Halo: Reach

So, what is Halo Reach missing?

Custom Game Browser
6-8 player Firefight
6 player coop SP (?)
Time / Action based spawns in Forge
Master Chief
Kitchen Sink
Flying Unicorns
MLAA
3D Output

Ok, I just lost interest.
 
Finally pre-ordered Reach today at GameStop. Been kinda holding out a little bit since Kinect is coming. But with the latest details on Forge & Firefight my son finally begged me to get it. Unfortunately I can't get myself to purchase the Limited Edition. I got the Limited Edition on Halo 2 and 3, but with Reach it' doesn't feel the same without the Chief. I also don't think the $80 warranted the extras. With that now done I've got to sell some games to help pay for Kinect. eBay here I come.

Tommy McClain
 
From the recent Bungie update (which makes my posts look like a stickie note):

There’s an old adage around these parts. It goes. “Kill your enemies. Kill your friend’s enemies. Kill your friends.” So when the team regrouped in the wake of Halo 3: ODST to talk about what kind of improvements they could bring to the table for Firefight, one feature seemed custom fit to bolster the already intense invasion simulatin’ experience.

We call it Firefight Versus, and to explain it in a little more depth and detail, we’ve bribed and cajoled the one, the only LarsyB into talking about the bigger, better, and more bad ass version of Firefight you’ll find in Halo: Reach come September.

Here’s what he had to say for himself (and for Firefight Versus Mode):

When Paul, Tyson, and myself sat down to figure out how to improve Firefight in Reach, there were the obvious things like adding Matchmaking support. That wasn't enough, however, and we wanted to push it in terms of customization so we blew the doors off the Game Options. That still wasn't enough, and we wanted to try something different. We already know what it feels like to play as a Spartan surrounded by your UNSC buddies in the Campaign, but what does it feel like to be on the other side? Sure, we saw that in Halo 2 in the Arbiter storyline, but what does it feel like to be in a knock-down, drag out fight against your friends?

That, amigos, is where Versus comes in.



From the Firefight Lobby, with the press of a Bumper, you now have the ability to choose whether you are on the Red Team or the Blue Team. Red Team always starts as Spartans and Blue Team always starts as Elites. Like everything in Reach Firefight, Versus really comes to life with a simple little Option called "Turn Count." Once the limits are reached for the current Firefight session (can be time limit, lives, waves, etc), we swap sides.

So, the short version is if your Turn Count is set to One Each (can also be None, Two Each, and Three Each), when the game naturally ends we change sides and you play from the other perspective. After your turns are over, we end the game.

Wait, WHA? Yes, that's right you get to play as an Elite running around with all the Covenant at your side tearing apart the Spartans.
How does it work? Simple, whichever team has the most points after the game ends, wins. It's the classic Red vs. Blue you've always known and loved.

But how do you keep this fair? First off, you get to play from both sides which makes it pretty equal, barring player skill. Second, and more importantly, you can only earn points while on the Spartan team, so it makes both sides have a purpose.



Ok, ok, I think I get it, but explain the finer details. What's my job as an Elite? Well, as the Elites your task is to stop the Spartans from scoring points by any means necessary. You have unlimited lives, but a longer respawn time. The other crucial piece of information is that if you die as an Elite, you are giving the Spartans an extra life as well as a big point drop... so be careful. If you continually throw your body into the fray, it will be very difficult to make up that point margin when you switch sides. As an Elite player you also have access to the number of Spartan Lives remaining in your HUD, so pay close attention to that number. It helps you know when you have them on the ropes.

So, what about Spartans, how does Versus change for them? The Spartans start by sharing 4 lives for their team and cannot have more than 4 backup lives. They have 5 minutes to try to score as many points as possible. Crucially, by default Elites do not make up any of the waves. So, when you see an Elite, you know that's a human player, or maybe it's a hologram of that human player. Gah!

Sweet! So, say I am way better than my other friends and I want to take them on by myself in Versus. Can I do that? Yup. You can set up the teams however you want. It can be 2v2 or 3v1. It's however you want to handle it in the Lobby.



So, we know that Spartans have full Player Trait and Loadouts customization; does that mean Elites have that as well? Yes, the Elites have all the same Player Trait and Loadout customization as the Spartans but in their own category. Want to give the Elites Loadouts all Fuel Rod Guns with Jetpack? You can do that.

How does this work with the Custom Skulls? Can Elites be affected by them the same way Spartans are? Yes, of course! Custom Skulls are made up of Spartan Traits, Elite Traits, and Wave Traits. When we first showed off Custom Skulls, we just hid the Elite stuff in the E3 build so as not to spoil the surprise.

Hope you all enjoy Versus, it really is a new way to play Firefight. See you online on the 14th!
Click to expand...

It may not be quite as fun as playing the bad guys in SP Campaign, but close enough. Not enough games do the above.
 
Malibu said:
Halo Waypoint has a couple direct-feed Versus Firefight videos up.

Overlook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBTwAdvfnXg&feature=player_embedded&fmt=22

Courtyard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_hlyh6GjhY&feature=player_embedded&fmt=22


Is it me or does Overlook look even better than it did in the beta?
Click to expand...

Overlook definitely looks much better then it did in the beta.Also, does anybody else notice that the texture filtering seems to be greatly improved over Halo 3...
 
scently said:
New campaign trailer.

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=Reach_Campaign_Trailer
Click to expand...

thanks for the link!

what I like most of the HALO series....the epic sound!
it so epic and has kind of magic to it that makes you want to play instantly - at least in my case!
I even have the soundtracks of Halo and Halo 2, which I still like to listen occasionally...just epic!

here link to one of my favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSqm5Id6Hw0

and of course this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ3GW67oj6E&feature=related

and now tell me that you don't have the desire to play it?!
 
Haha, that was pretty awesome. Oh man does that bring back memories. :D Not of that game but of the overall experience on that machine. :D

Regards,
SB
 
Halo Reach seems to have trouble fitting in one disc

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=258117

Campaign designer Niles Sankey seemed to pine for a bit of Blu-Ray on the 360 specifically, "One of the last challenges of the game was actually trying to fit it all onto the disc," he said.

"It was very difficult. It goes to show how big the game is."

Mercury Steam boss David Cox also talked about how difficult it was becoming to push everything onto DVD, calling 360's lack of Blu-Ray a 'problem' for developers.
Click to expand...
 
PSman said:
Halo Reach seems to have trouble fitting in one disc

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=258117
Click to expand...

This is really just more hype to get people into thinking that this year's Halo is pushing the system to the maxx like they did with halo 2 and halo 3.

Personally being that its a first party franchise I do not understand the logic of not using two DVDs one for all SP/Coop and the other for all of the online mode maps, mandatory install since the halo community is mostly way too dedicated anyways and use one disc to authenticate kind of like what they did with Forza 3, they know they can do it but I guess since the console is so easy to develop for it also means its hardly usefull to make any type of effort.
 
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