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Halo: Reach Beta Thread

The more I play of the game, (only 5 hours so far...stupid work...), the more I feel that the AR and pistol are perfectly balanced against each other as close-mid ranged weapons.

Why?

Because every game, there are equal numbers of people using both, in slightly different situations or areas of the map. Myself included.

My only concern is that the AR's efficacy really comes hand-in-hand with the new, powerful grenades. Toss a grenade to weaken a player and then shred their remaining health as you close the gap. You have to be a freaking Jedi to pull off 5 headshots in the amount of time you have from grenade impact to death.

I love the new grenades, but so many people seem to be complaining about them that they're likely to be nerfed. People keep saying that people spam nades, but those who do are just leaving themselves at a disadvantage when they get into trouble. Its so satisfying when a pistoleer has nailed me with four headshots, Im at death's door, and then I place a grenade right at their feet for a one-hit-kill.

No skill? BS. Placing grenades is no less valuable a skill than nailing headshots.
 
Nutter said:
Not sure if its by design but the DMR even at closed boom is not accurate. :(
.
I thought I noticed that as well. Really disappointing, hope it was just a beta/netcode anomaly.
I don't mind the rate of fire on the DMR as much as others do, but it should be super accurate at least.

Also I'm in the camp of +2 bullets to the pistol clip.

More thud to the bullet weapons would be nice, and I can't stand the grenade sound-deadening
 
Well I played 61 games on day one and only won 35 games according to BNet. Not playing Halo for the past several months has made me extremely slow to react. I feel like such a bad player at this game now... :(

Jumping; I am still getting used to but as some others have said, having the sprint ability combined with jumps makes up for the lack of jumping ability in Reach. I like being able to take a running start, jump and hit the top of some kind of ledge, jump again and then make my way to an even higher spot. This could get interesting.

Melee: This is my biggest issue with the beta so far. I am pumping and pumping bullets into a guy with an AR or the DMR at medium to close range. I get close enough and melee. My opponent gets tickled while I die from the simultaneous melee. I am not exaggerating that I must have lost 90% of my melee battles. Someone explained to me that the first melee will always take away the shields only. It doesn’t matter if they have full shields or just a tiny sliver left. The melee will just deplete the shields. What happened to the golden Halo gameplay rule of 3? This broken/updated melee has me so confused on how to play the game. I just don't want to be that same guy who complained and bitched about how Halo 3 was when it was released and how Halo 2 was much better. I want to love Halo Reach so much that its bothering me that I have not instantly fallen in love with it like I did with Halo 2 and 3. I know I do love it but why do I feel like I have to convince myself that I love it? :(

Well now that I am done complaining
out of love of course
, I must say the rest of the game is good old Halo to me. Here are some quick background/skybox pictures. I don't know how to break out of the maps in Theatre Mode to get better pics but at least this should be a nice preview for those who haven’t had a chance to play it yet.

Fire Water
reach_1683_Medium.jpg


Sword Base Skybox
reach_1795_Medium.jpg


Powerhouse background
reach_5053_Medium.jpg


Powerhouse background
reach_5056_Medium.jpg


With the MP maps based on SP now, it makes me wonder what parts of the background may give us clues as to what other maps and SP levels there may be.
 
Pappasman said:
Is anyone else completley underwelhmed by the Focus Rifle?

I don't mind it so far. On an open map it's going to dominate. Right now it seems the stream needs to be pretty constant for you to get the kill.
 
Olivero said:
I dunno... Sound design in BFBC:2 is absolutely awesome and is much better than what we have in Reach imho.

Admittedly we haven't had vehicles in play yet, and a good deal of BFBC:2's awesome sound i s from the vehicles themselves.

No way man, most of the great sound from BFBC2 comes from the gunfire, and explosions. Put it on War Tapes audio, and after a trench style standoff, the echo from the weaponry during a lull is INSANE. Like seriously, it sounds like the firefight from Heat.
 
Mr. B Natural said:
Both the graphics and sound are underwhelming for a AAA title like this one.


I disagree, is it the graphics or design that are underwhelming? As far as graphics go, its better then any FPS ive seen on the 360. When it comes to graphic design/art style its subjective. They have most of the same effects of all of the other AAA titles, they just keep them light and subtle and keep everything simple and plain. SSAO, insane textures, motion blur etc... it all looks great to me. Im really happy with the tech, I cannot wait to see other maps and other designs in the campaign.
 
