The fine folks over at Rooster Teeth are the first to go mano e mano with the newest multiplayer map for the soon-to-be-release Halo Reach, a Blood Gulch/Coagulation remake. So what’s new, you might ask? Well, it’s huge…

On top of that, also showcased are two new variations of the Warthog, one clearly a rocket hog, and another that was indistinguishable upon my viewing, the brand spankin’ new Falcon, and a previously unknown armor ability, the Hologram armor, which allows you to project a duplicate of yourself to take the fire that should have been reserved for you (though don’t be surprised if that turns out to be a hoax, just sayin’, look for yourself).

Also of note, Bungie confirms they will be present at Comic-Con 2010, for those of you on the west coast. Video is embedded below. Enjoy.

Update

Just for clarification, this is a preorder, which will ship on 9/14/2010, Reach’s release date.

Headhunter

…a new ‘party’ game…where the goal is to collect and capture the most skulls.

Headhunter is one we’ve all seen in the videos released by Bungie, but now we have the first details. The game operates on the “Sonic the Hedgehog” principle: if you die, you drop a skull. Collect the skulls, and drop them in a roving skull ATM, of sorts. However, if you die while carrying skulls, you drop them all. On top of that, an indicator over your head will tell other players how many skulls you’re carrying, and a special one will appear if you happen to hold ten or more skulls at any one time. Don’t worry though, you’ll still be able to use your guns and abilities.

Of added intrigue is the mention of a team variant of Headhunter, allowing for four player skull collecting fun. What does that mean for the dynamic of the game?

…one guy can snipe and suppress, while his teammate scoops up skulls and sprints to the score zone.

Stockpile

…another ‘party’ gametype that is sort of like Territories meets with Capture the Flag.

Stockpile is pretty simple in concept: every round, four flags randomly pop up in a total of ten different locations, and teams will be tasked with grabbing those flags and taking them to their designated scoring zone. After one minute, teams receive points based on the number of flags inside that zone, even if the other team is carrying them.

Though the gametype is simple enough to understand, but could be a very interesting one in practice, especially with the addition of loadouts. Much like parking a Warthog on a flag spawn thwarted capture attempts in Halo 3, could a Spartan with Armor Lock keep players from grabbing the flag in Reach? We’ll find out soon enough.

Generator Defense

Generator Defense is a little more intimate, but even with only six players on the map you’ll see some intense fighting

Easily the most interesting of the detailed gametypes, Generator Defense is a 3 Spartan v. 3 Elite game similar to Bad Company 2′s Rush or Modern Warfare 2′s Demolition. The 3 Elites start off at the bottom of a hill, and must fight their way to the top, where 3 generators must be destroyed. The Spartans will be tasked with protecting the generators for five minutes, when the teams will switch sides, and try again.

Not interesting enough for you yet? Well how about this: the Spartans will be capable of locking down the generators for 30 seconds at any time, but the ability will come at the price of a recharged time afterwards. Adding to the frenzy, at the beginning of the round, a Longsword will fly over, dropping three random power weapons, either a sniper, rocket launcher, or spartan lazer, at three random spots on the map. Clearly, controlling these will be vital to the success of either team.

Invasion

[It's] packed to the gills with vehicle combat.

Last, but not least, well, least in terms of information, is Invasion. Very few details were mentioned, but what we do know is that Invasion is big.

It’s really big — nice and spacious to drive around in. A little bit bigger than Sandtrap even.

Invasion is a 6v6 gametype that will occur in multiple stages, with a map big enough to include lots of vehicular combat. Sounds to me like Bad Company 2′s Rush, but at this point, who knows? Bungie is mum on the subject, so we may have to wait until the Beta drops to find out.

The Classics

But don’t fret, classic Halo fans, you won’t be without your standard fare of Free For All, Slayer, 1Flag, Halo 2 Territories (3 territories instead of 5), and King of the Hill. In fact, a special “Slayer Pro” type will be debuting, which drops you into the arena with sprint, no motion sensor, and a designated marksman rifle or needle rifle.

The one downside to all of this is mentioned almost offhandedly at the end of the discussion, which is that not all of the gametypes will be ready to go day one. Instead, Bungie will be turning playlists on and off as the beta progresses, getting the specific info that they need in order to finish up the retail version of the game. One thing’s for sure, though, and that’s that no one will want to miss any of this when the beta drops in just a few short weeks.

I seriously cannot wait for this game.