It probably won't surprise you to learn that Halo: Reach will offer its players a wide assortment of methods of brutalizing one another. These methods were recently revealed in the latest Bungie update, which heated anticipators of the upcoming shooter should go read immediately.
Said update reveals a new "Armor Abilities" system, in which temporary bonuses which used to appear on the battleground are now ingrained into pre-fabricated loadouts. For instance, the Active Camo power-up is now tied to a load-out. An Ability called "Armor Lock" makes you temporarily invincible (and stationary), deflecting any shots, and wrecking the shop of any vehicle attempting to run you over. Also, our beloved jet pack falls into this category, rendering all other Armor Abilities completely meaningless.
Also revealed in the update is a handful of new weapons and intriguing new gameplay mechanics -- including the announcement that the Covenant Elite is physically superior to the Spartan, which will prevent them from playing against one another in some gametypes. That's ... that's speciesist, Bungie.
Bungie set the bar pretty high last year on April 1 and, today, we feel like it has at least met or exceeded it -- we'll leave the final determination up to you. As Bungie would describe Halo: Reach's included minigame, Battle Chess, it's a variation on the "longest-running competitive multiplayer game in the world" and just felt like a natural fit for the franchise. Frankly, even though it's April 1st, we wholeheartedly support this new game mode and if we don't at least get a special playlist, we're probably going to throw a tantrum and buy Halo: Reach anyway.
#screengrab
A "mysterious image," as seen on the official Bungie Twitter today, with "word that something big is dropping this week." A dangerous tease to make so close to April Fools Day. More »
In its latest weekly update, Bungie has offered its own rundown of how the new matchmaking system in Halo: Reach will work. Many of the details were covered by Shacknews earlier this month, though the Bungie update does mention a few new features. First of all, the player muting feature has been streamlined and is "much more effective at rooting out the blathering idiots you'll undoubtedly come across."
Map voting has been revamped this time around as well. In Halo 3 players were given the option to veto any given map in online matchmaking. If the majority of players voted to veto, a new map was selected and that was that. The problem there, according to Bungie, was that you might just wind up with another map you don't like. To rectify the problem, Halo: Reach presents players with a default map and three alternative maps in matchmaking. If players don't like the default choice, whichever alternative map receives the most votes will be chosen for the next round.
The other major discussion was the new Active Roster system. Essentially, the Active Roster takes all of the tediousness out of finding friends to play with. Rather than forcing you to open the Guide and find out what your friends are playing, all the information is displayed right inside the matchmaking lobby. From here, you can see what your friends are doing and create or join parties. Furthermore, Reach has a new "queue join" which takes the hassle out of waiting for your friends to finish matches.
"Queue joins are a stab at solving the thing that was most irritating about trying to get into a game with your friends in Halo 3," says Bungie's Tyson Green, "waiting in the lobby, sending messages, and hoping they remember to invite you between games." Now, if you attempt to join a friend's game that's already in progress, the system will wait for the game to finish and then automatically join said friend's party.
All in all, the update has more info than we could condense here -- including some tidbits on the social settings illustrated above -- so you'll just have to head to Bungie.net and read it yourself.
#bungie
Bungie is mixing up Halo: Reach multiplayer with all new rules, adding the concepts of Credits, Rank, and Commendations; it's all part of the Xbox 360 game's new "Player Investment" system, which sounds way more exciting than the name implies. More »
Hot on the heals of Walmart's very sweet deal on Halo: Reach, Amazon has gone ahead and matched it, offering patrons of the pre-order arts a $20 gift card to sign up for Bungie's latest. Based on some very high-brow mathematical calculations, we've deduced that the gift card is actually a 47 percent savings on the title's $59.99 price tag -- a damn decent deal, to be frank.
... what? Oh, you think our math is off? What, did you go to some math college or something? You did? Well, uh, we're ... uh -- look, jet packs!
#halo
It's understandable that game creators hold their franchises dear, and think the world of them. But Bungie's hopes for the upcoming Halo: Reach might be going a little too far. More »
#bungie
Bungie is making some important and dramatic changes to multiplayer matchmaking in Halo: Reach, with a revamped set of online options that cater to the hardcore (see Arena mode) and new social settings that improve everyone else's experience. More »
[Shacknews]
Up until now, we were content with what few details we had about the Halo: Reach beta: its date of arrival and all of that sexy jetpack stuff. According to some details over at Shacknews, there's plenty more to get excited about than just atomic teabagging: new matchmaking and UI features, of course!
The first big addition is Arena playlists, a set of Slayer and Team Slayer playlists for the more hardcore players, complete with its own ranking system. Ranks will be determined through a variety of factors, and will section off players into one of five groups: Onyx, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Steel. As such, Ranked and Social will now be one combined playlist.
