» What’s Good About The Halo Reach Beta?

Name: Chris Hamilton

From: www.haloreach.com.au

About: Chris Hamilton is a longtime Halo enthusiast and contributor to the Australian Halo community. Chris is a writer for www.haloreach.com.au but has also been apart of www.xboxworld.com.au and www.gamersworld.com.au.

If you’ve seen the Bungie.net forums lately, you’ll notice the constant bug / glitch reporting going on in the Halo Reach Beta Feedback forum. While there are plenty of people pointing out the errors and the bad things about the beta, I thought I’d be a little different and point out the good things.

Spartans VS Elites

Firstly, having the Magnum to start is an absolute blessing. At range, yes, you generally get beaten by a DMR or Needle Rifle, but up close (if you’re accurate) neither of those guns stands a chance against the Magnum. When used well with either sprint or camoflauge, the Magnum truely is one of the better additions to the weapon sandbox.

Stockpile is actually alot of fun when you’re playing with seven other people who are taking it serious. The mad rush you make to the oppositions flags to quickly chuck them out of their in zone while also trying to defend your own can really end up being quite a memorable experience. The fact that it still is different to traditional capture the flag modes makes this great for a change.

Invasion is a blast and a great escape from the regular competitive gametypes that go on throughout matchmaking. People seem to take Invasion less seriously and simply enjoy it for what it is. It was great to see Bungie remove the DMR from Spartan Spawn Phase 1. It shows great committment from them to deliver an enjoyable experience for all people playing.

The Plasma Launcher is an absolutely awesome weapon. When used properly you can rack up a stack of kills with it. Charging up four plasma grenades and spraying is not only fun, but its also funny to watch. I don’t enjoy being on the receiving end of it though.

Noble Team

Sword Base is my favourite map out of all four so far. In saying that, i’ve always been a fan of open multi-level maps such as Prisoner, Hang Em High, Damnation etc, so it’s no surprise im fond of Sword Base.

Plasma Grenades work pretty much perfectly. I know there’s alot of discussion about the frag grenades, but the Plasma Grenades to me feel pretty much spot on.

The increased field of view is also a very welcome addition. I absolutely hated the tunnel vision that Halo 2 & Halo 3 felt like. A wider field of view does make the overall playing experience far more enjoyable – and who doesn’t like being able to see more of the awesome Halo terrains?

Oh and one final mention to the noises Elites make. Funny stuff.

What are your likes (or even dislikes) about what you’ve seen and played so far in the Halo Reach Beta? Let us know your thoughts using our comment box below.