Features & News

Halo Reach Beta: Impressions

May 21, 2010, Author: Ray Willmott

We’ve waited until now to produce impressions for the Halo Reach beta, purely because we at This Is My Joystick wanted to see what Bungie were going to do for the entire two week run. Since May 3rd, Bungie have introduced new playlists to Reach, most of them new and unique to the latest Halo title and we’re got our full observations on each of those modes right here. So, with that in mind, we’ll look a little deeper into the meat and bones of Bungie’s latest, final Halo hoorah, seeing if it is a definitive or dismal experience.

From the title screen, depicting a struggle between Elite and Spartan, you get the vibe of a feeling of desperation. On this battlefield, these Spartans look scarred, beaten and bloodied, as if tolls have been taken on their endurance, their armour,  even their very souls. Every time they step out onto the battlefield, though they may be weary, each seems to have every incentive, each of them prepared to go all out to defend their home. Of course, we all know how this story ends, but you still feel as if you’re contributing, as if you can still do something to change the course of the events. Reflecting on this prospect, I for one, am foreseeing an incredibly exciting single player campaign when the game ships later this year, but for now, all we know is multiplayer and what we do know is that it’s good!

The modes at hand…
As Beta testers, we’ve only been able to sample Team Slayer, Free-For-All, Grab Bag, Invasion and Generators. Each of these modes offers a little bit of something similar to what we’ve seen from Bungie before, with a splash of something completely different.

Team Slayer is what you would expect from a Halo game. Red vs Blue. 4 vs 4 with only a selection of two different maps, one outdoor, one indoor for the Beta. It’s the standard premise. First team to fifty kills gets the win which usually ensues in absolute pandemonium somewhere around the middle of the map. Except with Reach, its a little bit different. Each player on the battlefield, in addition to the weapons they start with and those scattered around the map, are blessed with a special ability. These abilities are Sprint, Guard, Cloak and Jetpack. When the game starts and each time the player respawns, they are presented with the opportunity to spawn with a different weapon and different ability through the medium of loadouts. This obviously adds a whole new tactical layer on the familiar team slayer layout and can utterly change the way a game is played. This was obviously the most popular mode in the Beta, alongside Free-For-All and so you’re able to get a better handle for the ways in which Reach has truly influenced the Halo franchise. Whether the player is sprinting toward you with a hammer or a shotgun in tow, or sneaking up behind you for an assassination with a sword while disguised in a veil of shadow, this isn’t the same Team Slayer you are used to in Halo 3.

Free-For-All is much the same, except all on all and up to 25 kills. However, my feeling is that there is less of a feeling of a clusterfuck going on, and more a feeling that you can change the course of your luck by implementing different strategies. If flying around the map and shooting people isn’t working for you, then you stand guard at the centre of the map when all the bullets are heading in your direction. If the Beta is anything to go by, both Free-For-All and Team Slayer are going to be furiously competitive this Autumn.

Invasion is one of the new modes introduced into Reach and is perhaps one of the most confusing. You have a group of Spartans and a group of Elites. The Spartans will be defending and the Elites assaulting. The Invasion mode is structured into three tiers and each will gradually unlock parts of the level until it is completely open. In the first wave, the Spartans need to defend the generators from the Elite invasion. If the Spartans are unsuccessful in this, then they will need to fall back to the second objective and stop the Elites from exposing the core. If the Elites expose the core, then the game will go to the third and final stage where the Spartans need to prevent the Elites from claiming the core and taking it to the extraction point. During this struggle, players will have access to familiar vehicles from the Halo franchise such as the Ghost, the Banshee and Scorpion tank to help them with achieving their respective goal. This is a fun and frantic mode and is going to be favourable to a great many players,  although may be more of an attractive diversion from where the real competition is sure to be in the retail release of Reach.

Grab-Bag implements Capture the Flag and Oddball modes which all will be familiar with who’ve played most any FPS game online. You take the enemies flag on one end of the map, and put it in your base at the other end. As for Oddball, you claim a skull which spawns at random locations on the map and hold it for as long as you can, trying to reach the 150 point limit. Of course, these will also include the loadouts found in every other mode in Reach and so play completely differently from how you’re used and yes, they fit like a glove!

Finally, there is the Generator mode which is also quite fun and features 3 on 3. You will either play as Spartans or Elites and both will take it in turns to attack and defend. There are three generators scattered across the map, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie and depending whether you are on assault or defence, it will be up to you to annihilate or protect the generator respectively. This is another tactical mode implemented into Reach that can make for a very quick game or one that goes right down to the final seconds. I had a lot of fun with this one and think with a variety of maps and loadouts, this could be a very popular mode in the final release. Playing Generators also gives players the chance to nuke enemies or generators with the rocket launcher and the returning spartan laser!

Observations on Reach’s overall structure
In regard to the new interface in the menu screen of Reach, I like what Bungie have attempted to do by essentially making the menu more three-dimensional and accessible by just using the analog stick. Pushing it right to open up another series of menus and pushing it left to return back to the main. However, the graphics behind it seem ugly and out of place. It does add to the gritty edge of Reach, as this is supposed to be a story about desperation and survival, yet, I still pine for the finesse of the Halo 3 menu system. While I wouldn’t want it to be exactly the same, I hope when release rolls around Bungie will have changed this a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, I think the interface is well suited to the menu and I hope this remains, I just feel the whole thing needs a graphical upheaval, as it seems tacky right now.

Another really cool aspect of Reach sees you able to change your search criteria. The tools are more powerful than ever before. Here you can search for opponents that are trash talkers or those of a more civilised nature. You can search by good or poor connections and even nearby or distant regions. I’ll be very interested to see if Bungie work on this further for release, but what they have in place already is pretty damn fantastic.

