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US, April 26, 2010 - Next week, Bungie and Microsoft are letting a test version of Halo: Reach's multiplayer matchmaking out into the wild. For the full rundown of everything it includes, check out our in-depth Halo: Reach Beta Hands-On, and then peep the crazy Halo: Reach Beta Weapons Montage below.
That'll get you all caught up on what to expect from Bungie's behemoth of a beta. But if you want to go even further (I thought you did), there's even more Reach madness to nerd out on. So IGN is kicking off a week of hardcore Halo hotness with a new Beta Breakdowns series. These articles will take you further inside the Halo: Reach beta, doling out details on the new modes, loadouts, maps, abilities and more. And what better place to start than with my favorite subject – weapons.
A lot of your favorite Halo guns will be back in Reach, and I'm not going to call them all out here. Yes, the Sniper Rifle is back, along with the Shotty, the Rocket Launcher, the Gravity Hammer and more old friends. Pick them up in Reach, and it'll pretty much feel like putting on a pair of comfy old slippers. But don't get too relaxed, because there are some changes in store, too. Below, you'll find detailed descriptions of Reach's brand-new weapons, along with some classics that have been somewhat revamped. Take a look, and sound off in the comments section with your thoughts. Let's lock 'n load.
Assault Rifle
If the Halo: Reach beta is a delicious home-cooked meal, than the Assault Rifle is the meat and potatoes. It's the go-to-gun when you're in close and don't feel confident about your Magnum skills. Not terribly powerful but not particularly weak, the AR is your best friend in a pinch.
I use controlled bursts with the AR, mainly because it makes me look cool. But if you want to go in with your gun blazing, be my guest. Just be warned that the AR in the Reach beta is tilted more toward accuracy than firepower, so you might come up short when the jumping around and shooting starts. Oh, also, it has a really awesome stripe on it. That really shouldn't excite me as much as it does. I could have left this one out of the lineup because it hasn't really changed all that much from Haloes past. But it's just so…. solid. Gotta mention it.
Designated Marksman Rifle
personally have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Battle Rifle from Halo 3. Basically, I love to hate it. Yeah, yeah, that probably means I don't know how to use it. But I don't know how to use a curling iron either, but that doesn't mean I need to learn how. The BR was a jack of all trades and master of none. Janky up close and lacking at range. Luckily, the BR is out of the Reach beta in favor of the Designated Marksman Rifle. Oh, yes.
The DMR can be a lean, mean headshot machine if you know what you're doing. It's a bit unwieldy at close range, but at mid-to-long range it's deadly. Like the Magnum below, the DMR takes five shots to kill (make sure the last one nails the noggin). And thanks to its dampened recoil, it feels just like shooting womp rats back home. Slow and steady wins the race.
Focus Rifle
Just look at that gun for a second. If that doesn't look like a dangerous-ass alien weapon to you, then you are going to be useless in an alien invasion. To me, this is one of the coolest looking guns Bungie has ever designed. It looks like a crocodile snout crossed with one of those Dyson vacuum cleaners. Scary stuff, that. But it's not all looks. This thing backs up its evil exterior with some mean machinery.
You know those Forerunner Sentinel lasers from past Halo games? Well, the Focus Beam crosses one of those with the Covenant Beam Rifle favored by Jackal snipers. So it has the accuracy of a sniper rifle, the searing power of a continuous laser beam and, as an added bonus, a bit of a stun effect when it hits. It's truly terrifying to see this beast burning across the map. Great for picking Jet Packers out of the air, though. Flyboys, you have been warned.
Grenade Launcher
The Covvies don't get to have all the ridiculous fun, though. The Spartans will be rolling into battle with the Grenade Launcher. This sucker fires standard frag grenades, but with a couple added bonuses. First, just like all frags in the Halo: Reach beta, they'll do a small amount of contact damage when they hit an enemy. Probably feels like stepping in front of a ball machine at the batting cage. Thump.
But the Grenade Launcher does another trick, too. Fire it normally to launch a 'nade and watch it bounce around before a timed explosion. Or, you can hold the trigger down when you fire. It'll hang out wherever it comes to rest, waiting for you to release the trigger and blow it. This is great for sabotaging vehicle paths or terrorizing teams at score points in games like Stockpile. As if that weren't enough, these little insta-mines also throw off an EMP blast when they detonate, popping shields as they go.
