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Stogieman · Apr 24, 2010, 07:08 PM

That video got me all excited for the beta. Hell yeah, I'm down for a beta meet-up on the 7th.

boy8cookie · Apr 24, 2010, 10:49 PM

Looks pretty good.

Andy8 · Apr 29, 2010, 02:11 AM

Halo 2 Still Alive on Xbox Live with 14 Players Left

Throughout the past week, a small group of dedicated Halo 2 players kept their Xbox’s on so that they could enjoy the game for a while longer. (As long as we don’t turn off our Xbox’s, or lose connection, we can stay online. Our Xbox’s have been on for nearly 12 days straight) Each day the amount of people decreased, at a rapid rate.

A lot of us became really good friends, and it’s almost like we’re family now.

For a while, we had ‘T0 Be Continued’ Live streaming all of our games, until her Xbox regrettably froze while playing custom games. Then, ‘Mr7ankjump’ did a live stream, but he lagged out only 4 hours later.

Stogieman · May 3, 2010, 11:01 AM

Halo Reach beta starts today. Anyone going to be on tonight?

Kevin Bogues · May 3, 2010, 05:54 PM

Reach Beta Downloaded - took over 2 hours (servers must of been crazy, its 1.15GB)

loaded it up... Halo: Reach server is unavailable... grrr

Stogieman · May 3, 2010, 06:07 PM

Hopefully all the kinks will be worked out before I get home tonight.

The Final Dakar · May 3, 2010, 06:09 PM

Halo? What's Halo?

sek929 · May 3, 2010, 06:23 PM

I await a matchmaking review with baited breath.

boy8cookie · May 3, 2010, 10:37 PM

Apparently you need ODST to play the beta, so I'll see you on CoD, Dakar.

The Final Dakar · May 4, 2010, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by boy8cookie

Apparently you need ODST to play the beta, so I'll see you on CoD, Dakar.

My copy of ODST and I will meet you there.

Kevin Bogues · May 4, 2010, 01:02 PM

Halo: Reach Beta Impressions

Halo meets COD

Games feel much more tactile and less "on steroids" like H3, the overall speed of the matches is much slower and the level design really contributes to stealth.

It took me quite a while to get use to the "halo style" again, jumping and speed feel similar to MW and not like the insane jumping/speed from H3.

The new weapons are awesome! The new needle rifle/DMR are the best mid to long range Halo weapons i've used, and the Magnum from H:CE is back in full force.

Armor Abilities are a love/hate situation, the ability to use "active camo" at your will (except for some recharging) is awesome but i have a feeling it will be ability of choice, the sprint feels forced and not useful, but the armor lock seems overpowered but useful for objective type. The elites have an "evade" ability which is by far the best addition, basically it allows you to do some-type of commando roll to "evade" a battle.

The Credit system feels identical to EXP in MW2 with armor/accessories to unlock, this will have to wait to the full game for a review.

The Final Dakar · May 4, 2010, 01:08 PM

Well, that's encouraging for me, though I would sorely miss the ADS.

Leonard · May 4, 2010, 04:04 PM

Sounds like it may be better, especially if they slowed down the speed. Sounds more like Halo 1 on the bigger maps in terms of speed.

I'll have to give it a try when I get a chance. After all I ended up with 2 Halo ODST games. Got one with my new Elite box.

Kevin Bogues · May 5, 2010, 03:49 PM

Beta-Bogues-O-Rama

Little Jetpack action

New Focus Rifle - (Sentinel Beam/Sniper combo)

The Final Dakar · May 5, 2010, 04:03 PM

It curves.

Kevin Bogues · May 5, 2010, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar

It curved.

thats what she said...

The Final Dakar · May 5, 2010, 04:27 PM

Who have you been talking to?!

Leonard · May 10, 2010, 03:48 PM

I finally downloaded the beta yesterday. I was going to give it a try today. Hopefully I'm not too rusty and can remember how to play. I haven't played Halo for several months.

Leonard · May 11, 2010, 10:29 AM

Well, I played last night for about an hour, and got my beta tester hoodie for my avatar. I'm definitely rusty, but did surprisingly well, but I think that was due to some great teams. It took me awhile to figure out the new playmodes and some of the new weapons are interesting. I didn't get a chance to try out the new features of the classes, as I need to figure out the controls.

They definitely made it more Modern Warfare 2-like, but the initial leveling seems to take longer than MW2. In fact in my hour of play I didn't even level up a level. Of course if there is no prestiging, you don't want to level up too fast.

