Continuing a trend that started last week for the weekly challenge in Halo Reach, Bungie has put forth another co-op friendly way of increasing your credits this time in the game's Firefight mode.
To earn yourself a cool 3000 credits all you need to do is complete 50 rounds of Firefight in matchmaking. Remember that each Firefight match in matchmaking is potentially 5 rounds, so completing this only requires 10 separate matches. After testing it looks like each MATCH is one ROUND. So that's potentially a LOT of Firefight. As always if you don't feel like taking your chances with the general Halo public you can give the Co-Optimus forums a try to find your Halo soulmate.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Halo Reachs' Ranking System
The ever popular theme here at Loot Ninja is us playing the shit out of Halo: Reach and bringing you guys some good info on all the ins, outs, and what-have-you’s. One of my gripes with the new Halo: Reach stat page is that the rankings are not there. Before in Halo 3, it was clearly visible to what the requirements were for each rank as well as Skill. Now that Skill has been dropped and they have adapted the aggregate point total for rankings, after the jump is every point requirement for every rank up to Colonel. We will bring you the higher ranks as they are made available.
Recruit – 0 cR
Private – 7,500 cR
Corporal – 10,000 cR (+2,500 cR)
Corporal Grade 1 – 15,000 cR (+5,000 cR)
Sergeant – 20,000 cR (+5,000 cR)
Sergeant Grade 1 – 26,250 cR (+6,250 cR)
Sergeant Grade 2 – 32,500 cR (+6,250 cR)
Warrant Officer – 45,000 cR (+12,500 cR)
Warrant Officer Grade 1 – 78,000 cR (+33,000 cR)
Warrant Officer Grade 2 – 111,000 cR (+33,000 cR)
Warrant Officer Grade 3 – 144,000 cR (+33000 cR)
Captain – 210,000 cR (+66,000 cR)
Captain Grade 1 – 233,000 cR (+23,000 cR)
Captain Grade 2 – 256,000 cR (+23,000 cR)
Captain Grade 3 – 279,000 cR (+23,000 cR)
Major – 325,000 cR (+46,000 cR)
Major Grade 1 – 350,000 cR (+25,000 cR)
Major Grade 2 – 375,000 cR (+25,000 cR)
Major Grade 3 – 400,000 cR (+25,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel – 450,000 cR (+50,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel Grade 1 – 480,000 cR (+30,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel Grade 2 – 510,000 cR (+30,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel Grade 3 – 540,000 cR (+30,000 cR)
Commander – 600,000 cR (+60,000 cR)
Commander Grade 1 –650,000 cR (+50,000 cR)
Commander Grade 2 – 700,000 cR (+50,000 cR)
Commander Grade 3 – 750,000 (+50,000 cR)
Colonel – 850,000 cR (+100,000 cR)
Colonel Grade 1 – 960,000 cR (+110,000 cR)
Colonel Grade 2 – 1,070,000 cR (+110,000 cR)
Colonel Grade 3 – 1,180,000 cR (+110,000 cR)
Brigadier – 1,400,000 cR (+220,000 cR)
Brigadier Grade 1 – 1,520,000 cR (+120,000 cR)
Brigadier Grade 2 – 1,640,000 cR (+120,000 cR)
Brigadier Grade 3 – 1,760,000 cR (+120,000 cR)
General – 2,000,000 cR (+240,000 cR)
General Grade 1 – 2,200,000 cR (+200,000 cR)
General Grade 2 – 2,350,000 cR (+150,000 cR)
General Grade 3 – 2,500,000 cR (+150,000 cR)
General Grade 4 – 2,650,000 cR (+150,000 cR)
Field Marshall – 3,000,000 cR (+350,000 cR)
Hero – 3,700,000 cR (+700,000 cR)
Legend – 4,600,000 cR (+900,000 cR)
Mythic – 5,650,000 cR (+1,050,000 cR)
Noble – 7,000,000 cR (+1,350,000 cR)
Eclipse – 8,500,000 cR (+1,500,000 cR)
Nova – 11,000,000 cR (+2,500,000 cR)
Forerunner – 13,000,000 cR (+2,000,000 cR)
Reclaimer – 16,500,000 cR (+3,500,000 cR)
Inheritor – 20,000,000 cR (+3,500,000 cR)
Recruit – 0 cR
Private – 7,500 cR
Corporal – 10,000 cR (+2,500 cR)
Corporal Grade 1 – 15,000 cR (+5,000 cR)
Sergeant – 20,000 cR (+5,000 cR)
Sergeant Grade 1 – 26,250 cR (+6,250 cR)
Sergeant Grade 2 – 32,500 cR (+6,250 cR)
Warrant Officer – 45,000 cR (+12,500 cR)
Warrant Officer Grade 1 – 78,000 cR (+33,000 cR)
Warrant Officer Grade 2 – 111,000 cR (+33,000 cR)
Warrant Officer Grade 3 – 144,000 cR (+33000 cR)
Captain – 210,000 cR (+66,000 cR)
Captain Grade 1 – 233,000 cR (+23,000 cR)
Captain Grade 2 – 256,000 cR (+23,000 cR)
Captain Grade 3 – 279,000 cR (+23,000 cR)
Major – 325,000 cR (+46,000 cR)
Major Grade 1 – 350,000 cR (+25,000 cR)
Major Grade 2 – 375,000 cR (+25,000 cR)
Major Grade 3 – 400,000 cR (+25,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel – 450,000 cR (+50,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel Grade 1 – 480,000 cR (+30,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel Grade 2 – 510,000 cR (+30,000 cR)
Lt. Colonel Grade 3 – 540,000 cR (+30,000 cR)
Commander – 600,000 cR (+60,000 cR)
Commander Grade 1 –650,000 cR (+50,000 cR)
Commander Grade 2 – 700,000 cR (+50,000 cR)
Commander Grade 3 – 750,000 (+50,000 cR)
Colonel – 850,000 cR (+100,000 cR)
Colonel Grade 1 – 960,000 cR (+110,000 cR)
Colonel Grade 2 – 1,070,000 cR (+110,000 cR)
Colonel Grade 3 – 1,180,000 cR (+110,000 cR)
Brigadier – 1,400,000 cR (+220,000 cR)
Brigadier Grade 1 – 1,520,000 cR (+120,000 cR)
Brigadier Grade 2 – 1,640,000 cR (+120,000 cR)
Brigadier Grade 3 – 1,760,000 cR (+120,000 cR)
General – 2,000,000 cR (+240,000 cR)
General Grade 1 – 2,200,000 cR (+200,000 cR)
General Grade 2 – 2,350,000 cR (+150,000 cR)
General Grade 3 – 2,500,000 cR (+150,000 cR)
General Grade 4 – 2,650,000 cR (+150,000 cR)
Field Marshall – 3,000,000 cR (+350,000 cR)
Hero – 3,700,000 cR (+700,000 cR)
Legend – 4,600,000 cR (+900,000 cR)
Mythic – 5,650,000 cR (+1,050,000 cR)
Noble – 7,000,000 cR (+1,350,000 cR)
Eclipse – 8,500,000 cR (+1,500,000 cR)
Nova – 11,000,000 cR (+2,500,000 cR)
Forerunner – 13,000,000 cR (+2,000,000 cR)
Reclaimer – 16,500,000 cR (+3,500,000 cR)
Inheritor – 20,000,000 cR (+3,500,000 cR)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Bungie Speaks About October Playlist
Hello and welcome to the inaugural edition of the October Bungie Weekly Update! Let’s skip the formalities and dig right in.
