Well here is a hands on Halo Reach Beta review for those of you that haven't tried it yet. Reach is trying to be more customizable and wants you to really put yourself into your character, so the spartan you control will gain credits after each game, determined how well you do will determine the amount of credits you'll receive, this concept of credits is similar to the experience you recieved on Halo 3. So what can I do with these credits you wonder? Well you can buy, and customize your spartan's armor. With quite a wide variety, even on the beta, it is up to your imagination on how the game itself will play out with the customization. But this is only a small aspect of the beta, they have also changed gametypes from Arena, which is slayer based gametype where you will eventually be placed in certain brackets based on your skill, the brackets rate from bronze up to onyx. There is also a gametype called Grab bag, which is a jumble of objective type gametypes, where you and your friends can work out strategies with your friends, all the favorite objective gametypes are back, including some new ones like stockpile, which is a gametype where you and your friends get as much flags around the map to your stockpile within the time limit given, and defend it from the opposing team without them taking back one of the flags. Everyone's favorite Free For All is back with a new gametype called headhunter, where you grab as much skulls as you can and get it to the drop off point before you are killed and your skull is taken, skulls are obtained by killing your enemy, the more skulls he has, the more likely you are to win, you can tell how much skulls a enemy has by the number above his head. There are also a variety of new weapons for your arsenal of fun, as well as changes to old weapons. First off is the Designated Marksmen Rifle, DMR for short, it is the "replacement" of Halo 3's Battle Rifle, it is a semi automatic gun, with mild recoil and a mid range such as the battle rifle had. Second is the rocket launcher, with a little more of explosive power, and the lock on feature is brought back. The needler rifle is a new add on, this is the covenant version of the DMR, everyone's favorite needler gun is back as well, with better tracking, and the same explosive fun it provided for us in the past. There is also a grenade launcher included in the reach, but be warned, it is preferred for long range, using it in close quarters might cost you the game. The sniper rifle is back, with more recoil effect such as the DMR has, there is also another addition to the sniper family, the focus rifle, which is a sentinel beam based rifle which has the same range as the sniper, and if you are good with it, can be deadly in long range and short range combat. There is also a new covenant weapon called the Plasma Launcher is here, with a long loading time, but for those who love plasma grenades, this is the weapon for you, loading up to 4 plasma grenades at once with a locking system in place for those not smart enough to stand in the way of it's devastating explosions. As far as it can be seen though there are not a lot of options for duel wielding in Reach as we've seen in previous Halo's. The maps include swordbase, which is a very vertical based map, with up to 4 stories of fun, with two main buildings across from each other, and multiple ways to sneak up on your enemy and surprise them with a sneak attack. There is also a new map called powerhouse, which resembles the old map Zanzibar/Last Resort, this map will keep you on the edge of your seat, literally in some cases if you are unlucky enough to get a little too close to the edge as this map is on a cliff, and it's a long way down, with the main spawns being the Dirt path/Office and Power house. The sidebar friendslist is here, you can see who's on and ready to play, send out invites, messages, even party chats while your waiting for a game. Also you can que join a party, so if your friend is almost done with a game, you can just que join his party, so as soon as that game is done, you are already in his/her game. Overall Reach is a great experience for Halo fans, and for those new to gaming and would like to see what all the buzz is about, the beta isn't something you have to pay for, just try it out, and express your opinion at bungie.net, where they want the gamers point of view, so they can make the gamer better for you. With that, I'll see you next time.