Halo: Reach Beta Impressions
May 2, 2010 | 1:58 PM PST
Fresh off the frontlines of the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta, resident Halo 'experts' Sascha Lichtenstein and Kyle Wattenmaker have brought you some no holds barred initial impressions. You might be surprised by just how many things we didn't love!
Sascha Lichtenstein: Let's make this conversation quick, because I'd much rather be playing this beta than talking about it.
I'm having a blast with Halo: Reach. Arena and Invasion are both locked out until the official start, so it's a little light on new features, but I like the way the combat has evolved. The four armor abilities all bring different strategic elements to the game, and their value changes depending on the map and the game type.
Kyle Wattenmaker: I like it, and I'm saying that with tempered enthusiasm. I'm not nearly as enthusiastic as I thought I might be, but there's still plenty I haven't seen. Balance is iffy, but it's a beta. Armor abilities are awesome.
SL: I was worried that the armor abilities would be completely unbalanced, that some would be incredibly powerful and others would be completely useless. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an armor ability that I haven't been able to use with great success, save for maybe armor lock...and that's only because I keep forgetting I have the ability with the battles start getting heated. I always die and say "Dammit, I could have used my ability!" But I'll get used to it.
KW: One thing that is interesting about armor abilities is how they evolve over the course of a certain match. Let's use 1-Flag CTF on Sword Base as an example. At the beginning you have plenty of variety in abilities, as players choose the abilities they like best, or the ones that mesh with the team strategy. But you can bet your ass that the entire defending team will switch to jetpacks as soon as the flag gets stolen.
That modular nature of the abilities is interesting to me, but will you have situations where players are going to miss equipment (Halo 3) and have to kill themselves to get the ability they need?
SL: I doubt anybody is going to commit suicide to get the ability they need; they'll just make do with what they have until they die. Honestly, I've seen a lot of players jumping back and forth throughout a match to try and get the armor ability of the moment, but by the time they respawned and got back into the action, the combat dynamics had changed and their armor ability wasn't really all that much better of a fit. All the armor abilities are pretty flexible, and none of them are really game-changing (except maybe the Jetpack on Swordbase), so I think that players that just stay the course, don't switch armor abilities that often, and just play toward a role on the team will find more success.
KW: I agree in game types like Team Slayer, but once objectives come into play I think Armor Abilities take on a much larger role. They begin to cater to what the team needs as opposed to a shotgun aficionado grabbing the cloak. So I'll use the cloak most of the time in slayer, because it lets me close in on enemies distance and use my CQC skills. But I already find myself swapping armor abilities in CTF games when the flag gets stolen, or when someone needs to try and fight for the respawning power weapons. So I'm fairly certain that trend is only going to become more prevalent in the kind of large, big-team-battle style objective games we'll see in Invasion.
SL: I find myself using good old sprint most of the time. It's more effective than I thought it would be. In games like Call of Duty, I just use it to get from place to place quickly, in Halo: Reach, I find myself using it to bolt to cover. I've saved my life more than a few times by breaking out sprint when my shields popped. I actually miss it when I play as an Elite, but dodge-roll is more than an adequate substitute. Rolling around adds a completely new dynamic to combat.
KW: Action rolls are the coolest thing. Playing as an Elite really makes you feel like a badass. It's good for closing distance, dodging grenades, sliding behind some cover. I think it's more versatile than any armor ability.
SL: Agreed, the dive-roll is definitely the most well-rounded armor ability in the game. It's versatile, useful, but not so powerful that a skilled player can compensate for it. More importantly, it doesn't interrupt the flow of the gameplay at all. In fact, it helps it along. There have always been moments in Halo where two players go at it and find themselves in relatively close-quarters with battered shields. Ideally, you would want to get the hell out of there to recharge, but there's never been an effective way to do so. So these battles always ended with both players spamming everything they had, and the luckiest player won. Dodge gives players a way out of that situation.
By comparison, I think armor lock hurts the flow of the gameplay quite a bit. When someone uses the ability, the enemy basically has no option but to sit there like an idiot and wait. You can try baiting the player out of it by backing up and resuming your attack before his shields have had a chance to recharge, or you can just run and opt to fight another day. But if it's a "two men enter and the lesser man respawns" situation, as many situations in Halo ultimately boil down to, you're basically left with one guy waiting around for the other guy to get up. It just brings the action to a halt.
