Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta Soon

[0iD]

Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta Soon

At the recent Spike Video Game Awards, Microsoft showed off its upcoming Halo series title - Halo Reach. A prequel to Halo trilogy, this game is about the events that transpired on the planet Reach. Bungie Studios, developers of Halo trilogy, would be developing this shooter which will be Xbox 360 exclusive. Microsoft also announced that the multi-player beta will be released next year but users will require Halo: ODST disc to play it.

In Halo Reach, players will get to play as part of Noble Team, the Spartan soldier squad that are set to defend the planet Reach. Multiplayer beta of Halo Reach is scheduled to begin in Spring 2010 and to play this beta, users will need Halo: ODST game disc. Hence, Xbox 360 owners would have to purchase Halo: ODST to get the beta key for Halo Reach which will be available through Xbox LIVE. Read more about the Halo Reach Multiplayer Beta here.

[Terbinator]

Trailer got me pumped and iv'e got ODST here as well - Bring on the Ring (Well planet but whatever) !!!

Also as cliché as it is, the guy with the white face of Saruman on his helmet is badass

[Disturbedguy]

Hmm all Halo's after Halo 2 have bored me to be honest, just kinda felt like more of the same old.

[Zhaoman]

I can't wait for this tbh. If the book The Fall of Reach is anything to go by this game is going to have some absolutely epic set pieces and sequences, along with an awesome (maybe even heart-jerking??) ending. That will be a first for the Halo series anyway. The trailer was great but one thing that really annoyed me was the accents. Why do each of the team members have such strong, stereotypical accents? Halo 1 was fine with its accents: american for the commanders, british for the soldiers and the odd mexican soldier thrown in.

[Rice Pudding]

I can't wait for this tbh. If the book The Fall of Reach is anything to go by this game is going to have some absolutely epic set pieces and sequences, along with an awesome (maybe even heart-jerking??) ending. That will be a first for the Halo series anyway. The trailer was great but one thing that really annoyed me was the accents. Why do each of the team members have such strong, stereotypical accents? Halo 1 was fine with its accents: american for the commanders, british for the soldiers and the odd mexican soldier thrown in.

Well from the trailer it appears there's different accents

The commander guy in blue was American
The Green sniper guy sounded Mexican
The women sounded Russian
and the big heavy guy...Yep, sounded British!!

[Growkin]

Just bring on the custom paint on the armour and Im good to go

[davidcrofter]

Cannot wait to play this but just hope that Bungie don't try and stray too much from the brilliant single player campaign modes they have given me in the Halo series so far ...

[Terbinator]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bu...ross-the-board

Interesting tech upgrades. I'm expecting to have an eye-gasms when i play now though if the light sources have improved ten-fold

[Dan39]

Thanks for posting that link.
Had totally forgotten about Reach.

[Note to self....Must go back and finish ODST!]

[Stephen C]

Got some more details here via x360a:

Halo: Reach Details Spilled In Latest Issue Of Game Informer
Written Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by Richard Walker

Game Informer's February issue out this month, exposes a whole raft of details about the forthcoming and highly anticipated next instalment in the Halo franchise, Halo: Reach.

We've pored over the eight-page spread which goes into some depth, detailing Reach's basic plot, the characters, gameplay mechanics and new weaponry. But seeing as we're the helpful types, we thought we'd take the liberty of boiling down the article from a big wordy, word broth into a more manageable course of bite-sized fact chunks. Now, we hope you left room to digest all this, because there's a lot to chow down on here. Let's tuck in:

* Halo: Reach's story doesn't have anything to do with the 2001 novel, The Fall Of Reach in which we learn the origins of the Master Chief. So, it's fairly safe to assume that there will be no Master Chief in the game.

* The events of the game lead up to the beginning of Halo 1 upon the verdant, doomed planet of the title. Reach's terrain will vary from fertile forests to vertiginous mountains.

