Well I have been watching to see if anyone was going to put up a thread about this for a while now, and considering it is now less than a day before it comes out I thought I might as well get one up.

Halo: Reach is the newest installation in the Halo series and is a prequal to Halo: CE, taking place almost immediately before the events of the first Halo. If anyone wants more info about the story of the game itself you can visit Bungie.net, but I'm here to talk about the multiplayer beta so I'll just skip right ahead.

The Halo: Reach multiplayer Beta is available through the extra's menu in Halo: ODST and opens up to the public late this Monday morning (Pacific Standard Time). The Beta feature four levels and all of the classic Halo game types with a few newcomers showing up for the first time as well. There are plenty of new and interesting weapons to play with, and Halo 3's single use equipment is replaced by rechargeable Armor Abilities including Armor Lock (temporary invulnerability, but you are immobile), Active Camo (invisible, but all nearby radar, including your own is jammed), Sprint (Spartan Only), Evade (Elite only), and Jetpacks. Yes. There are now Jetpacks in Halo... Whatever, we'll see how they work out. From what I've seen, you are pretty vulnerable when using them, but you obviously gain a lot more mobility in vertical levels.

The different playlists available in the Beta are going to have a staggered release as the Beta progresses. On May 3rd, Grab Bag (a mix of team based slayer and objective games), FFA, and the Arena (a Team Slayer playlist that caters to competitive players and operates in monthly "seasons" ), are all available. These playlists will be played on the maps Powerhouse and Swordbase, and new game types featured in these playlists include Headhunter and Stockpile.

Headhunter, at least in the Beta, is a free-for-all affair. Each player starts with a skull, and when you kill someone their skull drops onto the floor, waiting to be picked up. As you collect skulls you take them to drop off points (the drop off points move periodically, similar to crazy king, in order to discourage players from just camping them) to score them. However, the number of skulls you are holding is displayed over your head, so, collect too many at once and you become target number one. The first player to reach 25 skulls wins the match. One small caveat. If you happen to be ballsy enough to score ten skulls at once you score a "Skullamanjaro" and instantly win the game.

Stockpile is described by Bungie as Capture the Flag on steroids. The game starts with 4 neutral flags in random locations around the map. Each team wants to grab as many of these flags as they can and bring them to their score point. However, flags are only scored every sixty seconds, so if a flag is taken out of a scoring area by the other team before the sixty seconds are up, that flag will not be scored, creating a constant push and pull of offense and defense.

On May 7th, Invasion, a 6 vs. 6 game type that plays exclusively on the level Boneyard in the Beta, and features Spartans vs. Elites (Elites are now much faster, bigger, and meaner than their spartan counterparts and can only be used in certain gametypes) in two different new gametypes, Invasion and Invasion Slayer, begins. Invasion is rather complex, and requires a lengthy description, so if you want to know more, I'd recommend heading over to Bungie.net to check it out. I will say that if you like big team battles and objective games then you will probably love Invasion.

Last of all, on May 14h, Generator Defense (or Network Test 1, as Bungie so interestingly dubs it) comes online. Generator Defense is a 3 vs. 3, Spartan vs. Elite game type played on the map, Overlook. The Elites' objective is to destroy 3 generators that the Spartan team would very much like not to explode. The Spartan team can run up to a generator and lock it for about 30 seconds, during which time that generator cannot be harmed. However, when the 30 seconds runs out there are about ten seconds of vulnerability during which the generator is vulnerable and cannot be relocked. The Spartans have to try and keep the Elites from blowing up all 3 generators at once, but start with a heavily defended position on the high ground. Generator Defense is two rounds of five minutes each, so both teams will get to play as each the Spartan and Elite side every time.

If you want to see gameplay of the Beta, or just learn more about it, Bungie has posted a huge amount of information on Bungie.net so check it out, and I'll see you online. If anyone is going to play the Beta and wants more party members, my gamertag is SloppyApples, and I'll be on as much as humanly possible.