Halo: Reach

[Astrex]

Birth of a Spartan

[Failed]

May 3rd BETA, should get a few games in before my Internet's gone which is good.

[Astrex]

May 3rd BETA, should get a few games in before my Internet's gone which is good.

You changing ISP?

Yeah I'm hoping for my early code <fingers crossed> 

[GamerMan316]

[GamerMan316]

Bungie talks Reach issues, promises fixes for release



If you've been playing the Halo: Reach beta -- and, statistically, you probably have -- you've likely noticed a lot a changes compared to Halo 3. Look a little closer and you'll find something more sinister: bugs, glitches, issues. Of course, it is a beta test, so such things are expected. Still, in the latest weekly update, the folks at Bungie decided to calm our fears and explain that things will be fixed for the final release this fall. Among the issues addressed: teammates stealing flags in Stockpile, barely visible aiming reticules and the ad nauseam barrage of "Flag taken ... flag dropped" in CTF matches. Bungie assures fans that these and other issues have already been fixed in the current build of Reach.

In other Reach news, Bungie has posted a handy beta survival guide compiled by community member Shake Appeal. If you're having trouble adjusting to the new weapons, abilities and overall feel of Halo: Reach, you may want to give the guide a once over.

[nCogNeato]

Look a little closer and you'll find something more sinister: bugs, glitches, issues. Of course, it is a beta test, so such things are expected.

And welcome.  That's the point of a beta.



"STOP THE PRESSES!  THIS BETA TEST HAS BUGS!"     /sarcasm

[GamerMan316]

[TaraJayne]

I am going to watch E3 some time this week so I don't want to watch too many videos

[GamerMan316]

I am going to watch E3 some time this week so I don't want to watch too many videos

Theres only really Nintendo & Sony's shows left, MS did their's yesterday and apart from Gears 3 and a few other games it was a bit poor, no big exclusives or anything sadly.

[Failed]

I am going to watch E3 some time this week so I don't want to watch too many videos

Theres only really Nintendo & Sony's shows left, MS did their's yesterday and apart from Gears 3 and a few other games it was a bit poor, no big exclusives or anything sadly.

it was all about Kinetic and the Slim

[nCogNeato]

I am going to watch E3 some time this week so I don't want to watch too many videos

You can watch it all online at G4TV or GameSpot.

I watch the first 15 minutes of MS's conference yesterday, got bored, and went back to playing Oblivion.

[GamerMan316]

Bungie confirms Firefight for Reach

At an evening event in LA tonight, Bungie confirmed that the Firefight co-op multiplayer mode from Halo 3: ODST would return in this year's Halo: Reach.

It will be expanded and improved with new gametypes, the implementation of full Xbox Live matchmaking support, and deep customisability via the in-game editor.

The new modes, which Bungie has used the editor to create, include a more "crafted" and shorter default Firefight mode; Firefight Classic, which has the same settings as ODST; Generator Defense - a variant of the beta test's Network Test 1; and the chaotic Rocketfight in which all loadouts feature rocket launchers with infinite ammo.

Unlike ODST Firefight, the Reach version will be supported by full matchmaking and all the networking features of Reach multiplayer, including Active Roster, Queue-Joining, four-player co-op over live and two-player split-screen per console.

You'll be able to create and share your own Firefight modes, tweaking parameters such as wave properties, match duration, custom skulls, Spartan loadouts and settings including health and jump height, weapon drops, and where generators are located.

Wave traits include the "shootiness" of enemies and how powerful they are; as an example, you could set up a mode in which you face infinite waves of ultra-powerful Grunts.

Any modes you create can be shared with friends and the wider Halo community by uploading them to your file share.

[Failed]

w000 Halo news. Firefight is teh bomb, i still play it splitscreen every now and again, i should go for Endure sometime too!

[nCogNeato]

w000 Halo news. Firefight is teh bomb, i still play it splitscreen every now and again, i should go for Endure sometime too!

If that's the impossible "Make it to Wave 1Billion" count me in.  It's the only cheevo I'm missing.   

[GamerMan316]

Halo: Reach is a "sad goodbye" - Bungie

Bungie's final Halo game is a "labour of love" that will "push the envelope as much as possible" without "ruining the core for fans".

That's according to exec producer Joseph Tung, speaking during a behind-closed-doors E3 presentation where Bungie played through the single-player campaign mission The Long Night of Solace, which featured heavily in Microsoft's press conference.

It was the big surprise in the E3 reveal of Halo: Reach, and Bungie used the session to confirm that space dogfighting will be fully playable in four-player co-op - appearing only in a single mission.

"It takes place about midway through the campaign," explained Tung. "At this point in the campaign the Covenant are invading Reach in full force. The situation's getting pretty dire, but the second in command of Noble team has figured out a way to bring the battle to the Covenant."

The mission begins planetside with some classic Halo scrapping against Covenant forces, ably showing off the game's substantially improved visuals. But the shock of the new comes upon boarding the cockpit of a Saber craft, which blasts skywards in a moody cinematic sequence and leaves orbit as control is handed to the player.

The mission was designed by Sage Merrill, Bungie's sandbox designer, whose previous work on Crimson Skies has clearly had an influence.

"We looked at lots of other flight games that were out there," said Tung. "We didn't want to make a flight simulator for Reach, we wanted to make a very accessible, easy-to-use and fun-to-play space mission. Sage did an amazing job in nailing the Saber in that regard."

The Saber boasts regular lasers and targeting missiles, with meters for shield, hull integrity and thruster heat on the HUD. Tense combat ensues in the shadow of the looming presence of Reach, and as a visual spectacle the set-piece is undeniably spectacular.

"The Saber is limited to Campaign," said community writer Eric Osborne. "The whole mission isn't Saber; and there's something after that we're not revealing." Tung added: "You can play four-player co-op and everyone will have their own Saber in campaign."

Reach is Bungie's final game in the series it created, and Tung admitted it is a "sad goodbye" for the studio. "The team is extremely proud of the game. There's always stuff that falls by the wayside, but I think we got everything in that's critical to the game and more."

The studio also confirmed that Reach will not offer Kinect support, Tung explaining: "I wouldn't say it's not suited, but for us Kinect came online when we were already a year and a half into production and it was impossible to think about integrating it at that point."

Once development wraps, Bungie is committed to supporting the game post-launch and, while refusing to be drawn on details, Tung said: "We expect to put the same support into Reach that we did with past games.

"Reach is absolutely a full-fledged project at Bungie. The number of features you're going to see overall is greater than any other project we've shipped."

Halo: Reach comes to Xbox 360 on 14th September.



If ever a game cries out RENTAL it's this.