Will Halo: Reach Redefine Halo's Multiplayer?

20 Jan 2010 at 00:00:00 by Tim McDonald

The past week saw us get what a huge proportion of the Earth's population has been waiting for. No, I haven't been fired. Try again. No, I'm not dying, either; look, just forget it. People were waiting for details of Bungie's Halo: Reach, and now we've got 'em.

Altered art-style! New enemies! New weapons! Closer in feel to the first game! Weather effects! Bigger battles! Absolutely no mention of multiplayer barring that it's going to at least match Halo 3 and ODST!

Truthfully, it's not all that surprising. The multiplayer's going to be a huge selling point for the game and, doubtless, the reason many will hang onto it (if not the reason many will pick it up in the first place) but it's still early days and with something that major, we reckon it'll be closer to release before we hear about it.

It's also reasonable to assume that it's going to be very, very special. Much as ODST's new multiplayer options were a little stunted in comparison to the huge additions made in Halo 3, it's not a fair comparison as that was originally intended to be little more than an expansion pack. With Halo: Reach being the next big thing, I daresay we're going to see vast improvements, and while there's little in the way of official word there are enough clues that we can take some educated guesses.

The big thing, I think, is that Halo: Reach is going to do a hell of a lot more with levelling, and add in a load more customisation.

Hints are present for all of this. The Game Informer article itself mentions the single-player game's “diverse group of Spartans” and also guesses that customisation will be a focus of online play. There's also a note that players will have some control over the appearance of protagonist Noble 6 – something that might not be worth an early mention for a first-person single-player game, even with the ego-boosting Theater mode, but which would tie nicely into multiplayer. Single-player and multiplayer tying together? Hmm.

Speculation, admittedly, but there is some concrete evidence pointing that way. A little while ago we saw a pair of Bungie job adverts which we assumed, at the time, were for an MMO of some sort, but I'm no longer sure I agree. The first was for a Gameplay Design Lead, which specifically mentions “our next project,” but the second posting was for a Player Investment Design Lead, responsible for “designing the mechanics which drive in-game player reward and incentives,” as well as “[organising] the Reward Content Designers, who create the reward content for those systems.” What's required for the latter job? “Experience with many modes of online play,” for starters, as well as “experience with online incentives (achievements, rewards, economic, etc.)”

Note the distinct lack of mention of a next project in that one. It could be a routine job posting for someone to design the Achievements system and any associated Avatar rewards, but I rather suspect the specifics of that job might lean towards making Halo: Reach's multiplayer compelling. Let's not forget Halo 3's use of levelling, after all.

The other aspect to all of this, of course, is what the rest of the industry is doing and whether or not the success of Modern Warfare 2's incredibly compelling (there's that word again) levelling system has impacted Bungie. Again, being that Halo is one of the industry leaders in terms of online multiplayer, I don't think they're foolish enough to dismiss the idea out of hand.

I do, however, believe it'll be something other than a carbon copy of Modern Warfare's system. While there's huge crossover between the audiences of Halo and Call of Duty, I don't think the fans would respond well to a massive change in Halo's traditional multiplayer style. I doubt we'll see every weapon being locked from the start – or, if we do, I doubt it'll be in all modes; I would assume there will be "traditional" playlists for those who want to have a quick game every now and then.

There are other possibilities: that the single-player ideas of squads, character customisation, and bigger battles tie into much bigger multiplayer modes, supporting far more players, possibly akin to Battlefield. There's the possibility that these are all red herrings, or are simply nothing more than what they appear to be. It's possible that the single-player customisation is for the co-op, that the job posting is just for Achievements, that Game Informer is taking a wild guess, and that Bungie really does believe that ODST is the epitome in multiplayer gaming. It's possible we're not going to see much in the way of multiplayer improvements at all. It's possible, but I don't buy it for an instant.

It's hard to stop myself going from reasonable speculation into wild guesswork (new in-game clothing pieces for achievements! Orbital laser reward for a high rank! Blue horses, so that Bungie can say they really did draw inspiration from James Cameron's work!) but considering Halo's past and reading between the lines, it seems clear to me that Bungie's going to be trying something pretty special.

Comment