That's Invasion up now. I'm still a little confused what you are meant to be doing when playing as the elites, but I suppose I'll learn pretty fast.

It's a shame they only gave the one map for this mode in the beta. I can see it getting repetitive real quick.

Opinions on invasion?

At 5/7/10 03:24 PM, GodsBitch wrote: That's Invasion up now. I'm still a little confused what you are meant to be doing when playing as the elites, but I suppose I'll learn pretty fast.

It's a shame they only gave the one map for this mode in the beta. I can see it getting repetitive real quick.

Opinions on invasion?

Well as an Elite you're supposed to go to each checkpoint or whatever they're called, each time you go to one the next one unlocks. Then at I think the 3rd once, you have to take a power core thing and take it to the drop off point where a covenant ship is waiting.

Haven't had a chance to play it yet, I'm gonna go on in 10 minutes.

I love invasion. The teams are big and the map is definitely gigantic. Although I've goty to say, the banshee kind of sucks now which is kind of okay with me since I hated those things, but it may a tad bit too weak . I'm also amazed that the wraith will blow up in one hit by the scorpion. The race with superior technology has an inferior vehicle selection

Once you get to the stage where the Elites have to steal the core in invasion, I feel that the Spartans definitely have it too easy. Of all the invasion games I played, the furthest I saw any Elite player get with the core was just out the door.

At 5/8/10 05:04 AM, GodsBitch wrote: Once you get to the stage where the Elites have to steal the core in invasion, I feel that the Spartans definitely have it too easy. Of all the invasion games I played, the furthest I saw any Elite player get with the core was just out the door.

Hmm I disagree.Out of the five invasion games Ive played as the elites my team won three of them.Not easily mind you.I supposed to be harder for the elites though.

After playing a bit of invasion I have to say that Invasion Slayer is easier for Elites but normal invasion is much easier for Spartans. If you pick up that core you must expect to die in the next couple of seconds. Your team sort of has to pave the way with bodies. At the third stage I suggest that most Elites just try to kill Spartans instead of going for the objective. Unless you have a decent team you will get wrecked by the Spartans when you are leaving the building.

I bought ODST for £12 to play the beta, I play the beta and it's better than Halo 3, but still nothing special.
I'll buy it.

Also, I traded in ODST for £20. lolololo

At 5/8/10 09:13 AM, Oliver wrote: I bought ODST for £12 to play the beta, I play the beta and it's better than Halo 3, but still nothing special.
I'll buy it.

Also, I traded in ODST for £20. lolololo

This wins but you should have waited until the Beta was over before trading it in lol.

At 5/8/10 10:18 AM, HeadbangingLegend wrote: This wins but you should have waited until the Beta was over before trading it in lol.

It wont be worth as much when the beta is over. I'm guessing you only got £20 for it because now the beta is released people will be looking for cheap pre-owned copies of ODST for access. It wouldn't surprise me if the price of ODST has gone up just now.

At 5/6/10 08:43 PM, Balazeal wrote:

At 5/6/10 03:02 PM, ArmouredGRIFFON wrote: It doesn't play like a 'proper' Halo Game anymore. It's revolutionised but too revolutionised. The gameplay mechanics are far too different to the other Halo's, listened to the fans my ass.

A proper Halo game? What's a proper Halo game? Which game didn't come with at least some major changes to the engine formula(oh wait, ODST did, but that was mediocre)? From Halo to Halo 2 came vehicle boarding, destructible vehicles, online play, and the BR (hitscan menace that put most other weapons to shame). Halo 2 to Halo 3 brought Forge, Co-Op, Theater, and Equipment. Then there was ODST, which a lot of people felt disappointing. Why? Because there wasn't much change. It played almost exactly like Halo 3 did. Halo Reach brings a lot of changes, many of which aren't quite fine tuned yet, but that of course, is the entire purpose of the Beta, to fine-tune things. People seem to come to the Beta thinking it's a preview, a demo, when it's really mostly for testing things.

