Halo: Reach Beta Details: "All of the New Hotness"

IGN must know someone on the inside of Bungie studios because they dropped a great 5-page bomb exploding with Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta details!  Well, ok they probably don't "know someone" and it's just because they're one of the major video game magazine sites in the world and know everyone everywhere ... I just wish I knew someone at a game company :*(

Weird crying aside, the new multiplayer beta information that IGN received from their Bungie interview causes tears to well up behind my gamer eyes in a more regular kind of way.  Here's the skinny:

• We'll be given four maps to play on:  Swordbase, Powerhouse, Overlook, and Boneyard
• The main gametypes offered include, but are not limited to: Slayer, Headhunter, Invasion and, Generator Defense (more on that after the jump break)
• Many of the new weapons will be placed around the maps so Bungie can track the data they need, which means a lot of fun experimenting for us!
• Man-cannons!
• Vehicles!
• Jetpacks! (more on that after the j.b., too)
• Loadouts - I'm not sure what they mean (pg. 5), but it sounds like it's dictated by gametypes?  At least for the beta? 

There are also some really pretty pictures of the maps, which you can see if you continue reading below or check out the article!


So you've clicked to continue reading.  Now, let's talk about Generator Defense and jetpacks.

Generator Defense is actually being called "Network Test 1" by Bungie.  This is because the Generator Defense gametype might not actually ship with the game.  The mode sounds like a bomb-centric, attack/defend/switch type, but you blow up a generator instead.  According to Bungie,

As much as the Reach Beta is an awesome demo of our game, it is just as much a huge test of our matchmaking. We are going to be getting tons and tons of data on people's network connections, how matching times behave, how the game feels. Network Test 1 is really our way of saying that we need to test these really stressful network conditions, let's come up with a game type that allows us to test those conditions and then put it in its own play list. - Lars Bakken

So, unless it becomes really popular (and I wonder how they're going to define "popular" with a gazillion people playing it in the world in May) they say this mode will only exist in the beta.  Sounds like an interesting move, and only time will tell if it makes the cut.  My guess is that it won't initially, but become a staple in a later update like Rocket Race or Grifball were.

And you remember those jetpacks from the trailer, right?  In all humble honesty, I knew everyone was gonna go gaa-gaa over 'em, so I really didn't.  Yeah, it's a new element and will be fun, but you just know everyone will be using it when they get the chance (and I'm including myself in that collective, at least initially).  Thankfully, Bungie foresaw the potential jetpack fever by balancing the pros and cons.  You'll be able to reach heights your normal vertical can't, but you're "slow," "loud," and can become a Needler's lunch.  Thank goodness!  I was really afraid of those stinkin' awesome snipers finding roosts from which to reign (and going too far in the outskirts of the maps will be like going too far in Sandtrap or Sandbox: you won't last long).

All in all, the beta is shaping up to be a huge helping of final features we'll get this fall.  The amount of attention towards multiplayer is great, though leveling up for cosmetic's sake isn't all too thrilling.  I hope it lasts for a while though because even in my hatred of Halo 3 multiplayer, I can't help but get excited with the rest of the 360 community for things Halo.

There is plenty more in the full length article, so get to reading!

And enjoy the eye candy below, but there's even more at IGN's Halo: Reach images pages!