US, April 26, 2010 - Next week, Bungie and Microsoft are letting a test version of Halo: Reach's multiplayer matchmaking out into the wild. For the full rundown of everything it includes, check out our in-depth Halo: Reach Beta Hands-On, and then peep the crazy Halo: Reach Beta Weapons Montage below.
That'll get you all caught up on what to expect from Bungie's behemoth of a beta. But if you want to go even further (I thought you did), there's even more Reach madness to nerd out on. So IGN is kicking off a week of hardcore Halo hotness with a new Beta Breakdowns series. These articles will take you further inside the Halo: Reach beta, doling out details on the new modes, loadouts, maps, abilities and more. And what better place to start than with my favorite subject – weapons.
A lot of your favorite Halo guns will be back in Reach, and I'm not going to call them all out here. Yes, the Sniper Rifle is back, along with the Shotty, the Rocket Launcher, the Gravity Hammer and more old friends. Pick them up in Reach, and it'll pretty much feel like putting on a pair of comfy old slippers. But don't get too relaxed, because there are some changes in store, too. Below, you'll find detailed descriptions of Reach's brand-new weapons, along with some classics that have been somewhat revamped. Take a look, and sound off in the comments section with your thoughts. Let's lock 'n load.
Assault Rifle
If the Halo: Reach beta is a delicious home-cooked meal, than the Assault Rifle is the meat and potatoes. It's the go-to-gun when you're in close and don't feel confident about your Magnum skills. Not terribly powerful but not particularly weak, the AR is your best friend in a pinch.
I use controlled bursts with the AR, mainly because it makes me look cool. But if you want to go in with your gun blazing, be my guest. Just be warned that the AR in the Reach beta is tilted more toward accuracy than firepower, so you might come up short when the jumping around and shooting starts. Oh, also, it has a really awesome stripe on it. That really shouldn't excite me as much as it does. I could have left this one out of the lineup because it hasn't really changed all that much from Haloes past. But it's just so…. solid. Gotta mention it.
Designated Marksman Rifle
personally have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Battle Rifle from Halo 3. Basically, I love to hate it. Yeah, yeah, that probably means I don't know how to use it. But I don't know how to use a curling iron either, but that doesn't mean I need to learn how. The BR was a jack of all trades and master of none. Janky up close and lacking at range. Luckily, the BR is out of the Reach beta in favor of the Designated Marksman Rifle. Oh, yes.
The DMR can be a lean, mean headshot machine if you know what you're doing. It's a bit unwieldy at close range, but at mid-to-long range it's deadly. Like the Magnum below, the DMR takes five shots to kill (make sure the last one nails the noggin). And thanks to its dampened recoil, it feels just like shooting womp rats back home. Slow and steady wins the race.
Focus Rifle
Just look at that gun for a second. If that doesn't look like a dangerous-ass alien weapon to you, then you are going to be useless in an alien invasion. To me, this is one of the coolest looking guns Bungie has ever designed. It looks like a crocodile snout crossed with one of those Dyson vacuum cleaners. Scary stuff, that. But it's not all looks. This thing backs up its evil exterior with some mean machinery.
You know those Forerunner Sentinel lasers from past Halo games? Well, the Focus Beam crosses one of those with the Covenant Beam Rifle favored by Jackal snipers. So it has the accuracy of a sniper rifle, the searing power of a continuous laser beam and, as an added bonus, a bit of a stun effect when it hits. It's truly terrifying to see this beast burning across the map. Great for picking Jet Packers out of the air, though. Flyboys, you have been warned.
Grenade Launcher
The Covvies don't get to have all the ridiculous fun, though. The Spartans will be rolling into battle with the Grenade Launcher. This sucker fires standard frag grenades, but with a couple added bonuses. First, just like all frags in the Halo: Reach beta, they'll do a small amount of contact damage when they hit an enemy. Probably feels like stepping in front of a ball machine at the batting cage. Thump.
But the Grenade Launcher does another trick, too. Fire it normally to launch a 'nade and watch it bounce around before a timed explosion. Or, you can hold the trigger down when you fire. It'll hang out wherever it comes to rest, waiting for you to release the trigger and blow it. This is great for sabotaging vehicle paths or terrorizing teams at score points in games like Stockpile. As if that weren't enough, these little insta-mines also throw off an EMP blast when they detonate, popping shields as they go.
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