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Halo: Reach Beta Thread

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
Going to skip H3 Customs tonight. Want to take a short Halo break after Reach. Need to format thoughts into words about my experience and thankfully H3 isn't going anywhere any time soon.

And Easy, I used the Camo a lot during the Beta and I think you suggestion would be quite welcome.

I used Camo in the typical sort of scenarios such as sneaking about and whatnot but I used it to escape from hairy situations and the radar jamming effect I abused outright to confuse the enemy team.

If it wasn't for the radar jamming effects I don't think I would have used it quite as much as I did.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Trasher said:
It sounds like you love the possibility of what Reach could be. Perhaps you will love what MLG comes up with. Yet I know you didn't love Arena which was supposed to be for competitive gamers like yourself. You are telling me that you loved the map/gametype combos that were picked for the beta? I thought some were decent, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that I "loved" them.

No, the map and gametype combos were actually what I disliked the most. I loved the core gameplay although it does need some tweaking (Melee, grenades) The maps and weapon layouts were partly why I didn't play Arena. It wasn't vanilla enough for me. But I'm not worried about it. There's gonna be something for everyone but the problem I had with Arena and was also the reason I stopped playing Team Slayer in Halo 3 was because of the possibility of shitty(aka not to my liking) gametypes. I don't wanna play 4v4 Slayer on Valhalla, so I won't even play the playlist. 4v4 Isolation AR start, no thanks. BR starts on Pit? I can dig it, how often would I get to play that though? I clung on to MLG so hard with Halo 3 because the gametypes from v5 (IIRC) and on are exactly the type of games I loved playing in Halo 3. BR start, no radar, small maps with a nice mix of the best objective gametypes Halo 3 has to offer. I was never a huge fan of MLG Guardian ball but 10/11 great gametypes isn't bad at all.

I love Reach but I didn't love the Beta.

edit: I also stopped playing the Halo 3 beta mid way and went back to Halo 2 but in the end I think Halo 3 is way better than Halo 2. I only played about 10 games of Halo 3 while the Reach bet was active. I did play a lot of Super Street Fighter IV though lol
 

neoism

Member
Trasher said:
Wow. I'm actually agreeing with Dax here. NeoGAF first for me I think!
You know I loved the beta, but I still feel like Customs is going to save it... Don't get me wrong I like the multiplayer , but I was getting tired of it about a week before it was over... I guess it doesn't help that I'm not a good Halo player ,and Reach is much more difficult. I really hope Firefight has matchmaking if soo ( besides BTB) I see myself playing it a lot more.
 

Gui_PT

Member
Letters said:
VV SMG2 really doesn't need to be recommended, you should give up your gamer card if you're not buying that.

You know a great game you can get just for straight up fun?

Spit Second. It's like Michael Bay made a videogame.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
Trasher said:
Is there anyone out there who was a general in Halo 3 and actually loves Reach? Just curious because I haven't met one yet. Seems like all of the people giving Reach rave reviews haven't played the game very much and are lower skilled players. That's not supposed to be mean either. It's just what I've noticed so far.
I am a general on both of my gamertags. The other two tags which I play on (that are shared, with my brothers) are also General's And I LOVE Reach.

And before you go tag hunting:

Mine: (both haven't been used in a while)
http://www.bungie.net/stats/halo3/careerstats.aspx?player=Xenolock
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/careerstats.aspx?player=I5Ei+Xeno&sg=0

Shared:
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/careerstats.aspx?player=ICSI+Reaver&sg=0
http://www.bungie.net/stats/halo3/careerstats.aspx?player=Kajin Style
 

Lazslo

Member
Dani said:
I used Camo in the typical sort of scenarios such as sneaking about and whatnot but I used it to escape from hairy situations and the radar jamming effect I abused outright to confuse the enemy team.
I used camo numerous times during invasion- I would be the guy who let my teammate go into the base to try and capture the territory in the first phase while I sat back and popped camo so they could spawn pretty close and try again- it worked very good. The amount of time saved from spawning on me in the base really helped, it also confused the shit out of the enemy team by jamming their radar.
 

zumphry

Banned
Gui_PT said:
90% of it looks rehashed, imo

egpsnd.jpg


Anyway, played ODST today and was surprised I could jump again. Weird.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Pre-game lobby: "Let's just mess around and not kill each other!"

