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It was released today. Has anyone played it? Is it the same game again or did Bungie break the mold this time?

It's still Halo. It's the best Halo yet, but still Halo. Right now beyond just the glitches there's some balance issues. The armor lock ability is pretty much useless since it just gives people time to sneak up behind and assassinate you. The camo is broken since it turns you invisible AND jams the enemy team's radar.

Plus they made the assault rifle useless again, so it's damn near impossible to kill anyone with just that gun alone.

Whats the jetpack like ?

It renders a lot of choke points useless if enough people are using them to get around. It also recharges pretty quickly. I like sprint the most myself.

Armor Lock is useful against lone opponents, but if people are working in tandem they will take you down.

I've found all the armor abilities to be useful, depending on what you're trying to do at the moment - defend an objective or capture a point, etc.

Are vehicles available in the beta?

Srelex wrote:Are vehicles available in the beta?

They will be, once the Invasion playlist is added - it's scheduled for May 7.

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Armor Lock is useful against lone opponents, but if people are working in tandem they will take you down.

I've found all the armor abilities to be useful, depending on what you're trying to do at the moment - defend an objective or capture a point, etc.

Eh, I've found it's still possible to tell where an enemy is coming from even through the jamming.

Oh and IIRC it jams your teams radar to if they're close to you.

Reach actually looks good this time around. Then again it's hard to be as bad as ODST, a game Bungie didn't even seem to really want to make.

I like how they're harkening back to the days of Combat Evolved in the game's design aspects. I keep thinking of Reach as "The Real Halo 2."

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Armor Lock is useful against lone opponents, but if people are working in tandem they will take you down.

It can be useful against groups if they're stupid enough to crowd around you waiting for it to expire. Just have one of your team mates stick close by with some frag grenades.

Jordie wrote:

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Armor Lock is useful against lone opponents, but if people are working in tandem they will take you down.

It can be useful against groups if they're stupid enough to crowd around you waiting for it to expire. Just have one of your team mates stick close by with some frag grenades.

The counter to armor abilities all seem to involve teamwork. At first blush, the armor abilities seem to be able to let everyone lone wolf it, but the surest counter to them is to simple strategy with one or two buddies.

Hammer+Sprint=Killing spree. Guaranteed.

Losonti Tokash wrote:Hammer+Sprint=Killing spree. Guaranteed.

Sure, if they panic and don't focus fire.

CaptHawkeye wrote:Reach actually looks good this time around. Then again it's hard to be as bad as ODST, a game Bungie didn't even seem to really want to make.

I like how they're harkening back to the days of Combat Evolved in the game's design aspects. I keep thinking of Reach as "The Real Halo 2."

This is exactly the impression I am getting from it. I am enjoying myself immensely, the beta has changed my mind from "fuck Bungie" to "possible pre-order". I have'nt had this much fun since Halo CE itself. I especially like that the grenades have their old power back and more "grounded" physics.

Vehicles were apparently released today. Are they useless or able to kill spree with no support or did they actually make the good, but need to be supported?

ghetto edit: they were released thursday

The tank really comes in handy on invasion if the elites manage to get to Stage 3, just park it outside near the building exit and you should be able to hold back the elites for a good ammount of time. A gunner is essential to stop anyone getting close enough to grenade you though.

In my experience so far, if your team is on the ball, tanks don't last very long. Especially in Invasion Slayer, where they are using exploding seconds after spawning.

Especially when it's the Elites attacking. Fire a charged plasma pistol bolt at the tank while in the air, throw some sticky grenades on it... boom.

DPDarkPrimus wrote:In my experience so far, if your team is on the ball, tanks don't last very long. Especially in Invasion Slayer, where they are using exploding seconds after spawning.

Especially when it's the Elites attacking. Fire a charged plasma pistol bolt at the tank while in the air, throw some sticky grenades on it... boom.

You've met smarter Elites than I, then. They seem to just come at the Scorp a few at a time, mostly along the staircase. You don't last long, but with a gunner you can make it a minute or two, which should be enough to win in most cases.

Invasion Slayer is a whole different ball game. You need mobility there, the tanks are useless.

eion wrote:

DPDarkPrimus wrote: You've met smarter Elites than I, then.

The folks I usually play with have been playing Halo for a long time together, so when one of us has an idea, the rest of us actually listen, instead of the usual pubbie incident where the voice of reason is drowned out by swearing and epithets.

I am noticing a very suspicious amount of connection issues with FFA in the beta lately, but when I go to a team slayer type game the issues magically vanish. Hmmmmm.

I'm hearing good things about this. I MAY rent it, depending on how good it seems from the reviews. Honestly, after I played Halo 3 I just got tired of the rehashed games. I barely had to play ODST before realizing that it was the same old shit as the last game I played.

You think the beta is good because it gets good reviews? It's a Halo game!

Stark wrote:You think the beta is good because it gets good reviews? It's a Halo game!

I'm talking about by players and forum-goers, especially ones who AREN'T huge Halo fans. The Final Fantasy series gets rave reviews from just about everyone, and I haven't been entertained by them since I was about 13.

aieeegrunt wrote:I am noticing a very suspicious amount of connection issues with FFA in the beta lately, but when I go to a team slayer type game the issues magically vanish. Hmmmmm.

See the third word in the thread title; do you know what that means? They're still tweaking the game and balancing. In invasion, at least the games I played last night, it looks like they were trying out a nerf of the Spartans in the first Tier by taking away scoped rifles at spawn to see if that balanced them out a bit.

The load speed is VASTLY improved from earlier builds, from what I've read, which is only understandable.

They'll be tweaking this one right through gold, and probably right up to release date as well. It's looking like the last Halo game Bungie will make, at least for a while, so they obviously want to get it right.