The way the character moves. It doesn't work for me. People who have gotten used to the way the previous games played out cannot apply anything that they were previously good at.

It appears they've shunned there 'hardcore players' gaming audience for jetpacks and health kits. Some of the changes are nice but I frankly disagree - especially with a single shot BR, what happened to four shot?!

Disagreed, if anything the 'hardcore players' should enjoy these changes. I'll just go ahead and assume that the 'hardcore players' are the ones obsessed with skill and technical perfection. If anything, changes like adding jetpacks and such should cater that audience. Armour Abilities and Health Kits add a whole new dimension of gameplay to Reach, one that'll demand much more tactically of the hardcore players. Same thing with the DMR, the one shot replacement to the BR. Truly hardcore players should rejoice; with reticule bloom the DMR can't be spammed in the same way the BR was. It'll actually take user skill and judgment to use the weapon properly. I'll admit that right now I agree that it's currently a bit underpowered and that at times the reticule bloom can be a bit much, but nothing in the Beta is written in stone(sticky trip mine from Halo 3 Beta anyone?)

But its not a whole new dimension within the Health Kits. It's a completely different game. It's more COD-ish then anything the previous Halo Games (with online multiplayer were). As I said before the ODST's or what ever you play as don't move around like they did in Halo 1, 2, or 3. I believe it's to suit the sprint function. And the BR was never spammed, it's a four shot strafe that you need to aim for (where it's a 7 shot in the body). Have you ever played against hardcore players? Some guys can take on 3 good players BR-ing him at once and he'd strafe them all and four shot them all. It was never a matter of simply getting the BR to go red and spraying the head. It takes far more skill then that. In fact the BR is one of, if not the most the most skilful weapons I have ever seen playing any game, and I'd hardly call the Active Camo a tactical advantage considering how rediculously effective it is as a tactic that requires no logical dictation to use at all.

It's that feeling of being untouchable, I believe it's a very important element that should take time to master.

If you allow for reticule bloom that comes too easily then it just (game) physically restricts the amount of players you can take on at once. The tactical and strategic element of any game is a different part of the gameplay that allows for itself, even in games like Halo Wars where it appears you can only spam counter-units when it comes to a stalemate point in the game, they're way's you can outsmart your opponent, by carefully surveying the situation before you work through a well thought out plan. Games like Halo 3 had tactical elements which weren't built into the game development, it comes with having balanced maps automatically. It makes people think, rather than simply deploying a jetpack or hiding in the corner of the room waiting for an assassination. I do not consider any form of camping in Halo 3, a tactic. It's more desperation and can be dealt with - and I feel it is what Halo Reach will come to.

People don't always play for fun, some people play to win, and it is this community who will exploit every bastard overpowered thing in the game (often by hiding) until it is reduced to a series of easy to grab, no skill required kills.

I'll have you know I play games quite casually, but in a serious manner. I'm not a hardcore gamer, not am I opinionated, I just have that gut feeling and seem to know what to come to expect from this community after 6 years of working with it.

Right now as the Reach Beta is, it's a bit inaccessible compared to the previous Halo games, but I kinda like the new changes. Historically Bungie's been pretty good, so for now I'll just keep on playing the Beta with an open mind.

I've been put off it, and although the game doesn't suit my opinion, it probably suits yours. We have the right to express our virtues and that is how I intend to do so.

Just thought I'd put it out there. Halo Reach Is Shit

Strong opinions I see. You know, aside from posting on the BBS, you can give your feedback right to
Bungie if you'd like.

That was just me being disappointed with the game mechanics. It's a let down for the serious Halo 3 players, not by the amount of changes, but by the extremeness of the changes themselves. I suppose I was hoping for the same game, new graphics, new elements, but not a complete mechanical makeover.

At 5/8/10 10:18 AM, HeadbangingLegend wrote:

This wins but you should have waited until the Beta was over before trading it in lol.

Why? I did what I want with it, to play it once.
Like I said, it's nothing special really.

