Halo: Reach beta impressions

The mulitplayer beta Halo: Reach, available for free to Halo 3: ODST owners, was released yesterday. If the beta is any indication, Bungie’s last installment of the franchise is going to be a high point.  I’ve always enjoyed the Halo series, but mainly for the single player experience.  Every game in the Halo franchise has had good multiplayer, which is a large reason why it’s been successful for so long.

Last night, after playing Reach for much longer than I expected to, I have to say that this is the one I’m going to be going back to, much like I do with Team Fortress 2.   I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I had a major case of deja vu, flashing back to the days of Quake 2, in a good way.  The pacing and the balance of game play just gave me that same vibe.

The way persistent experience is handles in Halo: Reach is very elegant and easy to manage, though since I haven’t progressed very far, how much it will affect things going forward remains to be seen.

The welcome addition that I really like is the load-out options, which are similar to classes, but not exactly.  Basically each ‘load-out’ includes a primary and secondary weapon, as well as an armor ability.  These abilities regenerate after a short while, which can really make a difference in gameplay.  Three of the armor abilities are available to both Spartans and Elites, while there’s one unique ability to each.

Active Camo: This makes you temporarily invisible, and jams all the radars around you, including your own.  You have to be somewhat careful though,because the faster you move, the less effective the camo effect.

Armor Lock:  This one can be pretty effective, especially in defensive plays.  As long as you hold down the active button, you’re invulnerable, but you’re also immobilized.  Grenades just bounce off you, and although I haven’t seen this in action, apparently it’s so strong it can total vehicles going in for a little hit ‘n’ run action.  To help offset the possibility of getting assassinated once it wears off, the Armor Lock emits when it expires, lowering the shields of enemies around you.  Great class to have handy when playing CTF defense.

Jet Pack: I don’t think I have to say much more, except that you DO have to be careful in the air.  If one of your opponents have a Needler, you’re a sitting duck.

Sprint (Spartan only):  Got a flag in hand?  Get running.

Evade (Elite only): Dodge move that anyone who’s played the single player would recognize instantly.

As of this writing I haven’t seen the Elites in action, and many of the new gameplay types will also be unlocked in the upcoming days.  So far, I’ve been having a blast with straight up Spartan vs. Spartan CTF and Stockpile, which is a variation on CTF that has 4 neutral flags that that both teams jockey for.

If you have ODST and haven’t downloaded the beta yet, it’s well worth it, though I doubt there’s few Halo fans who haven’t tried it already.  Bungie also has a ton of info online, including the handy Halo: Reach Beta Guide.

And just a hint of the game play: