14 DAY TRIAL // After hardcore fans crowded to Halo 2 last month to grab a few last kills as Microsoft was killing Xbox LIVE support for original Xbox consoles, gamers now have the chance to get a taste of what’s coming in the next iteration of the hugely popular franchise. The latest installment of Halo is currently available for testing for Xbox 360 owners, with the Beta testing program having gone live yesterday. On the morning of May 3rd, “Halo” fans worldwide were granted access to the “Halo: Reach” multiplayer Beta via their “Halo 3: ODST” game discs. And it appears that the Halo: Reach Beta is attracting a consistent number of testers, with the Bungie servers having problems offering the best gaming experience possible.
Microsoft is praising the testing efforts around the prequel to the Halo trilogy as the biggest console Beta in history. According to information provided by the Redmond company, the Beta kicked off yesterday will be available to Xbox 360 users until May 19th, 2010. The software giant made it clear that it would in no way restrict access to the Halo: Reach Beta.
Of course, as it is the case with every Beta release, the Halo: Reach is bound to come with inherent problems. This is, after all, the main goal of the testing program, to sniff out eventual issues and resolve them before the title ships to gamers everywhere.
“Building upon the successes of its predecessors, ‘Halo: Reach’ breaks new ground with a host of new content and features, delivering the most thrilling and feature-packed multiplayer experience yet. With new game types, weapons, armor abilities, players rewards, customization options, social settings and more, the ‘Halo: Reach’ multiplayer beta introduces a wave of innovations that will take the award-winning ‘Halo’ multiplayer experience on Xbox LIVE to the next level,” Microsoft revealed.
At the bottom of this article, you will be able to watch an introduction video to the “Halo: Reach” Beta featuring actress Aisha Tyler. The promise from Microsoft is that Beta testers will be able to get updates to Halo: Reach via Bungie.net and Halo Waypoint on Xbox LIVE. Halo: Reach is currently slated for launch in the fall of 2010 only on Xbox 360.