Halo: Reach - Near Exclusive Details

[Astonix]

**Although I wrote this for my site, thought I'd be nice and post it here (;**

Found some news on the eagerly awaited, Halo: Reach. Firstly, Halo: Reach will be set just two weeks before the starting point of the original Halo.




First 3 Missions
The game starts with a mission where you're a Spartan attempting to regroup with the others whilst fighting off Elites and riding about in a Warhog.

In the second mission you'll be escorting a female Spartan across the battlefield so that she can hack the AA weapons, helping your team by eliminating Banshess.

Mission three is a stealth mission. You'll have to make your way across a cliffside to a convenant base whilst avoiding patrols.



The whole game is running on a new engine but still keeps that Halo-like feel just with a few changes and new pieces of kit to add to your arsenal.


New Pieces
A high-speed sprint device.
Cloaking device - dulls your FoV (field of view) but makes you near invisible.
Halogram



Changes to the game


* The Sniper Rifle fires slower (FINALLY!)
* The Battle Rifle is now a 12 shot ranged gun
* Covenant Carbine fires explosive Needler bolts.


It's still far from completion but the beta testing should be starting in a few months. At the moment though, apart from the above, their trying to keep it as hush as possible.

[Jason]

Wow, that's some good info. Thanks for the heads up! :) Rep++

[ScarePriest]

Interesting, I wonder how it will turn out

[MyNameDidntFit]

"Mission three is a stealth mission. You'll have to make your way across a cliffside to a convenant base whilst avoiding patrols."

Good to see Halo isn't missing out on the obligatory stealth mission bandwagon... -_-

[Astonix]

I hate stealth missions. Just slow the gameplay down and ruin it. Usually end up failing it most times too because I'm trying to do it too quick. Anywho, if they bring Halo up to date and make it more fun, it might even contest with mw2

[MyNameDidntFit]

Stealth missions in principle are great. However, most games that add them in tend to do so badly and in an engine that is entirely not built for it.

Take Modern Warfare 2, for example; the idea of the stealth missions in that involves no actual stealth and, instead, is simply the dumbing down of the AI so that they don't notice their friends being killed and the addition of magical super-suppressors (in MW2 you can get a suppressed automatic shotgun that the enemy wont hear -_-).

[Jason]

In case any of you were hearing rumours of Halo: Reach having features that were enabled for Project Natal, Bungie have come out this week and confirmed that this will not be the case.

On one hand it's a shame, as I think Natal will need a major tie-in to take off, but on the other hand, the Halo franchise is in an awkward position right now, with ODST getting mixed reviews and a large proportion of fans starting to agree that the series has failed to hit the heights that the original reached. Halo: Reach needs to be something special to restore the series' bragging rights as the best console shooter around, but Bungie are a good enough developer to do that if they take their time.

[Rob]

Good find Astonix.

but...........


The whole game is running on a new engine but still keeps that Halo-like feel just with a few changes and new pieces of kit to add to your arsenal.


Sounds like another ODST to me. I'm will remain pessimistic about this entire game until they show me that it's not going to be another bs expansion at full price. Have you heard anything about the length and depth of the campaign? I know its early and that the game can and most likely will change before release but I can't get excited. The Halo games are failing to innovate in any meaningful way. There is only so much of the same game w/ new weapons that I can take before moving on. Sorry to throw a wrench in here but I really liked Halo up until ODST. Now i'm cranky haha :) Let's hope Bungie grows a pair and introduces some new mechanics.

[subkill182]

I just Beat ODST and feel the graphics and engine is seriously lacking. Maybe this is because just before I played ODST I just beat Battlefield Bad Company 2 and thought that game was amazing.
I hope the next Halo is good like true HD. The multi player trailer looked good kind of like tribes with a more gimp jet pack we will see but I am not holding my breath.

[Jason]

Yeah, I think the Halo engine is starting to show its age, particularly - as you pointed out - against blockbuster FPS games like Battlefield and Call of Duty.

I really do genuinely hope that Halo: Reach reinvents the series - Bungie did such a tremendous job in bringing the FPS to console gamers with the original, there's no reason they can't do it, but they have to be brave and take risks - the 'tried and tested' formula from the older games isn't going to work here, ODST proved that.

[Steph]

Hmm, I've never seen the real hype about Halo ... I mean I have it and played it a few times but it's never engaged me.

Think I might check out this new one though after reading this thread haha. If they do make all those changes and stuff you guys are talking about it just might be good.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Halo was good for its time because it was innovative. It basically built console FPS gaming single-handedly by being awesome. Now... well, now it's in the shadow of CoD and its ilk because they're still doing the same thing they did in the first one (and not even as well, IMO).

The real appeal of the Halo games, for me, was co-operative. I spent so many sleepless nights Halo'ing away on Legendary with a mate :D

[Steph]

Ooooh.

I think I'm going slightly off topic here so I'm sorry about that but I have to ask, is it true that Halo started off the whole tea-bagging frenzy?

[Jason]

Nah, teabagging was around way before Halo. It was the first game to really make it prevalent on consoles, but I know teabagging was a nice way of rubbing in a kill on the original Quake, which was around in the 90s.

[Steph]

Ah, I kept getting told it was Halo that started it ... I'll enjoy rubbing that in their Halo-Obsessed faces :P

Or actually, knowing them it'll probably end up in a massive argument I'd rather avoid haha.

But anyway, after looking into it a bit more I'm going to try this new Halo.
Thanks Astonix =)

[Rob]

From Co-Optimus (http://www.co-optimus.com/article/3662/halo-reach-will-use-new-player-investment-system.html)...
As players complete quests or even versus matches they earn credits (called "cR" in the game) to apply to purchasing armor in the game. The credits will be doled out based on actions in the game. For instance, phenomenal headshots will be rewarded with cR. The amount of cR you earn will directly reflect your mad skills - though, the armor sets are purely aesthetic with no real functional benefit. But, you'll look really cool (and when you do look really cool, you should start a thread on this site to share your awesome armor sets.)
Bungie is really stepping things up a notch. Innovation.... failure.

[Jason]

Hum. Whilst I really want Halo Reach to do well, I have a horrible feeling it's just going to be another ODST... not entirely without merit, and most definitely not a bad game, but another step towards mediocrity.

[Jason]

Here's an interesting gameplay video of Reach in action...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2lvontJbp8

[Anne]

Well... Hm.

I desperately want Reach to be awesome for the simple reason that the first Halo game was the only FPS that I was ever really, really into. I loved it so much, but everything after it was kind of a disappointment. So I would be thrilled if Reach was completely spectacular.

But from the video and the talk about what we can expect, I don't see anything really fabulous and life changing. While shooting peeps from a jetpack might be good times, I don't see this as being anything truly amazing. Which is unfortunate, but oh well.

I'm sure I'll buy it anyway though.

[Jason]

I have to say, my thoughts mirror yours almost exactly, Anne - I really want it to be a reboot for the series, but I don't think it will be. I saw the first TV spot for it tonight - no gameplay footage, though.