Halo : Reach Beta

[Prototype]

Played it a bit. A bit hard to get used to. Was pressing B quite a lot to melee only forgetting they changed it to RB. Not fond of the new powerups or whatever you call them. The guard and jetpacks. Found the grenades irritating. I get killed by one grenade close to me whilst I threw them at my opponent and nothing happened. If you enjoy Halo 3 then you will definitely enjoy it. Seems more of the same to be honest with jetpacks and stuff added. Gonna try it again to see if I can get into it. Couldn't get into Halo 3 for some reason unlike Halo 2 which I was very good at.

[EvilBoris]

Halo : Reach Beta

Thanks to the beautiful Family Fry for getting hold of a code for me

I was finding it a little difficult coming off of battlefield straight onto this, but I switched my control scheme to the default and it became lots easier, as you can use the jetpack armour and aim at the same time.

Weapons are still taking a bit of getting used too as well as just how much damage you take/the weapons do.

Graphically I honestly can't see any improvement in fidelity over Halo 3, everything is far more detailed though and the game has a different feel to Halo 3. Unfortunately from what I've seen so far it does mean it has the look of lots of Sci-Fi FPSs which is a bit of a shame, especially in regard to the interiors of maps.

It feels noticably smooth straight away, still running at 30 FPS but definately feeling smoother than Halo 3 and my recently much played title BFBC2, this is probably down to the very liberal amount of motion blur, which there seems to be plenty of along with lots of other post processing.

The character customisation is very in depth especially as you have to play the game level up and earn online credits to purchase them, it gives a little extra longevity and something else to work towards when playing online. Also the Arena sounds cool, you have to play a certain amount of games in a season to qualify then you get seeded into a division or something.

I'll pop some more impressions on tonight after work.

[Largo]

I have ODST but havent looked into reach beta yet, is there a code or something im supposed to find in the odst box...ah crap

[randombs]

It apparently starts May 3rd for those of us with ODST. You don't need a code, you just go to the Extras menu on the ODST campaign disc.

May 3rd! That's so near! Bloody exams! They did this last time with the Halo 3 beta, bang in the middle of my exams. I'll just have to make time for it, and put SSF4 on the back burner until after that.

[ince]

cool sounds good good. might pick up odst over the weekend to try this unless some kind soul has a spare code :-P

[EvilBoris]

There was only 1 playlist up this morning and it had 3 map/game types.

A ctf match, an oddball match and a slayer match.
The lobby allows you to vote which map/gametype you'd like to play from the 3 insteadof vetoing combos away.

I'm interested to see how certain armour abilities are balanced, I was playing a game this morning at there was a guy running round with a shotty and the camo armor causing havoc

[Family Fry]

Will pop this info in here too.

The Reach beta will run from May 3rd til May 19th.
May 3rd the beta will launch with 3 gametypes.
May 7th Bungie will add a fourth playlist focusing on large-scale Spartan vs. Elite matches.
May 14th they will introduce the "Generator Defense" match type into the battles.
Also from May 14th through to May 17th Silver members will be able to play online and don't forget everyone who plays one full game on Reach Beta (then goes onto waypoint) gets a Halo: Reach Beta Tester avatat hoodie, already rockin mine.

At the moment I have played. Capture the Flag 1 Flag, Stockpile, Territories, Team Slayer and Team SWAT.
Really enjoying Stockpile which is multiflags with a red/blue flag deposit, deposits have timed checks every 1min.
Pulled a cracker off last night, it was 9-9 with 1 flag to win we had 1 flag already at base. I used my run loadout to run round to the red teams flag drop noticed they had 3 flags in there waiting to be scored but no one defending, started throwing them over the edge of a platform, I got two out and we scored final point, game over
Still not enjoying SWAT though, so used to olde BR munching people this new one takes getting used to.

[EvilBoris]

Yeah all the new weapons are so different. Even the pistol is crazy, it rattles them out as if someone had fed it lots of caffiene.

The needled rifle thing and the beefy new plasma rifle are awesome though

[MJ]

Some quick impressions:

• I love the sound effects, in particular the Plasma Grenade and Plasma Rifle.
• Grenades seem a bit too powerful.
• The classes take a bit of getting used to, being as this is new to Halo and doesn't feel very Halo if you know what I mean, although I quite like the Stalker one (invisible and radar jammer). Sometimes you don't get much time to select one though.
• When you're running it's harder to manoeuvre, unlike CoD where running doesn't seem to affect your ability to change direction quickly.
• The Grav Hammer seems to lunge from further away than I remember it doing in Halo 3, which makes it feel a bit over powered.
• Looks wise it's Halo 3 a bit sharper, but with the usual great lighting effects.
• I love the menu music, but I've always liked Halo's orchestral music.
• Menu presentation is good.

[Charlie]

If you enjoy Halo 3 then you will definitely enjoy it. Seems more of the same to be honest with jetpacks and stuff added.

Haha. I told you it wouldn't be much better than Halo 3. If there's one thing I've learnt in waiting for and then experiencing Halo games, it's that Bungie are bigger propagandists and bigger bull****ters than Peter Molyneux - and that's saying something. Maybe now you understand why I turned down your very generous offer of a code?

[cavalcade]

Does Halo Reach have a dog in it?

Does it?

No.

So lay off Pete.

[MJ]

Plasma Grenades always make a good light show:

Bungie.net : Halo Reach : File Details

[EvilBoris]

Looks like my first post got Eleowned.

[EvilBoris]

I'm enjoying this more the better I grasp some of the new stuff

The armor lock is brilliant, I was getting shot so I locked down adn the guy ran at me, punched me then bounced off, he armor locked too so I came out of mine and threw a couple of grenades on him then he popped out and exploded.

[Uli]

how do the new weapons feel? and is the Assault Rifle any better in terms of firepower and range than in Halo 3?