Pappasman said:
Is anyone else completley underwelhmed by the Focus Rifle?

I bloody love the Focus Rifle! :D

It's funny, when I first played the beta I was impressed at how much better and 'meatier' the guns sounded compared to Halo 3.

So many conflicting opinions in this thread in general.
 
WJD said:
So many things need fixing right now it's unreal. It's just not a fun experience.

Not for me, anyway.

Actually, just give me DMR/Needle Rifle starts and I'll be happy. Whenever I have one of them, I enjoy things a lot more.
 
Havok said:
That's not necessarily true. There was definitely some improvement from Halo 3 beta to retail, especially in detail addition like the decorators.

http://rework3d.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=867375

They certainly made changes, but the overall quality is identical. Looks like they improved the LOD a little and changed the leaf texture. Other than that, the changes you are seeing are just slight light adjustments.
You got 6 months to finish a game. If you make serious changes, you gotta retest everything all over again. It happens, but usually due to necessity (you gotta break it to fix something else).
Moving lights around. Changing an LOD texture or two. Sure. But all in all you will need to have a website like the one you linked there to be able to see the difference, because they will be so minor, you will not just naturally see it when you pop the game in your xbox come november.
 
Quick questions:

• Does the beta support multiple people on the same system?
• Anyone know when the codes are supposed to go out if you were promised a code from the Xbox1 Live email?

Thanks in advance.
 
dslgunstar said:
I love the new grenades, but so many people seem to be complaining about them that they're likely to be nerfed. People keep saying that people spam nades, but those who do are just leaving themselves at a disadvantage when they get into trouble. Its so satisfying when a pistoleer has nailed me with four headshots, Im at death's door, and then I place a grenade right at their feet for a one-hit-kill.

No skill? BS. Placing grenades is no less valuable a skill than nailing headshots.
Placing grenades in general yes, but at close range on Sword Base? No. It reminds me of martyrdom from CoD4 or throwing grenades in UC2.


You might not always get a kill by chucking a nade on death, but it's very easy to just throw one at the last possible second at your feet and hope for the best. With the slow movement speed and powerful grenades it can get you a few kills a game.
 
Yaeh, the game is a blast (I feel it's the best Halo ever even with these two maps) but the graphics are shitty as ever. Hopefully with their next multiplat title they'll get some help in that department. Still a blast. Best menus ever. Best netcode ever.
 
RSTEIN said:
Yaeh, the game is a blast (I feel it's the best Halo ever even with these two maps) but the graphics are shitty as ever. Hopefully with their next multiplat title they'll get some help in that department. Still a blast. Best menus ever. Best netcode ever.

So true.
 
Net_Wrecker said:
No way man, most of the great sound from BFBC2 comes from the gunfire, and explosions. Put it on War Tapes audio, and after a trench style standoff, the echo from the weaponry during a lull is INSANE. Like seriously, it sounds like the firefight from Heat.

Oh man, I absolutely agree. What I'm referencing with the vehicles is things like the Abrams on Port Valdez lobbing a shot from atop the hill down into your base. You hear this faint muffled sound, it echo's off the wall to your left if your facing the hill, and then boom, everything goes high pitched as the shot impacts beside you. So awesome.
 
The pistol has the perfect clip size. Just enough to kill someone in one clip. Same with the AR.

I don't fully agree with the sound complaints, but I don't mind the AR and Pistol sounds as they are two of the weakest weapons in the game. They get the job done, and that's all. But I wouldn't mind if they beefed the sound and made them feel more Bread and Butter. Overall, I'd have to assume it's low on their priority list when it comes to sounds.
 
WJD said:
Actually, just give me DMR/Needle Rifle starts and I'll be happy. Whenever I have one of them, I enjoy things a lot more.

Seriously? C'mon, you have a pistol. It's perfect until you pick up a DMR or Nerfle.
 
Olivero said:
Oh man, I absolutely agree. What I'm referencing with the vehicles is things like the Abrams on Port Valdez lobbing a shot from atop the hill down into your base. You hear this faint muffled sound, it echo's off the wall to your left if your facing the hill, and then boom, everything goes high pitched as the shot impacts beside you. So awesome.

Ahhh, I just thought you meant that the guns don't have nearly as much as an effect on sound as the vehicles do, but yeah. Either way, I wish they could lend their sound design tech to other shooters out there.
 
