Well, if we have those special protective shields, which were reverse engineered and improved upon from Covenant shield tech, then people obviously won't be going down too easily from just a few shots.

There's so much to be excited about with this game.

#1 The weapon sounds, one of my all-time biggest gripes with Halo 3, have supposedly been improved to sound loads more powerful when you fire them. It's tough to feel as if the bullets you're firing are actually having the right kind of impact if it doesn't sound powerful enough. Take Counter-Strike 1.6, for example, the AK simply by the virtue of it's sound when you fire it, actually makes you more inclined to believe that when you hit, you do serious damage. I suppose it also helps that a single hs from an ak = death :P

#2 One of the things that will probably have the biggest impact by far on the visual look of Halo Reach, the new momentum based animation system. That should not only have a profound visual impact on the game coming from Halo 3, but it should also make for some really interesting gameplay as well. It could provide a new feeling to Halo, while still very much still being Halo that everyone knows and loves.

#3 The talk of improved explosions that are a lot more messy in that they kick up more particles and leave more of a lasting effect on the battlefield, which we've seen some signs of with the black smoke plumes in some of the shots.

#4 The improved AA. If anything, this is one of the few things that Bungie has actually guaranteed to be improved over Halo 3, which in my eyes is one of the jaggiest games this gen bar none, jaggiest big game at the least. Having at least 2xAA like a number of other big games would be more than enough, in my view.

#5 The improved lighting system. It sounds, and so far looks, like a step up from Halo 3.

#6 The new and improved particle system. I like the thought of many sparks showing up from weapons fire and actually impacting realistically with things in the environment and who knows how else they'll use it to improve the atmospheric look of the game.

#7 Motion captured cutscenes. I've done more than enough complaining about Halo 3's cutscenes.

#8 Greatly improved character models, especially on the marines who now look better than the Master Chief ever looked in Halo 3, in my eyes.

#9 More enemies and vehicles, always fun.

#10 The health meter is back and the shields are supposedly slower to regenerate, I really like this.

#11 Armor Abilities sound great. With the way they are choosing to make armor abilities persistent and rechargeable for another use and not just a one use item, that must mean that they're going to balance and design the game in such a way that every single armor ability that the player may choose to hold on to, can be made to have a big impact on gameplay. No point having armor abilities in there that don't seem like they make any sort of major difference to the gameplay.

#12 Assassination kills with a cool third person knife animation. I've been wanting this forever, so I'm happy to see it now.

#13 Covenant weapons are being made to seem more violent than in the past, where supposedly you even get the sound as if the plasma is burning through armor and such.

#14 Armor customization.

#15 Falcon is being setup to become, in essence, a flying warthog with regards to how it controls and how fun it is to use.

#16 Planet Reach being treated like a character itself. We'll supposedly even get to see the ambient life of the planet.

#17 Can even use civilian vehicles.

But what you have to remember Optimus, is that none of that will be in the game; it is Bungie operating its mechanical beast of lies and deceipt, as our hopes are eventually ripped out and torn apart in front of our very eyes.

None of what will be in the game?

No armor abilities?
No assassination kills?
No return of the health meter after shield is drained?
No much improved weapon sounds, so they sound more powerful?
No motion captured cutscenes?
No new animation system during gameplay?
No improved explosions?
No armor customization?
No civilian vehicles?
No larger amount of enemies and vehicles?

I really do believe the character models will be as awesome as they are showing, even if there is aliasing present (and there will be) I guess the only thing to doubt then is the other aspects of the game, like the lighting, weather effects, particles, etc.

Those other things listed above, however, will absolutely be in the game. Honestly though, I've never been much of a graphics whore, personally. That's a statement I can stand 200% behind. Hell, the primary online pc game I play and have played for like 9 years, possibly more, is Counter-Strike (not crappy source)

Counter-Strike 1.5 and then 1.6 (obviously played the earlier versions before 1.5 as well, even the betas) may not have the graphics of something like COD and a number of other games out there, but I have still yet to find an online shooter as fun and as addicting, while also putting as major a focus on the skill of the individual player and the team based strategies that one can utilize to their advantage. Other games do these things in different ways, but I've just never found another shooter on the pc that does it quite like Counter-Strike 1.6 does it.

