Reach campaign matchmaking goes live

By Tom Bramwell Published 18 October, 2010

Plus more playlist changes tomorrow, soon.

Bungie has released the campaign matchmaking playlist for Halo: Reach and also plans to add new playlists and tweak other elements of the multiplayer experience tomorrow, 19th October.

"Today we released the Campaign Matchmaking playlist and soon we'll declassify all of the imagery on Bungie.net," community man Eric Osborne wrote in the developer's weekly update.

"If you haven't completed the campaign yet, we're no longer going to hold your hand and shield your eyes from the sights and sounds of our furiously kickass campaign. It's been long enough.

"Be warned: if you jump into Campaign Matchmaking, you're liable to play the last mission first. If that doesn't bother you at all, go nuts. If it does, it's time to get crackin' on your campaign progress."

New playlists going live tomorrow are Team Snipers and Living Dead, and there are also numerous changes to existing playlists and modes detailed in the update. Next week, meanwhile, will see major changes to the Score Attack playlist in Firefight, including a leaderboard reset.

What of the new Noble Map Pack, though? How will that be supported?

"Unlike the map packs of yore, we won't only be offering a playlist specifically tailored for players with access to DLC," Osborne wrote.

"The haves and the have-nots can swim in the same pool and our newly retooled matchmaking algorithms will systematically segment the player base properly so you won't have to worry about where you can get your next hit of new map smell. They'll be seamlessly incorporated into the already existing playlists as primary voting options.

"Of course, for those who demand a DLC-only experience, we'll blow the whistle and open up a VIP lap lane just for you. It'll be ready to go on day one. Details coming soon."

The Noble Map Pack consists of three new maps and is set to cost 800 Microsoft Points (£6.80 / €9.60) when it comes out on 30th November.

In the unlikely event that you're not fully spun up on all this, check out our Halo: Reach review. Or just read it again if you have already - that's exactly the sort of thing a Eurogamer would do.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (8) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • matrim83 #1 2 years ago

    Forget the DLC get more user created maps in there ASAP. 1 map doesnt even count, in fact make a separate playlist of user created content.

    There are a ton of awesome maps people have made in Forge. Hell the remakes from Halo 1 and 2 (Hang em high FTW) alone will keep the playlist turning for a good while.

  • CaptainQuint #2 2 years ago

    And still no Firefight vs.

    Bad show, Bungie. It was a new gametype which they used to hype the game and it turns out we can't even play it?!

    Also, the weekend just gone was actually the first one in which I haven't played Reach at all. Needed a break.
    Edited by CaptainQuint at 18/10/10 @ 08:53

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #3 2 years ago

    Hmm typical. They release co-op campaign which i wanted and yet i didnt play it. Perhaps i coudnt be bothered to play ONI without dying on legendary. so back to firefight and BTB it was.

  • monty2k #4 2 years ago

    @matrim83 and thedellbingo:

    Forgehub are running their own remake contest which was mentioned a little while back on the Bungie frontpage. Prizes haven't been announced yet but I'd love it if a few found their way into official matchmaking:

    [link url=http://www.forgehub.com/forum/announcements/107487-forgotten-treasures-2-a.html
    ]http://www.forgehub.com/forum/announceme...[/link]

    There's also the forgetacular competition, sadly only open to Americans, which should add a few user maps into the playlist by the end of the year.

  • layleeloo #5 2 years ago

    Why this couldnt have been done at the start is beyond me. Trying to protect the story is hillarious. Most people finished it in a day so they could have done this week ago.

  • SilverInfinity #6 2 years ago

    "Most people finished it in a day so they could have done this week ago."

    I didn't :( I had to work on launch day ... sad times

  • figgis #7 2 years ago

    For a game that trumpets it's matchmaking and online capabilities so much, the actual experience with the online multiplayer isn't that good. Far too much time waiting around and unbalanced teams after at least one person quits in every match.

  • AdamAsunder #8 2 years ago

    @matrim.

    What has become clear from Halo Mondays (tm) is that a lot of these maps, although awesome suffer from lagging and glitches. I don't think a lot of them will make it into matchmaking for that reason alone. It's a bit of an epic fail in that regard.

    I checked out Atom yesterday, the new community map they're adding to the mix and although it's not bad and undoubtedly will play quite well it's unambitious in form and very minimalist in structure, obviously to make sure it plays smoothly. The other Bungie-made variant looks to be very similar in nature.

    This is an issue that Bungie haven't even acknowledged and unless they optimise forge world then there will be a lot of excellent creations going to waste. And that would be a damn shame.

    Edited by AdamAsunder at 18/10/10 @ 12:17