Halo: Reach screenshots leaked?

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 November, 2009

Battle Rifle, Needler sighted, among others.

A man on the internet has secured what look very much like blurry digital camera shots of Halo: Reach in action.

The pictures, which you can witness immortalised on NeoGAF, include a convincing-looking title screen and lobby, and shots of various locations.

We can also see a few weapons, including the Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle (it lives again!), the Laser, the Needler and a new, funkier-looking version of the Needler, which we're going to call the Needlier.

Bungie hasn't responded publicly to the reputed leak (other than banning people who mention it on the Bungie.net forums, apparently), while Microsoft is throwing out the old "rumour and speculation" line.

Bungie has previously said it won't be ready to talk about Halo: Reach for a while, but we do know that it will be out next autumn and that people who bought Halo 3: ODST will have access to a beta version beforehand.

The developer has also hinted that ODST's Firefight mode could return in Halo: Reach.

We have our own theories on what you might see in Reach, mind you, which you can read about on page three of our recent Halo 3: ODST tech analysis. In short: Elites, 16 Spartans, the return of Mark V armour, and perhaps some kind of ancillary use of Project Natal...

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.

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

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Comments (28) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • M4RV #1 2 years ago

    The "Spartan Laser" does look awesome IMHO... Other than that, there's not much to say or see really. I just hope they're able to deliver a game which actually runs at 720p, with anti-aliasing to boot.

  • JahB #2 2 years ago

    it's the forum name of the guy who leaked the pictures. but i doubt he's that Tom Morello.

  • M4RV #3 2 years ago

    @EarlBassett:

    ***The MLG user is bogus and fake, he put his name on screenshots someone else made, just to boost his own ego and give the MLG website free hits***

    That according to the user who first created the topic down in NeoGAF.

    EDIT:

    Too late... :\
    Edited by 1 at 06/11/09 @ 08:53

  • Nephirion #4 2 years ago

    Halo 3 ... now with high resolution

  • Eraser #5 2 years ago

    it's hard to hold a camera still... :-/

  • Negotiator #6 2 years ago

    It seems to have better graphics than Halo 3 or ODST, but it's very hard to tell when the whole screenshot is blurry. Just have to wait for the first ones to be released.

  • The-Bodybuilder #7 2 years ago

    Blurry, but looks fantastic.
    For some strange reason, its given me more "original halo" vibes than the sequels. Its first screens that truly remind me of the awesome original.
    All images of the sequel never really enticed me, but this certainly has, even though I had no interest in reach.

  • Climhazzard #8 2 years ago

    Im now looking forward to this even more.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #9 2 years ago

    It does look snazzy - I agree with Negotiator, it looks as if the graphics have been given a boost, but hard to tell with the blur-o-vision.

    Assuming these are genuine, looks like some degree of squad-based gaming is confirmed. I'm hoping there's no squad CONTROL, however, that'd be too far removed from ordinary Halo gameplay; but having a team around you that respond to your actions would be nice. Unless, of course, you can do some sort of gesture-based tomfoolery to get them to follow, hold, etc...

    Anyway: nice.

  • Ace_McCloud #10 2 years ago

    It reminds me of Halo 1! The graphics looks nice! Loud noises!

    Time to get all over excited about a halo game again.

    /Giggles and farts

  • Nath_monn #11 2 years ago

    Failo went down hill after 2, odst was nothing more than an expansion pack too big for dlc on live, plus a laggy as hell horde mode (woooah horde genius bungie, push the limits).

    I hope reach kills off the remainding fan base, with yet another rehashed halo game, poor graphics/modeling and a cuppa soup like story!!

    Sadly I know it won't, as bungie have got far to many of you blinded by master chefs big stupid head, reatrained and addicted suckling on the tits of the huge cash cow they have created, to even notice the lame lame game play is being churned over again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again...bored yet?? I know I am!!!

  • Negotiator #12 2 years ago

    Yeah, the art style is alot more like the first game, and I love the idea of the hologram perk for the game, perfect to setup the enemies.

  • phAge #13 2 years ago

    A lot of the weapons look less sleek and more low-tech/"real" than in both Halo 3 and ODST. Here's hoping they're going down a more "realistic", dirty/gritty route with Reach, while still maintaining the Halo "feel".

    I'll stop with the "'s now.

  • kinky_mong #14 2 years ago

    "Bungie hasn't responded publicly to the reputed leak (other than banning people who mention it on the Bungie.net forums, apparently)"

    THOUGHT POLICE!!!

  • foamy #15 2 years ago

    With the perks thing, it's probably Bungie's take on MW2- Halo-version.

