I just got the Halo3 Beta

[Iced_Eagle]

Besides the obvious of how I got it (chosen for Bungie Friends & Family program), anyone have any question on the game?

Here's all the things I've noticed in the game

Maps:
- Valhalla
- Snowbound
- Highground

Highground is the best with Valhalla taking a close second. Snowbound is alright, but feels like a massive sniper fest map.

Weapons:
- Assault Rifle
- Battle Rifle
- Grenades (normal, plasma, spike)
- Spiker (dual-wieldable)
- Needler (non-dual wieldable! Very very powerful now though)
- SMG (dual wield bullet hose)
- Turrets (ANY turret can be picked up and used as a moving weapon in third person... Even the ones that are pre set-up on like Highground, you just go up, hit B and there ya go... You can not redeploy it though)
- Misslepod
- Spartan Laser (ownage but long warm up time)
- Covenant Carbine
- Covenant Beam Rifle

Maybe others, but that's what I immediately recall... I do NOT see the plasma sword or the rumored M9 pistol in the beta... :(

Equipment:
- Bubble Shield (SEX!!!!)
- Trip Mine
- Portable Grav Lift
- Power Drainer (drains shields)

I've heard there is a radar scrambler, but haven't found it yet or been victim to it.

Gametypes:
- Slayer / Team Slayer
- One Bomb
- One Flag CTF
- VIP
- Territories / Land Grab

Probably others but those were the ones I've played so far, been playing for about 5 or so hours.

Also, graphics are nice. It's just a really nice looking Halo and doesn't scream "next-gen" but it does in fact look awesome. Tons of cool shaders and other goodies to go around. I was playing with my TV set to 1080p mode as well.


Anyone have any questions? Anyone else get in?

*Edit* Here's my stats page.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerStatsHalo3.aspx?player=briguy992


*Edit2* About the "films" portion, right now it's REALLY simple version of it. You have absolutely no control over it and it's not like what they were showing where you could pause, rotate, etc... They said that the version in the beta was just going to be the simple version, and it is. It's neat though. After a round, you can choose to save the match or not by hitting X, and then you can also upload matches (~6 megs for a longer match) to a storage place where anybody can download and access them. You get six slots and 25mb I believe right now.

[destrukt]

What's the 'Missilepod' and just how good are the portable turrets ? Is it like other games were the machinegun (Whatever) takes a couple of seconds to 'spin up,' is there lots of recoil, range, etc ?

[Icarusintel]

It's still rather disappointing that they didn;t even really try to improve the graphics. I mean, it's Halo. It's not like it's a little game that the developers can skimp on in certain areas to make up for it in others. They have Microsoft backing them.

[Stigmata]

It's just a beta. Graphics polish always comes last in the development process.

[edit] Got any beta codes? :naughty:

[AmishSlayer]

I have a slew of questions for you:

-Are the hitboxes still MASSIVELY forgiving like in Halo 2?
-What is the human pistol like?
-Is the shotgun actually GOOD and reliable again? I hated the flaky bullshit shotgun in Halo 2.


BIG QUESTION: Will a weapon respawn even though somebody is holding it?

If there was 1 place to get the shotgun in Halo 2, whoever has it, has it...nobody else could come across it unless they kill the person holding it. This simple weapon spawning change TOTALLY F*CKED up Halo 2 and I pray that it's back to the way it should be.

[BHC]

There's absolutely nothing interesting to me about Halo 3. It seems like more of the same + a few new features. I see this as no different from the rehash of Madden we see every year. I'll buy it just because it's such a social experience, but I must say I'm a bit disappointed and largely uninterested.

[i am HOLLYWOOD]

wow. . .i just realized the Beta get's launched 4 days from now. . .SWEET!

[destrukt]

I'm in the beta too, I just never bothered to check bungie.net, haha.

Going to go DL it now. ^______^

[Stigmata]

Welp, I'm ****ing excited. I wish I had a beta key right now, I'm doing practically nothing the next four days...

[TheAntipop]

I really hope there is still Crackdown copies available in town today.

