Tech Blog

[#1]

So now you've learned the basics of the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta and you're ready to dive in. In this walkthrough I'll be showing you game controls, what Armor Abilities, Take Downs, and Loadouts are, explaining how matchmaking works, as well as an overview of the new game modes and maps found in the beta.

Game controls:

If you're used to Halo 3 controls it's going to take some time to adjust to Halo: Reach.  The button layout has been revamped, mostly because of Armor Abilities which are activated using the left bumper button.  As a result of this, a cascade of buttons movements has taken place such as grenade switching moving to the B button, melee attack jumping to the right bumper, and reload dropping down to the X button.  Here's the before and after control layouts.

Halo 3 button layout:

Halo: Reach button layout:

Armor Abilities:

Perhaps the coolest addition in Halo: Reach are the all-new Armor Abilities.  These multi-use ability enhancers can dramatically alter combat by offering unique play styles that widen your range of tactics.  There are five abilities in total:

Sprint - gives your Spartan the ability to run in fast bursts, allowing you to quickly enter or escape from combat situations.  Think of the running mechanic found in Gears of War or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.

Jet Pack - catch some air.  But be careful, in Halo: Reach the developers have brought back fall damage, so if you fly too high and your fuel energy depletes you can fall to your demise.  This ability seems best suited for vertical multiplayer maps.

Active Camouflage - for those who like to stalk their prey, activating camo will temporarily put you off the grid, allowing you to sneak up behind your opponents for an assassination kill.

Armor Lock -temporarily makes your Spartan invincible, but at a price -- you're also immovable.  It's effective during intense combat situations to shield yourself from gunfire or to temporarily distract your opponents during objective-based game modes such as capture the flag.

Evade - remember the dive rolls Elites performed in previous Halo games?  Now you have the ability to dart around the combat zone with Evade.  Useful ability if you find yourself in close combat and need a quick escape.

Jet Pack armour ability; it's a bird, it's a plane, it's...pwning time

Armor Lock armor ability; you can shoot but you can't touch

Take Downs:

While we're used to sneaking up behind opponents in Halo for a quick melee attack, the way it works in Halo: Reach is a bit different.  Called take downs , the melee attacks work the same as in Halo 3 insofar as you need to sneak up behind your victim for the quick kill, but this time around there's a sweet animation sequence that temporarily takes over while you perform the assassination.  During this time you're left vulnerable to enemy fire so you need plan and execute your take downs wisely.

Excuse me while I take you down

Loadouts:

Also new is the ability to select a loadout before each spawn, allowing you to choose a combination of primary and secondary weapons, Armor Abilities, and grenade type to suit your individual preference.  Loadouts will change depending variables such as the playlist or game type you are playing.  In the Invasion game type, Loadouts gradually become more powerful as the match progresses, causing an increasing level of battlefield carnage.

Matchmaking:

Bungie has added some new features to matchmaking to improve the overall experience.  On the default matchmaking screen you will see the Active Roster on the right-hand side which shows a list of your friends who are currently in the beta, and what they're up to.  The cool part is you can now Queue Join their games instead of having to wait for them to finish their match and then attempt to join their party.  That should make linking up with your buddies much easier to do.

There's also a new Social Settings menu where you can select your preferred matching criteria across four dimensions:

Chattiness - select from Chatty and Quiet

Motivation - select from Winning and Good Time

Teamwork - select from Team Player and Lone Wolf

Tone - select from Rowdy and Polite

Voting:

The veto system from Halo 3 is out and in its place is a voting system where players will be provided with a default game type and up to three alternatives.  The game variant with the most votes wins.  Democracy rules!

Halo: Reach Matchmaking screen

Game Modes:

There are plenty of new game types in Halo: Reach.

Headhunter - each victim drops a skull, collect 25 skulls to win.  The catch is, once you have a skull you need to deposit it in a designated territory to earn the point.  It's possible to collect multiple skulls before dropping them off, but the more you collect the more of a target you become.

Stockpile - it's capture the flag on steroids.  There are four neutral flags, what you need to do is pick them up, return them to your territory and protect them until the timer runs out.  Flags are collected every 60 seconds.

Invasion - it's Spartans vs. Elites in this ever-expanding battle.  A team of Elites must infiltrate a UNSC dock facility in hopes of retrieving a data core loaded with invaluable tactical information.  As time progresses the loadouts get more powerful and more devastating vehicles are unleashed.