Other improvements come to the lobby system, giving players the power to vote on potential games that come up in matchmaking and an auto-queue feature that lets you join friends immediately after they complete a match. There's even a throwback to Halo 2 in the Active Roster screen, an area that shows all of your friends who are playing the game.
#pwnage
In its current alpha state, the camera for Halo: Reach immediately flies back to the deceased's respawn location, rather than lingering while his victorious assailant squats over his face. A bug fix has been submitted. More »
This is what you get for being loyal to Halo 2
If you're one of the die-hard Master Chief fans that just can't let go of Halo 2, there's a chance that you've got some good news waiting in your inbox. Microsoft is currently sending out emails to Xbox Live users, specifically those who insist on clinging to the old ways. As the Xbox Live service for original Xbox games will shut down next month, Microsoft is offering Halo 2 fans quite a severance package.
All told, OG Xbox gamers will receive three months of Xbox Live Gold, 400 Microsoft Points and an invite to the upcoming Halo: Reach multiplayer beta. Granted, it's probably not going to console those who have yet to upgrade to an Xbox 360 -- or those loyal to games other than Halo 2 -- but it's certainly better than nothing. And hey, jet packs, right?
#haloreach
Last night we posted a version of the Halo: Reach multiplayer video that leaked out a tad early, but now that it's official Bungie has a few more details about it. More »
Huh? What do you think you're doing? You're reading a post that has "shows jet packs" in the headline? When you know that there's a Halo Reach beta trailer (leaked by a Taiwanese site called GNN) right after the break? We're just going to assume you've already watched it, because any other scenario speaks ill of your mental stability.
That said ... DUDE! Jet packs! Assassinations! Load outs! New modes! The only feature Bungie forgot to list that was also included in the trailer? Like 50 million boners.
This is the part where we have to say that since it's not official, we don't know for a fact it's real. But if it's not on the level, it's the most elaborate video hoax in all of human kind (except for the moon landing). Tell you what, you let us worry about stuff like that. Meanwhile, why don't you start digging through the clip and let us know what else you find in the comments?
Update: We've replaced the leaked video that was posted after the break with the now officially released trailer above and added one new piece of art in the gallery below. Good news: The trailer's still got jet packs!
If you're the sort who can get as far as "shows jet packs" and want to read these words rather than just going below the break and watching a purported Halo Reach beta trailer from a Taiwanese site called GNN for yourself, there's just nothing we can do for you. So we're just going to assume you've watched it.
That said ... DUDE! Jet packs! Assassinations! Load outs! New modes! The only feature Bungie forgot to list that was also included in that trailer? Like 50 million boners.
This is the part where we have to say that since it's not official, we don't know for a fact it's real. But if it's not on the level, it's the most elaborate video hoax in all of human kind (except for the moon landing). Tell you what, you let us worry about stuff like that. Meanwhile, why don't you start digging through the clip and let us know what else you find in the comments.
#clips
Earlier this week, Bungie said it would be "dropping a multiplayer bomb". It appears a Taiwanese site has dropped that bomb a little early, with the leak of what looks a lot like a new trailer for the game. More »
#screengrab
Heroes star Greg Grunberg attempts to swallow his mic during a voice recording session for Halo Reach, as seen on Greg's Twitter - thanks Noah! More »
Having developed four Halo titles to date, Halo Reach will be Bungie's last game in the series for the foreseeable future. But is it their last game ever in the series? Never say never.
"You know,...
Lots of the celebrities at last night's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 celebrity benefit tournament didn't know much about gaming, but Greg Grunberg is the exception. Even if he can't dive deep into the differences between next-gen shooters, he at least knows the audience, having appeared on Lost and Alias and controlled minds as Matt Parkman on Heroes. He was at the benefit in West Hollywood promoting the Epilepsy Foundation (his son deals with epileptic seizures, and Grunberg has done some advocacy work on his own as well), and right before he sat down to play BFBC2 alongside Chad Ochocinco and Marshall Faulk, he sat down to chat with us.
Read on to hear about what Grunny is doing for Halo: Reach, his favorite iPhone games and why he's so sure there should be one more full season of Heroes.
Microsoft has sent out the latest Halo Waypoint update, detailing the content that we can expect to see in the near future. The update goes over the recent Halo: Reach info that has hit the interwebs, namely the ViDoc and the box art. It notes that this and future Reach info will be posted on the Transmissions section of the official Halo site on Xbox.com. There's also a Valentine's Day screenshot gallery on Waypoint, with help from one Hawty McBloggy.
The real meat of the update, however, is that a new short series from Rooster Teeth -- the crew behind Red vs Blue -- will begin airing on Waypoint starting this weekend. The three part series, entitled "Grifball: Expansion," will air every Saturday starting February 20 and concluding on March 6. The series "tells the story of Team Slipspace and their confrontation with the newest addition to the International Grifball League of Earth." Check out a trailer for the series above.