I'm posting from my phone at work but seriously it sounds like most of you complaining about a lot of things don't understand what you're complaining about. This map is too complicated to navigate...take 5 minutes to learn the layout and you'll find all sorts of neat shortcuts and nice flag running paths. This weapon sucks? Because you don't know how to use it or because it doesn't act like a certain weapon from Halo 3? Seriously give it a chance. Its new stuff. This isn't a title update for Halo 3 this is a new game. The stuff in the game needs to be compared to other stuff in Reach, not what things were like in Halo 3. Reach brings back the feeling that Halo: CE gave me. That every time I spawn I have a chance to kill the other guy. The battles aren't pre-determined by what weapon we are both using. It feels more skill based, and the man who uses his weapons and abilities better goes on the fight another day.
 
Pappasman said:
I can't believe people saying the graphics are shitty. Thats rediculous. It looks great.

What other games do you think have good graphics? Just for reference.

And I dont care if it look bad the game is FUN.
 
So while I was watch the carnage carnival I noted that the developers claimed that all the levels in multiplayer were going to be from campaign. Then I noticed a covenant map, much like the inside of a covenant ship. The clip takes place right after Luke Timmins gets done discussing the equalization of weapon strength ( really hard to tell what he was saying, but he mentions plates). There is a spartan shooting from a pro pipe and its a short clip. Its personally raises the questions, one, will we perhaps see it later in the beta and second will we perhaps be boarding a or the specific covenant ship that we see in the intro to noble team video?
 
RSTEIN said:
Yaeh, the game is a blast (I feel it's the best Halo ever even with these two maps) but the graphics are shitty as ever. Hopefully with their next multiplat title they'll get some help in that department. Still a blast. Best menus ever. Best netcode ever.

I wouldn't say they're shitty as ever. They are a slight improvement over Halo 3's but the sounds and explosion particles make up for everything that graphics lack.
 
I also had a lot of fun with people messageing me last night "OMG HOW ARE YOU PLAYYYIING?"


ToyMachine228 said:
I'm posting from my phone at work but seriously it sounds like most of you complaining about a lot of things don't understand what you're complaining about. This map is too complicated to navigate...take 5 minutes to learn the layout and you'll find all sorts of neat shortcuts and nice flag running paths. This weapon sucks? Because you don't know how to use it or because it doesn't act like a certain weapon from Halo 3? Seriously give it a chance. Its new stuff. This isn't a title update for Halo 3 this is a new game. The stuff in the game needs to be compared to other stuff in Reach, not what things were like in Halo 3. Reach brings back the feeling that Halo: CE gave me. That every time I spawn I have a chance to kill the other guy. The battles aren't pre-determined by what weapon we are both using. It feels more skill based, and the man who uses his weapons and abilities better goes on the fight another day.

this.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
I'm posting from my phone at work but seriously it sounds like most of you complaining about a lot of things don't understand what you're complaining about. This map is too complicated to navigate...take 5 minutes to learn the layout and you'll find all sorts of neat shortcuts and nice flag running paths. This weapon sucks? Because you don't know how to use it or because it doesn't act like a certain weapon from Halo 3? Seriously give it a chance. Its new stuff. This isn't a title update for Halo 3 this is a new game. The stuff in the game needs to be compared to other stuff in Reach, not what things were like in Halo 3. Reach brings back the feeling that Halo: CE gave me. That every time I spawn I have a chance to kill the other guy. The battles aren't pre-determined by what weapon we are both using. It feels more skill based, and the man who uses his weapons and abilities better goes on the fight another day.

Well said.
 
I think alot of the graphics hate stems from the motion blur. It was very divisive in Killzone2, and I think its a big part of what we are seeing here. I'm split on it.
 
Pappasman said:
I can't believe people saying the graphics are shitty. Thats rediculous. It looks great.

Makes me wonder if its the jaggies that bothers them or the graphics... Looks really good to me. Its crazy how some people think its one of the best looking games and some people think it looks like shit. Im glad i like the visuals.
 
Link069 said:
So while I was watch the carnage carnival I noted that the developers claimed that all the levels in multiplayer were going to be from campaign. Then I noticed a covenant map, much like the inside of a covenant ship. The clip takes place right after Luke Timmins gets done discussing the equalization of weapon strength ( really hard to tell what he was saying, but he mentions plates). There is a spartan shooting from a pro pipe and its a short clip. Its personally raises the questions, one, will we perhaps see it later in the beta and second will we perhaps be boarding a or the specific covenant ship that we see in the intro to noble team video?