Three minutes into the game: *teabagging*

That's HaloGAF for ya. Every "let's mess around" game turned into a competition within minutes. Its in their blood.

Haha I played a game like that with HaloGaf, except I heard gunfire, a teammate said theyre killing us, and the game went crazy. :lol
 
*regrets selling Wii even though I had SMG*

Man, I wish I could play SMG2.

/blatantly off-topic.
bobs99 ... said:
Haha I played a game like that with HaloGaf, except I heard gunfire, a teammate said theyre killing us, and the game went crazy. :lol
I remember that game. Half of the people or more on my team quit, including Ghal and I.:lol
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
bobs99 ... said:
Haha I played a game like that with HaloGaf, except I heard gunfire, a teammate said theyre killing us, and the game went crazy. :lol


Tried to have a game for the first F&F game and the first Invasion match when that playlist went live with just HaloGAF and I had asked for no shooting, just exploration and trying things out. Both failed. Particularly the Invasion game. Cause of this never bothered trying to organise an NT1 HaloGAF exploration game.

Kind of stupid that you can't get a bunch of folks from here to host something civil without some folks deliberately going out of their way to funk it up for everyone else.
 
soldat7 said:
After the awesomeness of the beta and HaloGAF's desire to have more of the same, I've come to the conclusion that HaloGAF as a whole is simply out of touch with what makes a good Halo game. My friends and everyone I work with absolutely loved the beta. We literally couldn't stop talking about it and had life allowed, would have played so much more. I guess that's why I was so shocked to hear people here complaining about movement, weapons, and well, just about everything. I simply and categorically disagree with just about every complaint leveled at Reach on this message board. Was the beta perfect? Nope. Was it the train-wreck that so many of you make it out to be? Absolutely not.

It really makes me wonder how much Reach will change, and whether these changes will be for the better or for the worse. I put my money on Bungie making the right decisions, but I have to wonder given some of the harsh reactions here on GAF. I really hope that a message board minority (let's face it, HaloGAF is a very small number of people) won't have much of an impact on a developer that's just trying to make a kick butt game. I'm very sorry and don't mean to offend, but HaloGAF, you're out of touch.

With Reach it really feels as if Bungie went back to what made the original Halo a "combat evolved" experience. I had the time of my life playing Halo 2 with my friends, and with Halo 3, it died out very quickly. Reach resparked that Halo fire for us, and it really felt like a natural evolution of the game. From my experience, it was successful in catering to both the hardcore like myself, and the casuals like many of my friends. It was balanced, fun, spontaneous, tactical, skillful, and well, Halo evolved.

Reach takes just what it needs from past Halo games and adds its own special sauce. I don't want mechanical parity with Halo 3. I don't want the weapons to behave the same from the targeting to the damage, to the grenades. I don't want to leap around like I've been leaping for years, and I don't even care to run as fast. I want Halo but I want it updated and fresh, and that's what Reach provided.

I'm really anxious to see if Bungie can sort through the feedback and introspectively look at what their goals are with Reach and head towards those ends. Come fall, I'm hoping that both camps will be pleasantly satisfied. And if not, perhaps we'll reunite around Bungie's new IP. :D

toodles

This is HaloGaf, if anything we have ours standards higher than your friends do. Halo Reach is about as close to Halo CE as Halo 3 is.


TheSeks said:
HAND GAFesmatterns?

What is these secret you're trying to give us!?

THIS! I also tried to figure it out. :lol
 
Dani said:
Tried to have a game for the first F&F game and the first Invasion match when that playlist went live with just HaloGAF and I had asked for no shooting, just exploration and trying things out. Both failed. Particularly the Invasion game. Cause of this never bothered trying to organise an NT1 HaloGAF exploration game.

Kind of stupid that you can't get a bunch of folks from here to host something civil without some folks deliberately going out of their way to funk it up for everyone else.
Odd, a group of us (only 2 of the 6 were gaffers) did pretty much exactly that on the last day.
 
