The Halo: Reach Beta is available to the select few until the public beta opens up on May 3rd. To get into the beta, you'll need your copy of Halo: ODST. However, I have received a copy of Halo: Reach Beta early and here is all the coverage of the Halo: Reach Beta pre-May 3rd. Throughout the Beta, more content will be released and I will post more coverage for the players who aren't fortunate enough to have a copy of Halo: ODST or a Halo: Reach Beta code.

April 30th - May 3rd (Official Halo: Reach Beta release):

Before May 3rd, the Halo: Reach Beta only contains two levels, a variety of "Grab Bag" game modes, few "Loadouts", and unlockable ranks and armor variants. The pre-mature version of the Beta only has about 2,000 members on at a time, and the player skill balance is fair.

The game modes you get to play at the moment are just the simple Slayer, Oddball, CTF, etc... There are some new features added to Halo: Reach, some for better, some for worse.

Maps:

Not much to say about the maps, considering there are only two of them at the moment, so I'll just give you the general description.

The first map I'll cover is Powerhouse. Powerhouse is an outdoors map that has a river, hills, and a few bases. The bigger of the two original maps. Usually, one team will start at the top of the hill, the other at the bottom. It's not a very balanced map, but fun none the less.

The other map is Sword Base. The name actually got me on this one, considering there is in fact a sword, you think they could pick a better name. This map has many layers to it and can be confusing the first time you play it. Again, not much to say about it. It is by far the better map for the jet-pack however.

Grab Bag:

Grab bag is the only team game mode available at the time, and contains many different objective based games like CTF, Oddball, King of the hill, and some new game modes.

New Game Modes:

First is an exciting new twist Halo called Covy Slayer. Covy slayer is a slayer game type that forces players to play as Elites. Elites are faster than Spartans, jump higher than Spartans, and have the ability to roll away from danger. Just like the old slayer in other Halo games, it just a team deathmatch.

Next is 3 Plot. If your familiar to what territories was in Halo 3, then this is the exact same thing, but this time around all points are neutral through the entire game. This mode is very hectic, and can become annoying fairly quickly.

The last new game mode is Stockpile. This is a new twist to the Capture the Flag, there are a couple of different neutral flags placed randomly around the map. You have to bring the flags back to your base and place them in your teams circle. The cool thing is that you don't have to hold them there, you can just place them down. You have to keep your flags in the area for 60 seconds, after that, whatever flags are in your circle will count towards your points. First team to 10 wins.

Loadouts:

Loadouts are a new feature to the Halo series that add special armor abilities to the player like jet-packs for example.

Airborne is the jet-pack type load. It pretty much does what it says and nothing more. You have a jet-back, you can fly for a short period of time. After that period of time, your jet-pack will regenerate.

Camo is the other load that gives you a brief amount of camouflage to hide from enemies.

Sprint is well, the sprinting load.

Armor Lock is one of the more unique loads. When activated, you get a brief amount of over-shield and you become invincible. You can not move, but it can help you get out of some sticky situations and give your teammates time to get to you.

Evade is the Elite exclusive load that allows the player to roll away from danger.

Ranks:

Thankfully, ranking up in Halo: Reach is different than other Halo games. Now, EXP doesn't rely on the team, but the individual player. You have a bar at the bottom of your service tag that shows you the percent you need to rank up. Along with the ranks, there are sorts of challenges. You can get extra points by completing things such as a certain amount of head shots, killing spree's, etc...

Armor:

Sadly, armor does nothing but look cool. You can customize which helmet you wear, shoulders, and chest piece. Along with the armor comes the famous Emblems. You can yet again make different combinations of Emblem and backgrounds to make your service tag unique. However, the designs no longer show up on the actual character model.

Weapons:

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All NEW weapons available in the Beta.

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Remember to keep checking up on my Blogs for more Halo: Reach Beta information. If I forgot to mention something, make sure you tell me so I can edit this Blog post.

Follow my Halo: Reach Beta activity via my bungie.net profile: PunkyV2