We got a hang of the controls, pwning n00bz and t-bagging to our hearts content - but it looks like we may have to adjust to the controls once again when Reach finally hits store shelves in a few months.
Brian Jarrard, of Bungie fame, recently spoke to Xbox360Achievements about some ideas they had to deal with habitual quitters as well as tweaks made to the final retail version of Halo: Reach. Tweaks that will undoubtedly please/agitate a lot of people who took part in the Beta.
Jarrard mentioned that for the most part the armor abilities would remain untouched, with one exception - the ‘Guard’ ability. ‘Guard’ will get tweaked because, during the beta, many participants complained of poor balancing for the ability. Players will no longer take damage if they melee the ‘Guard’, nor will players utilizing the ‘Gaurd’ armor ability be able to regenerate as quickly.
“But it was really interesting to watch over the progression of that three weeks the tides turn and people start to play Reach the way it’s meant to be played and understand the nuances of the weapons, aiming and armor abilities. It was really cool to see by the end that it started to really be embraced by players hardcore and casual alike.”
Apparently, grenades will also be toned down a bit - after it was found that they were doing too much damage. The blast radius will be scaled down a bit and the damage has been reduced by roughly a single point. Bungie has also meddled with the Spartans’ physical prowess - and they can now run faster and jump higher in order to give it more of a Halo 3 feel.
The shield recharge time will also be taking a hit, resulting in a slower recharge rate, but to make up for this Bungie has turned up players’ stamina. This basically means that players will have to unload a few more bullets into their opponent - thus creating a longer ‘Encounter Time’.
None of these changes are extremely drastic from the Beta build, but I’m sure people who used to spam the ‘Guard’ will be a little disgruntled with the changes. Halo is one of my favorite series - on any game console, so I’m looking forward to getting my hands on Bungie’s latest, and potentially last hurrah in the franchise.
You will finally be able to try out the tweaked multiplayer when Halo: Reach reaches retailers on September 14th.
Do any of these tweaks effect you and your play style? Do the tweaks even matter that much to you?
Source: Xbox360Achievements.org
