SpartanEvolved's Reach Beta Armory Extravaganza!
LISTEN UP LADIES! You THINK you're tough? You THINK you know Halo? WELL THINK AGAIN! Sergeant Spartan is here to make sure you whippersnappers are up to speed on Halo Reach's beta, so when you get out there representing EGA on the battlefield you don't make us all look like dang fools!
On Monday, May 3rd, pop in your ODST disc to download the beta and you are ready to play.
Here's all the details
Active roster is in- this lets you instantly join a friends party as soon as they are available, so trying to team up with friends who are in matchmaking isn't a huge pain.
Desired game settings- You can select from a variety of options to get the game best suited for you- select how much teamwork you want to see, communication levels, prioritize by language, and more
Voting- now when you enter matchmaking and you and your party are paired up, instead of getting one map/gametype and one veto to go to another map/gametype, there is now a voting system. All of the players get to vote between several map/gametype options, and the one with the most votes wins.
Fileshare- its back and better than ever! You can now save a lot more custom content than before, and even have the option to render your saved films for viewing on your computer! You can also tag them to make sure everyone sees your epic stick.
Loadouts- a radical change for Halo 3, each gametype will have several predetermined loadouts (an Armor ability with a primary/secondary weapon and grenades) to choose from at will. But more on these later.
Fireteams- in team games, you will be paired up with a "wingman". If your wingman is out of combat, you can spawn on him to get in the fight faster.
Choose your spawn!- Or, you can choose among several spawn points instead, complete with the ability to preview the spawn zone. Spawn killing is a thing of the past.
Fall damage- back! Fall too far and hurt yourself, even further and you'll die.
Health packs- also back!- Spartans have a Halo 1 style health system, with non replenishing health bars under their shield that can only be replaced by a health pack found on the map.
Melees changed- Now, a melee won't carry through someone's shield, meaning careful timing is needed to punch someone's clock without getting yours punched first. For example, a melee on someone with 50 shield points will reduce it to 0, but a melee on someone with 1 shield point would also reduce it to 0 as well, and NOT cause any health damage.
Assassinations- while the standard back-smack is still in, if you are feeling cocky you can flourish your move with an assassination animation. Be careful though, you can have your kill stolen or be killed yourself while doing this!
Exploring- There are no invisible walls now for the most part. You can leave the map temporarily (think Battlefield Bad Company 2) but will be killed if you go too far aaway or are out too long.
Spartans vs Elites- same thing, different model? WRONG. Elites are faster, stronger, heal faster, and can take more damage than Spartans, at the cost of being much larger targets. But, you can only play as Elites in certain gametypes, and they involve assaulting well defended and equipped Spartans- evening the odds. Elites do get some armor abilities Spartans don't, and vice-versa. Speaking of those...
ARMOR ABILITIES
These are determined by your loadout, and insanely awesome. They are reusable, and recharge quickly (for example, you can spring for 4 to 5 seconds and it will fully recharge in 4 seconds). These replace equipment (thank GOD) from Halo 3.
Spartan Sprint- lower your weapon and run full bore
Elite Evade- dodge quickly to whatever direction you want with this Elite only ability
Spartan Armor Lock- with this ability, you become immobile, invincible, and even shed off and plasma grenades and needles on you. And any vehicle ramming you will be destroyed. Upon exiting, you release an EMP that will disable vehicles and lower shields. This all sounds good, but this is mostly a defensive ability and going on offense with it is a nice way to exit lockdown on top of a grenade.
Active camo- good old active camo returns. It now scrambles radar when active, alerting enemies to your presence, and moving faster weakens the camouflage effect.
Jetpack- Oh yes, a jet pack. You can soar through the air with this bad boy and rain death on your opponents, but you are vulnerable and you must make a soft landing or risk breaking your legs.
Weapons
Oh boy, the bread and BUTTA of Halo. Lots of new beauties to bust wigs and pop caps with this time around, and even the mainstays aren't quite how you remember them. And dual wielding is out this time.
DMR- this make look like the battle rifle, but its much sexier. 12 round clip, 5 headshots to kill a Spartan or 6 to kill an Elite. A medium-long range weapon, it has a slow rate of fire for close combat. Firing makes the reticule "bloom" decreasing your accuracy greatly if you fire too fast. Your mainstay for medium to long range fights.
Pistol- this IS your granddaddy's pistol! Scoped and capable of taking someone down faster than a DMR with its high rate of fire, its your bread and butter weapon for close to medium ranges.
