My thoughts - Halo: Reach multiplayer beta

I wish there was some way I could accurately convey how much I would rather be playing the “Halo: Reach” multiplayer beta than writing about it. Unfortunately, there are no words in the English language powerful enough to describe this yearning. None.

The multiplayer beta test for what is to be Bungie’s last game in the storied “Halo” series is underway and before I get into my thoughts on the game, let me share this interesting tidbit with you. In just the first day that “Reach” went live over Xbox Live, more than one million players logged into the beta – 1,170,112 to be exact. If the magnitude of that statistic doesn’t blow you away, let me put it like this. The multiplayer beta test for “Halo 3,” which was included with the Microsoft game “Crackdown,” didn’t tally that amount of participation over its entire 3-week run. I love statistics that prove how much more popular video games are as a medium than even movies or music are in our culture and even I’m having trouble comprehending this stat.

It’s hard to decide where to start, so I’ll start from the beginning of my experience. The beta itself is just over 1 gig and can only be accessed with a copy of “Halo 3: ODST.” You can download the beta to multiple consoles using a single disc, but the beta can only be accessed through the main menu of “ODST,” so if you’re sharing a single “ODST” disc with your friends, only the person with the disc will be able to play the beta. Now that we’re down with the boring specifics, let’s get right into matchmaking.

Perhaps one of the most exciting new matchmaking features is the ability to set social preferences. Though not online for the beta, social preferences will allow matchmaking to find games/gamers who are not only equal to you in skill, but have similar playing styles. Want to play with gamers who talk and use teamwork rather than strike out on their own in team games? There’s a way to set your preferences to tell the game to seek out those gamers and avoid those whose personal objective seems to be only to annoy everyone around them.

My personal favorite addition to the matchmaking process is being able to vote on the next game to be played. Prior to each new map, each player in a game lobby can vote for one of three different map/game types – and yes, there is a “None of these” option. Rather than just vetoing the upcoming map/game type, a la “Halo 3,” players will now be able to choose what they want to play next. I was worried this might lead to people only picking straight-up Slayer (aka deathmatch) exclusively but luckily there’s been a great balance between people picking stand-by game types like Oddball, Slayer and new modes like Headhunters or Stockpile.

Both Headhunters and Stockpile are welcome additions to the stable of popular “Halo” game types. Stockpile is a Capture-The-Flag variation in which both teams battle to capture neutral flags and bring them back to their home base. Flags aren’t scored as soon as they are brought back to your base, necessitating an element of defense as enemies can snatch flags from your base that are waiting to be scored. I found this mode to be fairly fun and frantic but don’t be surprised to often end up on the losing team without solid teamwork. Headhunters is single player mode where kills don’t necessarily means points. A skull pops out of every downed opponent which can then be collected. Depositing these skulls in various spots that move during the course of a match scores your points. You can collect as many skulls as you like but be warned, the number of skulls on your person are displayed for all the see on the screen and should you be taken out, all your precious trophies go as well. Whether you score one skull at a time or go for broke and horde them for a big payday is your call. I found this mode to an interesting idea, though many people seemed content to camp at the skull turn-in spots for easy points which ruins the game more than just a little.

Being that this is just a beta, it would be slightly pointless to pass judgment on the mechanics of the game so far. Everything in the beta, from weapon stats, to movement speeds to how high you can jump, is subject to change. One area that needs work is the new assassination move. While a melee attack to the back of someone still results in a one-hit kill, holding another button while executing a melee to someone’s back now triggers a stylish assassination move. These moves feel somewhat imprecise to say the least and leave the player initiating it wide open to be assassinated himself. One of my biggest gripes, though, is with the HUD (heads-up display). In an indoor environment like Sword Base the reticule is hard enough to see and at times on the outdoor map Powerhouse, it’s near invisible. Not only is the reticule too light against the brightly colored maps, but the text displaying the action happening around the map is too small to be read on the fly – I shouldn’t have to squint to read something on my HDTV.

Even though “Halo: Reach” doesn’t release proper until the fall, the multiplayer components seem to be shaping up quite nicely. “Reach” plays smoother and faster than previous “Halo” games and the actions feels more intense and visceral than any other game in the series. I recently saw an early September release date for “Halo: Reach” while paging through a notebook of upcoming games at GameStop recently, but I wouldn’t take that as fact since literally no where else has reported a legitimate release date for “Reach” yet. News like that would be a pretty big deal on the barren, lolcat-covered wasteland that is the internet and considering “Halo” games traditionally release later in the fall, I’d wait for official word from Bungie before pre-ordering “Reach” just yet. But once I find out for sure the street date for “Reach,” Grizzly Gaming’s readers will be the first to know.