KW: I share that sentiment to a point. Armor Lock needs a rework. From a design standpoint, I can see that it is supposed to riff on standard Halo gameplay in a different way from the other armor abilities. That's all well and good, but is it bending the rules of Halo in a good way? No.
Make Armor Lock fire and forget. By fire and forget, I mean just one button press, instead of a toggle, and once you hit the button you're committed for a specific length of time. Length of lock would have to be measured alongside grenade timers to make sure that it wouldn't leave a player vulnerable instead of protected. My guess would be roughly two seconds. It will still serve its purpose but not completely grind gameplay to a halt. Because let's be honest, one Spartan throwing grenades at another Spartan taking a knee looks and feels stupid.
SL: I like that idea. It would force players to be a little bit more careful about when they use the ability, which means fewer halts to the gameplay flow. It would also force players to use a bit of teamwork, because the best way to ensure that the enemies around you don't just pick you off when you get up is to call one of your buddies over to help you out.
I also have a problem that relates to the jetpack ability. The design of the ability is fine, but the way it fits into one of the maps is borderline broken. Swordbase plays completely differently when you have the jetpack. In fact, the map only really works when you have that ability equipped. Without it, confined to the confused innards of the two "bases" and the open catwalks, the map is a complete mess. I don't like the idea of maps built around the use of specific armor abilities.
KW: I disagree. I think the map is playable for those of us who don't enjoy jetpacking. Sprint and Cloak can get you through the catwalks, Armor Lock is iffy but usable. What makes it balanced even with the Jetpacks mobility is the fact that there are strong weapons on every floor.
SL: Yes, it's playable without jetpacks, but not as fluid or fun. The jetpacks allow you to get to those floors quicker. I've seen jetpack users drop down to the floor to pick up for the sniper rifle, and then hop up to the middle catwalk for the Plasma launcher. Now, those players were clearly idiots to try and run around with two power weapons, but just the fact that they're capable of doing so before anyone else can even move up a single floor, and you get a sense of the issue.
Part of the problem is the map's layout, which is just painful at times. I love the vertical combat, with players firing up and down at each other from different floors, but navigating the inside of those bases is a nightmare. Some sides have stairs to the next floor, some don't, some sides force you outside to get to the next level, and it's ridiculous.
KW: Agreed, my answer to your problem is a simple one. Axe Jetpacks for that map, or Jetpacks for all on Swordbase.
SL: Ha! I don't think we'll get either. I just think it's going to be the equivalent of Isolation in Halo 3. Instant veto.
Now, Powerhouse on the other hand, is just awesome. It's very obviously High Ground v2 in both look and layout, and I love it. There's a great mix of cramped indoor combat and wide-open outdoor battles makes every match a little bit different. It also makes every armor ability useful and lets players use whatever play-style they prefer.
KW: Powerhouse is quite good. I enjoy how landmarked the map is. Players can quickly call out a location and it is readily identifiable. The aesthetic is pleasing, and is much more polished than the dry and boring Swordbase.
From a gameplay perspective it is all good except for the rocky outcroppings on the outskirts of the map. There's nothing immediately wrong with it, it just doesn't see much action and that's a problem.
SL: Hey, don't tell them that, the rocky outcroppings are my secret route for carrying flags in Stockpile! Speaking of which, Powerhouse is also great for the fact that it works well with every gametype. Swordbase really only works well for Slayer, SWAT and the new Headhunter mode, while Powerhouse works for all of those plus 1-flat CTF and the new Stockpile mode. Stockpile is easily my favorite new mode, it brings all the best elements of King of the Hill and Capture the Flag together into one fantastic balance of strategy and chaos.
KW: I disagree with your assessment of Swordbase, it works very well for 1-Flag CTF as well. Powerhouse is a versatile map that really does foster nearly every gametype, Team or FFA. Stockpile is crazy. It's growing on me. At first I hated it, and every match felt like a one-sided mess, but as the beta has rolled forward it's been getting more fun as players come to grips with the mode and all the strategies in play.
