TL;DR Double Feature: Video of the Week / Halo Reach Beta Impressions

First off, I want to go back about three years to the Halo 3 beta, which was really the reason you bought Crackdown (even thought it turned out to be a good game). We got our first glimpse into the next generation of the Halo Universe, and all the nuances, the detachable platform guns, the spikers, et.al. But did you ever wonder if Master Chief himself was ever good at the game?

DigitalPh33r gives us your answer. He put together a series of Master Chief themed shorts that eventually evolved into 'Arby and the Chief'. However I want to focus on his first Master Chief short, the original, and quite frankly, his best work, "Master Chief Sucks at Halo". Now, the language is crude and somewhat derogatory, but please take it with a grain of salt and give it a good laugh. Some of the lines in the movie here we still use in non-Halo games. Take a look:





Before I get into the impressions of the Halo Reach muliplayer beta that went live earlier this week (for those with a copy of Halo: ODST), I feel the need to clear the air about a few things Halo:

• I like Halo. You would think this was a no brainer as in "who doesn't like Halo?", but the answer is: a lot of people. Maybe a franchise that is entering its ninth year has worn thin on some gamers that have long since turned to Call of Duty and Bad Company 2 for their FPS multiplayer fix. Yes, it is a game responsible for everyone else doing "Halo jumping" to avoid oncoming fire in other games, but its part of playing Halo. Other devs should have nerfed that move in their own game. Not Bungie's fault. 

• Halo is still relevant. It is the best sci-fi-themed shooter out there. I like it better than Gears (though technically not a space shooter, there are grunts v. aliens), and outside of Goldeneye, it brought people together for parties on made multiplayer on mass scale a priority for game makers. Goldeneye and Quake set the table, Halo was the main course.

• Halo still has room to evolve. I felt that ODST was a bit of a step back in what the game can do in this generation. Technically, it was an expansion to the Halo 3 mythology, I felt I was missing out on something that could have been better. I see Reach as that opportunity to grow. Does that mean I'm ready for Halo 4? I'm not sure, and I don't think Bungie is too keen on it, either. 

Before Bungie gives its flagship franchise the big adiós, we are given a glimpse into what Halo Reach has to offer, and instead of going into a full blown review, I'm just going to say what I liked and what I didn't like. I would like to preface this by saying starting a dialogue about a game that is far from being released is unfair, but hey, Bungie put the game out in this form for us to give our feedback and that's what I'm doing.  

Likes: 

• Character classes. You are given an option to spawn in your game in four different character classes, each with a unique ability. Scout allows you to run, which can be great if you have a melee and/or want to chase someone down from behind. Guardian gives you the ability to strengthen your shield to be impenetrable for a short period of time. Stalker allows you to cloak yourself and jam the surrounding player's radar, and airborne gives you a jetpack that allows for flight for a limited time. Although at this time, you receive the same weapons for the start of each loadout, all the classes appear to be balanced. 
• Upgradability. Leveling doesn't just unlock a random weapon or perk. You can accumulate credits for how you play and you will be able to "purchase" the type of upgrade you would like. Since I've only been able to buy armor upgrades, I haven't been able to determine whether these upgrades afford the player any significant advantage. Again, so far I haven't seen any extra weapon upgrades available yet (they may not be available at all) so this may be slightly incomplete in my assessment.
• Shield/Health. They kind of took from ODST; you have a shield, you a health meter. Your shield will regenerate when depleted, your health does not. You will need to be more careful or find a health pack strewn about the maps in order to heal. This kind of equalizes you getting the drop on the bad guy, him eluding you, and coming back at you at equal strength. 
• Veto is gone. Instead of vetoing the random gametype and map, you get some options in the lobby screen and can vote on the gametype and map you want. I dug that. No more Snowbound!

Meh:

• 1337 Combo is back, at least temporarily. I guess you have to give the plasma pistol some power, but I'd rather not have it in the game at all rather than have people fight for it as much as the rocket launcher. 
• Everything you don't like about Halo hasn't changed. I've come to accept 'Halo Jumping', people dropping from games, wh0ring the rocket launcher, n00b combo, etc., and it doesn't seem like there have been a lot of tweaks to limit the things that most gamers complain about the most. My biggest pet peeve of all is the controller scheme. They've had to integrate a new button to allow you to do your class-specific action, and I still have problems crouching when I'm trying to target someone because the crouch button is clicking the right thumbstick. I'm going to give you a TL;DR to a future commentary about control layouts: FPS's should be uniform layouts, and they should also be customizable. 
• Does it really look that much better? Yes, but probably not as much as you would have hoped. I've only played two multiplayer maps; one of them, Sword Base, kind of lacks originality in level design. Now, that's nitpicking with a beta map, but its what Bungie chose to include. Hopefully its not the cream of the crop.

To Be Determined:

• Weapons. So far, I've noticed redesigns to past Halo 3 weapons, and the addition of a needler rifle (which is pretty cool). I really would like to see more weapon types, and possibly some upgrade options to current weapons. 
• Size of Games. Playing team games, it was 4v4. Normally that would be fine, but as soon as you get in the room, someone almost assuredly drops, and you're mismatched. It would be easier if this mismatch were 6 on 5 than 4 on 3. I'm too lazy to read about how big the rooms will be, but I'd like at least 6 to a side. 
• Use of strategy and teamwork. As I noted in my Bad Company 2 review last night, (Yep, I just did that. Just linked to my own page to a story one post down), I like team games to actually employ a team strategy and the necessity of teamwork. Modern Warfare 2 is almost completely devoid of this. But the jury is out right now on Halo Reach. I'm kind of interested to see how these class differences will affect how team games are played. So far, it hasn't.

There you have it. If anything changes significantly over the course of the beta, I'll try and chime back in and note what I like and what I don't like. In the meantime...

TL;DR- Halo fans should be happy, Haters gon' Hate. Lololololololololololololololol.