I didn't check if there are any stats on your beta play at the website. I should check that out today.

The one thing i had a problem with, though, is I couldn't see my gun's reticle (pointer) most of the time.

Stogieman · May 17, 2010, 06:45 PM

Halo Reach beta ends on the 19th. Anyone want to get some games in these next 2 days?

Leonard · May 18, 2010, 09:55 AM

Damn, I thought the beta was gonna last to the end of the month.

Kevin Bogues · May 19, 2010, 10:33 PM

'You're my boy blue! You're my boy

KCrosbie · May 25, 2010, 12:13 AM

Halo Reach release date: September 14.

Here's some stats about the Beta that ran for 18 days:

- 2.7 million people played it
- Over 16 million hours were logged
- Over 1.1 billion kills

Shows that Halo still hasn't lost its popularity.

The Final Dakar · May 25, 2010, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by KCrosbie

Shows that Halo still hasn't lost its popularity.

So does the fact that Halo 3 hasn't fallen below 3 on the Live Charts since debuting. Not surprising.

KCrosbie · Jun 27, 2010, 01:02 PM

If you pre-order Halo Reach this week at Wal-mart, they'll hook you up with a $20 gift card. Nice!

Stogieman · Aug 5, 2010, 03:41 AM

Three new multiplayer maps have been revealed for Halo Reach. Two of them are recreations of Midship and Ivory Tower.

Halo: Reach Bringing Back Halo 2 Classics

Speaking of Halo 2...

Originally Posted by Andy8

Halo 2 Still Alive on Xbox Live with 14 Players Left

My brother and I were discussing this the other day. Whatever happened to those last remaining Halo 2 diehards? It appears some dude named Apache N4SIR was awarded "last man standing" almost a month after Microsoft shut down the original Xbox Live service.

The Last Man To Play Halo 2 On Xbox Live | Kotaku Australia

The Final Dakar · Aug 16, 2010, 10:35 AM

I saw some team slayer gameplay video posted (It most be on Halo waypoint). The level had an awesome style (office-y) but watching 5 minutes of Halo gameplay also showed me how much I don't care for its style any more. Too much jumping, floating and spraying. It was like playing underwater. (The map design is the complete opposite of CoD. Just large and expansive with little cover)

Having trouble building up an urge for this. What I really need is some multiplayer vehicular combat to get me on board.

Stogieman · Aug 16, 2010, 01:57 PM

It looks like there's plenty of vehicles for the Firefight and Invasion modes of multiplayer. Plus you get the 4 player co-op campaign that appears to be missing in Fall Out: New Vegas.

The Final Dakar · Aug 16, 2010, 02:00 PM

I have a feeling sek and I are going to play chicken in regards to getting this. Personally, I could easily wait until xmas.

Leonard · 09:46 AM

I've already pre-ordered.

I hope there's some vehicle combat in multiplayer, I don't want to be hoofing it on foot all the time, especially if they are going to have larger maps.

I forgot who played chicken with Halo:ODST. Wasn't it Dakar that time too?

Changed the "r" to a "d" so Dakar can understand the sentence!

The Final Dakar · Aug 16, 2010, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Leonard

I forgot who player chicken with Halo:ODST.

I understand not sentence vocabularium.

sek929 · Aug 16, 2010, 04:33 PM

I think it was me who was 'on the fence' but ODST did not interest me at all once I played it at a friends house. Currently Reach is in the same boat for me, but I wouldn't doubt that I'll eventually buy it for cheaper.

The Final Dakar · Aug 16, 2010, 04:35 PM

Only problem with that is it took like a year and a half before 3 dropped in price.

Stogieman · Aug 16, 2010, 04:55 PM

Yeah, by then Bogues and I will have all the achievements (DLC included).

The Final Dakar · Aug 16, 2010, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by Stogieman

Yeah, by then Bogues and I will have all the achievements (DLC included).

Yeah, because that's why we want to play the game...

Stogieman · Aug 16, 2010, 06:21 PM

Well that and the teabagging.

Stogieman · Aug 26, 2010, 12:02 AM

A couple of early previews on the Halo Reach campaign:

Halo: Reach campaign preview: Into Nightfall and onto the Tip of the Spear | Joystiq

A Day With The Finished Halo Reach

The Final Dakar · Sep 7, 2010, 09:53 AM

So apparently sek and I are the only holdouts. I was informed this weekend that Euthyphro, saint, and subie have all pre-ordered.

...and I'm still on the fence about it.