I think Headhunter beats the pants off of Stockpile as far as need modes go. I've only played it once, but I dominated it and Ive been trying to vote back into a match ever since. It was an absolute blast, a completely frenetic FFA match. I think it could be really well suited to small scale team games as well.
SL: I told you it would be. Wait till you try team headhunter! Okay, I concede that 1-Flag and Stockpile are bearable on Swordbase because they work within an asymmetrical arena.
Both Swordbase and Powerhouse favor the defenders though. In Powerhouse the spawn locations for the rockets and new Focus Rifle let the defenders lock-down the small flag room extremely easily, because every entrance is a huge bottle-neck. In Swordbase, the defenders have an advantage just because running the flag through that god-forsaken map is such a pain in the ass. And if you die, the map layout is so obtuse that there's no way you can make it back to the flag in time to stop it from being reset.
Those frustrations aside, I've still enjoyed all the modes I've played in the beta. I think that says a lot about the fundamental gameplay balance. The weapons, for the most part, all feel useful. Each one will make you feel empowered in certain situations, vulnerable in others. They all have sweet-spots to try and maneuver the combat towards, but they're flexible enough to let skillful players battle their way out of any disadvantage.
KW: I think bullets are too weak. The AR is garbage because of this. Every situation, every time, the pistol is better. The result is a hard shift in emphasis toward headshot-capable weapons, which some fans will definitely love, but in my opinion it just limits the flexibility of the combat. The weak bullets also put way too much of an emphasis on the grenades and melees, because players have figured out that they're better off running in more a melee or tossing a random grenade than wasting time shooting.
SL: I think saying "bullets are too weak" is a bit of a generalization. Some weapons could stand to be made a little bit more powerful. The DMR is the most prime example. The weapon feels great, but it takes too long to kill anybody with it if you try and match your shots to the reticule bloom. If you don't, then the accuracy decreases so fast that the weapon becomes impotent.
I think the AR is great, precisely because the grenades are so powerful now. At mid-range, which is the pistol's niche, then the pistol will win against an AR every time. However, an AR user can use grenades to force the enemy towards them, or try to weaken and kill that pistol user. It's an example of flexibility that allows skilled players to fight their way out of a disadvantage.
Players who try to use the pistol at short-range are out of luck because the pistol can't match the damage-per-second output of the assault rifle. Not without sacrificing the headshot accuracy that makes it effective in the first place.
KW: Maybe it's just because I'm currently watching my buddy play through a match pistol whipping AR-toting players, but I'm going to have to disagree, the AR just doesn't tear through flesh like it used to. Even in your scenario it only takes one pistol shot after the shield drops as opposed to the multisecond burst of accurate AR fire it would take to score a kill.
SL: Well I can't speak for the skill or know-how of the players your buddy is pistol-whipping, but a quick jaunt to my Bungie.net stats shows that I've scored more kills with the AR than any other weapon, and have a +/- rating of +50 with it. I will say that burst fire doesn't seem to tighten up the accuracy as much as the Halo 3 assault rifle, but pairing the AR with an early grenade and throwing in a melee makes it a great close-range weapon. I usually keep it on hand and swap out the magnum for the DMR or Needle Rifle.
The melee system on the other hand could definitely use some work. As it stands, if a player has even a sliver of shields left, the melee will only take out those remaining shields. So an attack that usually does 20-25% shield damage or kills an unshielded opponent does 1-2% shield damage and leaves you vulnerable to counter-attack. I don't think it should get rid of the shields AND kill the opponent, but at least deal some health damage too. Right now, the best CQC strategy is to just keep shooting until the other guy tries a melee, and then just return the favor for a kill. It's stupid.
I do like the magnum a lot more than I thought I would though. I was afraid that it would render the AR useless, which you seem to feel it does, but I feel like it fits into that mid-range niche perfectly. It's powerful enough to protect respawning players from DMRs, but not versatile enough to protect players in close-quarters against skilled assault rifle operators. Bungie finally nailed the balance on that damn pistol.
KW: Thank God the pistol works well, because the AR is garbage. So at least you spawn with one good weapon. Seriously though, once it goes public there should be plenty of data to wade through to determine the AR's effectiveness.
