Xbox Gaming in South Africa

It's like Bungie has bust a leak or something - more Halo: Reach details are gushing out now in a veritable flood (oh, ho ho). Deploy summary, GO!

Elites are back and they're super bad - bigger, faster, and better shielded than those squishy meaty SPARTANs. How's Bungie balancing this out in multiplayer? "Stay tuned", apparently.

Although they look a bit different in the Halo: Reach multiplayer trailer, assassinations start out pretty much the same as in Halo 3. Get hit from behind, and you're a statistic. New in Reach, however, is a stylin' finisher - your victim is spun around to look in the face of death before, well, death. Brutal.

Shield damage has been changed up significantly. Previously, a shot reducing an enemy's shield to zero with additional damage left over would move that damage packet into the guy's remaining health. No more! The zapping shot, regardless of the damage inflicted, will only zero out the shield, with no immediate further damage. That changes up melee kills somewhat, since enemies with even a single point of shielding left will take two punches to go down. Some obvious exceptions exist, though - Sniper Rifles and close-range Rocket Launcher and Shotgun blasts are still single-hitters.

Load Outs and Armor Abilities - unlike, say, Modern Warfare 2 or Bad Company 2, Load Outs in Reach aren't unlockable custom goodies, but rather different playlists and game types offer different available sets to players. Load Outs include abilities such as:

• Active Camo: Temporary invisibility, but the faster you move, the less invisible you're going to be, and the shorter the duration of the effect.
• Armor Lock: Basic invulnerability. Traded off for movement. Any movement. You're impervious to all damage, but you can't get anywhere while activated.
• Evade: This Elite manoeuvre is a massive jump in any direction, something that looks kinda like the Hunter's move in Left 4 Dead. Tricky to master, probably, but undeniably awesome when you leap out of nowhere and stab stuff in the neck.
• Jet Pack: It's a jet pack, it doesn't need much explaining. It's also susceptible to EMP interference, so don't go zooming around anyone packing a Plasma Pistol.
• Sprint: SPARTANs only. What it says on the box, really. Get around fast, but you can't get shooty while you're doing it.

Some of the weapon damage specs and behaviour have also changed up, including:

• You can now shoot grenades on the ground and make them go boom boom. It's not making it in time for the beta, but will be in the final game. In the beta, however, you WILL be able to shoot grenades out of the air.
• Both the Designated Marksman Rifle and Magnum are five-shot kills - that's four to the body, and one in the face. How are they different, then? The Magnum fires twice as fast as the DMR, with increasingly poor accuracy, and is really only effective in the close to mid-range. The DMR's effective at all ranges, with its scope and significantly less recoil.
• Introducing: The Plasma Repeater - it's like a Plasma Rifle, but its discharge drops as the weapon overheats.
• Introducing: The Plasma Launcher - it shoots Plasma Grenades. Slightly sticky ones too.
• Introducing: The Focus Rifle - it's like someone gaffer-taped a Beam Rifle to a Sentinel Beam. It's like the weapon of my dreams.
• Introducing: The Grenade Launcher - it's your basic noob tube. Hurrah!

Not much longer now, the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta lands 3 May.