October Playlist Update, Inbound Imminent
We’ve already promised a big mid-month Matchmaking deployment, but Jeremiah and the core team responsible for Reach’s playlist management have decided to fast track some of the “easier” implementations and break October’s update into two distinct and meaty halves. The first round of playlist updates, barring any unforeseen shenanigans, will go live on Tuesday of next week.
Spaaaaaaaaace!
Here’s what you can expect when we pull the trigger:
Team Slayer
SWAT is taking one in the face (being removed) and the weighting for all other gametypes will be adjusted to fall in line with voting data. Expect – surprise, surprise – more traditional Slayer offerings to appear.
Team SWAT
SWAT gametypes that are removed from other playlists are being incorporated into their own, unique playlist with adjustments made to modes and maps based on voting data (farewell SWAT on Hemorrhage, you sucked and everybody hated you).
Team Objective
Powerhouse will now feature several more gametypes, including 1 Flag and Stockpile. Because Powerhouse is awesome and we don’t get to play it enough.
Multi Team
Rocket Race is being added. You win by staying on the Mongoose and racing to the checkpoints. (Oh, who am I kidding, you’re just going to hop off and try to assassinate people, aren’t you?)
Big Team Battle
SWAT and Classic are being removed and the frequency of Snipers is being reduced based on – you guessed it – voting data.
Arena Doubles
Boardwalk and “Pro” options are both being removed. Default Zealot is being replaced with Arena Zealot, a map variant which features modified initial player spawns and a soft-kill zone in spaaaaaace.
Team Arena
“Pro” options are being removed. Arena Zealot (details above), is being added.
Score Attack
Credit earn rates for Gruntpocalypse are being reduced to fall more in line with other modes.
General Matchmaking
Alongside the major alterations listed above, a myriad of much needed fixes and tweaks to the experience will also go into effect on Tuesday, including a metric ton of small, but annoying bugs and gameplay issues that we’ve identified and earmarked for eradication. As these updates go live, Jeremiah will publish the full details to our Optimatch forum so you can pore over the subtle nuances of each individual change.
Make sure to pop in and tell him that you agree with every single decision we’ve made! We prepped a pile of official discussion threads and bucketed them by playlist to facilitate polite and mature discussion. You can weigh in here.
Loud and Clear
The second salvo for October will include the fix to the current betrayal booting system, bringing it back in line with Halo 3 (three strikes and you’re out), and it will also introduce some significant changes to the Firefight experience, including the removal of friendly fire. Also on the way, a proper Team Snipers playlist, the possibility of a radar-less “Pro” experience in Season 3 of Arena, and more love spread out over all of our offerings, with a strong focus on Rumble Pit and Multi Team (all barring any unforeseen issues).
Already mentioned and still planned is the introduction of Campaign Matchmaking and some substantially awesome changes to the Firefight Matchmaking experience, the latter by way of cooperative multiplayer maestro, Larzy B. We’ll talk more about these updates next week.
Long story short, we’re evaluating all of our playlists and we’re acting fast to make sure feedback from voting data and the community-at-large is being evaluated and implemented.
Firefight Matchmaking 101
While we’re on the Firefight tip, we should talk a little Matchmaking Best Practices. As more and more players roll through Firefight Matchmaking, the network experience should continue to improve. We’re able to record your proximity to other players on the network and link you up with low latency players.
That said, the networking model used for Firefight (and soon enough, Campaign Matchmaking) is different than the multiplayer model and by default, the effects of latency are experienced a little bit differently as well. One sure fire way to ensure that your experience is impacted dramatically is to party up with other players thousands of miles across the globe from you (or with players who have demonstrably poor connections). While Matchmaking can and will make great connections, if you’re forcing a poor match-up through a party, there’s literally nothing our algorithm can do to lessen the impact of a bad connection.
It should go without saying that in every multiplayer mode you play, you should turn off torrents, stop streaming music, and make sure your network is running at optimal conditions. If you’re on a shared network, check to see that someone else isn’t killing your throughput. Every last megabit is precious.
For a more in depth look at how you can improve or troubleshoot your network, check into our Networking 101 article, previously posted to our Project Page.
Also on the playlist front, we’ve begun the monumental task of evaluating the early crop of user submitted map variants. For now, it’s a piecemeal affair, with several of us tasked with exploring File Shares and community hot-spots in search of well-made community maps. I still plan on detailing the process in a much more transparent fashion, but my own amateur offering, Riptide (formerly known as Jurkout), has yet to be put through the official paces. When we do run it through the grinder, I’ll resurrect the Incompetent Cartographer series so you can see exactly what we’re looking for.