Let there be no doubt to the effectiveness of the new Needle Rifle though. It's useful against shields and utterly satisfying against flesh. I like that it's a legitimate counterpoint to the DMR unlike the Carbine was. It can be confusing at first when your target doesn't explode after the first few shots, but after some adjustment the Needle Rifle is one of the best new weapons.
SL: If the AR were more effective than it is now, nobody would ever drop it. Whether you increased damage per shot, accuracy or both, it would become too powerful for pistol-users to counter. It's a great spawn weapon right now because it absolutely requires intelligent use of grenades and melee's to maximize its value. Other, more powerful weapons that you need to earn don't need as much grenade or melee support.
I like the Needle Rifle a lot too, but I think at this stage it feels a little too powerful compared to the DMR. It chews through shields in roughly the same number of body shots, but after that you don't need accuracy for a quick kill. You can either wait out the reticule bloom for a patient headshot, DMR style, or hammer the trigger three times and watch your enemy burst. In almost every standoff, the Needle Rifle will come out on top of the DMR. I don't think they should change a thing about the Needle Rifle, I just think they should lower the time it takes for the DMR reticule bloom to recover.
KW: I honestly haven't spent enough time with the DMR to say, but it has felt fine to me so far. One thing I did note though, was that it is not nearly as reliable in close quarters as the BR is in Halo 3.
SL: Right, and that's a huge improvement because it gives the AR and the Pistol a more important role in the sandbox. But if the DMR is going to be a mid-range weapon and a liability in close-quarters, then its mid-range power needs to make up for the close-range vulnerability. Right now it doesn't, because the time it takes to hit accurate shots (waiting for the bloom to recover after each shot), enemies usually have more than enough time to find cover. Forsaking accuracy means it takes about 10 shots to kill someone instead of five. Either way, it doesn't feel powerful enough, especially up against the Needle Rifle.
KW: I see what you are getting at with the DMR but I've always been more of a close range player so the gun doesn't appeal to me like its cousin in Halo 3. That being said, I'll make it a point to check it out.
SL: My favorite new weapon is easily the Focus Rifle or, as I've come to call it, the Face Melter. Now this is a sniper weapon I can get behind. You trade off the fact that everyone can track the beam back to your position for the ability to hold a steady beam of fiery death over enemies. It might actually be a bit unbalanced though, because I've had some success using the thing in mid and even semi-close range too. Honestly, of any weapon, I think the Focus Rifle is the most likely to be toned down between the beta and the final release.
KW: Completely agreed, I was going to bring this up. The Focus Rifle is dominant at all ranges and completely disrupts the target while turning them into ash. It is too strong. Especially since it is viable in close quarters. It's not the only new Covenant power weapon that feels overpowered though; the new Plasma Launcher is just ridiculous. Being able to charge up to four rapid-fire sticky grenades that track targets is just too much. It makes the weapon too versatile, as it's not only sure to be a great anti-vehicle weapon, it also dismantles infantry too. They need to limit lock-on to vehicles and jetpack users.
SL: And finally, the Brute Hammer. Totally overpowered or obscenely overpowered?
KW: Neither. There isn't a suitable adjective for just how broken that damn thing is. The lunge distance for that weapon is just ridiculous, and it's a one-hit kill 99% of the time. Add the Elite roll into the equation and the damn thing is almost unstoppable. Honestly though, this is an easy fix for Bungie, they just need to reduce the lunge distance and the weapon will be fine.
SL: Yeah. Still, of all the weapons you'd expect to fear in the Halo: Reach beta, who guessed the Brute Hammer would be one of them?! Crazy.
Honestly, even at this stage the balancing issues aren't major enough to completely ruin the experience. The reason the beta exists is so that Bungie can figure out what works and what needs to be tweaked. The Spartan Laser and the Carbine are just two examples of weapons that were noticeably altered between the Halo 3 beta and the release of the final product. The fact that I can't wait to end this article and hop back into an unpolished, unfinished multiplayer experience speaks volumes as to how well Halo: Reach is shaping up.
Mere hours from going public, the buzz surrounding Halo: Reach has ascended to new heights. Now the public has the chance to render judgment on the multitude on new weapons, modes, abilities, and classes that Bungie has used to shake up Halo. Everyone reach for your copy of ODST and prepare to fall into Halo the only way you know how: feet first into Hell.
