Compared to the clamor and congestion of downtown Seattle, Bungie's Kirkland offices are peaceful and serene. There's little outside distraction and certainly no incessant honking. It's a beautiful day. No one would ever guess that, in two unadorned conference rooms on the third floor, people are blowing each other up. Well, maybe they noticed the Battle Rifle in the lobby.

Bungie invited media to its offices for a Halo: Reach mulitplayer beta preview last week, introducing us to four new game types, Generator Defense, Headhunter, Stockplile and Invasion. I filled six hours with as many frags as my controller could possibly deliver and it simply wasn't enough. Reach's new team-driven game types are addictive and ambitious, focused on objective-based progression and strategic action.