True Gaming Confession: I Don't Hate The Halo: Reach Beta
I realize that this isn't the most Halo friendly environment, and that's OK. Maybe the game hurt you in some profound way, you're allowed to have feelings. Honestly, I've ever been a superfan myself; after skipping the first game, I muddled my way through the single player campaigns of the 2nd and 3rd, enjoying the good, dealing with the not so great. My experience with the multiplayer consisted of jumping in for a couple of Halo 3 deathmatches, getting slaughtered, and then logging out feeling kind of like I'd been mugged. I wasn't sure I wanted to try the Reach beta at all, but figured that I'd at least download it, since it seemed like a waste to let my copy of ODST sit there, unplayed since October. I started with a game of Stockpile, where you have to collect multiple flags that spawn all over the map and bring them to a base where they're collected periodically. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. But I didn't hate it!
I played a few more games: Capture the Flag, Team Crazy King, and Oddball and then some Slayer and Headhunter. Still wasn't hating! Even though I was pretty terrible!
I'm not sure if my patience has grown with my advanced age, but I didn't really mind being awful at the game this time. And the longer I could deal with being awful, the better I got at the game. I mean, not always demonstrably. My statistics are still pretty bad, but I no longer feel like the most clueless one on the field most of the time.
Also, I mute almost everyone. Did I leave that part out? Because that probably helps a lot.
I like the new abilities (jetpack, active camo, invulnerability, and sprint) but haven't really figured out strategies for them except in a few game types. I'm also not a fan of the voting mechanism to choose which map and gametype you're going to play: by default, everyone votes for the first option, meaning about 80% of the time, I find the first choice wins. This has led to me playing the same game on the same map three times in a row because I didn't feel like bailing on my team. Or maybe everyone just loves Capture the Flag on Sword Base! I am not so much a fan at this point.
Anyway, I wasn't aiming to give really detailed impressions. I like it! But the beta test is almost over, so that probably won't help you. I'm really more interested in trying to figure out whether they've actually made fundamental improvements to the experience, or whether my tastes have changed, because I honestly don't know. I'm eating my vegetables, reading the news, enjoying Halo multiplayer. I guess I'm a grown-up now.
Dawdle
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 16 May 2010
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: brussels sprouts, bungie, halo reach beta, impressions, microsoft, xbox 360
How do you go about muting people on Halo Reach Beta? Some of those people are so obnoxious I want to smash my face into the controller.
Joking or not associating Halo Multiplayer and "grown up" in any way is almost editorial suicide.
Do not forget to mention, maybe in a future article, that there are new 'social' settings for multiplayer.
You can select from the level of 'chattiness', you can chose your 'crowd' (Polite or Rowdy), the level of teamwork you would like (Lonewolf or Teamplayer) as well as if you are playing for 'good times' or .. i forget the other option, but it's more serious.
The idea is that the game will match you with people making similar choices (and might alow us to avoid a lot of the 'hate' that people spew on xbl), in theory it sounds like a very welcome addition. In practice, we shall have to wait and see if it works.
P.S. I love Halo!