Bungie gives us the scoop on the new and creative modes that will accompany traditional Halo multiplayer for the upcoming Reach beta.
Chances are, if you're the kind of person who downloads the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta right on May 3, you're going to notice something a bit quirkier. I'm not talking about the obvious changes that Reach brings to Halo's multiplayer, such as Armor Abilities or melee assassinations. I'm talking about the fact that when you're not jumping into the usual Slayer or King of the Hill matches, you're suddenly playing new game modes like, "Headhunter" or "Invasion." With just a few weeks to go before the beta opens up to Halo 3: ODST owners, Bungie has finally detailed some of the new modes debuting in the beta. In a recent chat with multiplayer designers Lars Bakken and Derek Carroll, I note that some of these modes are not the kinds of things you'd see in a Halo title, and whether their existence is proof of a sort of, "let's go crazy by throwing all of these new modes' mental. Carroll replies, "I don't think we went crazy on purpose to go out with a bang, although we certainly are. We just said, 'okay, Slayer, CTF, King of the Hill, those are great, let's lock those up and put them aside. Now what else? What can we have?' And then came up with some fun stuff to do in the space."
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Bakken describes the basic distribution of modes-to-maps with, "You'll see variety on Powerhouse or Sword Base because those are our 'Slayer maps' or our 'party game maps.' We can't say much about Boneyard or Invasion, and yea, Overlook is specifically for Generator Defense (or 'Network Test 1 Beta' as we call it)." With that in mind, here's a basic breakdown of the new modes that the Halo Reach multiplayer beta will be introducing.
Headhunter
The official Bungie description is, "a new 'party' game [...] where the goal is to collect and capture the most skulls." Basically, players drop a skull upon death, and you just want to scoop that skull and carry it to a designated skull deposit zone (that actually moves around the map). You can carry multiple skulls, but here's a warning: if you're killed before scoring, then you drop all the skulls you had. In fact, Carroll points out, "you have a nice navpoint over your head showing everyone in the game how many skulls you are carrying. When you have ten, then that actually shows up as a flashing star or VIP waypoint, to let everybody know you're the one guy to go after."
Though, unlike carrying the flag, Carroll points out, "there are no downsides to skull carrying other than the danger of dying and turning over your hard-earned loot to the enemy." In fact, you have full access to weapons and abilities while skull-slinging. Community Director Brian Jarrard provides a pro-tip with, "Sprint is super-useful for Headhunter -- it helps close that distance between your foot in the zone and scoring, versus dying just short of the goal and losing all of your skulls."
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By default, Headhunter is a free-for-all affair, though Carroll says, "There is [also] a team version of Headhunter that allows for a bit more specialization: one guy can snipe and suppress, while his teammate scoops up skulls and sprints to the score zone."
When discussing Headhunter's genesis, Carroll quips, "So I technically wasn't around when Headhunter started on Reach, but there have been games like Headhunters in other first-person shooters and games, and this is just our spin on it." He concludes, "There's nothing quite like almost scoring 10 skulls and being struck down, and having to watch those skulls bounce away from your dead body."
Stockpile
This is, "another 'party' gametype that is sort of like Territories meets with Capture the Flag." That is, both teams are racing to capture four neutral flags that spawn on the map and successfully return them to their respective (and active) capture points. Carroll elaborates, "Stockpile flags appear randomly throughout the map at pre-set flag-spawn points. Experienced players will learn the ten or so spots they can appear in the Beta maps, but they won't be able to predict which ones will be used at any given time."
It's worth noting that points aren't scored instantly once you drop a flag down. You actually have to have the flag at your capture point once a timed countdown has passed. Carroll notes, "Every 60 seconds, any flag inside the capture point will be scored for that team -- even ones being carried by enemies!" He further describes the time breakdown as, "The clock is always running, so in a ten minute game, it scores ten times. So it's the bottom of every minute. [...] There's definitely an ebb-and-flow, and a real spike in intensity and an, 'oh my God get the flag over there' type of feeling." Bakken further points out the time pressure by noting, "If you see the other team holding three flags and there's 30 seconds left, you better start sending a couple dudes over to at least get them out of the capture point when the time runs out."
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In terms of personal tactics and tips, Carroll jokes that his teammates who tend to be Slayer-players will be busy shooting each other while he himself serves as flagrunner; Bakken meanwhile plays more on the defensive side. Jarrard details a particularly handy tactic for defense players like Bakken: "Sometimes, depending on the map, I find pretty good success with either getting a shotgun, or a sword, and Armor Lock, and lurk on top of my flag spot. How you pair your weapons and Armor Abilities can radically affect how well your team scores or defends."