Just started playing the beta, do any of you guys at all think that free for all oddballs (I think thats what it was called...one skull which you had to hold for the longest time or something) is really hard? I managed to get the ball and win with at least 20 points ahead from everyone else but that was because I camped inside a corner and had my brother helping me.

I'm good at invasion and the other gamemodes though, can usually get high on the scoreboard.

So I've got a short review of this beta for the general Newgrounds users. I'm enjoying it, but there are some definite flaws and things that aren't exactly in my taste.

-Armor Abilities-
We'll start with the most game-changing addition, armor abilities. First off, we have sprinting. Simple as the name suggests, it lets you run a lot faster for a short period of time. It greatly increases the pace of the game, especially in Slayer Classic when it's the only ability, it's like playing a faster paced Halo 3. Second up we have Active Camo, which is just a version of the camo from Halo 3 that allows you to go invisible anywhere, anytime AND scramble radars, including yours. I personally think it lasts way too long and recharges too quickly. Other than being generally annoying because of people camping in corners waiting with the sword. Now we have Armor Lock, which just locks in your shields for around 5 seconds which makes you invulnerable. Adding to this, there's an EMP that goes off that disables enemy shields if they're waiting for you to get out of it. Going into and out of Armor Lock also uses a fair bit of your power so you can't constantly spam it. I personally think it's the best for objective games and completely fair. Finally there's the jetpack. Very very low usage time and sluggish takeoff make this one of the worse abilities to me. It does grant some pretty good mobility across open maps, though. However, once you're in the air, you're pretty fucked when it comes to getting shot. The thing I like about it is that you have to strategically think on when you're going to use it otherwise you'll probably die. Flying across the map is pretty noticeable and easy to get shot down, but if you veer to the left and drop onto a small ledge and fly lower it's a lot easier to get around. That sums up the armor abilities.

-Weapons-
So we have our rockets, assault rifles and needlers, but there's a good amount of new weapons too. My favorite of them is the Needle Rifle. It's the covenant equivalent of the DMR, but it has a lot less bloom and the ability to supercharge like the needler and explode. The DMR of course is the new rifle that has 12 bullet magazine and fires semi auto. It does have an insanely tiny hitbox on the head for spartans, but otherwise it's like the Battle Rifle. On to the Launchers. The human Grenade launcher is a grenade launcher with the ability to hold the trigger for manual detonation. The covie version is the plasma launcher which has lock on and the ability to shoot four plasma grenades at once. I can't remember what the covenant sniper is called, but it's just a laser that takes a couple seconds to kill. Plasma Repeater is a beefed up version of the Plasma rifle and everything else is generally the same, with small tweaks.

-Maps-
There are currently only three maps available, Powerhouse, Swordbase, and Boneyard. Powerhouse is easily my favorite. It has a vast outdoor environment, good weapon placement and generally well made. Sword Base is probably my least favorite because how retarded it was set up, especially for CTF and Stockpile. Plus the Jetpack allows for some serious sniper camping. Boneyard was a gigantic disappointment because they hyped it as the biggest map ever but the big parts never get played because everyone is bum rushing for the power weapons or the next objective. It's structure is amazing though.

That's all for the time being, I might go through the game modes tomorrow or later.

Ah I want in so bad! I think Im gonna order ODST with my points on the site in my banner. Ive bought halo about 6 times and traded it in. Im not gonna do it again haha

As much as I've been enjoying it, Bungie really needs to work on some things with invasion. My two real complaints about it are spawn-camping the elites on cliff-side in the beginning round, and the cheap-ass tactic of parking the scorpion tank on the core in the final round. If the tank is blown up on top of the core, elites can not pick it up until the tank remains have despawned, which takes like 30 secs. It pretty much ruins any chances for the elites because of how fast the tank spawns.

The spawn camping has only happened twice in games I've been in, but that cheap tank tactic shows up about every other match. The only way I know how to prevent it is to camp the tank spawn with rockets, which gets boring.