[ChiChi]

Do the weapons still have the cap gun sounds of Halo 2?

[StardogChampion]

It's just a beta. Graphics polish always comes last in the development process.
That's lies. If it looks shit in beta, it'll look equally shit in the final product.

[Icarusintel]

That's lies. If it looks shit in beta, it'll look equally shit in the final product.
True enough. Their whole line about it being graphically improved later is bullshit. Sure they'll polish it a bit, but it's not going to magically become Gears of War/UT3/Crysis/Project Offset good before it gets released.

[Wanted Bob]

I have a question about the Spartan Laser. If you are driving a vehicle and you get hit by the laser, does it always kill you, or does it sometimes just blow up the vehicle?

[destrukt]

It doesn't need to look like those.

If GoW looked like Halo3 but played exactly the same it would be absolutely horrible.

But, if Halo3 looked like GoW it would be pretty darn horrible too.

You have to actually play H3 (Which I have now) before you can talk. In saying this, I am disappointed with the graphics (I expected that tiny bit more) but it's not as bad as you girls are making it out to be.

Here's a post I just made on another forum about the beta:
just played a couple of matches.

visually.. well, i said to myself i wasn't going to hop on the "it's ugly" bandwagon but i'm certainly on the "eh, i have to admit i'm disappointed." some things look ace, like the water (especially the water) and some explosions but overall i expected a fair bit better.

first, i absolutely <3 the interface, everywhere. halo2's was horrible, all these dodgy 'cut outs' like the ugly sites i was making 5 years ago and in general was just plain ugly but with halo3 i'd have to say it's one of my most favourite game interfaces, ever.

new weapons:

- spartan laser: man, the charge-up feels like an eternity and it's fun as hell when you get a hit.
- missile pod: well.. haven't used it much but it's not bad.
- brute machine-gun things: meh, they're okay, either duel-wield or die.

new maps:

- i don't know their names yet (well, i know the names just not which is which :#) but i'm really liking them so far, it's probably the only game other than day of defeat where i can say "hey, they actually put time into designing this map, everything seems perfect" and i absolutely love dod, especially because of it's intricate maps.

new vehicles:

- mongoose is fun, that's all that needs to be said. :)

new equipment:

- all i've done so far is thrown a trip mine than died but respawned close and saw the person who killed me go to 'investigate' the thing on the ground (it was so funny watching) and blow himself up.

new features:

- they've improved matchmaking, a lot, and i can't wait till there are thousands of players (and more aussies).
- i haven't done much with the 'replays' yet but it looks to be good.


one thing though, i always feel crowded, like the gun(s) for whatever reason really give me this cramped feel when playing, i don't quite know why as they don't seem exceptionally large. it's very disconcerting. :(

i'll tell you this now, halo3 (especially it's mp) is going to be as huge as halo2, if not more.I can't emphasize enough how much I love the interface.

[TheAntipop]

Graphics look fine to me. Not that they would bother me anyway, would rather have some fun to be honest, not going to get anywhere in life avoiding something because of it's front cover.

[giant384]

It's still rather disappointing that they didn;t even really try to improve the graphics. I mean, it's Halo. It's not like it's a little game that the developers can skimp on in certain areas to make up for it in others. They have Microsoft backing them.

what are you all talking about?????? the graphics are a big improvement from the first 2.

[TheAntipop]

*Edit2* About the "films" portion, right now it's REALLY simple version of it. You have absolutely no control over it and it's not like what they were showing where you could pause, rotate, etc... They said that the version in the beta was just going to be the simple version, and it is. It's neat though. After a round, you can choose to save the match or not by hitting X, and then you can also upload matches (~6 megs for a longer match) to a storage place where anybody can download and access them. You get six slots and 25mb I believe right now.

What is the actual viewing of this then, after you have saved a game? Does the video pretty much show everything you did exactly as you saw it, ala, first-person? Or does it change camera views like the 'Cinematic Camera' in GTA games?