It's a World...for Forging!
It’s a huge undertaking. Even while Halo: Reach was still on hot approach, we were still receiving nearly 100,000 unique Halo 3 map variants each and every month. Obviously, downloading and playtesting each and every offering would require a level of manpower and patience far beyond our limits and capabilities.
That said, we’ve got several us-yet-unveiled programs in the works to aid us in our quest and we’ll be making a lot of noise about all of them soon. We’ve already pushed one community map variant through several phases of our internal gut checks and test passes, and it looks like you’ll actually be playing on some sweet community maps before the year is out. Maybe even as soon as next month. (No promises.) One in particular has been a blast to play in both Big Team Battle and 4v4 Stockpile. Hopefully, you'll get a chance to play it soon yourself.
In addition, Sketch has been hard at work to bring a massive community Forge competition to fruition, where we'll pit our finest Forgers against one another in one of several broad map categories for fame, glory, and some truly fabulous prizes. Of course, the ultimate prize will be getting your map into matchmaking where we can all partake in your design genius, so if you want to get an early jump on the competition you should start thinking about building maps that would fit into the existing Halo: Reach ecosystem. Team Slayer is a great place to start, but we’ll also be looking at maps well suited for Invasion, Big Team Battle, Team Objective, Race, and several other playlist options we already have on offer.
More on this front soon, including map design primers and Forge tutorials. Stay Tuned™.
The online team is still hard at work to bring Bungie.net up to full strength in the immediate aftermath of launch. One of the hot discussion items that continues to pop up in our forums is the player model featured in every player’s Service Record (or rather, the lack thereof). Rest assured your cries are being heard and the team is steadily working towards a solution. Keep your fingers crossed and we’ll keep you update.
If you’ve devised an ingeniously elaborate method to circumvent our credit cap or exploit our challenge system, all of your “hard work” is soon to be for naught. While we understand the compulsion to race to the top and earn all the good gear before any of your friends do, network manipulation and other easily detectable workarounds that fall well outside of standard gameplay will result in a credit reset and several other punitive measures designed to knock you back down to a level playing field with all the rest of us who are playing the game without having to resort to exploits. We're watching you.
Without calling attention to specific methods, here are a couple of examples to help you wrap your mind around what we consider acceptable behavior and what we consider the machinations of people with way too much time on their hands:
Example 1: Laziness is Next to Godliness
You’ve commissioned your little brother to play through the same section of ONI: Sword Base over and over again, wielding the Target Locator like a barbarian’s cudgel in a quest to hit your daily credit cap without ever having to lay a finger on the controller.
This is a little bit sad, but it is not an offense we’re going to punish. *You* are playing the game. Keep your credits (but please go easy on your little brother).
Example Deuce: Communication Breakdown
You’ve written a crafty piece of code in your spare time that plays the same section of ONI: Sword Base over and over, wielding the Target Locator like a mechanical death ray in a sad, robotic quest to hit your daily credit cap while you’re busy doing something that isn’t playing the game.
This is really sad and you can expect to have your credits wiped and your armor items reset (and you can possibly expect to be banned, depending on the severity of the manipulation). We’ve already got a sizable list of offenders gathered up and the Banhammer is being heaved high into the air as soon as this afternoon. Make your peace. You get no warning. We’ll see you on the forums real soon!
October Playlist Update, Inbound Imminent
We’ve already promised a big mid-month Matchmaking deployment, but Jeremiah and the core team responsible for Reach’s playlist management have decided to fast track some of the “easier” implementations and break October’s update into two distinct and meaty halves. The first round of playlist updates, barring any unforeseen shenanigans, will go live on Tuesday of next week.
Spaaaaaaaaace!
Here’s what you can expect when we pull the trigger:
Team Slayer
SWAT is taking one in the face (being removed) and the weighting for all other gametypes will be adjusted to fall in line with voting data. Expect – surprise, surprise – more traditional Slayer offerings to appear.
Team SWAT
SWAT gametypes that are removed from other playlists are being incorporated into their own, unique playlist with adjustments made to modes and maps based on voting data (farewell SWAT on Hemorrhage, you sucked and everybody hated you).
Team Objective
Powerhouse will now feature several more gametypes, including 1 Flag and Stockpile. Because Powerhouse is awesome and we don’t get to play it enough.
Multi Team
Rocket Race is being added. You win by staying on the Mongoose and racing to the checkpoints. (Oh, who am I kidding, you’re just going to hop off and try to assassinate people, aren’t you?)
Big Team Battle
SWAT and Classic are being removed and the frequency of Snipers is being reduced based on – you guessed it – voting data.
Arena Doubles
Boardwalk and “Pro” options are both being removed. Default Zealot is being replaced with Arena Zealot, a map variant which features modified initial player spawns and a soft-kill zone in spaaaaaace.
Team Arena
“Pro” options are being removed. Arena Zealot (details above), is being added.
Score Attack
Credit earn rates for Gruntpocalypse are being reduced to fall more in line with other modes.
General Matchmaking
Alongside the major alterations listed above, a myriad of much needed fixes and tweaks to the experience will also go into effect on Tuesday, including a metric ton of small, but annoying bugs and gameplay issues that we’ve identified and earmarked for eradication. As these updates go live, Jeremiah will publish the full details to our Optimatch forum so you can pore over the subtle nuances of each individual change.
Make sure to pop in and tell him that you agree with every single decision we’ve made! We prepped a pile of official discussion threads and bucketed them by playlist to facilitate polite and mature discussion. You can weigh in here.
Loud and Clear
The second salvo for October will include the fix to the current betrayal booting system, bringing it back in line with Halo 3 (three strikes and you’re out), and it will also introduce some significant changes to the Firefight experience, including the removal of friendly fire. Also on the way, a proper Team Snipers playlist, the possibility of a radar-less “Pro” experience in Season 3 of Arena, and more love spread out over all of our offerings, with a strong focus on Rumble Pit and Multi Team (all barring any unforeseen issues).
