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Halo: Reach matchmaking update available now, a second to follow soon

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Although Bungie already has one foot out the door when it comes to the Halo universe, the developer is determined to leave its legacy intact. To this end, Bungie has issued a new update to Halo: Reach, plans a second one next week, and will likely continue to issue updates and patches for months to come.

The first of the two updates is available now, and it tweaks a few existing gametypes. A full list of the tweaks — of which there are many — can be found below courtesy of Bungie’s blog.

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The second update is due sometime next week, and it will introduce campaign matchmaking. Currently players can go through the campaign online with a friend, but it requires gamers to invite or be invited to a game. With the new update, players will be able to join sessions in progress, or host campaigns to play certain levels. Bungie withheld this to avoid ruining the campaign story by jumping into a level that may not yet have played.


PLAYLISTS

Rumble Pit

* Added Crazy King

* Added Juggernaut

* Removed Oddball on Asylum


Team Slayer

* Removed SWAT

* Removed Classic

* Weights adjusted based on voting data

Team SWAT (New!)

* Based on existing Team Slayer SWAT offering

* Removed Hemorrhage

* Replaced Zealot with Arena Zealot map variant

Team Objective

* Added Crazy King

Related

* Added several gametypes on Powerhouse (CTF, Assault, Stockpile, Crazy King, 3 Plots)

* Removed heavy vehicles from all 4v4 Team Objective gametypes

Multi Team

* Added Rocket Race

Big Team Battle

* Added Crazy King

* Removed SWAT

* Removed Snipers from Boneyard

* Weights adjusted based on voting data

Doubles Arena

* Removed Slayer Pro for Season 2

* Removed Boardwalk

* Replaced Zealot with Arena Zealot map variant

Team Arena

* Removed Slayer Pro for Season 2

* Replaced Zealot with Arena Zealot map variant

MAPS

Arena Zealot (New!)

* Added a softkill zone to the space area

* Modified initial spawns so enemies cannot see each other

Zealot

* Objects can no longer be dropped into the boot_base

Asylum

* Removed multiple duplicate Headhunter score zones

Boneyard

* Changed the base object for territories from a hill marker to a flag stand

* Objects can no longer come to rest on the out of bounds cliff behind the scaffolding where the Invasion core is captured

* Players can no longer sit in the out of bounds area under the ship scaffolding

Pinnacle

* Health Packs should not respawn after 15 seconds

Hemorrhage

* Landmine removed from Red team’s west cliff

* Respawn time for all Mongoose vehicles is now 45 seconds

* Scorpions replaced with Wraiths (4 minute respawn)

Paradiso

* Respawn timer for Concussion Rifle at Red base is now 30 seconds to match Concussion Rifle at Blue base

Reflection

* Changed the base object for territories from a hill marker to a flag stand

Boardwalk

* Changed the base object for territories from a hill marker to a flag stand

Powerhouse

* Respawn timer for all Needler weapons is now 45 seconds

GAMETYPES

Global Changes

* Slayer DMR now has motion tracker enabled

* Evade has replaced Hologram for all gametypes in which players can hold objects (CTF, Assault, Stockpile, Oddball)

* Evade has replaced Dropshield for gametypes which create concentrated gameplay in specific areas (Crazy King, Territories, Oddball)

* All Classic gametypes should now include Sprint as default equipment

King of the Hill

* Teams are now always able to correctly score points

* Players standing in the hill no longer receive extra points upon returning from a host migration

Rocket Race

* Players now attached to vehicles after being on foot for 10 seconds

* Flipped vehicles will be detected to prevent players from attaching to a non-upright vehicle

* Added functionality for tracking and reporting rotations

* Fountain of Mongeese should no longer be possible (don’t ask)

* Players are no longer able to jack another teams Mongoose

* Players are no longer forced into a specific role of driver or gunner

* All players start with a Rocket Launcher

* Players move at 50% speed, do significantly reduced damage and are marked with a nav icon

* Players on foot are now able to score points in Rocket Race

Juggernaut

* The Juggernaut no longer sees other players as allies upon returning from a host migration

* New clients after a host migration will no longer lose their Juggernaut status

Territories

* All teams now have separate capture timers for each territory

* Locked territories will no longer prevent players from using equipment

* The flag in the territory is now attached if the territory is a flag stand object

* Added a HUD_Widget to display contested status to players inside a territory

* The progress bar for a territory will now show as full when that territory is being contested (capture progress is saved and will appear again once the territory is no longer contested)

* Random flag clothes will no longer disappear after a round transition

Oddball

* Bombs in Hot Potato now properly report carry time

* Multiple hot potato bombs will no longer spawn in the same location

* The carry time reported stat will now always be correct after a host migration has occurred

* Players carrying the oddball during a host migration will no longer receive extra points

Stockpile

* All stockpile flags are now attached to their spawn location if it is a flag stand

Invasion

* The game score is now set per frame tick based off of the current phase

* A failsafe game end timer has been added to catch any possible bad cases of Invasion games not ending properly

Invasion: Boneyard

* The core will now reset whenever it is thrown through a shield door into a spawning location in Phase 3

Invasion (Assault) and Assault

* Added sudden death to Invasion (Assault) and Assault gametypes

Race

* Players who die before the first checkpoint will no longer spawn in a random location on the map

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Ryan Fleming
Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
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