Dani said:
Tried to have a game for the first F&F game and the first Invasion match when that playlist went live with just HaloGAF and I had asked for no shooting, just exploration and trying things out. Both failed. Particularly the Invasion game. Cause of this never bothered trying to organise an NT1 HaloGAF exploration game.

Kind of stupid that you can't get a bunch of folks from here to host something civil without some folks deliberately going out of their way to funk it up for everyone else.

Sorry Dax, Ghal Dani and the rest, I killed you a few times that game, but only after I had already been shot up, I honestly thought we had started combat, I tried tbagging the floor (I think I ran upto Dax but got killed by a teammate before I could signal my intentions) to get your team to leave me alone but that peace offering went unnoticed, I was confused. :lol


Trasher said:
Yes, level 50s. Still have yet to hear from any.

Im a 50! but so are you, Tashi, all the other TJ's and Juices?

I dont think 'skill level' comes into liking a game or not, people can argue all they want about bloom or whatever but a 50's opinion is no more valid than a 1's on what makes a game fun. I do think that people who start a sentence off with "I have never played Halo much" should never be allowed to go on to say "but this is the best Halo ever!!!" though. :lol
 
Dani said:
Tried to have a game for the first F&F game and the first Invasion match when that playlist went live with just HaloGAF and I had asked for no shooting, just exploration and trying things out. Both failed. Particularly the Invasion game. Cause of this never bothered trying to organise an NT1 HaloGAF exploration game.

Kind of stupid that you can't get a bunch of folks from here to host something civil without some folks deliberately going out of their way to funk it up for everyone else.
Haha, the last day me and 5 friends played I managed to boot two guys and their guests from one team and the other remaining two players were booted as well. It lead to some awesome messing around on Invasion Slayer that's for sure.

Just played some Social Slayer, Team Mythic and Swat with my bro and Zeouterlimits. There was a pace I had not witnessed in a few weeks :p I can't place if it was faster/slower but I liked knowing my shots were hitting. (Can't help but notice some flaws with Halo 3... It's rather hard to hear when you've been stuck compared to Reach me thinks)
 

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
Anyone have an idea as to when the post-beta media hype will happen? I remember back in '07, a week after the Halo 3 Beta ended, there were many sites having new coverage of the game revealing new maps like Epitaph and unveiling the armor customization.

I'm guessing around E3 this year?
 

Lazslo

Member
Domino Theory said:
Anyone have an idea as to when the post-beta media hype will happen? I remember back in '07, a week after the Halo 3 Beta ended, there were many sites having new coverage of the game revealing new maps like Epitaph and unveiling the armor customization.

I'm guessing around E3 this year?
I'm actually surprised they haven't released a ship date for Reach yet. If I remember correctly Bungie announced a release date for H3 the day the beta went live. I'm guessing at E3 they will announce a date along with kind of demo they play on stage or a cool trailer.
 

Striker

Member
bobs99 ... said:
This is HaloGaf, if anything we have ours standards higher than your friends do. Halo Reach is about as close to Halo CE as Halo 3 is.
Of course each person carries their own opinion in higher regard than others. Using the player's tools of destruction from a beta, or if they were a General in Halo 3, has no relevance whatsoever. It's like some feel like they don't want others to like the beta because they didn't feel the same way.
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
Domino Theory said:
Anyone have an idea as to when the post-beta media hype will happen? I remember back in '07, a week after the Halo 3 Beta ended, there were many sites having new coverage of the game revealing new maps like Epitaph and unveiling the armor customization.

I'm guessing around E3 this year?

Well Bungie said they'd be focusing back on Campaign after the Beta, for E3, but I'm sure we'll start getting more multiplayer stuff - Firefight and maps, from then onwards.

I've already started planning the Halo Reach Pre Release Thread (or going by the new naming system Halo: Reach Pre-Release |OT|).
 
Domino Theory said:
Anyone have an idea as to when the post-beta media hype will happen? I remember back in '07, a week after the Halo 3 Beta ended, there were many sites having new coverage of the game revealing new maps like Epitaph and unveiling the armor customization.

I'm guessing around E3 this year?
Urk said:
So what else has the team been doing while you were busy with the fun and games provided by the Beta besides making everything better? Kicking every single ass they lay eyes on, that’s what. I’m shocked and surprised most of the team hasn’t been arrested for excessive awesome. Should be a crime to be so cool under pressure.