Already mentioned and still planned is the introduction of Campaign Matchmaking and some substantially awesome changes to the Firefight Matchmaking experience, the latter by way of cooperative multiplayer maestro, Larzy B. We’ll talk more about these updates next week.
Long story short, we’re evaluating all of our playlists and we’re acting fast to make sure feedback from voting data and the community-at-large is being evaluated and implemented.
Firefight Matchmaking 101
While we’re on the Firefight tip, we should talk a little Matchmaking Best Practices. As more and more players roll through Firefight Matchmaking, the network experience should continue to improve. We’re able to record your proximity to other players on the network and link you up with low latency players.
That said, the networking model used for Firefight (and soon enough, Campaign Matchmaking) is different than the multiplayer model and by default, the effects of latency are experienced a little bit differently as well. One sure fire way to ensure that your experience is impacted dramatically is to party up with other players thousands of miles across the globe from you (or with players who have demonstrably poor connections). While Matchmaking can and will make great connections, if you’re forcing a poor match-up through a party, there’s literally nothing our algorithm can do to lessen the impact of a bad connection.
It should go without saying that in every multiplayer mode you play, you should turn off torrents, stop streaming music, and make sure your network is running at optimal conditions. If you’re on a shared network, check to see that someone else isn’t killing your throughput. Every last megabit is precious.
For a more in depth look at how you can improve or troubleshoot your network, check into our Networking 101 article, previously posted to our Project Page.
Also on the playlist front, we’ve begun the monumental task of evaluating the early crop of user submitted map variants. For now, it’s a piecemeal affair, with several of us tasked with exploring File Shares and community hot-spots in search of well-made community maps. I still plan on detailing the process in a much more transparent fashion, but my own amateur offering, Riptide (formerly known as Jurkout), has yet to be put through the official paces. When we do run it through the grinder, I’ll resurrect the Incompetent Cartographer series so you can see exactly what we’re looking for.
It's a World...for Forging!
It’s a huge undertaking. Even while Halo: Reach was still on hot approach, we were still receiving nearly 100,000 unique Halo 3 map variants each and every month. Obviously, downloading and playtesting each and every offering would require a level of manpower and patience far beyond our limits and capabilities.
That said, we’ve got several us-yet-unveiled programs in the works to aid us in our quest and we’ll be making a lot of noise about all of them soon. We’ve already pushed one community map variant through several phases of our internal gut checks and test passes, and it looks like you’ll actually be playing on some sweet community maps before the year is out. Maybe even as soon as next month. (No promises.) One in particular has been a blast to play in both Big Team Battle and 4v4 Stockpile. Hopefully, you'll get a chance to play it soon yourself.
In addition, Sketch has been hard at work to bring a massive community Forge competition to fruition, where we'll pit our finest Forgers against one another in one of several broad map categories for fame, glory, and some truly fabulous prizes. Of course, the ultimate prize will be getting your map into matchmaking where we can all partake in your design genius, so if you want to get an early jump on the competition you should start thinking about building maps that would fit into the existing Halo: Reach ecosystem. Team Slayer is a great place to start, but we’ll also be looking at maps well suited for Invasion, Big Team Battle, Team Objective, Race, and several other playlist options we already have on offer.
More on this front soon, including map design primers and Forge tutorials. Stay Tuned™.
The online team is still hard at work to bring Bungie.net up to full strength in the immediate aftermath of launch. One of the hot discussion items that continues to pop up in our forums is the player model featured in every player’s Service Record (or rather, the lack thereof). Rest assured your cries are being heard and the team is steadily working towards a solution. Keep your fingers crossed and we’ll keep you update.
If you’ve devised an ingeniously elaborate method to circumvent our credit cap or exploit our challenge system, all of your “hard work” is soon to be for naught. While we understand the compulsion to race to the top and earn all the good gear before any of your friends do, network manipulation and other easily detectable workarounds that fall well outside of standard gameplay will result in a credit reset and several other punitive measures designed to knock you back down to a level playing field with all the rest of us who are playing the game without having to resort to exploits. We're watching you.
Without calling attention to specific methods, here are a couple of examples to help you wrap your mind around what we consider acceptable behavior and what we consider the machinations of people with way too much time on their hands:
Example 1: Laziness is Next to Godliness
You’ve commissioned your little brother to play through the same section of ONI: Sword Base over and over again, wielding the Target Locator like a barbarian’s cudgel in a quest to hit your daily credit cap without ever having to lay a finger on the controller.
This is a little bit sad, but it is not an offense we’re going to punish. *You* are playing the game. Keep your credits (but please go easy on your little brother).
Example Deuce: Communication Breakdown
You’ve written a crafty piece of code in your spare time that plays the same section of ONI: Sword Base over and over, wielding the Target Locator like a mechanical death ray in a sad, robotic quest to hit your daily credit cap while you’re busy doing something that isn’t playing the game.
This is really sad and you can expect to have your credits wiped and your armor items reset (and you can possibly expect to be banned, depending on the severity of the manipulation). We’ve already got a sizable list of offenders gathered up and the Banhammer is being heaved high into the air as soon as this afternoon. Make your peace. You get no warning. We’ll see you on the forums real soon!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Halo Reach:Second Thoughts
A Quick Tip For Earning Credits.....
After playing Reach for almost 9 days straight now, I think I’m ready to give a full review of it.
There is so much to cover in this review that I might be sitting here for an hour getting everything written. Firstly, the basics.
Halo: Reach is the prequel to Halo 1 (not the sequel to Halo 3, kids) and the best in the series in my opinion. The controls are great and the game runs very smoothly, and I’ve found no bugs or glitches in my time of playing. I expected nothing less than this when I heard of the game for the first time.
This game has the hardest campaign in Halo history, and I’m not just saying that. Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes are pretty similar to their Halo 2 (not 3, I really think they got dumbed down in that one) counterparts, but Elites are freakin’ HARD. Most are like Halo 1 Zealots, without the swords (most of the time). While it is hard, the storytelling is excellent, the best in the series. I think it’s the best campaign in the series for it’s difficulty and story.
