With the Halo: Reach beta pretty much over, I got a chance to sit down and ask Jude some questions about the Beta. He’s a big fan and always has been one. So go ahead a read about his thoughts on the Beta.
What are some of the new additions to the game and what are your personal favourites?
Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed about the Halo Reach beta was the introduction of Load Outs. Seems Bungie has taken a page out of the Call of Duty and Battle Field games. They are basically predetermined weapons and armour abilities that you can choose from when the game starts. Though, I don’t find it necessary for a game like Halo. But it doesn’t really cause an issues either. I’m sure in the full game, they’ll let you fully customize the Load Outs.
The second most noticeable thing about the beta i was the introduction of Armour abilities. Which are there to replace the Equipment that was introduced in Halo 3. Armour abilities in the beta include sprint/dodge(Elites), armour lock, jetpack, and cloaking; all these can be used whenever you like, however, there is a cool down time of about 5seconds so using them strategically is key.
A new slew of weapons have been thrown into the mix. Such as the DMR( Designated Marksmen File) which has a one shot burst for long distance kills. The Needle Rifle is the Covenant equivalent to the human DMR, although, if you hit your target with enough enough of these needles boom! he explodes. Which makes for one stratifying kill! A grenade launcher is another new addition to Halo Reach, and it works just as you expect from your typical grenade launcher. However, it does have a little twist to it; if you hold the trigger button, the grenade which you sent out becomes a sort of remote mine. Once you let go of the trigger it can be detonated giving you the ability to plan out some nice traps. Not to be outdone, the Covenant have a type of grenade launcher of their own. The Plasma Launcher is probably the deadliest weapon in the beta. Why ? Well, it has a lock on (which can tag you or a vehicle), and the ability to fire out not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 plasma grenades that will follow you and destroy you and everyone on your team! Given that their in close proximity to you. This weapon is the most sought out after, and for good reason. The final new addition is the Beam Rifle, it’s basically the covenants sniper rifle, but not really a snipe rifle. It can zoom in and out like a sniper, however, it shoots a devastating constant stream of energy that kill anyone within a matter of seconds. The sounds it makes it just as devastating.
Old favourites have returned. Some with cosmetic and balance changes. Here they are : Assault Rifle , Pistol/Magnum , Sniper Rifle, Energy Sword and Brute Hammer.
Even with this being a beta, I’ve already found some personal favourites. Sprint ability is great to have not only when trying to run away or swoop in for a quick kill, it also addresses the issues I’ve had with Halo after the release of Modern Warfare. Issue being the movement in Halo was much to slow, but now everything is awesome!
Some of my favourite weapons include, DMR, Plasma Launcher and Grenade Launcher. Oh, and the pistol!
The only real noticeable difference with the returning cast of weapons is with the Pistol. It’s a fine balance with the pistol from the first halo and the magnum from ODST. What does this all mean? It means this gun is more effective to use when killing fools. More so than the Assault Rifle.
Have you tried any other game types aside from Slayer and the like? How do they differ?
I found myself playing more types of non slayer games, which is odd because I’m more of a kill everything that moves regardless if your on my team or not, type of guy. I mean, aside from your standard Capture the Flag and OddBall( the one where you hold one to a flaming skull for as long as possible), Bungie has introduced two of my favourite games modes ever. First one being Head Hunter; the game basically works with 8 players killing each other so they can collect a flaming skull from their dead opponents carcass. You can collect a maximum of 10, however, everyone can see how many skulls every other player has, so the more you have the bigger target you become. But don’t think collecting skulls is all there is to it, there are drops points which consistently move around the map where you can deposit your skulls to gain points. Each skull is 1 point, and you need 25 Points to win. However, have 10 skulls and drop them into the drop point, you win the game. Its super fun and super chaotic.
My second favourite game mode is Invasion. Its a timed 3 stage defend the object type game. Though it can also be 1 or 2 stages; depending on how good you work as a team. Its Spartans vs Elites. Spartans must defend 3, lets say, objects from the Elites within a 3 minute window. Though, if the Spartans successfully defend the object in either stage 1,2 or 3, the game is over and Spartans win. So if your an Elite, you need to make it all the way to stage 3, and escape with the final object to win the game. Its tough being an Elite. Also, the weapon and class Load Outs also change with each stage. Vehicles such as Warthogs, Tanks , Wraiths, Ghost and Banshee’s become available after stage 1. Not to mention Invasion has it’s own map called Boneyard which is the biggest map seen in a halo game to date.
There is also Invasion Slayer, which is basically Spartans vs Elites in a death match. It’s a nice change up if your sick of regular invasion.
From what can you tell, what kind of online ranking system do they have? Is there a levelling up system similar to Call of Duty?
Uhhh, I’ll assume the ranking system they have has been the one they’ve used for previous Halo games but with minor tweaks. However, they have this NEW system called Slayer Arena. If you choose, you can go into a play list specially for Slayer Area games, which then rank you and all the games you played for a season, which I think is a month. Then it will put you in a tier at the end of the season which are Bronze, Sliver, Gold and Onyx. Onyx being the highest, bronze being the lowest it. You get the idea. I think this type of thing is for the hardcore players who want to show off their mad skills. I personally will try it, but I doubt I’ll focus on my “season” ranking or what tier I’m in.
There is a levelling up system, yes! Not only do you level up in military grade , you also get points by getting lots of kills and winning games. These points can be spent on buying cosmetic upgrades for your Spartan, which are like helmets, chest plates, etc.. Cool thing about these cosmetic upgrades is it will appear on your character in the single player campaign. Ok, it’s not that great, but take what you can get right?
I admit, this system is no where as deep as Modern Warfare but I guess it’s a step into that direction, and gives people a reason to keep playing. Maybe they want to unlock that hott recon Armour or something ?
How does it play? There was a lot of early talk that it would be class based, is this true?
It’s plays exactly like Halo, minus the new button layout scheme from Halo 3. I guess you can say it’s class based since the Load Outs make you choose how you want to enter into a battle. You can go balls out as a Solider Class with your DMR and Sprint or, get the Assassin Load Out, which uses cloaking and its class appropriate weapons.
If there is one thing that you would say is the most different thing about Halo: Reach from previous games what would it?
Oddly enough, with all of the changes that have come to Reach, I can’t say anything is that different. It still feels and plays like Halo with new additions. But I guess if I have to choose, it’s probably the introduction of Load Outs that feels the most “aline”(har har). Halo was never the type of game which needed it. Since Load Outs have been reserved for games like Battlefield and Call of Duty, you know, games which are gritty FPS’s.
Halo was never a game to be gritty, it never took itself too seriously and was fun to play to boot. But, I think Bungie saw that their fans were asking for a more Call of Duty esque/realistic game with fancy schmancy Load Outs and realistic gritty graphics, they had no choice but to deliver. Plus I figure, after decade the Halo formula was getting kinda old, so adding things like a sprint button and Load Outs helped usher it into the current FPS gaming standard. Aide from that, Reach isn’t much different to the previous entries in the Halo series.
Be sure to comeback later in the week for a bit more on the Halo:Reach Beta
Powered by FireStats