  • Negotiator #16 2 years ago

    "With the perks thing, it's probably Bungie's take on MW2- Halo-version"

    I don't think so, it seems its a way of bringing equipment from Halo 3 into Reach, without having to worry about timeline and all that. Plus it makes Halo more tactical, to give more depth to the gameplay.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #17 2 years ago

    Yeah, I get the impression Reach will have the tactical, "stealthy" feel of ODST. Although, if it's class-based, maybe it depends who you are - weedy sniper or ninja Spartan.

    Edit: all of this suppostion based on several blurry screenshots and on teaser image ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 06/11/09 @ 11:32

  • Chazmeister #18 2 years ago

    I was kind of hoping that they'd do something a bit different for this one, but going by this evidence it just looks like more of the same.

  • altitude2k #19 2 years ago

    @ Chazmeister

    How can you possibly make that assumption based on a few leaked screenshots?

  • Nath_monn #20 2 years ago

    Because those leaked screenies looks exactly the fudging same as the previous 4 halo games.

    I do sound like a disgruntled hater, but I'm not I loved the first two and bungie do loads for it's community, however what doss beat my balls is peoples denial In the fact that each bloody game ha been the same as the last with nothing innotive and more crapy story.

    Halos just become too basic for me

  • ybfelix #21 2 years ago

    If you take photos this blurry of CODWAW it would look like COD1,2,3 too. Maybe even like Medal of Honor. And they ARE different.

    It's a FPS set in Halo universe, what kind of drastic departures do you expect to see in such screenshots? Unless they change the genre, like an RPG? Then I guess you will get people who accusing "milking"
    Edited by 2 at 06/11/09 @ 12:53

  • Nath_monn #22 2 years ago

    Your post makes no sense, you say waw looks like cod123 and moh, but plays different. Then you go on to say halo needs a drastic genre shift to make it different from previous games.

    If the cod franchise can keep it's genre of a fps and still uses unique and innotive ways to stand out from previous titles, why can't halo??

    An that's my problem, it's the same old over and over, looks the same and plays the same! I've not seen anything unique or different from halo since duel weilding weapons.

  • Wolverfrog #23 2 years ago

    I can confidently say that these are legit; either that or someone is an amazing 3D modeller. Some of the textures and the like seem to be place-holders, such as the mountains. But a lot of the weapons look really detailed, and when you compare the new Spartan Laser to the Halo 3 one, you notice the difference, even through those blurry pictures.

    Bungie's Friday weekly update tonight may allude to the screenshots' authenticity.

  • Chazmeister #24 2 years ago

    @altitude2k

    As Nath_monn has pointed out, I make that asumption because those shots look so much like what has come before. With the exception of Halo Wars, I've played through all the Halo games, and most of them multiple times, but now its time for a change. The series in my opinion is in need of a serious change, as it's starting to get a bit stale. A few tweaks and changes to the hud and weapons etc just isn't radical enough for me. These are the same sort of changes and tweaks we've seen made throughout the whole series, and yet ODST is still relatively the same experience we had back in Halo1. It's time for a major change, and based on this evidence, Halo Reach doesn't look like it will be providing it.

    I'm a Stargate fan, you know I like SG1 and Altlantis, and the series has had a recent "reboot" in the guise of Stargate Universe. It's got a much more serious darker tone in terms of story and characters and it's visual style is quite a departure from the previous series too. Some would say it's more akin to BSG now, but the point is I think its a refreshing invigorating change for the series, and that kind of refreshing change in my opinion is what the Halo series now needs.

  • Gecks #25 2 years ago

    2nd shot: looks like 4 other health-bars in the HUD? that and the teaser pic hint towards a squad/class-based shooter. makes sense with there being more than one spartan this time around.

    i reckon halo reach will be something like rainbow six in space, with a battlefield/team fortress style multiplayer.
    Edited by 1 at 06/11/09 @ 16:07

  • Nath_monn #26 2 years ago

    I agree with Chaz only cuz he mentioned bsg, bsg rocks!!

    The point I was tryin to make with cod is I've seen evolution from cod1 up to mw2 (I've played it so can see the noticable differences) however I find with halo, after duel weilding weapon for halo 2 I've seen no real progression.

    I am the same as Chaz tho, I've played all the halo games multiple times, however the thought of playing another just doesn't appeal.

    Such a shame, as i'm a firm believer that without halo2 we wouldn't have the xbox experience we have today, it's done wonders and should retire gracefully imo

  • ybfelix #27 2 years ago

    @Nath_monn : the keyword is "look". I mean it's hard to spot drastic difference in visual department from such quality pics, short of a genre shift. So what do you base your "play the same" arguement on? If they give everyone a jetpack and run as twice fast, can you tell by these pics?

    And what's your idea of a radical change that instantly reflected on cam shots? Make Covenants yellow and Warthog a hovercraft?
    Edited by 6 at 06/11/09 @ 16:39

  • CUTZ-SIX #28 2 years ago

    I love Halo