Forge was introduced in Halo 3, and while clunky, was revolutionary for it’s time. Reach keeps the same ideas from 3′s forge, and improves on almost everything. Instead of tediously rotating and spinning blocks, Reach introduces rotation snaps, precision editing, and even COORDINATE EDITING. Instead of constantly dealing with the laws of physics, Reach lets you put objects in midair and even lets objects phase through walls. Reach’s forge is AWESOME. Custom games return, but, require a bit more work to execute than 3′s. I don’t want to explain it, but, there is a wonderful thread on bungie.net detailing how to do it. Theater mode remains relativity unchanged.
Most people know to buy Halo for it’s multiplayer, and I can’t agree more. You don’t have to play the already excellent campaign to love this game to death. Matchmaking is greatly improved, instead of individual rankings per playlist, you retain one rank for the whole game, which I like better because you can’t get matched with Captains all the time on Team Slayer. It even lets you choose whether to play with loud, quiet, rude, polite, lone wolves, or team players, but, it doesn’t always work like it should. It also introduces co-op matchmaking, which I really like. Firefight is now a gametype and not a mode, allowing for custom games to play with your friends. Cool.
Returning from Halo 3 is the File Share. File Share sounds like what it is, it lets you share gametypes, forge maps, and films with your friends. However, to keep more than six files in your share, you need to subscribe to Bungie Pro, which (I think) is ten greenbacks a months to share a ton of files at a time.
Reach is a wonderful game, and makes my #3 favorite game of all time. Problems, while there, are very sparse.
After playing Reach for almost 9 days straight now, I think I’m ready to give a full review of it.
There is so much to cover in this review that I might be sitting here for an hour getting everything written. Firstly, the basics.
Halo: Reach is the prequel to Halo 1 (not the sequel to Halo 3, kids) and the best in the series in my opinion. The controls are great and the game runs very smoothly, and I’ve found no bugs or glitches in my time of playing. I expected nothing less than this when I heard of the game for the first time.
This game has the hardest campaign in Halo history, and I’m not just saying that. Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes are pretty similar to their Halo 2 (not 3, I really think they got dumbed down in that one) counterparts, but Elites are freakin’ HARD. Most are like Halo 1 Zealots, without the swords (most of the time). While it is hard, the storytelling is excellent, the best in the series. I think it’s the best campaign in the series for it’s difficulty and story.
Forge was introduced in Halo 3, and while clunky, was revolutionary for it’s time. Reach keeps the same ideas from 3′s forge, and improves on almost everything. Instead of tediously rotating and spinning blocks, Reach introduces rotation snaps, precision editing, and even COORDINATE EDITING. Instead of constantly dealing with the laws of physics, Reach lets you put objects in midair and even lets objects phase through walls. Reach’s forge is AWESOME. Custom games return, but, require a bit more work to execute than 3′s. I don’t want to explain it, but, there is a wonderful thread on bungie.net detailing how to do it. Theater mode remains relativity unchanged.
Most people know to buy Halo for it’s multiplayer, and I can’t agree more. You don’t have to play the already excellent campaign to love this game to death. Matchmaking is greatly improved, instead of individual rankings per playlist, you retain one rank for the whole game, which I like better because you can’t get matched with Captains all the time on Team Slayer. It even lets you choose whether to play with loud, quiet, rude, polite, lone wolves, or team players, but, it doesn’t always work like it should. It also introduces co-op matchmaking, which I really like. Firefight is now a gametype and not a mode, allowing for custom games to play with your friends. Cool.
Returning from Halo 3 is the File Share. File Share sounds like what it is, it lets you share gametypes, forge maps, and films with your friends. However, to keep more than six files in your share, you need to subscribe to Bungie Pro, which (I think) is ten greenbacks a months to share a ton of files at a time.
Reach is a wonderful game, and makes my #3 favorite game of all time. Problems, while there, are very sparse.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Halo: Reach launched exclusively for the Xbox 360 on September 14, and before the week was out, Microsoft and Bungie already had a significant win to tout. During its first 24 hours on the market, Halo: Reach logged sales to the tune of $200 million in the US and Europe alone. That figure easily bested Halo 3's $170 million day-one sales, though it also came up well shy of the $310 million high-water mark set by the multiplatform Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Today, Bungie has returned to offer a more granular look at the performance of its final entrant in the Halo franchise before shifting focus to its Activision project. Though Bungie didn't offer a specific player count, the Washington-based developer said that Reach's number of online unique users during the first week of availability was equivalent to that of Halo 3's unique online users over the past 45 days.
Halo: Reach's opening week figures easily bested Halo 3's.
As far as concurrent users go, Halo: Reach's first-week numbers surpassed Halo 3's all-time high by more than 65 percent, Bungie said. The studio went on to note that more than 70 million games were played from September 13-20, with more than 2 million files uploaded to the File Shares server. In terms of playtime, gamers have spent more than 5,901 years combined in online games.
Despite the solid performance, Halo: Reach was not the top Xbox Live title for the week of September 13 in terms of unique users. After some confusion, Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 retained its seat atop the play chart, still going strong since its November 2009 launch. Bungie noted today, though, that its "sources" indicate that Halo: Reach has managed to unseat Modern Warfare 2 into week two.
Above: Halo Reach! Finish the fight! Oh… wait a minute…
In case you missed the marketing blurb posted up by every single gaming publication on the planet, Halo: Reach introduces a brand new mechanic into the series with armor abilities. Each of these perks adds quite a bit more bang to your run-of-the-mill Halo multiplayer match. While advanced strategies regarding each armor ability are still in their fledgling stages, online play has already demonstrated quite a few “do’s” and “don’ts.”
Sprint
Above: Haul ass in Halo: Reach
What is it?
The Sprint armor ability is exactly as it sounds: you run faster when it’s activated. Halo fans have been begging for a sprint feature since Halo: Combat Evolved. Well, it only took around 9 years to get the coding right, but Bungie has finally delivered.
Do’s
Me First! Me First!!