Sascha Lichtenstein: Let's make this conversation quick, because I'd much rather be playing this beta than talking about it.
I'm having a blast with Halo: Reach. Arena and Invasion are both locked out until the official start, so it's a little light on new features, but I like the way the combat has evolved. The four armor abilities all bring different strategic elements to the game, and their value changes depending on the map and the game type.
Kyle Wattenmaker: I like it, and I'm saying that with tempered enthusiasm. I'm not nearly as enthusiastic as I thought I might be, but there's still plenty I haven't seen. Balance is iffy, but it's a beta. Armor abilities are awesome.
SL: I was worried that the armor abilities would be completely unbalanced, that some would be incredibly powerful and others would be completely useless. Off the top of my head, I can't think of an armor ability that I haven't been able to use with great success, save for maybe armor lock...and that's only because I keep forgetting I have the ability with the battles start getting heated. I always die and say "Dammit, I could have used my ability!" But I'll get used to it.
KW: One thing that is interesting about armor abilities is how they evolve over the course of a certain match. Let's use 1-Flag CTF on Sword Base as an example. At the beginning you have plenty of variety in abilities, as players choose the abilities they like best, or the ones that mesh with the team strategy. But you can bet your ass that the entire defending team will switch to jetpacks as soon as the flag gets stolen.
That modular nature of the abilities is interesting to me, but will you have situations where players are going to miss equipment (Halo 3) and have to kill themselves to get the ability they need?
SL: I doubt anybody is going to commit suicide to get the ability they need; they'll just make do with what they have until they die. Honestly, I've seen a lot of players jumping back and forth throughout a match to try and get the armor ability of the moment, but by the time they respawned and got back into the action, the combat dynamics had changed and their armor ability wasn't really all that much better of a fit. All the armor abilities are pretty flexible, and none of them are really game-changing (except maybe the Jetpack on Swordbase), so I think that players that just stay the course, don't switch armor abilities that often, and just play toward a role on the team will find more success.
KW: I agree in game types like Team Slayer, but once objectives come into play I think Armor Abilities take on a much larger role. They begin to cater to what the team needs as opposed to a shotgun aficionado grabbing the cloak. So I'll use the cloak most of the time in slayer, because it lets me close in on enemies distance and use my CQC skills. But I already find myself swapping armor abilities in CTF games when the flag gets stolen, or when someone needs to try and fight for the respawning power weapons. So I'm fairly certain that trend is only going to become more prevalent in the kind of large, big-team-battle style objective games we'll see in Invasion.
SL: I find myself using good old sprint most of the time. It's more effective than I thought it would be. In games like Call of Duty, I just use it to get from place to place quickly, in Halo: Reach, I find myself using it to bolt to cover. I've saved my life more than a few times by breaking out sprint when my shields popped. I actually miss it when I play as an Elite, but dodge-roll is more than an adequate substitute. Rolling around adds a completely new dynamic to combat.
KW: Action rolls are the coolest thing. Playing as an Elite really makes you feel like a badass. It's good for closing distance, dodging grenades, sliding behind some cover. I think it's more versatile than any armor ability.
SL: Agreed, the dive-roll is definitely the most well-rounded armor ability in the game. It's versatile, useful, but not so powerful that a skilled player can compensate for it. More importantly, it doesn't interrupt the flow of the gameplay at all. In fact, it helps it along. There have always been moments in Halo where two players go at it and find themselves in relatively close-quarters with battered shields. Ideally, you would want to get the hell out of there to recharge, but there's never been an effective way to do so. So these battles always ended with both players spamming everything they had, and the luckiest player won. Dodge gives players a way out of that situation.
By comparison, I think armor lock hurts the flow of the gameplay quite a bit. When someone uses the ability, the enemy basically has no option but to sit there like an idiot and wait. You can try baiting the player out of it by backing up and resuming your attack before his shields have had a chance to recharge, or you can just run and opt to fight another day. But if it's a "two men enter and the lesser man respawns" situation, as many situations in Halo ultimately boil down to, you're basically left with one guy waiting around for the other guy to get up. It just brings the action to a halt.
