Human pretzels aside, I've been having a blast so far with the beta. It simply feels good to play Halo again. The new game modes, especially Headhunter, give a fresh take on the standard "run, shoot, melee" that most of Halo is made up of. The new weapons like the plasma launcher, DMR, and needle rifle are welcome additions to the arsenal, and the new armor abilities give you more customization options than simply different colored or styled armor. Worth a special mention is the Invasion game type that pits attacking Elites vs. defending Spartans. It's a truly epic experience that can easily be sullied by poor teammates. I don't just mean unskilled (as I have no right criticizing anyone's Halo skills) I mean players that will not work towards the objective of the team, either through actions or inactions. Same is true, but to a lesser extent, for the more straight forward Invasion Slayer mode.
All that said, there are some lackluster elements to the game so far. I'll mention Modern Warfare 2 once again as a study in weapon balance, in that there are few weapons in MW2 that are complete garbage. Sure, for most situations an ACR is better than an MP5K, but thanks to perks and attachments, there are times when it's not so bad to be toting around the underpowered MP5K. Halo Reach, like all previous Halo games, has no such customizations, and thus some of the weapons are nigh useless or so overshadowed by other weapons as to not be worth using except when left no choice. Why grab a plasma repeater when a needler or needle rifle are much better options? The assault rifle is usually forced on me by my load-out, and it's the first to go when even a marginally better weapon comes along. I get the feeling that the focus rifle is supposed to be better, but it's never really worked for me. So far, that's a good percentage of the weapons that I'm just not feeling at the moment. Which is fine, because this is exactly what the beta is for.
I'm also not feeling the 3 Ports game time. Not necessarily because I've got an issue with what is essentially Territories. It's because of the constant "TERRITORY LOST" warnings that you get, even when you're taking a territory from the other team. THAT TERRITORY IS NOT LOST BECAUSE I TOOK IT AND I DON'T CARE THAT THE ENEMY LOST A TERRITORY THAT I JUST TOOK. Free-For-All Oddball is still too random to be fun.
Finally, there's Network Test 1. I'm not sure what's going on there, as the game type itself is OK. Rumor has it that it's a test of the Firefight engine over XBox Live. Should that be true, I'll be almost certainly playing a little more ODST. Even so, the objectives are interesting, and the lockdown mechanic makes defense a little more manageable.
That's all I have for now. Hopefully this Tuesday/Friday update schedule that I've got going will hold up over time. And now, here's a picture of a Spartan with a rocket penis.
CARRY ON!
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