Reach Reaction

There’s a Beta playlist in Halo:Reach for early October. and I played briefly only to have my ass completely handed to me. My opponents had reached the upper-most limits of what a human being can do in the game. Each was nearly, or at 100% completion in terms of their armoury, condemnations and rank. In a day, I might get all four Daily Challenges, and my experience meter barely fills, so the amount of time they’ve played is bordering on the insane. I had virtually no chance. These players were able to score one-hit headshots with handguns from around corners. I tried thinking about what they’re doing on their end. From the moment they round a corner, it takes them a split-second to locate my character on screen, and then they have to aim their sites at me. In that same timeframe, I’ve seen them, and I’m side-shifting to pull away from their target area and aim my own gun. Before I can even move my joystick, they’ve already capped me. Every time. The human-reaction to controller-input ratio should mean that I should still have half-a-chance to dodge at the very least, but it’s impossible. A bullet goes through my skull every time. Even if they’re cheating it shouldn’t be possible.

Frustrated, I moved on to another map and game-type, Big Team Battles, where I can jump in vehicles and play my own way. I was still finding myself completely dominated. Those on my team of eight who hadn’t dropped out were being completely pinned down. There was no way to escape the carnage even after spawning. Every enemy was either too-far afield or in a vehicle. Meaning for every twelve shots I would need to kill them, the players in vehicles could one-shot kill me with no effort. If I tried to run from the swarm of vehicles, a sniper in the distance would pick me off, even if I was camouflaged. I encountered the same enemy team twice while in that playlist. The second time, I was determined to get the upper-hand by manning my own tank. As I ran towards it shortly after spawning, my own teammate got in a secondary vehicle and shot the tank, bringing it down to nearly-no health. I still tried using it, and second later exploded. Everything was downhill from there. I tried using actual strategies, and nothing worked. Vehicles would run towards me, intent on mowing me down, so I’d throw up my shields in the hopes they’d crash into me like a brick wall. They would stop dead in that instant before impact, wait patiently, and then blast me as my shields fell.

My point is: Reach is over a year old now, and the only ones still left playing are typically the die-hard fans, who do nothing but play the game all day every day, and have become impossible opponents. New games like GoW 3 and the Battlefield demo have likely drawn off much of the crowd, along with regular schoolwork. This happens with every competitive FPS ever. These opponents are fine in small amounts, and they’re always around, but once the regular players are gone, and they’re the only ones left, it becomes a game-killing nightmare. If you’re playing with other entry level players, you’re somewhat safer because they’re there as human shields you can use to draw fire off yourself and counter. Plus you can score kills on the lesser opponents of the other team. If you’re on a team with only newbs, and your opponents are all hardcore, you might as well drop out and take the hit.