* In an evolution of ODST's new health system, Reach combines a shield with a health bar. Bungie want you to explore your environment, which apparently includes searching for medikits.

* This is part of what Bungie's creative director Marcus Lehto calls, "...a more serious approach to the franchise. We wanted to delve a little deeper into our characters themselves - into the Spartans. They're not perfect - they're susceptible to damage."

* Reach follows a squad of Spartan II and III troopers known as Noble Team. Noble Team is an assembled group of expendable troops who fight on the frontline and seldom return from battle. This particular Noble Team is different however, earning themselves a fearsome rep after surviving numerous engagements.

* You'll finally be able to live the dream of fighting alongside a group of badass Spartans then. Bungie know what they're doing.

* You play as the newest addition to the team - Noble 6.

* The rest of the team is lead by Carter. Jun, Jorge, Kat and Emile make up the numbers. Each character has been given a distinctive personality due to the increased emphasis on creating an involving and cinematic storyline.

* The camera moves will reflect the new, more cinematic direction for the game with gritty, shaky war journalism-style camera shots promised. Bungie wants you to feel like you're in the trenches.

* Although Reach will adopt a darker tone story-wise, the rich and vibrant colour palette will stay true to the rest of the Halo series.

* You'll obviously still fight the Covenant, but they'll appear as a new threat as Noble Team are unfamiliar with the race.

* As such, the Covenant forces will only speak in their own language in an effort to make them appear as menacing and alien as they were when we first encountered them in Halo 1. If not a lot more so.

* The Covenant will therefore be a lot meaner overall with a new class known as the Skirmishers joining the ranks. The Skirmishers are a lot like the Jackals, attacking in packs. They're cunning and deadly, able to flank and infiltrate secure positions.

* The AI has been significantly expanded to make for more epic and bustling battles packed with activity. Where Halo 3 normally dealt with 20 AIs at any one time, Reach will pack in 40 alongside 20 vehicles.

* Naturally, the Halo weaponry we all know and love returns, but with a couple of new additions. On the UNSC side, there's the long-range DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle). A weapon that falls somewhere between the Battle and Sniper Rifles, the DMR is apparently perfect for pulling off "super-satisfying" headshots.

* On the Covenant side, there's the medium-range Needle Rifle, which much as you'd expect is a scaled-up Needler that makes for a cool but deadly addition to the Covenant arsenal.

* There are new vehicles too, including the helicopter-like UNSC Falcon. There's also a screenshot of a yellow pick-up truck with a Spartan leaning out the door. Hillbilly Spartans?

* Multiplayer is definitely on the cards with four-player online co-op, 16-player competitive online and two-player split-screen co-op expected at the very least. The article speculates that customisation may play a bigger role.

* The game engine has been massively improved in every department for Halo: Reach, with enhanced dynamic lighting, better draw distances and more enemies on-screen at once being the main advancements.

And that's your lot. If you want the full skinny, check out the February issue of Game Informer where there's enough Reach info to fill fifty Warthogs.

[Loco]

Cant wait for this, the perk type things sound interesting

[Terbinator]

AWESOME

[Boykie Boykie]

I also can't wait but hope they don't try to make it too pick up and play they need 2 go bk 2 halo 1 kinda of gameplay. too much noob weapons about now too easy but also make the graphics amongst the best ever seen on a console.

[snail]

Well a month to go for the beta, the best reason to buy ODST really. After that disappointment hopefully they can win me back.

[Zhaoman]

The end of Halo 2 xbox live is sad but Reach is really looking good. Especially with no dual wielding which simplifies weapon selection and each of the new weapons they announced are sounding unique and very different to each other. From what they've announced we now have very different weapons for long and medium to short range. It is still a bit overcrowded in the short range with shotgun, sword, hammer and grenade launcher but they've taken it in a really good direction I think by cleaning up the weapons. Hopefully the campaign will do it justice and we can have a great Halo game to enjoy for many years to come.