Generator Defense
This is where Halo Reach feels more distinct and objective-driven. In Bungie's words, this mode, "pits three Spartans against three Elites. The Elites are trying to destroy three generators before time runs out while the Spartans are trying to defend." When I point out that Elites are fast and tall foes with superior healing, Bakken replies, "Elites may be faster, bigger, and 'healthier' to use your words, but they are also easier to hit, and Spartans have the advantage of being in a pretty well defended position." He further points out that Generator Defense (or as Bungie calls it, "Network Test 1") always plays as, "two rounds of five minutes apiece," with teams switching from Spartans to Elites and vice-versus per round (so players can experience both perspectives). Of course, if the Elites destroy the generators in just three minutes, then the round ends.
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Bakken continues, "This [mode] takes place exclusively on Overlook in the Beta. Defenders have the superior position at the top of a hill, with Attackers trying to claw their way up it." He then describes what happens when a match begins: "We call in a weapon drop where a Longsword flies over and drops off three random power weapons in different random locations on the map. Each weapon pod has a random chance of being a Spartan Laser, a Sniper rifle, or a Rocket Launcher. And those are evenly distributed around the map so that both Spartans and Elites have an equal access to them. So in the beginning, not only are the Spartans running to generators, but people are just running to get the power weapons." On the topic of what gear players will have, he further notes, "In general, the Loadouts are designed to be shared across multiple modes, but you'll definitely see some surprises in this [mode]. They are more in line with the final stage of an Invasion game, which means it's pretty crazy from the beginning. Add in the [aforementioned] dynamic Weapon Drop, and you get some nice variety."
Besides the natural layout and whatever weapons get scrounged up, the Spartans on defense have an additional mechanic: the ability to lock down a generator. Bakken explains, "the act of locking down a generator is simple, because we wanted people to pick it up quickly. You walk up to an unlocked generator as a Spartan and press 'X' to lock it down (Elites obviously can't lock them down). The invulnerability lasts for approximately 30 seconds. It sounds like a long time, but when you have three different gennies on the map, and only five minutes to defend all of them... it gets intense. There's also a brief cool-down period when the lock expires before you can re-lock again, which creates some additional tension during that window of vulnerability."
When I ask about the small three-versus-three player count, Bakken replies, "It's [...] true Generator Defense is a little more intimate, but even with only six players on the map you'll see some intense fighting. Most of the action happens around the generators themselves, since they are the focal point of the gametype." I ask Bakken to describe a "typical match" to illustrate that last point, and he replies, "[Our strategy] constantly changes. Because it's three players on each team, and three generators, the first thing we tend to do is split up. Like one guy will go lock down a generator. But the moment one Spartan goes down, it becomes harder to hold onto anything. Sometimes, all three Elites will rush and attack one generator at a time, or they'll wait to exploit the cooldown of a locked generator. There's not a really good universal defense besides communicating with your team."
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Invasion
This is the fourth and final game mode in the beta, and also the one that Bungie is still being tight-lipped about until we're a little closer to launch. Carroll's one-line quip is, "It's a vehicle-full frenzy!" In fact, this mode and its accompanying map (Boneyard) is the only map in the beta that features vehicles. "[It's] packed to the gills with vehicle combat," says Carroll, who continues with, "It's really big -- nice and spacious to drive around in. A little bit bigger than Sandtrap even." Other scant details about Invasion are that it's a six-versus-six match, and as mentioned earlier while describing the Loadouts for Generator Defense, it seems to be a multi-stage affair that will utilize some heavy firearms during the end.
And there you have it: the new multiplayer modes for Halo Reach that you can play for yourself during the beta. For you traditionalists, there are modes and variants such as Slayer, King of the Hill, one-flag CTF, and three-plot Territories (a purposeful return to Halo 2-style Territories). Heck, there's even a Slayer Pro variant, where your only ability is Sprint, you don't have a motion tracker, and you start with either a Designated Marksman Rifle or a Needle Rifle.
As my time with Bungie winds down, I ask Jarrard how players will actually be seeing and jumping into these modes, and he answers, "There will be five different playlists active at different points during the public beta -- so not everything will be available day one. But as the beta progresses, more playlists will come online. You'll have Arena stuff, you'll have Free-for-All, you'll have Grab Bag which is a mix of different game types, and you'll have the Invasion and Network Test 1 playlists." The final schedule is up in the air, so you have an equal chance of either jumping into a Generator Defense or an Invasion match, depending on which one Bungie picks. Keep an eye out for more impressions of Halo Reach's multiplayer before it hits beta for everyone else on May 3.
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