KW: I share that sentiment to a point. Armor Lock needs a rework. From a design standpoint, I can see that it is supposed to riff on standard Halo gameplay in a different way from the other armor abilities. That's all well and good, but is it bending the rules of Halo in a good way? No.
Make Armor Lock fire and forget. By fire and forget, I mean just one button press, instead of a toggle, and once you hit the button you're committed for a specific length of time. Length of lock would have to be measured alongside grenade timers to make sure that it wouldn't leave a player vulnerable instead of protected. My guess would be roughly two seconds. It will still serve its purpose but not completely grind gameplay to a halt. Because let's be honest, one Spartan throwing grenades at another Spartan taking a knee looks and feels stupid.
SL: I like that idea. It would force players to be a little bit more careful about when they use the ability, which means fewer halts to the gameplay flow. It would also force players to use a bit of teamwork, because the best way to ensure that the enemies around you don't just pick you off when you get up is to call one of your buddies over to help you out.
I also have a problem that relates to the jetpack ability. The design of the ability is fine, but the way it fits into one of the maps is borderline broken. Swordbase plays completely differently when you have the jetpack. In fact, the map only really works when you have that ability equipped. Without it, confined to the confused innards of the two "bases" and the open catwalks, the map is a complete mess. I don't like the idea of maps built around the use of specific armor abilities.
KW: I disagree. I think the map is playable for those of us who don't enjoy jetpacking. Sprint and Cloak can get you through the catwalks, Armor Lock is iffy but usable. What makes it balanced even with the Jetpacks mobility is the fact that there are strong weapons on every floor.
SL: Yes, it's playable without jetpacks, but not as fluid or fun. The jetpacks allow you to get to those floors quicker. I've seen jetpack users drop down to the floor to pick up for the sniper rifle, and then hop up to the middle catwalk for the Plasma launcher. Now, those players were clearly idiots to try and run around with two power weapons, but just the fact that they're capable of doing so before anyone else can even move up a single floor, and you get a sense of the issue.
Part of the problem is the map's layout, which is just painful at times. I love the vertical combat, with players firing up and down at each other from different floors, but navigating the inside of those bases is a nightmare. Some sides have stairs to the next floor, some don't, some sides force you outside to get to the next level, and it's ridiculous.
KW: Agreed, my answer to your problem is a simple one. Axe Jetpacks for that map, or Jetpacks for all on Swordbase.
SL: Ha! I don't think we'll get either. I just think it's going to be the equivalent of Isolation in Halo 3. Instant veto.
Now, Powerhouse on the other hand, is just awesome. It's very obviously High Ground v2 in both look and layout, and I love it. There's a great mix of cramped indoor combat and wide-open outdoor battles makes every match a little bit different. It also makes every armor ability useful and lets players use whatever play-style they prefer.
KW: Powerhouse is quite good. I enjoy how landmarked the map is. Players can quickly call out a location and it is readily identifiable. The aesthetic is pleasing, and is much more polished than the dry and boring Swordbase.
From a gameplay perspective it is all good except for the rocky outcroppings on the outskirts of the map. There's nothing immediately wrong with it, it just doesn't see much action and that's a problem.
SL: Hey, don't tell them that, the rocky outcroppings are my secret route for carrying flags in Stockpile! Speaking of which, Powerhouse is also great for the fact that it works well with every gametype. Swordbase really only works well for Slayer, SWAT and the new Headhunter mode, while Powerhouse works for all of those plus 1-flat CTF and the new Stockpile mode. Stockpile is easily my favorite new mode, it brings all the best elements of King of the Hill and Capture the Flag together into one fantastic balance of strategy and chaos.
KW: I disagree with your assessment of Swordbase, it works very well for 1-Flag CTF as well. Powerhouse is a versatile map that really does foster nearly every gametype, Team or FFA. Stockpile is crazy. It's growing on me. At first I hated it, and every match felt like a one-sided mess, but as the beta has rolled forward it's been getting more fun as players come to grips with the mode and all the strategies in play.
I think Headhunter beats the pants off of Stockpile as far as need modes go. I've only played it once, but I dominated it and Ive been trying to vote back into a match ever since. It was an absolute blast, a completely frenetic FFA match. I think it could be really well suited to small scale team games as well.
