. The game looks so good it’s hard to believe that it’s just the beta.

Despite being ravaged online time and again, I saw the appeal of the Halo for the first time playing the beta. It’s a simple to get into game and have access to everything without any of the perks and unlockables set up in the framework of other shooters. It’s a classic FPS experience and assuming you weren’t absolutely rubbish at the game like me, you’d have some fun playing it.

The beta opens to the public May 3.

So just from looking at the review it looks like you will now buy your appearance upgrades rather than earning them by doing certain feats. I think that’s a pretty cool feature because some people may only want Ninja armor while others would rather be a tool and wear Recon armor. This allows you to just save up the points and buy what you want, and you don’t exactly need to play the game a bunch to unlock the stuff you want.

One thing I don’t exactly like is the class sytem. I think Bungie has strayed way to far away from the Halo CE and Halo 2 I spent my young adulthood playing. There is no need to have classes, as it’s one more aspect of the game that will be unbalanced. The implementation of equipment in Halo 3 was a flop in my opinion so adding more extra stuff just doesn’t make sense. It’s hard to have a balanced game when there will be a team of 14 year old brats running around with active camo everytime they spawn, or a bunch of people jumping on you from no where with jetpacks. I just don’t see why Bungie needed to add this into the game.

Other than that I can’t really say a lot about the game that I have not played. I can only speculate that the game may not be as good as I once hoped.

So with all that said and done, I’m going to see if I can find a way to get my hands on the beta to give it a try myself. In the mean time I would love for you to tell me what you think about the Halo Reach beta.

Leave your comments below.

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