I am both blessed and cursed with a wife who enjoys video games as much as I do. I am blessed, because she is my enabler. I don’t have to justify buying video games, consoles, or other electronics to her, because she understands the compulsion, and revels in it. I am cursed, because we only have one gaming setup, which means that we must learn to share time with our games. As only children, sharing was never that big of an issue growing up, so you can imagine how difficult it is when we’re nearing 30. Read the full story

Earlier this month, those who purchased Halo 3: ODST were treated to early access to the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta.  Lindsey and I were lucky enough to participate in the multi-player beta, and came away from it with differing opinions.  Briefly, she hates it, and I have mixed feelings about it.

Lindsey’s distaste for the game stems from the incorporation of armor abilities.  For those of you unaware of the new armor abilities feature of  Halo: Reach, it is essentially a class system.  The four armor abilities introduced are Active Camoflage (Invisibility), Armor Lock (Invincibility), Jetpack (Controlled Flight), and Sprint (Increased Speed).  All four armor abilities have limited use, and have a recharge rate once expended.  On every spawn, the armor ability can be changed.  This is where Lindsey’s complaint comes in.  She feels that the Armor Ability concept is taken directly from Star Wars: Battlefront, and has no place in a Halo multiplayer game. While Halo 3 multiplayer did have problem areas, none of these problem areas were addressed, and instead, drastic changes were applied to areas that were perfectly functional.  Lindsey’s other major complaint was with the new controller mapping.  The change in location of a few key functions on the controller felt unnecessary and unimproved.

I both agree and disagree.  I agree that Halo 3 multiplayer was fine the way it was.  I do not feel that a new multiplayer format needed to be introduced.  However, I do feel that the introduction of armor abilities, and the option to change your armor ability each time you respawn, creates a new level of player strategy that did not exist before in Halo’s multiplayer.  Strategies must constantly shift in Halo: Reach multiplayer, because the armor abilities provide players with a much larger range of options for completing objectives.  A team of players that works well together could take advantage of these armor abilities to create a more cohesive effort.  On the issue of the controller mapping, I agree that it feels very strange, and will take time to get used to, but I recognize the fact that the armor abilities had to fit in somewhere, and among all of the controller functions, a new priority list had to be developed.

Unfortunately, with the recent end of the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta, fans no longer have the opportunity to experiment with this latest change to the Halo series.  They do not have long to wait, however, as it has been announced that Halo: Reach will be released on September 14, 2010.

-

Today, for all you Halo fans, is Bungie Day. The creators of the Halo series, Bungie, have an affinity for the number 7. Since today is 7/7/09 that makes it Bungie Day!

If you own Halo 3 and have an Xbox Live account, you can go into the special playlist “Bungie vs. The World” so that you can be matched up with some of the Bungie staff. If you win the round with them, you will be awarded Recon armor. They even have a Scoreboard going where you can track how the games are going.

Typically on special days, presents are given… right? RIGHT! Bungie has gifted us with images of 3 upcoming maps that will be on Halo: ODST. If you ever played Halo 2, most of you will be familiar with the new map Heretic. It’s an updated version of Midship, and if you ever played on Midship you will remember all of the strategies you and your team can execute to own your opponents.

Image Courtesy of Bungie

The next map is Citadel, a long abandoned Forerunner stronghold. It’s a small, symmetrical map and offers little safety for players looking to hide out and camp. Citadel’s tight quarters force you and your team to really work together, keeping up constant communication, and keeping an eye out. Citadel will also force players who are used to long range battles, especially with the sniper, to change up their tactics and adjust to close combat tactics.

Image Courtesy of Bungie

The third, and final map, Bungie showed today was Longshore. It’s located at Old Mombasa and used to be a port. It’s great for large scale combat but can be used for smaller battles. Longshore appears to be a cluster of industrial buildings and will feature elevated walks as well as open areas. Longshore seems like the type of map where you can come up with many diverse strategies ranging from long range to close.

Image Courtesy of Bungie

Hopefully the images of the new maps have you all excited. I know I am, and I can’t wait until Halo: ODST is released. As more information is given, we will be sure to update you all!

- She Who Has The Last Word.