Preview: Halo: Reach Online Multiplayer Beta

This week marked the worldwide opening of the Halo: Reach online multiplayer beta, in which anyone who bought Halo 3: O.D.S.T could log on to Xbox Live for a sneak preview of the online segment featured in the upcoming Halo game.

Luckily, I was one of those people so I sat down for a few hours to see what all the fuss was about. As is the case with all things Halo, it’d been hyped pretty heavily by the media and everyone on the Internet, so I was expecting an amazing night in. I wasn’t disappointed.

On the surface, the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta feels a lot like the Halo 3 online experience; you log in, choose what playlist you want, and are then matched up with a number if players of a similar skill level to your own. The only thing that seems to have changed is the addition of a player voting system, allowing players to pick one of three maps and game types, rather than the flawed veto system featured in Halo 3.

As was to be expected, we also get a look at the new weapons and maps the game has to offer. They pretty much mirror what you’d find in Halo 3: a collection of beautiful, detailed maps and an armoury of exciting and satisfying weapons. No complaints there.

The gameplay itself is pretty phenomenal. Bungie have ditched the idea of usable equipment, instead incorporating an ability of your choice into the Spartan’s armour. So far there are four: sprinting, jetpack, armour lock and cloaking. Each of these completely changes the Halo formula, especially the jetpack, which breathes new life into a franchise that was in danger of becoming stale. You choose these through an individual character loadout that you can alter each time you respawn. On top of this, these Spartans are capable of new, awesome assassination kills, by sneaking up behind an opponent and stabbing them in the back.

The control scheme has been tweaked slightly, although it’s nothing particularly major. The buttons for switching between grenade types, and performing melee attacks have changed, but they’re changes with which FPS players won’t struggle. Plus, you can change them back to the classic Halo 3 controls if you’re that way inclined.

I was blown away with the Halo: Reach online multiplayer beta, and can guarantee I’ll be wasting the next two weeks spending as much time as I can with it. Keep an eye out for Halo: Reach when it releases later this year.