HALO: REACH Multiplayer Beta Impressions (PG. 2/2)
By Mike Baggley (05.27.10)

I don’t really have any complaints about the maps. Once again, Bungie has created great virtual playgrounds for us to frolic in with our spartans. Every map has a good sense of balance and has obvious dominate areas and choke points to allow for great competitive play. I’m excited to see what else is in store for us in the full release.

List of Maps: Swordbase, Powerhouse, Boneyard, Overlook

There are a couple of interesting new free-for-all game modes like 'Juggernaut' and 'Headhunter' that are fun to play when you need a break from 'Slayer,' but 4-on-4 action is what this game is all about. The thing I’m most excited about is the Arena. The idea of creating seasons, just like the arena in 'World of Warcraft,' is genius. If you haven’t heard about it let me quickly explain. Basically throughout the year, there will be different arena seasons, just like a baseball season. During the season, you’ll be ranked as you play. If you play enough games each day, you’ll get a daily rating, and if you earn enough ratings, you’ll get placed in a division with others who have achieved the same rank. After the season is over, the slate will be wiped clean and you’ll have to earn your rank again. It’s the ultimate mode for competitive play.

I think this system will finally start to make the “playing as a team” aspect of the game stronger. My biggest pet peeve when playing online is getting in a group with people who don’t really care about winning, but only about getting the most kills. I always start each game trying to rally the troops and form a quick simple strategy - that’s all you need in this game to win most of the matches. Something as simple as staying in 2s or trying to hold a dominant area will win every time against another team that’s just focused on kill count. The problem is a lot of the time you get paired up with young kids, or people who are too full of themselves to have a higher assist count than kill count on their stat sheet. Hopefully the arena will filter those people out (for the most part) and allow those who truly strive to win the opportunity to link up with like-minded individuals. Futhermore, I think the 'Generator Defense' and 'Invasion' modes are fantastic. I love objective based play in Halo, because it at least attempts to make people be where they’re supposed to, but once again, people still seem to care too much about kill count, even when it has absolutely no bearing on who wins or loses. They are both tons of fun, but I’m just way more excited about what the arena has in store for us.

There are some new matchmaking options that are really interesting. You have the option to filter out people who are too chatty or not chatty enough, or who value teamwork, etc. It didn’t really work in the beta, but I suspect its due to the fact that not many people were using it. I like the attempts they are making here to put like-minded individuals on a team together. One thing I would love to see is a filter to only play with people over a certain age. Not that I don’t love hearing “I just pwned you noob!” and “Mom, can you get me more milk?” seconds apart from each other (coming from the voice of a teammate or an enemy) but I’d prefer to play with more mature players. Obviously, the matchmaking system can be abused, but if it is refined, I think it will be a huge asset in regard to making people feel comfortable in the multiplayer environment. One thing I’d like to see added to the game is a guild or team system akin to what you might find in an MMORPG. Now that I’m getting close to my thirties, most of my friends aren’t playing video games on a serious level anymore and have resorted to only casual play at best. I would love a system (that might even work well as a component of the  arena) that allows people to create teams and custom armor pieces to identify themselves. It will allow players to build their own online community, and that will greatly increase the longevity of this game. With that addition I think I could truly say that Halo is the ultimate FPS multiplayer experience. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together in the final release this fall.