Needle rifle- think the punk child of a needler and a carbine. Headshot capable, it can kill a Spartan in 6 shots or an Elite in 7, but it can instant kill with 3 needles on an unshielded opponent. An amazing weapon for any fight.
Assault Rifle- similar to Halo 3, 32 round clip, fairly accurate and capable of taking someone down quick at close range with short controlled bursts.
Sniper Rifle- 4 shots, one headshot to kill, 2 body shots. Overpenetrates infantry (enemies and allies alike), reticule expands when fired, so make your shots count!
Shotgun- longer range than Halo 3, you know how this works. Close range murder.
Grenade Launcher- new to Halo. Press once for a fire-and-forget frag grenade that works well against people and vehicles. Or, hold down the trigger to launch a manually detonated grenade (release the trigger to detonate).
Rocket Launcher- More like Halo 2's rockets, these can once again lock onto people.
Spartan Laser- IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZER! Just like Halo 3, charge it up and tear people and vehicles apart.
Frag grenades- a true mainstay, same as always!
Plasma Repeater- looking like a large plasma rifle, the repeater is like the assault rifle. Close to mid range, its surprisingly effective.
Plasma Pistol- similar to Halo 3, it can stop vehicles and drain shields instantly with its overcharge attack.
Needler- pumped up to be useful (though I've heard that 2 games in a row now...) 6 needles to deshield someone, 6 to supercombine. 7 for elites.
Focus Rifle- Beam rifle plus sentinel beam equals focus rifle. Long range, fires a continuous beam that kills quickly.
Plasma launcher- Fires HOMING PLASMA GRENADES. Stay away from it, or get your hands on one.
Energy sword- Close range terror, you should know this.
Gravity hammer- Close range terror too! Shorter range than the sword but a large splash attack.
Plasma grenades- sticky as always.
Battle rifle, SMG, Carbine, Beam rifle, spike grenades, and firebombs will NOT return.
VEHICLES
Warthog- back and similar as before, but the chaingun can overheat
Scorpion- similar to the Halo 3 version. Gunner's turret and a big main cannon to tear people apart.
Banshee- now must toggle between plasma cannons and fuel rod, other than that its the same one we know and love
Wraith- more like Halo 2's Wraith in how it handles firing, with the gunner seat from Halo 3.
Ghost- can now strafe while boosting, but still the good old Ghost we know and love.
Customize
Playing and winning will score you some credits (cRs). You can use these to buy armor upgrades (COSMETIC CHANGES ONLY AND DON'T EVER SAY OR ASK OTHERWISE).
Gametypes
Team Slayer- kill the other team, easy!
Headhunter- killing someone makes them drop a flaming skull. Pick it up and return it to the capture point to score, first to 25 wins. But, if you score 10 at once you get a Skullamanjaro and instantly win, but the game tells you how many skulls each player has, so be careful, stocking up makes you a bigger target.
Stockpile- place flags in the capture zone and defend it until it counts down to zero to score. CTF meets territories.
Invasion- Spartans vs Elites. Elites must assault the Spartan base and steal a generator core and return it to their Phantom, Spartans must stop them. New weapons, vehicles, and loadouts become available as the Elites progress further. Also a Slayer variant, pitting Spartans against elites in a race to 100 kills, capturing zones on the map will give that team power weapon and vehicle drops.
Generator defense- Elites vs Spartans again, only this time Elites must destroy several generators defended by Spartans. Spartans can activate shields on the generators temporarily.
CTF- old fashioned, steal their flag and take it to your base!
Maps- we get 4 for the beta.
- Powerhouse. A hydroelectric power plant. An open-map with scattered corridor and CQC buildings. Various game-types supported for the Beta.
- Sword Base. An atrium used for a Longsword hangar. Said to be the "the stepson of Prisoner and Boarding Action." 6 levels high with copious amounts of mid-range, corridor and CQC-room action. Various game-types supported for the Beta.
- Overlook. The open ceiling, mountain cliff-side level from the MP trailer. Similar to High Ground in layout. Meant to be the Generator Defense game-type tester during the Beta.
- Bone Yard. A ground-based space-frigate junkyard. One of the more larger maps of Halo: Reach. The only vehicle supported beta map. Built specifically for Invasion modes. Meant to be the Invasion tester during the Beta.
No custom games, offline, or system link support for the beta.
Now maggots, ask me any questions! I've been watching videos and reading previews and studying to help get you ready for the battlefield! Or if you have no questions but will be playing the beta, leave your gamertag in here so we can set up some games.
GT: SpartanEvolved- will be on all day the third and would love some EGA company.
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