As for the gameplay, the health system is more reminiscent of Halo: Combat Evolved, but falls somewhere in line between that in Halo ODST and Halo 3. Players have a recharging shield that will reinvigorate itself when you’re out of combat, however, in the middle of that is a health bar that doesn’t recharge and regenerate. Once your shield is down, your character will be easily exposed and very easy to kill, especially if the health bar is already in the red, so the days of waiting to rejoin the fray once your back up to full capacity during mad multiplayer moments in Halo 3 are gone. Players will need to pick and choose their attacks and do so wisely, otherwise they’re going to end up on the bonfire.

Some other noticeable changes include the melee attack. No longer will you be able to pop a few shots on a player and kill them with a single melee blow. Now, when you try to do that, your opponent will probably stand there, laugh in your face and fill you full of lead. This will be a surprise to many who used the melee as an effective tool of destruction in Halo 3. Once again, Bungie have tried to change the way that everyone plays Halo and this is a prevalent theme I noticed throughout all of the Beta.

You’ll also notice the loadouts add a much more strategic and tactical feel to the Halo you know and love. It’s not so much of a case of just dying, respawning, finding a powerful weapon and trying to redeem yourself. Reach is going to make you think, it’ll make you mix up and alternate your battle techniques. Its doubtful that a player will simply be using the same actions throughout the course of the game. If you want to survive in Reach, you’ll need to change up your tactics, be unpredictable, but at the same time, cater toward your strengths. For any who think this is just Halo with a run button, I’m here to assure you, you’re sorely mistaken.

You’ll also have to bear in mind the weaponry within Reach, as there is a mix of something old and something new. You’ll be familiar with the needler (although the graphical update can make it seem more menacing than ever), the rocket launcher and the Spartan Laser, but Reach also has some new toys to play with. Introducing the needler rifle, which is like a hybrid of a needler and the sniper rifle, complete with a zoom feature. Each shot you fire at an enemy will stick a needle to them, and the more you shoot at them, the more they become like a human or alien pincushion, until they eventually explode in true needler fashion. This is easily my favourite of the new weapons as it combines the sheer raw power of the needler but allows you to do it from a long range.

You’ll also notice that the battle rifle is back, but is a lot different from how you may remember it. No longer are you going to have burst fire every time you press the trigger, instead you’ll be having straight, single shots, but with a better zoom functionality and a more motion stable alternative to the Sniper Rifle. This has been used to great effect in the Beta, and also seems to be another fan favourite. You may have also come into contact with a very powerful, behemoth of a gun, that seems to harken back to the days of DOOM and the BFG. While holding down the trigger button, this one heats up and fills your opponent with a series of glowing energy balls, exploding them on impact. This one has a take no prisoners mentality and forces you to be good with your evasion techniques.

While we haven’t had much chance to see how the Season system will work in Reach, the game will pop up and tell you that you have been assigned to a division based on how you play and then a star is placed next to your name to tell you which division you’ll be in. It wasn’t really practical for Bungie to implement this into a Beta as they want to maximise the amount of games people are playing but they do give you an idea on how this will eventually play out. Already, I’m sure you can feel a competitive surge as you see yourself fighting to be considered top of your class, and I think this will actually make competition even more fierce in Reach as compared to the already extremely talented pool of players dominating Halo 3.

The upgrade system is also teased in the Beta, enabling you to do the most basic of things and change your armour around just for looks. However, I imagine there will be much more for us to look at once the game goes gold, perhaps players can purchase new abilities, new guns, much like they can in Modern Warfare 2, even insignias, taglines, nicknames. As long as they can’t purchase a promotion to another league, I think Bungie can do pretty much anything they want with this system and regularly update it with new and exciting ideas.

So did it Reach me?
To put it simply, Halo Reach, even in Beta form, is a polished, fun and exciting experience that does nothing more than whet your appetite for the Autumn when the game finally drops. This Beta puts to shame many games that have gone gold and shipped to retailers; it’s that good! There are certainly aspects Bungie can work on; the matchmaking between divisions and within seasons will be a real test for them, also ensuring there is a real balance within established weaponry, as some currently seem to make others almost superfluous in terms of how similar and how powerful one over the other is. It’ll also be interesting to see whether there will be any more attributes players can acquire aside from Sprint, Shield, Cloak and Jetpack in the final version, I certainly think that something similar to the Elite’s dodge move for the Spartans could be interesting. Maybe they’ll make more attributes as unlockables which you can purchase with your points.

All of this coupled with as exciting a campaign as it has potential to be and I think you’ll be safe in saying, Halo Reach is going to blow us away this Autumn.

Don’t get me wrong, Reach is going to frustrate you just like Halo 3 did, but you’re going to love it, and probably love it more than you ever did Bungie’s previous titles. This is a dream game for the franchise because of what it offers us and what it promises. You may think to yourself “why do Bungie need to do another Halo?” Well, Reach is the perfect answer. It feels different, plays different, there is more of a purpose to keep playing. There is more replay value, more incentive, more desire to play to best of your ability. Reach seems to have everything going for it, and yet Bungie have still shown us so little. I’m prepared to eat humble pie if, when Autumn rolls around, this isn’t considered another Game of the Year candidate by many leading reviewers. Halo Reach seems ready to dominate the Xbox Live Charts for a long time to come and if it keeps up this pace, is set to bury Modern Warfare 2 from people’s minds, forever.

Feature Type: Hands On | Tagged Bungie, halo, Microsoft, Xbox 360