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So finally Bungie has let the SPARTAN-shaped cat out of the bag. Unlike the E3 trailer (which was just a dirty tease), the video shown at Saturday’s Video Game Awards gives us concrete details on the hugely anticipated Halo prequel. After you’ve watched the video below, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about one of 2010’s biggest games, including info on the series’ newest playable character and speculation on the game’s co-op mode.
You can play the beta next year
This is the one definitive fact to be gleamed from the trailer. Those who’ve bought Halo ODST will get the chance to participate in the game’s multiplayer beta. The game already has a Reach option built into the main menu, so players can simply click on this to activate the beta when it goes live. Just like the Halo 3 version which came with Crackdown nearly three years ago, we expect this to be out before Spring.
You control a SPARTAN
Did you miss Master Chief’s imposing frame, his ability to jump tens of feet in the air and those handy regenerating shields during ODST? Well good news, because it looks like you’ll definitely be controlling a SPARTAN super solider in Reach. You won’t be playing everyone’s favourite monosyllabic Covenant-killing machine, though. Instead, you’ll be shoved into the sizable shoes of a SPARTAN-II, as part of an elite six person squad, called Noble.
The silent solider you’ll undoubtedly control through most of the game is tentatively being called Noble Six at the moment. Other characters confirmed by the trailer include Kat-320 (the Russian-sounding woman with the bionic arm), Jorge-052 (the towering figure who sounds like he’s from South Africa) and Carter-259 (the apparent leader of the group).
It could be a squad-based shooter which supports 6 player co-op
This is educated guesswork, but considering the series’ past co-op elements, we expect Reach to support at least four player simultaneous play, if not six. Judging from what we’ve seen from the trailer, the emphasis seems to firmly be on teamwork, with Carter-259 telling Noble Six to: “leave that lone wolf stuff behind”. With several characters already sporting their own unique personalities and traits, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if the game ends up being a squad shooter. Although we suppose Reach could just use its different characters for flashback levels, like in ODST.
Expect to use the same weapons as the previous games
During the trailer you can see several weapons that have appeared in the old titles. Noble Six carries a weapon that looks distinctly like the iconic battle rifle on his back. A currently unnamed member of the squad holds a sniper rifle near the end of the trailer. And a shotgun, near identical in design to the one in the original trilogy, can be seen resting in one of the aircraft.
The Elites are the baddies again
Not that we didn’t love shooting oversized space gorillas in their stupid faces, but thank God the Elites are back to doing what they do best. Namely, being complete bastards. This piece of news isn’t exactly a revolution, though. After all, the game is a prequel to the Halo trilogy, set during the Battle of Reach when the Elites were very much at the heart of the Covenant, as their exterrestrial bible-bashing cult waged war on mankind.
The UNSC get their asses handed to them
The ‘Falls 2010’ at the end of the trailer isn’t a typo referring to a fall release next year. No, it’s alluding to the fact the humans let Reach, which is a colony planet, fall at the hands of the Covenant. We suspect the game will tell a dark Empire Strikes Back-style tale, which will show how the Covenant gained the upper hand during the war and why humanity is at such a desperate end during the first Halo.
Dec 14, 2009
