By: David J. Kaplan
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Today is a day that many Xbox360 enthusiasts have been longing for. Let’s rewind to E3 2009. Microsoft had an awesome press conference featuring the last living members of The Beatles to promote the newest incarnation of Rock Band. They then had the pleasure of devoting nearly the entire show to revealing exclusive content for the green powerhouse. One teaser that sparked major interest was for Halo: Reach. Not much was known about it then. The trailer showed what looks like mass destruction taking place on a planet similar in nature to Earth and a distress call. The name evoked emotion from hardcore Halo fans that had known of the series prior to its debut as a videogame in 2001. The Fall of Reach is a book about the Halo universe and serves as a prequel to the first video game where you play as master chief, the last of the Spartans. Let’s now jump to September 22, 2009; the launch date for Halo: ODST. ODST was a great game that steered away from the master chief plotline and had you playing as a human soldier, seeing a different side of the story that takes place between Halo 2 and 3.
Why is this relevant now? ODST came packaged with an exclusive invite to the multiplayer beta of Halo: Reach. At the time, there was no set date for when the beta went live. It was finally announced months later that today, May 3, 2010 would be the date you were RSVP-ing for. Halo continues to be one of the most played multiplayer games on Xbox live right up there with main competition Call Of Duty. Reach promises an epic story line in the saga of master chief, and the multiplayer beta is the appetizer. Fans get a sneak peak at all the cool new features introduced with this title. Releasing a beta also allows for the developers to receive feedback on what may be flawed and then fix it before the game’s official launch this holiday season. Some new features that fans of the series have to look forward to are new maps, new guns, the removal of duel wielding, stylish assassinations, the need for med packs as opposed to regenerative health and jet packs.
Want to get your hands on the Halo: Reach multiplayer? Swing by your local game retailer and snatch a used copy of Halo: ODST (providing it’s not sold out from everyone else doing this same trick). You can play the beta for a week and then return ODST and get your full money back.