Halo Reach Beta: Further Impressions and Pictures

This first picture has no relevance to the rest of the article. Except to say LOL FIZZIX ENGEEN. :P



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!

Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta (Gameplay Video!)

Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta

Once again, I managed to score an early invite to this most awesome video gaming event! Here are some first impressions...

- The first few menus are very busy. Armor and emblem customization take a little getting used to.

- Joining people just out in the world seems a bit hit or miss. Mostly miss, as the only way I was able join was via invite.

- The game is extremely good looking. This is a big step up from Halo 3 and ODST. Everything is intricately textured, from the terrain to the weapons. This game gives Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) a run for the money in the visuals department.

- I understand that this is Halo and a beta, but I really miss the driving music that MW2 has in all of the multiplayer levels. Everything in Reach seems quiet and subdued. That said, the weapon sounds are heavy, solid, and awesome.

- The new flag-gathering multiplayer mode is tons of fun, and the different load-outs make for many different styles of play. The guard mode seems very under-powered, as you can just wait for it to run out.



That's all for now! I gotta get back! See you on the bounce, Spartan! :P

Random Thoughts #1

• I got Scene It: Box Office Smash the other day on the cheap. It's a pretty decent game, and as a trivia party game there's not a whole lot to it. I also got the DLC, just because.
• Speaking of my XBox, I had to replace the wireless board yesterday. See, I'd not been able to use any of my wireless controllers ever since we moved into our house last year. I originally thought that the wireless bridge that was connecting the 360 to my wireless network was interfering with the controllers signals. But when I took the XBox over to a friend's house to play Street Fighter IV, it displayed the same behavior. So I got a new wireless board off of eBay, and borrowed a coworker's XBox tool to open up the console and replace the board. After swapping out the old board with the new one, putting everything back together and firing up the console, it seems to have resolved the problem. I played Rock Band 2 with one of my new wireless controllers for about 30 minutes with no problems. Yay!
• I'm looking forward to finally playing Roads and Boats this weekend. At no point will I ever refer to the game as Motors and Boats.
• The Left 4 Dead Survival game type that came with the new DLC is nihilistic, infuriating, and a lot of fun in small quantities.
• Our two current D&D campaigns are going well. I've got an 8th level Dragonborn Paladin that's starting to multiclass into warlord, and a 5th level Fighter with the Battlerager class features. We've also got another mini-campaign on the back burner that involves rescuing my corrupted cleric of Moradin. I'm running a 6th level Swordmage in that adventure. One of these days, maybe I'll play something other than a defender. :P