Bungie confirms Firefight for Reach

By Oli Welsh Published 16 June, 2010

New modes, customisable, matchmaking.

At an evening event in LA tonight, Bungie confirmed that the Firefight co-op multiplayer mode from Halo 3: ODST would return in this year's Halo: Reach.

It will be expanded and improved with new gametypes, the implementation of full Xbox Live matchmaking support, and deep customisability via the in-game editor.

Check out this colourful Firefight in Halo: Reach screenshot gallery.

The new modes, which Bungie has used the editor to create, include a more "crafted" and shorter default Firefight mode; Firefight Classic, which has the same settings as ODST; Generator Defense - a variant of the beta test's Network Test 1; and the chaotic Rocketfight in which all loadouts feature rocket launchers with infinite ammo.

Unlike ODST Firefight, the Reach version will be supported by full matchmaking and all the networking features of Reach multiplayer, including Active Roster, Queue-Joining, four-player co-op over live and two-player split-screen per console.

You'll be able to create and share your own Firefight modes, tweaking parameters such as wave properties, match duration, custom skulls, Spartan loadouts and settings including health and jump height, weapon drops, and where generators are located.

Wave traits include the "shootiness" of enemies and how powerful they are; as an example, you could set up a mode in which you face infinite waves of ultra-powerful Grunts.

Any modes you create can be shared with friends and the wider Halo community by uploading them to your file share.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 2 years ago

    10/10

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #2 2 years ago

    11/10

  • TOOTR #3 2 years ago

    W00tasaurous Rex!

    Am excited but a wee bit concerned also -there's still a ton of lag on ODST firefight and the Generator test was not the most fluid - are they able to fix it for Firefight Reach? I hope so - although I'll be glued to team slayer no doubt and the beta was mostly lagless for me.

    I wish Mr Leadbetter would do a Digital Foundry and clear up some of the mysteries of xbox lag for me. Yes. Just for me!

    Why does Gears2 campaign co-op and horde mode have no lag? Halo3 MP no lag? Yet L4D2, MW2 - special Ops, Firefight are laggy to the point of often being unplayable?
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 07:22

  • mcmonkeyplc #4 2 years ago

    More news on space combat please!

  • Dizzy #5 2 years ago

    >More news on space combat please!

    I wonder how that will work in 4P co-op?

  • BritishBlue1 #6 2 years ago

    Did you notice in the trailer there was a second seat in the fighters' cockpit? I have a gut feeling it'll be 2 people in each fighter with the guy in the back doing...well, something.

  • DoctorFraud #7 2 years ago

    Infinite win.

  • bodypopper #8 2 years ago

    The lack of matchmaking in ODST Firefight completely baffled me as it would have extended my enjoyment of the game (and its value for money) by a good few hours.
    As a 360 and PS3 owner I have to say this is the most promising FPS on the horizon for me and the most excited I've been about Halo since the first one.
    Edited by 3 at 16/06/10 @ 10:57

  • Bill Gates is Evil #9 2 years ago

    TOOTR: ..."and the Generator test was not the most fluid"

    That was intentional-- they were testing the strength of the network by simulating massive amounts of strain. It shouldn't be a problem in the final version. (not sure about firefight though)

  • coolbritannia #10 2 years ago

    Best game at E3, easily. This is epic news, could we soon be seeing bots in multiplayer proper?

  • lordofthedunce #11 2 years ago

    Shit just got real.

  • WinterSnowblind #12 2 years ago

    Was definitely one of the better games shown at E3, especially after all the scripted FPS we've been seeing. What' I've always loved about Halo was the huge battles with lots of enemies, and the fact the A.I. is really good, leading to new situations all the time. Things like COD really don't have that because the campaign relies so heavily on scripted events.

    Firefight was reason alone to own ODST, so I'm very happy to see that back and the space combat was insane.

  • Koborover #13 2 years ago

    "Four-player co-op over live and two-player split-screen per console"

    So no Koborover, Koborover(1), Koborover(2) and Koborover(3) in 4-player local splitscreen for Firefight (like the campaign). Shame, that could've been fun with 3 mates around. At least it's still possible for standard Reach multiplayer, which is great.

  • metalangel #14 2 years ago

    Firefight + Elites = win.

  • CaptainQuint #15 2 years ago

    I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony...

    HOT DAMN!