I think they said that covenant map will not be in the beta.
 
Mr. B Natural said:
Both the graphics and sound are underwhelming for a AAA title like this one. Not once did I stop to awe the graphics and the sounds make my DT770s seem like 30 dollar cans. The sound effects at times don't even make sense - like when a grenade is thrown 40 feet away from you and it makes this awful and inappropriately loud canned sound to represent that, but when a bullet whizs by your ear, you can barely hear it. Almost all of the guns still have that "pew pew pew" sound. You also get little response to when you're hitting somebody. The most amount of audible feedback you are going to get is the sound of bullets hitting your opponents shield. That's right, the biggest sound you will hear when it comes to bullet feedback is the sound that you aren't hurting your opponent.

Yes, the graphics and sound are better than Halo 3's. For a AAA 2010 exclusive title, it's completely underwhelming.

Agreed. While the textures are better than halo 3's, the environments have barely improved, especially regarding the feeling of immersion. Things just feel stagnant as usual; a stage in which you run around and kill things, not a living, breathing world. I still like the beta a lot, but the hype made me believe there would be a bigger jump for sure. Speaking of jumping, it looks ridiculous when you sprint then jump...your gun does the same thing it does when you're sprinting, but its slowed down; feels silly. I think the sound is actually decent, much better than halo 3s.

The main difference in the game is the aiming; its harder to do so here, but thats good cause it requires more skill. the grenade play is not quite as fun to me, I like bouncing grenades all over the place and the frags bounce much less. I love the dmr and pistol, although I can't see the damn reticule for the pistol when I'm shooting half the time; it needs to be darker.

The physics seem to be better in many ways, but are weirdly worse in a few areas. When you melee someone to death it doesn't have the same "oomph", they just don't seem to "pop" when you get 'em. It is definitely harder to get multi kills at this point because of shields. And I'm not sure about the look of the shields either. Maybe its the bulk of the suits everyone is wearing, but the shields seem to make your outline look even bulkier (when you're getting shot), which makes movement look a little awkward.

So I do think there are some issues, but the overall experience is still halo, and the shooting mechanics have been amped up. I'll keep playing and will reserve final judgment until september.

Oh, and MORE SLAYER! I know its just me, but I just don't understand the thrill of objective games. Lets run to this place and drop this off, lets hold this the longest, lets...I just wanna kill a fool!
 
ToyMachine228 said:
I'm posting from my phone at work but seriously it sounds like most of you complaining about a lot of things don't understand what you're complaining about. This map is too complicated to navigate...take 5 minutes to learn the layout and you'll find all sorts of neat shortcuts and nice flag running paths. This weapon sucks? Because you don't know how to use it or because it doesn't act like a certain weapon from Halo 3? Seriously give it a chance. Its new stuff. This isn't a title update for Halo 3 this is a new game. The stuff in the game needs to be compared to other stuff in Reach, not what things were like in Halo 3. Reach brings back the feeling that Halo: CE gave me. That every time I spawn I have a chance to kill the other guy. The battles aren't pre-determined by what weapon we are both using. It feels more skill based, and the man who uses his weapons and abilities better goes on the fight another day.

THIS.
 
RSTEIN said:
Yaeh, the game is a blast (I feel it's the best Halo ever even with these two maps) but the graphics are shitty as ever. Hopefully with their next multiplat title they'll get some help in that department. Still a blast. Best menus ever. Best netcode ever.

You've never played a PC game before.

FUCK one hit kills with Objectives. FUCK EM, no fucking skill.
 
Last night, right before bed, I was playing 1 flag on Powerhouse (as it always seems to be), and I melee'd an opponent carrying a hammer. That was incredibly satisfying. :lol

Also got a chance to play Covy Slayer. Brilliant mode.

To be honest, Covy Slayer is the most fun I've had in the game so far.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
I'm posting from my phone at work but seriously it sounds like most of you complaining about a lot of things don't understand what you're complaining about. This map is too complicated to navigate...take 5 minutes to learn the layout and you'll find all sorts of neat shortcuts and nice flag running paths. This weapon sucks? Because you don't know how to use it or because it doesn't act like a certain weapon from Halo 3? Seriously give it a chance. Its new stuff. This isn't a title update for Halo 3 this is a new game. The stuff in the game needs to be compared to other stuff in Reach, not what things were like in Halo 3. Reach brings back the feeling that Halo: CE gave me. That every time I spawn I have a chance to kill the other guy. The battles aren't pre-determined by what weapon we are both using. It feels more skill based, and the man who uses his weapons and abilities better goes on the fight another day.