Stogieman · Sep 7, 2010, 01:29 PM

Please don't get it. I'm waiting for the night when I log into Live and see all my friends playing Reach..... except you.... playing Hexic HD.... all by yourself. Hehehe

Don't worry, we'll still invite you to our party chat so you can hear all the fun we're having..

sek929 · Sep 7, 2010, 01:30 PM

I see the most fun I can wring out of Reach being multiplayer. So if there is a big enough interest from the folks I play other online games with then I'll probably get it.

Of course this probably means you, dakar, will have to be convinced first and then I'll fall like a house of cards.

Stogieman · Sep 7, 2010, 01:33 PM

What happens if cheezydog gets it?

sek929 · Sep 7, 2010, 01:51 PM

He has actually shown some interest, which is surprising given how quickly he abandoned H3 for CoD4.

If he buys it, I will too.

Kevin Bogues · Sep 7, 2010, 02:05 PM

Well we all know I'll be picking this up, I was hoping for a NN reunion around Reach so that would require mr fat and dakar

sek929 · Sep 7, 2010, 02:06 PM

As long as the overall trend is steering away from Black Ops then you'll get your wish, and maybe get back that game you lent me a year ago...heh.

The Final Dakar · Sep 7, 2010, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogues

Well we all know I'll be picking this up, I was hoping for a NN reunion around Reach so that would require mr fat and dakar

You still like Halo better than CoD?

Kevin Bogues · Sep 7, 2010, 02:48 PM

Yes?

I feel like the halo gameplay is more condusive to my playing style and there's always the vehicle combat, I really enjoyed MW2 but I think halo will always be my go to multiplayer experience .
Also the timing is right, with halo coming before Vegas I have an opportunity to play the campaign before all my single player gaming goes into the wasteland

The Final Dakar · Sep 7, 2010, 02:53 PM

I love vehicle combat, but when the trade-off is inaccurate weapons, slow movement, and floaty jumping, I'm left feeling the cost is too high.

The Final Dakar · Sep 14, 2010, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar

I love vehicle combat,

Best game from last night:
Bungie.net : Halo 3 Game Details

0 Kills, 16 Assists, 2 Deaths.

I also had a moment on another game where I ended up taking a warthog solo on Last Resort and eventually managed to splatter some enemy.

sek929 · Sep 14, 2010, 11:33 AM

Best moment of the night was on Valhalla.

Dakar is in the middle of the map, near the main hill, crouching under a ledge as enemies come at him from the downed Pelican. Guy with the laser rounds the corner with it half charged aiming at Dakar. Just as he is about to blast Dakar his teammates arrive in a Warthog and zoom directly in the line of fire. Double betrayal for the other team.

Final thoughts on H3 as Reach approaches in a FedEx truck:

The BR is kind of a game-breaker. Team BRs is far and away one of the most annoying game-types.
The Spartan really needs some method for a quick exit, maybe the jetpack will help.
I hate hate hate scrambling for the sniper, however, my sniper skillz have not diminished. It was the only weapon I used last night that I immediately felt at home with.
The overall game is still pretty fun though, and quite hilarious at times.
The spawning is, dare I say, a lot worse than MW2.
The maps need more breaks in the line-of-sight. Way to open, and the BR makes a mockery of this.

All in all, like Dakar said last night, it was sobering to play H3 again and might have actually dissuaded me slightly from ordering Reach. No matter though, it's bought now...I just hope they've taken this chance to balance the game out a bit.

The Final Dakar · Sep 14, 2010, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by sek929

Final thoughts on H3 as Reach approaches in a FedEx truck:

Did you actually get a shipping notification? Mine is still "Shipping Soon"

Originally Posted by sek929

The BR is kind of a game-breaker. Team BRs is far and away one of the most annoying game-types.
The Spartan really needs some method for a quick exit, maybe the jetpack will help.
The maps need more breaks in the line-of-sight. Way to open, and the BR makes a mockery of this.

All things I noted in my dressing down of H3 earlier (last year), but its nice to hear it coming from someone who was a self-described Halo fanboy three years ago.

Originally Posted by sek929

The spawning is, dare I say, a lot worse than MW2.

Hilariously so, and something I had quite forgotten.

Originally Posted by sek929

All in all, like Dakar said last night, it was sobering to play H3 again and might have actually dissuaded me slightly from ordering Reach. No matter though, it's bought now...I just hope they've taken this chance to balance the game out a bit.

Quote from last night: "Jesus, I wish I had played this before ordering."