  • Yossarian #16 2 years ago

    The reason Firefight lags so much is because it uses a synchronous model where everything has to be confirmed and synchronized between players, unlike the regular multiplayer, which uses a standard asynchonrous model of host and client. The reason Firefight (and Campaign) use this model is because of the sheer amount of data that has to be coordinated in a game featuring dozens of AI.

    So unfortunately if any one player in the game has a less than optimal connection, it slows down for everyone until all connections are in agreement abut what is occurring.

    It can't be 'fixed' or changed, but it should improve over the course of a few matchmade games as Bungie's netcode works out which players are more suited to each other connection-wise and geographically. Playing games across the Atlantic is always going to be messy.

    Still, all of this news is amazing (though slightly expected), and ensures this will be the Best Game of All Time and the Game That Allows Me to Finally Quit All Other Games.

  • DoctorFraud #17 2 years ago

    Killzone is pure gaming dogshit.

    Dont sully the name of Halo by mentioning that piece of generic rubbish again in this thread, it isnt in the same league as Halo.

  • Yossarian #18 2 years ago

    Oh, and one bit of good news is the 'Network Test 1' stress test was using six players, not Firefight's four, so things will likely be slightly better upon release.

    If you want detailed information about everything, here is where to go:

    http://ww w.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.p...

  • coolbritannia #19 2 years ago

    Whoever marked me down for saying this was the best game at E3 can eat a dick. This game rules your life.

  • Spency #20 2 years ago

    I refuse to trip-trap over your bridge Anthony Daniels. If that is your real name!?!

    Actually I suspect it is.

  • bodypopper #21 2 years ago

    @Anthony Daniels.

    Killzone 3's biggest selling points are new levels, jetpacks (which Reach has) and 3D for the 0.0001 per cent of folks who will have compatible tellies when it launches. It too should be DLC by your strange knee jerk trolling logic.
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/10 @ 12:21

  • coolbritannia #22 2 years ago

    Killzonelol. They try.

  • Sunyavadin #23 2 years ago

    >More news on space combat please!

    I wonder how that will work in 4P co-op?

    Ever played Freelancer?

  • AphoticCosmos #24 2 years ago

    There's always room in my heart for more Halo, and I think it's evident that Bungie is pouring love into Reach.

    Hope it's awesome!

  • IMD1_Pk #25 2 years ago

    >More news on space combat please!

    I wonder how that will work in 4P co-op?

    Ever played Freelancer?

    Freelancer is the best space shooter of all time bar none(and I have played almost every space shooter from your mainstream "Rogue Squadron" to your underground "subspace continuum". Apparently there is only that one level that has space battles and the 4 player co-op will still show one person in the cutscene but you will get 4 guys once it ends. This was talked about during IGN's interview with bungie. So far the space combat looks like freelancer's and crimson skie's, with it's distance indicator telling you where to shoot. It doesn't look as fast paced or frantic especially with such few enemies in the playthrough they showed but hopefully it was just because they were playing on easy. I don't expect to see it in multiplayer but I do have hope that one level will be good especially since the lead sandbox designer Sage is working on it, and he helped design crimson skies gameplay.

  • Sunyavadin #26 2 years ago

    Oh man, now I need to get my Freelancer server back up and running.

  • SixFootHalfling #27 2 years ago

    I can only assume that price on the Zavvi advert is wrong

    There's about as much chance of me flying to the moon as there is paying £55.95 for Reach

    Hope that Reach doesn't have a "don't shoot anyone" achievement like ODST, finding that the other 3 members of your team are going for a ridiculous achievement 20 times in a row will not be fun

  • lordofthedunce #28 2 years ago

    ^^ That's their price for the Limited Edition. Regular edition is £35.95.

  • RedSparrows #29 2 years ago

    I wanna see Forge 2.0 :(((

    Oh yeah, Halolz, same old boring game, Bungie really don't know what they're doing, so many better FPSs out there
    ERROR

    Game of the year by a fucking mile, no questions. EVER.

  • Slipstream #30 2 years ago

    I wonder how that will work in 4P co-op?

    Not much different from when another player in the single player campaign of Halo 3 would get into a Banshee and fly around I expect.

  • Centrifugal #31 2 years ago

    Okay, this looks incredible. I am once again hyped for Halo: Reach; E3 has served its purpose well.