Almost 8 months after the ODST launch Bungie has finally graced us with the much anticipated reach beta. We here at BSR thought we’d put down how we feel about it so far, and open up a channel for some discussion.

Zombietron:

THEY MOVED THE MELEE BUTTON! I understand this is small, but when you’ve been punching dudes with B since halo 2 it’s really hard to adjust to pushing the bumper, i’m sure I could do a custom control configuration, but they moved the button for a reason! I know they did. I just can’t figure out why.

I really like the new weapons, the re-imagining of the battle rifle, though strange at first is a nice change, and aside from a lack of ammo, it’s climbing to the top of my favorites list. I don’t know how I feel about the focus rifle, I still hate the needler, I haven’t used a sword yet, the grenades feel MUCH better than the Halo 3 grenades, I’m not sure what they changed but I like it. The jet pack is baller, pure gangsta really, i’m just too white to use any more terms of that nature. Stockpile mode is a riot, capturing as many flags as you can as fast as you can is awesome. The new matchmaking menu is extremely well thought out. I really enjoy having my online friends that are playing the game listed directly below my party, it made inviting killtacular this morning super easy, and saves you the hassle of fighting menus to get a group game going.

The different class load-outs add strategy which hasn’t been absent from the Halo series, but can be considered comparatively weak when held next to other shooters. I love knifing people, it feels incredible to get that big of a jump on somebody, and conversely feels equally embarrassing to be knifed.

I have one gripe so far, why does every level, of every planet, of every Halo game look exactly alike? I understand that we’re in Beta and every game has an art style. I’m just struggling to believe that every planet in the Halo universe looks exactly the same with exactly the same 20 colors and textures to be seen. I don’t hate the game, I just don’t understand why Bungie insists on creating a universe based on 10 plant types and 5 different colored rocks. This being said the beta is great so far and I prefer it to Halo 3, much in the way that I preferred Halo 2 to Halo 3. Reach is an improvement.