The Halo: Reach Beta was Underwhelming but Still Fun

SolidSnake

May 16, 2010

A lot has changed from when I knew and loved Halo, but is that really a bad thing? If you ask me, the Halo 2 days were the best. Halo 1, it was good, especially for it's time. However, it wasn't enough to make me rave on about. Then, Halo 2 came out. That was when I went out and bought an Xbox and Halo Triple Pack from GameStop. Like I said, I loved Halo 2, and that pushed me back into Halo 1. All of the endless hours of split screen with friends in Halo 2, those were the days. Halo 3 however, I was disappointed by the (in my opinion) short campaign. The multiplayer was great, and the custom games are still fun.

HaloReachSide (19K) Now let's look at all three of those games and think about what they all have in common. What's that, very few gameplay changes? Yeah! I mean sure, dual wielding was in Halo 2, and equipment in Halo 3, but nothing like what happened in Reach. Before I explain, I should say I have yet to play ODST, as it never aroused my interest. Meaning, if some of this is in ODST, I wouldn't know. However, I have researched it a bit and found nothing on the subject.

First of all, Halo traded in it's originality to be like Call of Duty, it's biggest competitor. Every time you respawn, you choose a class. Okay, I can live with that, a few different weapons you can choose from while still being able to pick up others. That's fine. Well, now here's something that is cool, but IS NOT Halo.

Jetpacks. Nuff' said. That's right. With the new classes comes different abilities. One ability is sprint. Okay, there's a problem right there. It's nice to sprint, but as an ability? It should be a basic control, and if not it shouldn't have to compete with a jetpack! Another ability is stopping dead in your tracks and punching right through the ground. This makes you invincible for a while...and completely immobilizes you. Kinda defeats the purpose, eh? I mean, it's good to wait until the other player has to reload and then make your escape, but it's pretty risky if you ask me. Then, there's invisibility. People can still see a blur on their screens though, so I think I'll pass. It could be worse though, a Spartan's ability could be a flashlight! Then, there's rolling. Instead of sprinting, you can dodge bullets by rolling. Not too bad, but those are a lot of serious changes to take in.

One more thing that mirrors Call of Duty is that you gain experience after every game to level up. There is also a new game mode I am enjoying. In it, the Spartans are protecting three generators and the elites are trying to destroy them within the time limit. I am expecting some more new game types as well, and I hope they change them up from the usual types, as this one is creative and addicting.

Overall, I am enjoying the beta much more than I expected, and am thankful for getting a code emailed to my by Microsoft! This beta is tempting me to get ODST to be ready for Reach. It just may be the time...

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Watch Halo: Reach videos, including gameplay of the new Spartan abilities in action, the Birth of a Spartan live-action short, and the trailers.