So, with that said, while I expect this game will look great, I would gladly take a much better looking Halo : CE style game with the same awesome gameplay and a new interesting story any day. Presentation is also a pretty big deal in my view and, judging from the small snippet of how the cutscenes are being handled with the trailer we saw, I feel pretty good about where Reach is headed, even if it doesn't end up looking that amazing. So, again, I may have high hopes, but I never allow those high hopes to truly dictate my enjoyment of a game.

What also constantly impresses me about Bungie as a developer, is how they never feel as if they need to truly compete with anyone else. They make their games exactly how they want to make them and don't allow what some other titles may be doing to dramatically alter their development process. They know what type of next gen game they want Halo to be and they proceed to make exactly that game. Even if by cutting down on a number of features, they could produce something more visually stunning, they resist the urge anyway and do their own thing. Gotta admire that.

I think that was sarcasm :)

Yea, there's a good chance that it was on his part, but I think it needed to be said regardless, since there are many who really do take that kind of approach with regards to anything said by Bungie, because you see posts like that all over on various forums, not just this one :)

I hate to break it to you Op, but it was indeed the s-word.

Did you guys see the new screens from kotaku?

This new engine shows its new, as its doing what i was hoping halo 2.5 (halo 3...) would do, im so dissapointed bungie didnt think it wise to use this engine for halo 3 in the 1st place...

What new screens? :P

\Wow, you are clever!

he seems to be so quick to defend that he probably didnt realise. it happens.

Whatever..... looking forward to some new info and, hopefully, video footage of this game in action. Really hope it doesn't end up having any performance issues.

Because if they have as much going on as they say they have going on and the new gameplay animations look as good as I'm hoping they look, and they maintain the impressive character models on top of all that while having some nice environment art, I'm good to go :)

Until I see otherwise, I'm totally convinced this game will use Natal as well.

I can see using Natal for maybe navigating menus in this game, otherwise I would probably hate it after playing FPS on standard controller for so long. No way they'd pull it off right away

Bungie would never put Natal into Reach. That just sounds very unreasonable in many ways.

I find 4 player split screen, 4 player co-op and the ability to zoom out and record everything to be unreasonable, but Bungie does them anyway just to add another check to their list of things Halo titles support. For Bungie, Natal isn't unreasonable, I'm thinking.

Don't get me wrong, I fully expect controller support to still be there, but I also expect Natal support.

I'm going to have to bet against Natal support as well.

Well, a lot of people, not me, seem to want Halo to be some visual assault on the senses comparable to Killzone or Uncharted with regards to its graphics. With 4 player split screen, 4 player co-op, recordable gameplay, that may not happen :)

Personally, I think Reach is looking good, really good, and, as I stated before, I really respect Bungie for not allowing what goes on outside of their development studio to affect how they design their games.

If Bungie really pulls off what they hope to with this game, it will seriously be one of the more impressive things this generation, I think. You don't necessarily need to have the most impressive graphics of the pack to be a head turner.

I'd really rather something like 4-player split screen not have a detrimental effect on the graphics. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I played a game split screen. And 4-player co-op shouldn't really have an effect on the visuals either....at least not to the point where it can be used as an excuse for the console's biggest game not looking as good as a lot of people were expecting it to.

It's a very good excuse, especially when no other game that people consider to look worth a damn does it :)

When people find one, just let me know. I repeat, just let me know. if I'm wrong, I'm more than willing to say, "hey, I was wrong"

4 player split screen and 4 player co-op is absolutely a not so insignificant factor in what holds Bungie back.

If that honest to god isn't the case, then I wish to see a single console title that proves me wrong. I can certainly be proved wrong with an obviously smaller, more limited or confined title, no I'm not referring to COD or Killzone or Uncharted. I'm talking about something along the lines of an NBA Street Homecourt or a Fight Night Round 3 or 4. No, those games do not have 4 player split screen or co-op, but they are the type that could do it, and still probably look better than a large majority of the games that get released. I can't say just how good or just how bad Halo Reach will look when it's complete, but what I can say is that when it does get released, and manages to look however good it may look, it will still be in a class all its own, because, as I said, there is nothing else out there doing what it does on the scale that it does it.

Okay, now I'm completely convinced that some new Halo Reach footage is coming up soon. There's a big reason why Bungie is doing so many updates, so fast.

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topne...

The podcast is also there, and Gameinformer with a solid update today :)

http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/01...

I apparently also missed these.

http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/01...

http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/01...