SL: I told you it would be. Wait till you try team headhunter! Okay, I concede that 1-Flag and Stockpile are bearable on Swordbase because they work within an asymmetrical arena.
Both Swordbase and Powerhouse favor the defenders though. In Powerhouse the spawn locations for the rockets and new Focus Rifle let the defenders lock-down the small flag room extremely easily, because every entrance is a huge bottle-neck. In Swordbase, the defenders have an advantage just because running the flag through that god-forsaken map is such a pain in the ass. And if you die, the map layout is so obtuse that there's no way you can make it back to the flag in time to stop it from being reset.
Those frustrations aside, I've still enjoyed all the modes I've played in the beta. I think that says a lot about the fundamental gameplay balance. The weapons, for the most part, all feel useful. Each one will make you feel empowered in certain situations, vulnerable in others. They all have sweet-spots to try and maneuver the combat towards, but they're flexible enough to let skillful players battle their way out of any disadvantage.
KW: I think bullets are too weak. The AR is garbage because of this. Every situation, every time, the pistol is better. The result is a hard shift in emphasis toward headshot-capable weapons, which some fans will definitely love, but in my opinion it just limits the flexibility of the combat. The weak bullets also put way too much of an emphasis on the grenades and melees, because players have figured out that they're better off running in more a melee or tossing a random grenade than wasting time shooting.
SL: I think saying "bullets are too weak" is a bit of a generalization. Some weapons could stand to be made a little bit more powerful. The DMR is the most prime example. The weapon feels great, but it takes too long to kill anybody with it if you try and match your shots to the reticule bloom. If you don't, then the accuracy decreases so fast that the weapon becomes impotent.
I think the AR is great, precisely because the grenades are so powerful now. At mid-range, which is the pistol's niche, then the pistol will win against an AR every time. However, an AR user can use grenades to force the enemy towards them, or try to weaken and kill that pistol user. It's an example of flexibility that allows skilled players to fight their way out of a disadvantage.
Players who try to use the pistol at short-range are out of luck because the pistol can't match the damage-per-second output of the assault rifle. Not without sacrificing the headshot accuracy that makes it effective in the first place.
KW: Maybe it's just because I'm currently watching my buddy play through a match pistol whipping AR-toting players, but I'm going to have to disagree, the AR just doesn't tear through flesh like it used to. Even in your scenario it only takes one pistol shot after the shield drops as opposed to the multisecond burst of accurate AR fire it would take to score a kill.
SL: Well I can't speak for the skill or know-how of the players your buddy is pistol-whipping, but a quick jaunt to my Bungie.net stats shows that I've scored more kills with the AR than any other weapon, and have a +/- rating of +50 with it. I will say that burst fire doesn't seem to tighten up the accuracy as much as the Halo 3 assault rifle, but pairing the AR with an early grenade and throwing in a melee makes it a great close-range weapon. I usually keep it on hand and swap out the magnum for the DMR or Needle Rifle.
The melee system on the other hand could definitely use some work. As it stands, if a player has even a sliver of shields left, the melee will only take out those remaining shields. So an attack that usually does 20-25% shield damage or kills an unshielded opponent does 1-2% shield damage and leaves you vulnerable to counter-attack. I don't think it should get rid of the shields AND kill the opponent, but at least deal some health damage too. Right now, the best CQC strategy is to just keep shooting until the other guy tries a melee, and then just return the favor for a kill. It's stupid.
I do like the magnum a lot more than I thought I would though. I was afraid that it would render the AR useless, which you seem to feel it does, but I feel like it fits into that mid-range niche perfectly. It's powerful enough to protect respawning players from DMRs, but not versatile enough to protect players in close-quarters against skilled assault rifle operators. Bungie finally nailed the balance on that damn pistol.
KW: Thank God the pistol works well, because the AR is garbage. So at least you spawn with one good weapon. Seriously though, once it goes public there should be plenty of data to wade through to determine the AR's effectiveness.
