The Halo: Reach beta is less than two weeks away, and anticipation is understandably through the roof. Rather than doing the responsible thing and calming everybody down, encouraging people to take advantage of the warming weather and reminding them that they still have jobs or families to think about, Bungie is stoking the flames with a new, positively badass multiplayer trailer. God bless them.
The new ViDoc outlines the four maps and gametypes that players will have access to in the beta. Swordbase (which, incidentally is the most uninspired name for a map, ever) and Powerhouse are where players will get their traditional Slayer-style matches, as well as old-school objective modes like CTF. Swordbase looks like a pretty tight space from the ground, but it has massive ceilings and open platforms which brings a lot of verticality to the action, especially when those newfangled jetpacks get involved.
Powerhouse is an asymmetrical map with a combination of cramped indoor and wide-open outdoor spaces. It looks perfectly suited for attack/defense objective and free-for-all gametypes like Slayer, Oddball and the new Headhunter mode. Kombo described Headhunter mode before anybody in the Out of Reach feature, and odds are that its mix of strategy and straight-up chaos will be one of the more popular free-for-all modes in the beta.
The real meat of the beta will be in the two completely new modes, Generator Defense and Invasion. Generator Defense is basically a new take on the Territories model. However, instead of fighting over areas of land, players are trying to destroy or protect three generators on the map. Power weapons are dropped at random locations by Pelican drop-ships throughout the match, and whoever makes it to the packages first gets to use them. This adds a whole new dynamic to the Territories model because players can’t just sit back and wait for enemies to get close.
Generators can be destroyed from as far away as weapons can deal damage, so the defenders will have to go on the offensive to keep enemies away. Plus, just imagine jumping in front of a rocket to save the generator, making the ultimate sacrifice to win the round. This mode will be played on the new Overlook map, which actually comes across as a spiritual successor to High Ground in Halo 3, both in terms of aesthetics and layout.
Generator Defense actually isn’t even a confirmed gametype for the final product, it’s been devised to specifically put duress on Bungie’s code. If gamers love the mode and make their love clear to Bungie, it could make an appearance in the final product. What’s interesting is that the mode is 3-on-3, which hardly seems like a huge test when you consider that Invasion is 6-on-6 on a gargantuan map with tons of vehicles.
It’s possible that the Generator Defense gametype may be designed to test a feature that hasn’t been revealed yet. Bungie has yet to confirm or deny if a variant of Firefight will make the jump from Halo 3: ODST to Halo: Reach, and fans still haven’t heard anything about campaign co-op either. Noble Team, the group of Spartans that the Halo: Reach campaign follows, has about six members. Might it be possible to jump into a friend’s game of Halo: Reach and take control of one of the other members of Noble Team, or possibly even take control of the Elites he’s fighting against? Could fans see a new version of Firefight that increases the player-count from four to six, and lets each player select different armor abilities and weapon loadouts? Time will tell.
Invasion is definitely the standout mode, and it takes place on Bone Yard, the largest map that Bungie has ever created. Bone Yard takes place in a giant ship yard, but instead of boats, this ship yard is for space freighters. The map is symmetrical and decided down the center by the wreckage of a giant ship, the innards of which provide for some tight, close-quarters action. The open area around the ship is ideal for the vehicular mayhem.
Invasion pits Spartans against Elites, as the alien menace attempts to pass through Spartan defenses, unlock a power core, and retrieve it back to their drop-ship for victory. The mode is set up a lot like Rush mode from the recent Battlefield games, in that the objectives are broken down into separate stages. The first objective is for the Elites to get through the first line of defenses, one that happens the next objective is unlocked along with a new slice of the map and a host of new class loadouts for both teams. By the end of the match, both teams have access to all their vehicles, the most powerful weapons, and all of Bone Yard will be playable as teams engage in all-out carnage.
The two species are very different. Elites are bigger, stronger, faster and have an exclusive dodge ability that allows them to break weapon’s lock and evade head-shots. Spartans are weaker but have shields that recharge faster and can sprint in quick bursts to put some distance between them and the Elites. Apparently both species have access to the rest of the armor abilities, but we still haven’t seen an Elite using a Jetpack or Armor Lock. Could those be Spartan specific too? Making the species so different is an ambitious move on Bungie’s part and likely a huge balancing headache.
One of the main purposes of the beta will no doubt be to see how ingenuitive Halo players find ways to exploit or break Bungie’s unnoticed balancing gaffs. The reward for Bungie’s risk is a litany of new strategic opportunities and gameplay variety. Spartans and Elites will play completely differently, which will make playing for either side a unique experience. It will also affect what choices players make as far as how they approach skirmishes, what weapons to use, and how to exploit their armor abilities to the fullest.
The trailer also offers some longer cuts of the action, which gives excited Halo fans a better look at some of the little details they’ve been dying to uncover. Until now, almost every shot of the new DMR in action was a 2-second clip of a final headshot, which gave no indication as to the weapon’s fire-rate, accuracy, or how one was affected by the other. The new trailer reveals that players can fire off shots as fast as they want, but the accuracy will be severely hampered by doing so.
Likewise, players get to see just how effective the pistol is in close quarters against the Assault Rifle, and it looks as though only the most calm, precise headshot masters will be able to rattle-off the headshots necessary to take out a player using the Assault Rifle at mid-range. The new Plasma Launcher does have slight homing capabilities against infantry, but it’s much weaker than it is against vehicular targets. Jetpacks move pretty slowly and make players easy targets, so they’re best used for quick ascents to higher platforms or breaking falls, not for raining hot-death from above. All of these little details are starting to give hardcore Halo fans a feeling for how Halo: Reach will actually play.
So, how hyped are you for the Halo: Reach beta?