This man speaks the truth.
 
Dirtbag said:
I think alot of the graphics hate stems from the motion blur. It was very divisive in Killzone2, and I think its a big part of what we are seeing here. I'm split on it.


Motion blur or not Killzone 2 look GOOD but I hated the gameplay.
 
ToyMachine228 said:
I'm posting from my phone at work but seriously it sounds like most of you complaining about a lot of things don't understand what you're complaining about. This map is too complicated to navigate...take 5 minutes to learn the layout and you'll find all sorts of neat shortcuts and nice flag running paths. This weapon sucks? Because you don't know how to use it or because it doesn't act like a certain weapon from Halo 3? Seriously give it a chance. Its new stuff. This isn't a title update for Halo 3 this is a new game. The stuff in the game needs to be compared to other stuff in Reach, not what things were like in Halo 3. Reach brings back the feeling that Halo: CE gave me. That every time I spawn I have a chance to kill the other guy. The battles aren't pre-determined by what weapon we are both using. It feels more skill based, and the man who uses his weapons and abilities better goes on the fight another day.

I'm with this as well.

One minor complaint I'm having is that it's easy to tell with the new radar when someone's below you. Not so much when they're above you.

Edit: Also, flag juggling has been nerfed. I wish it was in a tool tip so that people would stop doing it.
 
NJ Shlice said:
I wouldn't say they're shitty as ever. They are a slight improvement over Halo 3's but the sounds and explosion particles make up for everything that graphics lack.

Well, the graphics are good relative to what Bungie has produced this gen (Halo 3 & ODST). I agree 100% that the explosions and sound design is awesome.

But, overall, as a package, mediocre graphics. Still lots of aliasing. What's funny is Peter Moore promised the end of jaggies yet Bungie - formerly owned by MS - is one of the last devs that can't seem to get it right.
 
GarthVaderUK said:
I bloody love the Focus Rifle! :D

It's funny, when I first played the beta I was impressed at how much better and 'meatier' the guns sounded compared to Halo 3.

So many conflicting opinions in this thread in general.

That's because you're comparing everything to h3, while I'm comparing stuff to ya know, video games other than h3. That, and this is an exclusive rose tinted party thread. That's half the point of these "betas tests." They're hivemind starter kits. Get the easiest to please to start the good press ball rolling. Give it a little bit of elitism/exclusivity to the demo so the hype goes up to 11 and bam. You win sales and critical acclaim. That's not a knock on bungie. They'd be dumb not to do it like this. It's worked before. Do it again. Just about every successful online mp heavy game has done this. I don't know who came up with this formula but whoever it is is a marketing genius.
 
Proven said:
Edit: Also, flag juggling has been nerfed. I wish it was in a tool tip so that people would stop doing it.


It still works in some modes doesn't it? I swear it goes faster in one of the flag modes...
 
Grimm Fandango said:
Where do you go to recommend the clip? Can't seem to find the option.
Haven't done it yet in Reach, but in Halo 3 you would put it in your File Share and then select that File Share slot and click "Recommend to Friend."
 
I think alot of the graphics hate stems from the motion blur. It was very divisive in Killzone2, and I think its a big part of what we are seeing here. I'm split on it.

Yeah, this. I've gotten used to, but I still wish it wasn't there. I really don't think it's going to be like this in the final game, because what they have right now is just THAT bad, in my opinion. It's like they take a dump of the framebuffer, make it 90% transparent, and apply it over the next frame.
 
squidhands said:
I see your snarky statement, and raise you this.
:D

But thats the thing, that teleporter is the only way to do it without spending 4 minutes trying to find a way up to the top (you will die). If you gotta get to the bottom, then sure, just fall, but getting to the top is just aggravating without using that teleporter in some way.

Impressive nonetheless

^ The graphics are fine, they're just nothing to write home about, which is why most people aren't even talking about it. If the graphics (and sound) were truly good, people would be ogling over and over and over again...especially here and now.
 
Damnit I am getting annihilated with the pistol and DMR. I need a shooting range or something to practice in. People are damn good that are playing now.


You've never played a PC game before.

Dedicated servers != Good net code.
 
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