I am also disappointed about the size of Boneyard because you never really get the chance to explore it.

I wasn't throughly impressed, but it is a Beta. The movement is slow as hell and you're faster in ODST.

Is it me or Invasion really boring to play?

Well come to think of it, this beta just feels boring to play.

At 5/9/10 02:02 PM, Crashman wrote: I wasn't throughly impressed, but it is a Beta. The movement is slow as hell and you're faster in ODST.

Thats what they made the sprinting thing for I think.

Hey guys, theres a quit ban up that bungie is testing. dont quit your games if you dont want to go through a 15- to 30 minute ban!

At 5/13/10 05:17 PM, blazer133 wrote: Hey guys, theres a quit ban up that bungie is testing. dont quit your games if you dont want to go through a 15- to 30 minute ban!

That's just stupid. If you have to do something and leave your console for 5 minutes, it's better to leave the game than stand there motionless letting the team down. So basically, for being considerate and trying to help out your team, you get a ban. I think their punishing of game leavers is stupid. Understandably, there will be people who deserve punishment, but it's just stupid having a system which punished those with good intentions.

It does seem the elites have a disadvantage near the end of invasion. The only times I win as them is when my team is fantastic and work together ( with mic obviously ). When I play with friends we usually win, but of course almost every time I play in a group larger than 2 in invasion, it splits us up, which also sucks because my friends know my strategies and can easily figure out where I plan to go

I am happy they have a quitter ban because I am sick of little girls leaving the game because they aren't playing on the gametype they want. I don't mind people leaving in games like MW2 or BC2 because their spots will be filled. When you quit out in Halo you essentially fuck over your entire team. And you only get the ban if you quit out several times.

At 5/13/10 06:11 PM, GodsBitch wrote: That's just stupid. If you have to do something and leave your console for 5 minutes, it's better to leave the game than stand there motionless letting the team down. So basically, for being considerate and trying to help out your team, you get a ban. I think their punishing of game leavers is stupid. Understandably, there will be people who deserve punishment, but it's just stupid having a system which punished those with good intentions.

I'm pretty sure the ban only applies to those who quit games excessively, and for that, I'm glad. Leaving a game and sitting around doing nothing are essentially the same things. In either case there's nobody to step in and fill your shoes so either way, that team's a man down.

This changes in Slayer, but for reasons other than player etiquette. In Slayer, a non-playing player is either fodder, or bait. It's very circumstantial. Think of that guy that you encounter every so often in objective based games in FFA. You know, that guy who won't actually get the objective and just wants to use the objective as bait for kills? Kinda like that, with a player.

generator defense is now online. It's okay but I have yet to win a match, mostly because every team I'm put on have no mic and don't know how the hell to kill people. I thought those social settings were supposed to help >:(

Everyone is still getting used to the game. If they were Generals at Halo 3 odds are you would have had a lot tougher time.

At 5/15/10 07:56 AM, Sekhem wrote: i've only played one match of generator defense so far

but if it's any indication of skill, the majority of halo players fucking suck

i destroyed all 3 generators on my own WITHOUT dying (unless you count a generator killing me once, whoops)

what the fuck

keep in mind i was playing with warrant officers grade 3 not people who haven't played before, so there isn't any excuse

and in defense i just camped generator a with a sword/stolen shotgun, they didn't win

I agree 100%. I played a few games with 36Holla and we did all the work. It seems like it is much easier to destroy the generators than to defend them (I guess that's obvious). I really don't like how the one generator is essentially right through the one door way so people can just chuck a shit load of grenades in there.

Invasion/Head Hunter are still my favorite gametypes in Reach thus far.

I own and have played every Halo game at least twenty times, I am going to have an explosive orgasm when this comes out. It is just so fucking awesome that I won't play the beta, I have to experience it fully, from start to finish.

September 14th release date.

I like halo. I dont want to be a hater. But the Halo reach Beta, just didnt really make me exited about the game. The grenades are overpowered as hell. But i did like the people who used the jetpack. They were easy targets. :D