The Halo Reach event in London, among other places, kicks off the onslaught of Beta previews for Bungie's finale to the epic Halo series, and plenty of gaming journalists from across the wide world of the internet were there to begin gleaning details from this epic project.
But why so epic, you may ask? Well, Bungie's Brian Jarrard estimates "conservatively" that the beta will host 3 million players, though there is no actual cap to how many players can join in. This is even more impressive given that in order to get access to the beta on May 3rd, gamers have to pick up or already own a copy of Halo 3: ODST. This is unlike traditional betas, most of which are available for free download or by free invitation, and some of the most impressive of these just barely reach the 3 million mark.
Ok, so we know it's a big deal, what else? A number of the previews out now are making free associations between this beta and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, saying Bungie has taken obvious upgrading elements from Infinity Ward (as if it belongs to them), but turned it on it's unique, Halo-head in order to create what feels like a rewarding, unique experience.
How? First, Halo Reach features changeable loadouts, a first for the franchise. However, these loadouts are not entirely customizable, as they are tied to the level being played. This gives the multiplayer that "choose your own path" kind of feel, allowing players to focus more on battle than picking up the right weapon, while retaining the traditional Halo style "use what you got" mentality.
Also, Characters can upgrade armor at the beginning of battles to feature "Sprint" (Spartans only), "Active Camo", "Evade" (Elites only), "Jet-Pack", and "Armor Lock" (temporary invulnerability). One of the major concerns with these new add-ons has been the way that the jet-pack might dilute gameplay into some quasi Dark Void fly-swatting escapade. However, if the majority of the previews are to be believed, it sounds like the jet-pack provides anything but, some calling it "our favourite by far". Of course all of these elements will take some getting used to, but apparently the feel is similar enough to previous Halo games to be easily picked up on.
What seems to be the biggest new change is the addition of differentiation between Spartans and Elites. Not only do they have access to different abilities, but the Elites are a little slower and more powerful, while the Spartans are quicker and fare better in team attack situations. Probably the most startling difference, though, is that the Elites regenerate their health over time, while Spartans have to pick up med packs scattered throughout the levels. Again, according to the previews, the strategic placement of some of these med packs has actually made for a well-balanced health system, despite the parity between them.
And of course there's the new game types: Generator Defense, Stockpile, Headhunter, and Invasion. Generator Defense pits Spartan vs. Elite in a battle for the human faction to defend three generators from the alien. Stockpile is kind of like a capture the flag game, but with collection intervals. Headhunter gives players the Sonic-esque ability to collect tokens (heads) from the players they kill in an attempt to return as many to their base. Invasion has a Battlefield feel to it, once again pitting Spartans vs. Elites in an ever evolving, moving stage, multi-objective game. For example, as one base is destroyed by the Elites, the Spartans must fall back and defend the next flag, or take out the Elite attack force for good.
There's so much more information out there, so this summary only scratches the surface. Feel free to check out the previews referenced in the links below for more, and if you don't already have it, go get that used copy of Halo 3: ODST before May 3rd.
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