On the heels of the fifth campaign playtest the team continues work at a blistering pace to make sure all the sweet stuff we’ve promised to include, and all the amazing stuff you don’t even know about yet, is ready to go for prime time.

For a little bit more about the phenomenal progress being made, check out Marcus’ most recent remarks over at Noble Actual.

You might be seeing the fruit of the team’s laborious but glorious labor sooner than you think. Can’t wait to see the stupid look on your faces when you bear witness, too. Stay tuned.
Dani said:
Well Bungie said they'd be focusing back on Campaign after the Beta, for E3, but I'm sure we'll start getting more multiplayer stuff - Firefight and maps, from then onwards.

I've already started planning the Halo Reach Pre Release Thread (or going by the new naming system Halo: Reach Pre-Release |OT|).
I'm thinking about making a GAF Replays edition for all four Halo campaigns sometime in August or late July.:D
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
bobs99 ... said:
Im a 50! but so are you, Tashi, all the other TJ's and Juices?

I dont think 'skill level' comes into liking a game or not, people can argue all they want about bloom or whatever but a 50's opinion is no more valid than a 1's on what makes a game fun.
I do think that people who start a sentence off with "I have never played Halo much" should never be allowed to go on to say "but this is the best Halo ever!!!" though. :lol

It matters to some people. If I hadn't played Reach and asked a level 25 in Halo 3, "How's the DMR?" and then I ask a 50 general in Halo 3 the same question, the 50's opinion is more valid to me. I don't think anyone's saying that someone can't have fun if they're bad at Halo but it's a little different. 25's in Halo 3 and 50's in Halo 3 are kind of playing different games. And that's fine.

That's just the way it is.
 

Gui_PT

Member
Dani said:
Tried to have a game for the first F&F game and the first Invasion match when that playlist went live with just HaloGAF and I had asked for no shooting, just exploration and trying things out. Both failed. Particularly the Invasion game. Cause of this never bothered trying to organise an NT1 HaloGAF exploration game.

Kind of stupid that you can't get a bunch of folks from here to host something civil without some folks deliberately going out of their way to funk it up for everyone else.


"Let's look at the skybox"

"Holy crap look at all those destroyed ships!"

"Hey look Covenant Cruisers!"

And then the other team started killing us and I wasn't able to enjoy boneyard like that ever again =(
 
Striker said:
Of course each person carries their own opinion in higher regard than others. Using the player's tools of destruction from a beta, or if they were a General in Halo 3, has no relevance whatsoever. It's like some feel like they don't want others to like the beta because they didn't feel the same way.

I agree with EVERYTHING except the bolded. If anything people who liked the game were trying to convince people that they’re complaints/ feedback was irrelevant. Rather than accepting that some people don’t like certain mechanics people actually went out of they’re way to try and discredit the complaints.

Feedback is good, the way people initially provided it was bad, but the bitchy posts probably went on longer than they needed to in response to equally dickish pro-tips.


It matters to some people. If I hadn't played Reach and asked a level 25 in Halo 3, "How's the DMR?" and then I ask a 50 general in Halo 3 the same question, the 50's opinion is more valid to me. I don't think anyone's saying that someone can't have fun if they're bad at Halo but it's a little different. 25's in Halo 3 and 50's in Halo 3 are kind of playing different games. And that's fine.

That's just the way it is.

It matters from a competitive viewpoint sure - if someone complains about the BR from a competitive standpoint, I check they’re record but if someone complains about the BR saying they just genuinely don’t like it from a 'fun' perspective than that’s cool, ive heard that said from 50's and 1's.

but yeah I agree, when I go to friends houses and watch them play Halo it REALLY is a different game at different levels and I will admit, I checked levels of people giving feedback but I didn’t really take they’re feedback less seriously if they were low unless they gave off an official tone of voice, I hate to say it but I am a bit rankist when it comes to people taking the game competitively, if a guy tells me to hide im not gonna listen if hes running around dual weilding Spikers telling me I suck, for example (true story) :lol .

ANYWAY...