Sprint affords you a much higher mobility than anyone else on the battlefield (you know; assuming that they aren’t also using Sprint). Take advantage of that to snatch up your favorite startup weapons and vehicles.
Sure, your team of Major League Gaming hopefuls will probably be bitching the entire match about how you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. F#$@ those guys. You’re the one who gets to drive the Scorpion Tank while equipped with the rocket launcher and sniper rifle; not them.
Peace Out
Above: RUN!!!
While fighting to your last breath over and over again is all heroic and whatnot, living looks much better on the scoreboards. Should an enemy get the drop on you and take out half your shields before you even know what’s going on, don’t turn to face your assailant. Show everybody what a skittish little bunny rabbit you are by hauling ass out of there. Seriously. Leg it to somewhere safe to recover and counterattack.
Melee Marathon Man
The Sprint armor ability is a godsend for all of you plasma sword-wielding sociopaths. The technique is simple enough. Run like Hell towards the person you want to plasma shank. Make sure to stop sprinting once you are within close proximity of your prey, as you cannot attack while sprinting.
Don’ts
The One-Man Army
Being the first one to get a kill is awesome; rushing ahead of your team to engage the enemy is not. You’re fast, not invincible. There’s nothing special about being the first to get a bunch of enemy ordinance lodged in your teeth.
Stick with your team, chief.
Above: Halo Reach! Finish the fight! Oh… wait a minute…
In case you missed the marketing blurb posted up by every single gaming publication on the planet, Halo: Reach introduces a brand new mechanic into the series with armor abilities. Each of these perks adds quite a bit more bang to your run-of-the-mill Halo multiplayer match. While advanced strategies regarding each armor ability are still in their fledgling stages, online play has already demonstrated quite a few “do’s” and “don’ts.”
Sprint
Above: Haul ass in Halo: Reach
What is it?
The Sprint armor ability is exactly as it sounds: you run faster when it’s activated. Halo fans have been begging for a sprint feature since Halo: Combat Evolved. Well, it only took around 9 years to get the coding right, but Bungie has finally delivered.
Do’s
Me First! Me First!!
Sprint affords you a much higher mobility than anyone else on the battlefield (you know; assuming that they aren’t also using Sprint). Take advantage of that to snatch up your favorite startup weapons and vehicles.
Sure, your team of Major League Gaming hopefuls will probably be bitching the entire match about how you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. F#$@ those guys. You’re the one who gets to drive the Scorpion Tank while equipped with the rocket launcher and sniper rifle; not them.
Peace Out
Above: RUN!!!
While fighting to your last breath over and over again is all heroic and whatnot, living looks much better on the scoreboards. Should an enemy get the drop on you and take out half your shields before you even know what’s going on, don’t turn to face your assailant. Show everybody what a skittish little bunny rabbit you are by hauling ass out of there. Seriously. Leg it to somewhere safe to recover and counterattack.
Melee Marathon Man
The Sprint armor ability is a godsend for all of you plasma sword-wielding sociopaths. The technique is simple enough. Run like Hell towards the person you want to plasma shank. Make sure to stop sprinting once you are within close proximity of your prey, as you cannot attack while sprinting.
Don’ts
The One-Man Army
Being the first one to get a kill is awesome; rushing ahead of your team to engage the enemy is not. You’re fast, not invincible. There’s nothing special about being the first to get a bunch of enemy ordinance lodged in your teeth.
Stick with your team, chief.
The do's and don'ts of Halo: Reach's armor abilities
An online idiot's guide to how not to get murdered in multiplayer with Reach's snazzy new armor abilities
Words: Jordan Baughman, GamesRadar US
34 CommentsEmail1diggdiggShare / Save Share / Save this ArticleClose
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Above: Halo Reach! Finish the fight! Oh… wait a minute…
In case you missed the marketing blurb posted up by every single gaming publication on the planet, Halo: Reach introduces a brand new mechanic into the series with armor abilities. Each of these perks adds quite a bit more bang to your run-of-the-mill Halo multiplayer match. While advanced strategies regarding each armor ability are still in their fledgling stages, online play has already demonstrated quite a few “do’s” and “don’ts.”
Sprint
Above: Haul ass in Halo: Reach
What is it?
The Sprint armor ability is exactly as it sounds: you run faster when it’s activated. Halo fans have been begging for a sprint feature since Halo: Combat Evolved. Well, it only took around 9 years to get the coding right, but Bungie has finally delivered.
Do’s
Me First! Me First!!
Sprint affords you a much higher mobility than anyone else on the battlefield (you know; assuming that they aren’t also using Sprint). Take advantage of that to snatch up your favorite startup weapons and vehicles.
Sure, your team of Major League Gaming hopefuls will probably be bitching the entire match about how you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. F#$@ those guys. You’re the one who gets to drive the Scorpion Tank while equipped with the rocket launcher and sniper rifle; not them.
Peace Out
Above: RUN!!!
While fighting to your last breath over and over again is all heroic and whatnot, living looks much better on the scoreboards. Should an enemy get the drop on you and take out half your shields before you even know what’s going on, don’t turn to face your assailant. Show everybody what a skittish little bunny rabbit you are by hauling ass out of there. Seriously. Leg it to somewhere safe to recover and counterattack.
Melee Marathon Man
The Sprint armor ability is a godsend for all of you plasma sword-wielding sociopaths. The technique is simple enough. Run like Hell towards the person you want to plasma shank. Make sure to stop sprinting once you are within close proximity of your prey, as you cannot attack while sprinting.
Don’ts
The One-Man Army
Being the first one to get a kill is awesome; rushing ahead of your team to engage the enemy is not. You’re fast, not invincible. There’s nothing special about being the first to get a bunch of enemy ordinance lodged in your teeth.
Stick with your team, chief.
Above: Mr. Blue Guy thought he was a badass. Now look at him. LOOK AT HIM!
Another do of JetPack, hijacking an air vehicle, especially an UNSC helicopter and dropping it off a cliff then jetpacking away, but not after hovering away from the battlefield with two helpless enemy Spartans onboard.
