Halo: Reach's Commendations, Credits & Your Concerns Explained

Credits=Cool Armor

Bungie is mixing up Halo: Reach multiplayer with all new rules, adding the concepts of Credits, Rank, and Commendations; it's all part of the Xbox 360 game's new "Player Investment" system, which sounds way more exciting than the name implies.



In Halo: Reach, Bungie is throwing out much of the old way of doing things, revamping the game's ranking system that's now based on the accumulation of Credits. And how does one acquire Credits? By completing daily and weekly Challenges—tasks like killing a set number of opponents in a matchmaking game, for the basic stuff—and racking up Commendations, smaller accomplishments like accumulating headshots.



Halo: Reach players will also score Credits by winning and finishing games in matchmaking. That's right, finishing. The majority of these changes look to address the persistent problems with leveling up in multiplayer games, like the mad rush to unlock virtual crap in the name of scoring more Credits.



The whole system, which Bungie notes is divorced from the actual Trueskill ranking that evens out matchmaking, looks pretty smart.



Oh, and what do you do with all these credits? Buy stuff, of course. New armor, new helmets, total Spartan customization. It's "purely cosmetic," Bungie says, keeping the playfield level. Extra details at Bungie.net.