I think it would be awesome if MS/ Bungie made all the DLC free (or at least the Legendary DLC free), I have ODST so this isnt from a personal perspective, I just think it could help get people back into Halo 3 in its last few months. :D
 

Dirtbag

Member
Hydranockz said:
My original point was that some people can't handle the change. The core gameplay? Remember?

Would I be right in saying that you and those of similar levels think that it has changed perhaps too much going to Reach? Because if that is the case I would have to say that perhaps you were too rooted to Halo 3's gameplay, might you agree?

I consider myself a hardcore halo fan, I've played countless hours of Halo 3 (and beyond), but also haven't played Halo 3 in about a years time. So I consider myself pretty removed and open to a new experience.

I am also one of the most vocal posters on here about hating map remakes, and think nostalgia is the worst thing for games. I've always felt like you should leave the mp maps in the past, and the new maps should be made to cater to a games strength.

Having said all that, I can say that I honestly believe that while reach is really fun in many areas, it has ruined the highly competative and skilled gameplay with bloom (considering it affects the two most important weapons Pistol/DMR). The grenades have made any area they appear in lopsided, and the movement makes the game feel altogether different. The vehicles being another huge complaint, is also a huge departure in the series. They don't really serve any purpose at this point thanks to the AA's and have no balance in the sandbox. Given that I've never really played a bungie game that has felt so sloppy in so many areas, I don't really know what to think about it. I've only ever played a MP experience by them that has felt either polished or innovative.. and I didn't see any of that in reach.
 

Ramirez

Member
Striker said:
Of course each person carries their own opinion in higher regard than others. Using the player's tools of destruction from a beta, or if they were a General in Halo 3, has no relevance whatsoever. It's like some feel like they don't want others to like the beta because they didn't feel the same way.

I think it's a fairly valid argument, if a person is relying on melee, nades, or spam weapons as their top TOD, then of course they're probably not going to run into as many problems with bloom as someone who is using Pistol/DMR pretty much exclusively.

As Tashi said, some people are playing an entirely different game than others just based on their trueskill matches, this is probably why there is such a divide amongst some of us on the game at this point. I know that when I was donging on scrubs in GB I rarely complained about the game. :lol But when I was matched in a competitive enviornment I encountered so much more nonsense with the game. I don't want bloom gone, I just want it consistent.
 

Oozer3993

Member
Tashi0106 said:
:lol :lol Yea, people were getting angry and restless in there. I almost bailed on the party to go in alone. lol

I'm sorry, but my connection just isn't that fast lol. My download took like an hour longer than the rest of you guys :lol

Letters said:
YES! Everyone buy that game. It's an amazing experience, can't wait to replay it eventually.



^^^ RDR was incredible at first, but then got repetitive and boring fast for me. And I love westerns... :(

VV SMG2 really doesn't need to be recommended, you should give up your gamer card if you're not buying that.

I disliked SMG1 and have no plans to buy SMG2. So there :p Metroid: Other M though, looks awesome.
 

Sai

Member
Trasher said:
Is there anyone out there who was a general in Halo 3 and actually loves Reach?
* Sai raises hand.

Though the times I actually played like a General were few and far in between. :lol

It's definitely got issues, quite a few of them are supposed to be resolved for the retail release. So I'm hopeful.
 

Trasher

Member
Tashi0106 said:
No, the map and gametype combos were actually what I disliked the most. I loved the core gameplay although it does need some tweaking (Melee, grenades) The maps and weapon layouts were partly why I didn't play Arena. It wasn't vanilla enough for me. But I'm not worried about it. There's gonna be something for everyone but the problem I had with Arena and was also the reason I stopped playing Team Slayer in Halo 3 was because of the possibility of shitty(aka not to my liking) gametypes. I don't wanna play 4v4 Slayer on Valhalla, so I won't even play the playlist. 4v4 Isolation AR start, no thanks. BR starts on Pit? I can dig it, how often would I get to play that though? I clung on to MLG so hard with Halo 3 because the gametypes from v5 (IIRC) and on are exactly the type of games I loved playing in Halo 3. BR start, no radar, small maps with a nice mix of the best objective gametypes Halo 3 has to offer. I was never a huge fan of MLG Guardian ball but 10/11 great gametypes isn't bad at all.