Let there be no doubt to the effectiveness of the new Needle Rifle though. It's useful against shields and utterly satisfying against flesh. I like that it's a legitimate counterpoint to the DMR unlike the Carbine was. It can be confusing at first when your target doesn't explode after the first few shots, but after some adjustment the Needle Rifle is one of the best new weapons.
SL: If the AR were more effective than it is now, nobody would ever drop it. Whether you increased damage per shot, accuracy or both, it would become too powerful for pistol-users to counter. It's a great spawn weapon right now because it absolutely requires intelligent use of grenades and melee's to maximize its value. Other, more powerful weapons that you need to earn don't need as much grenade or melee support.
I like the Needle Rifle a lot too, but I think at this stage it feels a little too powerful compared to the DMR. It chews through shields in roughly the same number of body shots, but after that you don't need accuracy for a quick kill. You can either wait out the reticule bloom for a patient headshot, DMR style, or hammer the trigger three times and watch your enemy burst. In almost every standoff, the Needle Rifle will come out on top of the DMR. I don't think they should change a thing about the Needle Rifle, I just think they should lower the time it takes for the DMR reticule bloom to recover.
KW: I honestly haven't spent enough time with the DMR to say, but it has felt fine to me so far. One thing I did note though, was that it is not nearly as reliable in close quarters as the BR is in Halo 3.
SL: Right, and that's a huge improvement because it gives the AR and the Pistol a more important role in the sandbox. But if the DMR is going to be a mid-range weapon and a liability in close-quarters, then its mid-range power needs to make up for the close-range vulnerability. Right now it doesn't, because the time it takes to hit accurate shots (waiting for the bloom to recover after each shot), enemies usually have more than enough time to find cover. Forsaking accuracy means it takes about 10 shots to kill someone instead of five. Either way, it doesn't feel powerful enough, especially up against the Needle Rifle.
KW: I see what you are getting at with the DMR but I've always been more of a close range player so the gun doesn't appeal to me like its cousin in Halo 3. That being said, I'll make it a point to check it out.
SL: My favorite new weapon is easily the Focus Rifle or, as I've come to call it, the Face Melter. Now this is a sniper weapon I can get behind. You trade off the fact that everyone can track the beam back to your position for the ability to hold a steady beam of fiery death over enemies. It might actually be a bit unbalanced though, because I've had some success using the thing in mid and even semi-close range too. Honestly, of any weapon, I think the Focus Rifle is the most likely to be toned down between the beta and the final release.
KW: Completely agreed, I was going to bring this up. The Focus Rifle is dominant at all ranges and completely disrupts the target while turning them into ash. It is too strong. Especially since it is viable in close quarters. It's not the only new Covenant power weapon that feels overpowered though; the new Plasma Launcher is just ridiculous. Being able to charge up to four rapid-fire sticky grenades that track targets is just too much. It makes the weapon too versatile, as it's not only sure to be a great anti-vehicle weapon, it also dismantles infantry too. They need to limit lock-on to vehicles and jetpack users.
SL: And finally, the Brute Hammer. Totally overpowered or obscenely overpowered?
KW: Neither. There isn't a suitable adjective for just how broken that damn thing is. The lunge distance for that weapon is just ridiculous, and it's a one-hit kill 99% of the time. Add the Elite roll into the equation and the damn thing is almost unstoppable. Honestly though, this is an easy fix for Bungie, they just need to reduce the lunge distance and the weapon will be fine.
SL: Yeah. Still, of all the weapons you'd expect to fear in the Halo: Reach beta, who guessed the Brute Hammer would be one of them?! Crazy.
Honestly, even at this stage the balancing issues aren't major enough to completely ruin the experience. The reason the beta exists is so that Bungie can figure out what works and what needs to be tweaked. The Spartan Laser and the Carbine are just two examples of weapons that were noticeably altered between the Halo 3 beta and the release of the final product. The fact that I can't wait to end this article and hop back into an unpolished, unfinished multiplayer experience speaks volumes as to how well Halo: Reach is shaping up.
Mere hours from going public, the buzz surrounding Halo: Reach has ascended to new heights. Now the public has the chance to render judgment on the multitude on new weapons, modes, abilities, and classes that Bungie has used to shake up Halo. Everyone reach for your copy of ODST and prepare to fall into Halo the only way you know how: feet first into Hell.
