Waves of Elites and Brutes are defending these structures, and it's your goal to take them out from the inside out with a well-placed grenade or some smart shooting. It's an exciting level, and offers plenty of defensive and offensive opportunities in the game. I also had the chance to check out the new weapons. Besides the DMR, we have the Needle Rifle, a sniper scope that shoots out single needles. It's a capable sniper, but it won't be taking enemies out in one shot. Other new additions include the Focus Rifle, a new weapon that shoots a hot stream of energy out, the Plasma Launcher, which allows you to charge and auto-target vehicles before launching four plasma balls, the Grenade Launcher that offers extra tactical tricks in that players can determine when the grenades explode, and finally, the Plasma Repeater. There are a lot of new toys for players to experiment with, so look forward for lots of new ways to take your enemies out. The biggest addition to Reach, however, has to be armor abilities. From the familiar Drop Shields (with healing abilities!), players will also have the option to using Sprint, a personal Shield (in which players will freeze and all attacks while in use will not damage), and a few more.
My favorite new armor ability is the Hologram. Players will be able to send out an exact hologram of themselves to run across the map. This is perfect for dealing with AI snipers and turrets, so while they are distracted, they can be taken down from a different point on the map. Even better, nothing is more satisfying than taking down a human-controlled opponent after confusing them with a fake Spartan or Elite running down a hallway. The dynamic Active Camo is fantastic for sneaky kills, and the Jet Pack is always a pleasure. The armor abilities really mix up how the game is played, and offers some great defensive and evasive opportunities for thoughtful players. Also new are the loadouts and character classes. At the beginning of multiplayer matches, players will be able to choose what weapons and armor abilities they would like to rock as they step on the field. While nowhere near as complex as the loadouts as other console shooters, Reach offers enough differentiation that players can focus on different goals. These loadouts can be customized, and players will be spending a lot of time making sure they have the best loadouts for any given situation. It's interesting to see how the equipment and loadouts will play out in the long term for the multiplayer in Reach. While Bungie has done much to making the game as balanced as possible (good bye dual wielding and incendiary grenades), a friendly match of Infection in the mahogany and bamboo pallet of the Japanese-themed Reflection stage quickly broke, as every player would turn on invisibility, hide in a corner, and break the game for any infected trying to make a kill. Fans will certainly be teasing apart the variables of the multiplayer in Halo: Reach, as this the most in-depth multiplayer mode seen in any Halo game.
With modes ranging from the standbys Slayer, Capture the Flag, or Oddball, there is also the addition of ODST's Firefight mode. Firefight has seen some major new updates, as there is now a versus version of this mode, in which players take on the role of the Elite hordes. Variations of this include Gruntocalypse, in which hundreds of the squawking enemies will make a run toward the teams, which is particularly entertaining. Most of the classic Halo game modes have received new modification options, such as new Capture the Flag variants. The most dynamic new mode is probably Headhunter. In Headhunter, every kill results in a flaming skull that bounces out. The more kills you make, the more skulls you can collect. Problems arise due to the game clearly indicating how many skulls you are carrying, making you a perfect target for any skull hungry players. Even more, the bank areas will change every few minutes, so you might be steps away from a safe drop-off, only to have it disappear right before you. It's a fast and chaotic mode that some will decry as unfair, but the randomness will make for some intense matches. Coming away from Halo: Reach, I don't think I'm finding a game that is going to shake things up. After all, Bungie and Microsoft clearly know what works and what doesn't work, and any deviation from that is only going to upset fans. Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any deviation, but only improvement. While those detractors may not like the game, everyone else would certainly want to may attention come September 14 and see if Halo: Reach is the game for them.