I alo have to say that active camo is my fav.... another do is sorta camping but its fun for awhile in the beginning, rush a power weapon and leave it there, go camo and just wait, when u get ur first bite kill that sucka
The Don't for the Drop Shield reminds me of a team who was seriously overusing the thing, so I charged into the shield they were hiding in a fired a rocket inside it. Sure, it was a suicide, but I got an Overkill out of it.
Halo Reach is awesome in every way and we all know it!! If you haven't witnessed the best game of 2010 Halo Reach yet, buy it below for only $50.00 Dollars:
Today, Bungie has returned to offer a more granular look at the performance of its final entrant in the Halo franchise before shifting focus to its Activision project. Though Bungie didn't offer a specific player count, the Washington-based developer said that Reach's number of online unique users during the first week of availability was equivalent to that of Halo 3's unique online users over the past 45 days.
Halo: Reach's opening week figures easily bested Halo 3's.
As far as concurrent users go, Halo: Reach's first-week numbers surpassed Halo 3's all-time high by more than 65 percent, Bungie said. The studio went on to note that more than 70 million games were played from September 13-20, with more than 2 million files uploaded to the File Shares server. In terms of playtime, gamers have spent more than 5,901 years combined in online games.
Despite the solid performance, Halo: Reach was not the top Xbox Live title for the week of September 13 in terms of unique users. After some confusion, Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 retained its seat atop the play chart, still going strong since its November 2009 launch. Bungie noted today, though, that its "sources" indicate that Halo: Reach has managed to unseat Modern Warfare 2 into week two.
Above: Halo Reach! Finish the fight! Oh… wait a minute…
In case you missed the marketing blurb posted up by every single gaming publication on the planet, Halo: Reach introduces a brand new mechanic into the series with armor abilities. Each of these perks adds quite a bit more bang to your run-of-the-mill Halo multiplayer match. While advanced strategies regarding each armor ability are still in their fledgling stages, online play has already demonstrated quite a few “do’s” and “don’ts.”
Sprint
Above: Haul ass in Halo: Reach
What is it?
The Sprint armor ability is exactly as it sounds: you run faster when it’s activated. Halo fans have been begging for a sprint feature since Halo: Combat Evolved. Well, it only took around 9 years to get the coding right, but Bungie has finally delivered.
Do’s
Me First! Me First!!
Sprint affords you a much higher mobility than anyone else on the battlefield (you know; assuming that they aren’t also using Sprint). Take advantage of that to snatch up your favorite startup weapons and vehicles.
Sure, your team of Major League Gaming hopefuls will probably be bitching the entire match about how you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. F#$@ those guys. You’re the one who gets to drive the Scorpion Tank while equipped with the rocket launcher and sniper rifle; not them.
Peace Out
Above: RUN!!!
While fighting to your last breath over and over again is all heroic and whatnot, living looks much better on the scoreboards. Should an enemy get the drop on you and take out half your shields before you even know what’s going on, don’t turn to face your assailant. Show everybody what a skittish little bunny rabbit you are by hauling ass out of there. Seriously. Leg it to somewhere safe to recover and counterattack.
Melee Marathon Man
The Sprint armor ability is a godsend for all of you plasma sword-wielding sociopaths. The technique is simple enough. Run like Hell towards the person you want to plasma shank. Make sure to stop sprinting once you are within close proximity of your prey, as you cannot attack while sprinting.
Don’ts
The One-Man Army
Being the first one to get a kill is awesome; rushing ahead of your team to engage the enemy is not. You’re fast, not invincible. There’s nothing special about being the first to get a bunch of enemy ordinance lodged in your teeth.
Stick with your team, chief.
Above: Halo Reach! Finish the fight! Oh… wait a minute…
In case you missed the marketing blurb posted up by every single gaming publication on the planet, Halo: Reach introduces a brand new mechanic into the series with armor abilities. Each of these perks adds quite a bit more bang to your run-of-the-mill Halo multiplayer match. While advanced strategies regarding each armor ability are still in their fledgling stages, online play has already demonstrated quite a few “do’s” and “don’ts.”
Sprint
Above: Haul ass in Halo: Reach
What is it?
The Sprint armor ability is exactly as it sounds: you run faster when it’s activated. Halo fans have been begging for a sprint feature since Halo: Combat Evolved. Well, it only took around 9 years to get the coding right, but Bungie has finally delivered.
Do’s
Me First! Me First!!
Sprint affords you a much higher mobility than anyone else on the battlefield (you know; assuming that they aren’t also using Sprint). Take advantage of that to snatch up your favorite startup weapons and vehicles.
Sure, your team of Major League Gaming hopefuls will probably be bitching the entire match about how you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. F#$@ those guys. You’re the one who gets to drive the Scorpion Tank while equipped with the rocket launcher and sniper rifle; not them.
Peace Out
Above: RUN!!!
While fighting to your last breath over and over again is all heroic and whatnot, living looks much better on the scoreboards. Should an enemy get the drop on you and take out half your shields before you even know what’s going on, don’t turn to face your assailant. Show everybody what a skittish little bunny rabbit you are by hauling ass out of there. Seriously. Leg it to somewhere safe to recover and counterattack.
Melee Marathon Man
The Sprint armor ability is a godsend for all of you plasma sword-wielding sociopaths. The technique is simple enough. Run like Hell towards the person you want to plasma shank. Make sure to stop sprinting once you are within close proximity of your prey, as you cannot attack while sprinting.
Don’ts
The One-Man Army
Being the first one to get a kill is awesome; rushing ahead of your team to engage the enemy is not. You’re fast, not invincible. There’s nothing special about being the first to get a bunch of enemy ordinance lodged in your teeth.
Stick with your team, chief.