I love Reach but I didn't love the Beta.

edit: I also stopped playing the Halo 3 beta mid way and went back to Halo 2 but in the end I think Halo 3 is way better than Halo 2. I only played about 10 games of Halo 3 while the Reach bet was active. I did play a lot of Super Street Fighter IV though lol
If they can get a handful of amazing multiplayer maps coupled with the right gametypes/loadouts, then yes, I can see this game ultimately taking the crown for Halo multiplayer. It gets me giddy just thinking about the glorious netcode and sandbox. BUT, they have to nail it with some multiplayer maps, and that's never seemed to be easy for them as of late.
 
As I said above I've been out of the loop as to what's going on the the thread but I absolutely loved the Reach beta and loved almost all of the tweaks. It's very exciting to see Bungie saying "X has changed, get used to it" in the Bungie Weekly Update. I'm glad they're not giving in to the whiners.
 

Dirtbag

Member
Sai said:
* Sai raises hand.

Though the times I actually played like a General were few and far in between. :lol

It's definitely got issues, quite a few of them are supposed to be resolved for the retail release. So I'm hopeful.

You kind of skirted the question there.
If the game came out at retail in this very state, would you feel the same way?

ToyMachine228 said:
It's very exciting to see Bungie saying "X has changed, get used to it" in the Bungie Weekly Update. I'm glad they're not giving in to the whiners.
They've also said "fixed for fall" for a truckload of things so I find your interpretation of this message interesting. But hey if we all think we won come fall, great.
 

Lazslo

Member
ToyMachine228 said:
I have been so busy I haven't been able to follow the thread. How goes the HaloGAF Reach Beta Montage?
It's coming along- Chap's been working on it but it might be a couple of weeks before we see it- Probably around the first week of June I'm guessing.
 

Dirtbag

Member
Sai said:
Absolutely not. :/
Maybe that's the most jarring thing of all, since we're all used to a much tighter experience from bungie. I mean even the halo 3 beta felt much tighter then this has. I can't remember having such a laundry list of bugs and complaints that time around. Maybe we are all just used to so much more, that we almost expect it no matter the circumstance.
 

Trasher

Member
Dirtbag said:
Maybe that's the most jarring thing of all, since we're all used to a much tighter experience from bungie. I mean even the halo 3 beta felt much tighter then this has. I can't remember having such a laundry list of bugs and complaints that time around. Maybe we are all just used to so much more, that we almost expect it no matter the circumstance.
Or it's because they changed so much more when going from 3 to Reach when compared to going from 2 to 3.
 

Dirtbag

Member
Trasher said:
Or it's because they changed so much more when going from 3 to Reach when compared to going from 2 to 3.

But if they changed it, and it still worked, would we really care? I know I wouldn't.
I felt like I was playing more because it was a beta that was ending soon, and not because I was having so much fun that I was making time to play no matter the circumstance.
I had some good moments, but it alll just felt lackluster.
 
Trasher said:
Is there anyone out there who was a general in Halo 3 and actually loves Reach? Just curious because I haven't met one yet. Seems like all of the people giving Reach rave reviews haven't played the game very much and are lower skilled players. That's not supposed to be mean either. It's just what I've noticed so far.

General Here.

Loved the Beta, Hated Pro starts until I started to play with 3 other good people.

The gameplay was tight minus vehicles and the few gripes I had are being fixed. So yea, I loved my experience with it.
 

Dirtbag

Member
Hydranockz said:
I can't wait to se the changes come fall. Base player traits, vehicles, maps. Oh man, I have totally forgotten about maps....

I'm definitely looking forward to hearing about the changes for fall.
This game really has a scary upside considering where it sits currently, and the history at bungie.

Hopefully the posters that are so ready to embrace change and preach about it, are ready to embrace some more since it's so in their nature.
 
Dirtbag said:
I'm definitely looking forward to hearing about the changes for fall.
This game really has a scary upside considering where it sits currently, and the history at bungie.

Hopefully the posters that are so ready to embrace change and preach about it, are ready to embrace some more since it's so in their nature.
I just hope it gets a good run before people stop playing it. I bet there will be some who, scarred from the beta, won't go near the final game :(
 
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