Ok, I know someone's already beat me to this, but hey, he didn't quite mention everything, and I just spent about 2 hours in theatre mode, taking screenshots, uploading them to bungie, saving them, uploading them to photobucket and so on, so I don't want it all to go to waste.
[HEADING=1] Halo: Reach Beta [/HEADING]
As you may or may not know, the beta is open as of... yesterday. My immediate idea was to do an early review, but for that I wanted at least a few matches, so I got most of the new stuff, and made no mistakes. So I have been playing the beta Nonstop, via my pre-ordered copy of ODST.
And it doesn't disappoint, let me tell you!
There's quite a few changes from the much loved and reliable Halo 3, I can tell you that, especially control-wise, which kinda confused me for a while. But you can change your control settings, and there's a "Recon" setting which is basically the Halo 3 controls. Next up is your health system - Its more like the Halo 1 system, of recharging shields paired with non-recharging health bar, though you can pick up health kits on walls around the maps. Of course there's a visual upgrade too - you don't notice when bullets and grenades are whizzing through the air, and your sprinting your ass off to get to shelter/cover, but when your in theatre mode, and time is slowed by 50x, and you can see everything, from the insects buzzing through the air, to each droplet of water/blood splashing around, to the writing on the back of the bullet shells (AR Shells say "Grief" for some reason), to the shockwave from a grenade blast, and so on.
One of my own screenshots, just a good pic I got of myself being blown away by a rocket launcher, still the most OP and unfair weapon known to the gaming world.
I haven't come across any maps with vehicles yet in the Beta, so I cant review any changes to them, but they will be there, and I promise to update this once the full game comes out...
The biggest change has to be the introduction of armor powers. You are given a choice, at the beginning of the match, and after each death, for what kind of armor power you'll have, and each run out of power and have to recharge after a bit of use. The recharge is never very long though. Here they are:
Scout (Sprint): Rather self-explanatory, but still a very new thing for the Halo universe. You get a burst of speed, though you gotta get out of it to fire etc, like any other sprint really. Runs out pretty quick, but recharges quick too. Very good for sprinting up to deliver that finishing, fatal melee blow.
Guardian [Shield/EMP]: Gives you a short burst of invulnerability, during which you punch the ground, charge up and release a short-range EMP blast that destroys enemy shields etc. Wether this may disable vehicles, we will have to wait and see.
Jetpack: Again, self explanatory, you get flight for a short amount of time - this runs out quick, and recharges quick. Not as fantastic or overpowered as it may sound, though. More a travel/strategic thing rather than a combat one.
Stealth A return of a classic halo power, you go into a stealth mode until you turn it off, or it runs out of battery. If your moving very fast your easy enough to see, but stand still and you can pretty much re-enact the movie Predator.
(Another one of my screens) Hey, watch your six! ...Nevermind... (A good way to showcase a new level of humiliation - In melee assassinations, you can do the good ol' wack-to-the-back kill, or hold down B and do an animated assassination, which is always epic. Two for each race - A backstab, a down-ward smash (If your in the air) and for elites, stab through the back of the head, the energy-knife going out of their mouth, or a backstab.)
Game Modes: Slayer (FFA Deathmatch) Team Slayer (Team Deathmatch) Elite Slayer (Team Deathmatch as elites, who only have two classes, only difference being weapons. An action roll in place of armor powers) Headhunter (Grab skulls, bring them to the destinations to gain points. Kill people and steal their skulls ;P) of course, 1-and-2-flag CTF, Juggernaut (One super-powered guy against the rest, whoever kills him becomes the new juggernaut) Possibly some more ive forgotten, but thats the general gist. Some new thing called "Arena" Also, its an interesting tournament-based Team Slayer, where the winning team moves on to face another team that won their match, and the losing team is knocked out. Overall winner gets a ton of EXP/Points/Credits.
And stay down! (As usual, my own screenshot)
Oh, and thats another addition - credits, you get for winning matches and so on, can be used to buy new armor pieces, and so on. Keep in mind, though, that this is purely cosmetic - Its not like CoD, no one can start better equipped than anyone else. Everyone spawns with the same guns, same health, same equipment (Apart from Armor Powers, but everyone has a choice of the four, they don't have to be unlocked)
And so on. Even the leveling system has gotten better, a nice touch, along with improved service tags.
