As many of you know, the Halo Reach beta is available on Xbox Live to those who purchased a copy of Halo 3: ODST, or got it by some other means. I’ve played for a few hours so far and these are my first impressions.
Overall, I feel the beta is good. The beta is nothing amazing, no big surprises. It’s just another version of my favorite gaming series. To me, this feels like a mix of Halo 2 and 3, with the concept of classes thrown in.
I’ve been a big Halo player since the release of Halo 2 years ago. Reach still feels like Halo to me. After getting used to the slightly new controls, I felt like I was playing Halo 3 again and my decent Kill/Death ratio proved it. If you didn’t like Halo before, this game won’t change your mind.
New Abilities
I like the new abilities, though I feel that Airborne and Stealth are the only worthwhile ones about 95% of the time. Guard can be useful in certain situations though, especially if you know your opponent has a rocket launcher. Just throw up your shield when they fire and watch the rocket reflect right back at them. It’s pretty funny!
Airborne is my favorite new ability. I like the feel of the jetpacks and being able to easily get to high points on the maps.
New Weapons & Attacks
The replacement for BR (the DMR) seems okay to me. I didn’t realize until recently that you’re not supposed to shoot it like a BR. Even still, I did shoot it like a BR, and it worked okay for me. I look forward to shooting it correctly. I’ve heard that you need to aim more carefully and shoot it slower than you would a BR from Halo 2 or 3.
The melee system is weird. I basically just try to avoid melee now unless I absolutely know that I’ve shot my opponent to hell and a melee attack will finish them off. The special assassin attack is amusing, though I have to resist the temptation to do it since it leaves me vulnerable.
Invasion Mode
My girlfriend and I played some Invasion last night and I think it’s alright. Part of the reason I’m not a big fan is because we were teamed up with awful teammates. I don’t mind if you suck as long as I can tell you’re trying your best. If you just stand still half the time, why are you even playing? It would be a fun mode with a good group of friends, but unfortunately your party will be split up in the Invasion mode. Bungie should correct this in a future release.
Bungie has some kinks to work out but overall it’s Halo! Sure, the grenades are a little too strong. Sure, you can’t just depend on one weapon (the BR) anymore. But I like some of these changes and the beta is promising. It looks like I’ll pickup Halo Reach for sure.
Looking for more? Check out our Halo Reach wallpaper gallery.