Generator Defense - a 3v3 match pitting Spartans against Elites.  The Elites objective is to destroy three generators while the Spartans attempt to twart their assault.  Spartans can active blast shields which temporarily guard the generators, giving your team time to eliminate the Elite hostiles.

Arena - this is the competitive area of Halo: Reach multiplayer.  The ranking system from Halo 3 is gone and in its place are seasons and classes.  Play enough games each day and you'll be given a ranking, and earn enough rankings and you'll be placed in a division against your peers.  At the end of each season you'll be given a breakdown of your performance and how you compared to your opponents, and then your stats will be reset as a new season begins.

I found a good video over at IGN that shows all these game modes in action:

Halo: Reach Xbox 360 Video - The Modes Video Feature

New Maps:

In the Halo: Reach beta you'll discover four brand new map.  Three of them are already available - Sword Base, Powerhouse and Boneyard.  Overlook is set for release on May 14 along with the Generator Defense game type.

Swordbase

A vertical map well suited for Jet Packs, but with its winding corridors Sprint or Active Camouflage work well.  The atrium contains several connected floors and long platforms to shoot your opponents from above or below.  Be careful out in the open -- you're an easy target from multiple angles.

Powerhouse

Set amidst a mountain top outpost, Powerhouse combines plenty of open space terrain and industrial interiors.  There are plenty of routes available to travel from location-to-location so expect to find enemies lurking around corners, and above or below you.  It's a great map for Active Camouflage as you can creep through the facilities and assassinate unsuspecting Spartans.

Final Thoughts:

I've put in three days into the Halo: Reach beta and have really enjoyed the experience thus far.  The game seems to reach back to the early Halo days in many ways with the return of Health Packs, fall damage and the popular Magnum gun.  This is certainly not a bad thing, and actually makes a lot of sense considering Halo: Reach is a prequel to first game.  The graphics are vastly improved, thanks mostly to better environmental textures and smoother animation.   After plunking in so many hours I must say I'm not looking forward to May 19, 2010, the close date of the beta.  It's going to be a long wait for the full game.

Halo: Reach launches in fall 2010, exclusively on Xbox 360.

[#2]

I've already pre-ordered the Legendary edition.  I'm really looking forward to this game.  I've enjoyed the Halo series, but ODST and Reach will more than likely be the two games I enjoy the most.  It's nice to see a side of the Halo universe that isn't Master Chief.

JB

[#3]

I was pleasantly surprised by ODST to be honest.  As per my original post on the game , I was concerned the game was going to be a cash-in.  It was announced as an expansion called "Halo Recon" but then quickly emerged six months later as a "full game" according to Microsoft.  It seemed like a short period of time for an expansion to be so full of content to now be called a stand-alone game.  I have to say after playing the final retail version of the game that it does stand on its own.  The campaign wasn't as satisfying as Halo 3 in my opinion, but the addition of Firefight went a long way to rounding out the package.  I'm excited to see what Halo: Reach will bring to the table come this fall.

[#4]

I really enjoyed the campaign, and to be honest, wasn't that huge of a fan of firefight.  It seemed like a less entertaining version of Horde mode from Gears of War 2.  I've never really played Halo for the online multiplayer component, so the campaign is what has been keeping me interested all these years.  I have enjoyed every campaign so far, but ODST stood out to me.

Normally I play through a game on easy or normal to get a feel for the story before I go for the harder difficulties, but for this one I decided to try Legendary difficulty right off the bat.  I was really impressed by the fact that the ODSTs are nowhere near as strong as Master Chief.  It made the game more tense, and made me think a lot more about my strategy for attack.  In the other Halo games, for the most part, I could rush in and take on everything with little problem.  In ODST, I had to use the element of surprise as much as possible to give me an edge against the enemies.  It made me think, strategize and plan my moves in a meticulous manner, making me feel like I was more a part of the game than any other Halo game had ever made me feel.

In addition to above, as I said in my previous comment, it was nice to see another side of the Halo universe other than Master Chief.  There is so much more to the story than just Master Chief's involvement, and while I think it took Bungie far too long to tap into it, it was really refreshing to see that it wasn't just Master Chief out there taking on the Covenant practically single-handedly.

All in all, I am really looking forward to the campaign experience of Reach, even though I know there is no way for the game to end well.

JB