From the looks of it, Halo:Reach seems to expand and upgrade Halo 3 in every single way. A must-buy (When it comes out, of course. Until then, if you have ODST, or any beta key, USE IT!) for fans of the Halo series, or any xbox owners for that matter.
(apologies for the poor quality and size of screenshots.)
[HEADING=1] Halo: Reach Beta [/HEADING]
As you may or may not know, the beta is open as of... yesterday. My immediate idea was to do an early review, but for that I wanted at least a few matches, so I got most of the new stuff, and made no mistakes. So I have been playing the beta Nonstop, via my pre-ordered copy of ODST.
And it doesn't disappoint, let me tell you!
There's quite a few changes from the much loved and reliable Halo 3, I can tell you that, especially control-wise, which kinda confused me for a while. But you can change your control settings, and there's a "Recon" setting which is basically the Halo 3 controls. Next up is your health system - Its more like the Halo 1 system, of recharging shields paired with non-recharging health bar, though you can pick up health kits on walls around the maps. Of course there's a visual upgrade too - you don't notice when bullets and grenades are whizzing through the air, and your sprinting your ass off to get to shelter/cover, but when your in theatre mode, and time is slowed by 50x, and you can see everything, from the insects buzzing through the air, to each droplet of water/blood splashing around, to the writing on the back of the bullet shells (AR Shells say "Grief" for some reason), to the shockwave from a grenade blast, and so on.
I haven't come across any maps with vehicles yet in the Beta, so I cant review any changes to them, but they will be there, and I promise to update this once the full game comes out...
The biggest change has to be the introduction of armor powers. You are given a choice, at the beginning of the match, and after each death, for what kind of armor power you'll have, and each run out of power and have to recharge after a bit of use. The recharge is never very long though. Here they are:
Scout (Sprint): Rather self-explanatory, but still a very new thing for the Halo universe. You get a burst of speed, though you gotta get out of it to fire etc, like any other sprint really. Runs out pretty quick, but recharges quick too. Very good for sprinting up to deliver that finishing, fatal melee blow.
Guardian [Shield/EMP]: Gives you a short burst of invulnerability, during which you punch the ground, charge up and release a short-range EMP blast that destroys enemy shields etc. Wether this may disable vehicles, we will have to wait and see.
Jetpack: Again, self explanatory, you get flight for a short amount of time - this runs out quick, and recharges quick. Not as fantastic or overpowered as it may sound, though. More a travel/strategic thing rather than a combat one.
Stealth A return of a classic halo power, you go into a stealth mode until you turn it off, or it runs out of battery. If your moving very fast your easy enough to see, but stand still and you can pretty much re-enact the movie Predator.
Game Modes: Slayer (FFA Deathmatch) Team Slayer (Team Deathmatch) Elite Slayer (Team Deathmatch as elites, who only have two classes, only difference being weapons. An action roll in place of armor powers) Headhunter (Grab skulls, bring them to the destinations to gain points. Kill people and steal their skulls ;P) of course, 1-and-2-flag CTF, Juggernaut (One super-powered guy against the rest, whoever kills him becomes the new juggernaut) Possibly some more ive forgotten, but thats the general gist. Some new thing called "Arena" Also, its an interesting tournament-based Team Slayer, where the winning team moves on to face another team that won their match, and the losing team is knocked out. Overall winner gets a ton of EXP/Points/Credits.
Oh, and thats another addition - credits, you get for winning matches and so on, can be used to buy new armor pieces, and so on. Keep in mind, though, that this is purely cosmetic - Its not like CoD, no one can start better equipped than anyone else. Everyone spawns with the same guns, same health, same equipment (Apart from Armor Powers, but everyone has a choice of the four, they don't have to be unlocked)
And so on. Even the leveling system has gotten better, a nice touch, along with improved service tags.
From the looks of it, Halo:Reach seems to expand and upgrade Halo 3 in every single way. A must-buy (When it comes out, of course. Until then, if you have ODST, or any beta key, USE IT!) for fans of the Halo series, or any xbox owners for that matter.
(apologies for the poor quality and size of screenshots.)
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