The do's and don'ts of Halo: Reach's armor abilities
An online idiot's guide to how not to get murdered in multiplayer with Reach's snazzy new armor abilities
Words: Jordan Baughman, GamesRadar US
34 CommentsEmail1diggdiggShare / Save Share / Save this ArticleClose
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digg.com Del.icio.us Reddit.com Facebook Slashdot.org Google Bookmarks N4G Stumbleupon.com GamerBlips
Email this ArticleClose
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Invalid EmailFrom: Invalid EmailComment:
Above: Halo Reach! Finish the fight! Oh… wait a minute…
In case you missed the marketing blurb posted up by every single gaming publication on the planet, Halo: Reach introduces a brand new mechanic into the series with armor abilities. Each of these perks adds quite a bit more bang to your run-of-the-mill Halo multiplayer match. While advanced strategies regarding each armor ability are still in their fledgling stages, online play has already demonstrated quite a few “do’s” and “don’ts.”
Sprint
Above: Haul ass in Halo: Reach
What is it?
The Sprint armor ability is exactly as it sounds: you run faster when it’s activated. Halo fans have been begging for a sprint feature since Halo: Combat Evolved. Well, it only took around 9 years to get the coding right, but Bungie has finally delivered.
Do’s
Me First! Me First!!
Sprint affords you a much higher mobility than anyone else on the battlefield (you know; assuming that they aren’t also using Sprint). Take advantage of that to snatch up your favorite startup weapons and vehicles.
Sure, your team of Major League Gaming hopefuls will probably be bitching the entire match about how you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. F#$@ those guys. You’re the one who gets to drive the Scorpion Tank while equipped with the rocket launcher and sniper rifle; not them.
Peace Out
Above: RUN!!!
While fighting to your last breath over and over again is all heroic and whatnot, living looks much better on the scoreboards. Should an enemy get the drop on you and take out half your shields before you even know what’s going on, don’t turn to face your assailant. Show everybody what a skittish little bunny rabbit you are by hauling ass out of there. Seriously. Leg it to somewhere safe to recover and counterattack.
Melee Marathon Man
The Sprint armor ability is a godsend for all of you plasma sword-wielding sociopaths. The technique is simple enough. Run like Hell towards the person you want to plasma shank. Make sure to stop sprinting once you are within close proximity of your prey, as you cannot attack while sprinting.
Don’ts
The One-Man Army
Being the first one to get a kill is awesome; rushing ahead of your team to engage the enemy is not. You’re fast, not invincible. There’s nothing special about being the first to get a bunch of enemy ordinance lodged in your teeth.
Stick with your team, chief.
Above: Mr. Blue Guy thought he was a badass. Now look at him. LOOK AT HIM!
Another do of JetPack, hijacking an air vehicle, especially an UNSC helicopter and dropping it off a cliff then jetpacking away, but not after hovering away from the battlefield with two helpless enemy Spartans onboard.
I alo have to say that active camo is my fav.... another do is sorta camping but its fun for awhile in the beginning, rush a power weapon and leave it there, go camo and just wait, when u get ur first bite kill that sucka
The Don't for the Drop Shield reminds me of a team who was seriously overusing the thing, so I charged into the shield they were hiding in a fired a rocket inside it. Sure, it was a suicide, but I got an Overkill out of it.
Halo Reach is awesome in every way and we all know it!! If you haven't witnessed the best game of 2010 Halo Reach yet, buy it below for only $50.00 Dollars:
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Halo Reach Price Reduced
In the game, you meet Noble Team and for the first time, players will fight alongside a squad of iconic Spartan soldiers. Each one with deadly talents as unique as their individual personalities and customized gear. It is an intense campaign that lets you live the events that set the stage for the Halo trilogy as the UNSC and Covenant clash at the height of their military power. Halo Reach takes a massive leap forward through all-new engine technology designed to take full advantage of next-generation graphics, audio, special effects, AI and animation. This game is the definitive multiplayer experience. It builds on the success of its predecessors, setting a new standard for competitive gameplay, customization, variety, and community integration. There is no question this is a great game. The only question left is why you have not bought it yet. It would make a great gift also.
I4U News brings you daily shopping tips on new releases, pre-orders, hot deals, sales events and unique gadgets. Read the latest Shopping Tips now.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Halo: Reach Makes You A Better Employee, A Better Person
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| This Guy Has Taken Halo Reach Too Seriously! |
September 15, 2010, 07:40 AM — Today's post is for all the Xbox gamers out there. How are you feeling this morning? A little blurry-eyed? Did that alarm seem to go off an hour too soon? Are you regretting staying up for one last match (several times in a row)? Yeah, a new Halo game will do that to you.
Yesterday's release of Halo: Reach was something of a momentous occasion. After all, it's the last (well, for now; these decisions have a way of reversing themselves) Halo game from Bungie. Plus it felt like the start of the holiday gaming season for this year. And running up to the release we all read the early reviews, most of which were quite favorable (and rightly so, in my opinion). The die-hard fans hit a Midnight Launch party Monday night, of course (by the time I woke up Tuesday morning I saw at least one person claiming to have finished the campaign already) but most of us had to wait until we got home from work yesterday to immerse ourselves into the Halo universe once again.
So we stayed up much too late, and some of us might be feeling a little guilty about that. But don't! You weren't up late playing a video game. No sir! You were up honing your decision making skills. Trust me on this, it's a scientific fact! A post over at Gamasutra yesterday detailed a study that demonstrated that people who played a first person shooter completed tasks more quickly, and just as accurately, as a control group who played some boring Sims 2 game. So if the boss comments on your haggard look this morning, just tell him you were training to be a better employee.
And tonight, remember that science is on your side. You owe it to your employer, to your friends and family, and to yourself, to play more Halo: Reach. You never know when that extra speed in coming to a decision will mean the difference between life and death! Or at least help snag a big sales contract or troubleshoot a systems problem more quickly. Heck, all things considered, it'd be irresponsible for you not to play tonight!
And if you're thinking this blog post seems pretty light on content, and that maybe this blogger was also up too late playing, well, guilty as charged. The adventures of Noble Team and number 6 had me glued to the Xbox. So I want to leave you with something a bit meatier to sink your teeth into over your morning coffee. Let's head back to Gamasutra again for a great piece on the Halo: Reach launch event that was held Monday night in New York City. It's a nice 'feel good' piece for fans of Halo. Enjoy!
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