Ah, Halo: Reach. Let's start off with the introductions. On May 3rd, the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta was released for those who had ODST. You download it from the Marketplace through the ODST game. This may mean you can give someone the download and they can play unless you need the ODST disc in to play. Doesn't matter. No codes; just downloads and ODST. You can rent ODST for the multiplayer beta.

I started playing Halo: Reach on May 3rd. There were three playlists:
• Arena
• Grab Bag (I think it was called)
• Free For All

In all three, I played only two maps, Sword Base and some other one with a pool of water in the middle. I got used to the new button settings pretty easily (not that much of a change from Halo: CE and MW2, I guess, compared to Default -> Bumper Jumper) and the new "Equipment". Sprint, Active-Camo, Amour-lock, Jetpack. The other changes from Halo 3 to Reach is the fact that you are a Spartan-III rather than a Spartan-II: Spartan-IIs needed a certain genetic requirement to undergo the changes of the drugs without dying or having your bones completely deform. Spartan-IIIs, on the other hand, were more lenient with the genetic requirement and were more easily mass-produced. Unfortunately, this also meant each Spartan-III was much weaker than each Spartan-II (so they were more focused on teamwork and stealth rather than supermassive power tanks.

The gameplay changes are obvious:
• Slower regular walk
• Shorter jump
• Weaker melee: About the Melee, it's messed up right now. The delay is hella short and you can have two whacks in really quickly. Final game will have increased delay.

So yeah, playing Reach was kind of a drag. It was pretty much like playing a game somewhere between Halo 3 and ODST (except for the perks). I went on a hiatus after playing the Reach beta for two days (May 3, May 4) and went back to playing Modern Warfare 2.



I'm playing on my account now, I was playing on my brother's account before. I have to start from level 1. Grr. That means I don't have my ACR. T_T I got my FAL back though. I'm debating whether to use Stopping Power or Hardline. I think I'll choose Hardline with that class though since FAL doesn't really need the extra damage (55 - 45 per bullet). I've mainly been running around like a retard with an SMG and tactical knife, going around with an FAL or shooting down caves with the Noobtube while I've been playing for the past few weeks. Once I unlock the ACR again, however, I'll be playing my Ghost class again. ^_^



I actually didn't know Invasion came out until today. So I was playing Invasion for the last few hours.

What? You don't know what Invasion is? It's the fourth playlist of Halo: Reach. Basically, there are three security systems. Elites must bypass all these three systems within a time limit for each system. If the time runs out, Elites fail.

What do Spartans do? Kill the Elites.

While playing Invasion, I was able to have a more intimate understanding with the mechanics of Reach. I was able to conclude several things about Reach (mainly about the characters' gameplay):

• Elites' regular run is much faster than the Spartans' (longer legs, stronger in general)
• Elites get rolls, which is faster than Spartans' sprinting if you jump after a roll
• Elites also get Jetpacks and Cloaking, not sure about Armour-locking; definitely no sprint (replaced by rolls)
• Elites are taller than Spartan-III's

When you play a Spartan, Elites will look huge. When you play an Elite, Spartans will look small (kind of like looking at a marine in the other Halo games since Master Chief is the same height as an Elite). I have no conclusion about the comparison between the Spartan's and Elite's melee attacks.

The last thing is assassinations. Punching (RB) someone in the back is the same as in the other Halo games: one-hit kill. However, if you hold the melee button, you actually go into an assassination action sequence. Like the teabag: It's completely useless as it wastes time, lets others kill you, but is for the win. This will probably replace the teabag.

No, I lied, teabagging is still awesome in Reach. Halo 3 and Reach both have this wonderful crouching mechanic as you will crouch as fast as it shows on your screen: Most other FPS's have unsynchronized crouching, with the actual animation being much slower than what you see in screen (you might crouch, but you probably will still get sniped in the head if someone is quick enough). Also, with this wonderful mechanic of synchronized crouching, there's also this funny mechanic where bodies underneath you while you crouch move. It's lovely.

Oh, my water is done boiling. Time to make some tea