Also: from what I can see in vidoes, everyone seems a lot weaker. What's the overall use of rounds/burst with the AR/BR? And no shotgun... ?

[Gorgon]

could you post some screen of the spike grenade in action.

cheers

[AmishSlayer]

Arg, check one thing off my questions list. Apparently the shotgun is pretty much the same as it was in Halo 2 except it has 6 rounds. I'm continuing to lose hope :(

The fact that the missile pod is nothing but an even gayer version of the rocket launcher pisses me off.

EDIT: Not to mention plasma still doesn't have the slowing effect like it did in Halo 1.

Now that everybody starts with the Assault Rifle, I see no reason to go around and actually bother to get an SMG or 2 to dual wield. To me this is a good thing though since all Halo 2 entailed was a dual-wielding frenzy of fights to control the good weapons.

I still want to know if weapons respawn even when somebody has taken it. That alone could make Halo 3 MP worth playing in my eyes. Everything else seems to be shaping up to be Halo 2 + more no-skill gayness. Way to go Bungie :|

On the plus side. I like that good players will be able to exert an edge over new players with deployables and tactics that go with them. I can see being able to stick a plasma grenade to the outside of a bubble shield to be quite effective sometimes - and then there's the whole aspect of out-thinking your opponent when there's a bubble shield in the equation.

I like the idea of combos, like placing a land mine and blowing it up on purpose as somebody goes close to it. If vehicles couldn't be so easily jumped over - you could put down a grav. lift to flip them over and then kill them before they ran you over. I like the idea of throwing a sticky grenade and shooting it in midair or once it sticks to some surface.

I just fear most of these combos will fall by the wayside as a select few players rule the map with the rocket pods, rocket launcer, spartan laser, energy sword, sniper rifles and any other easy-kill weapon out there that may or may not spawn for other players once they are taken.

[TheAntipop]

I dunno, the missile pod looks like it won't be such a noob friendly weapon giving the fact that you move alot slower and I don't think you can jump with it. Basically, in close combat, I'm going to presume your pretty ****ed. A good anti-vehicle weapon, if you ask me.

Need Wednesday to come NOAW.

[AmishSlayer]

I dunno, the missile pod looks like it won't be such a noob friendly weapon giving the fact that you move alot slower and I don't think you can jump with it. Basically, in close combat, I'm going to presume your pretty ****ed. A good anti-vehicle weapon, if you ask me.

Need Wednesday to come NOAW.

I've seen people jump with it in videos and screens. I don't think the mobility will be too big of a factor since it has 8 rounds of punishment to deal with opposition quickly. The holder will be an easy snipe though. God I wish they went back to the Halo 1 sniper rifle with the need to lead targets and no mega-auto-aim.

[TheAntipop]

Oh right, fo real? Weak as. I only saw one video where a guy takes it and walks around for a bit then unloads all 8 rockets across the map into 3 people. None of them die, whereas had they of been rockets they probably would of been killed.

Mmm yeah. Sniping hitboxes look abit better, but I've still seen some kills that don't make much sense. Are you participating in the beta itself?

[Warbie]

I read that while you can still jump with the pod, you can't jump as high. One guy on another forum also mentioned that the rockets are pretty slow compared to the rocket launcher and that they don't do as much damage. Combine this with it reducing your movement speed and the pod doesn't sound to imba, at least on paper.

[TheAntipop]

I'm just looking forward to getting on High Ground and grabbing an assault rifle. :D Can't wait!

Servers for downloads are going to be crazy come Wednesday though, right? My connection would probably die trying to do it. Exploiting my mates connection ftw.

[AmishSlayer]

I've noticed rockets in general are slower and could even have a drop in trajectory over distance - can't say for sure. I watched some of the Gamespot videos and I could swear the smoke trails curve.

I hope you're right Warbie. I'm all for SOME mindless action in a shooter. I just don't like it when a game has been dumbed down and had the balance messed up when it used to be great.

I'm getting the beta along with everybody else come Wednesday morning. I got in through one of the sign-ups, not with a copy of Crackdown.

[Stigmata]

For those in the beta, what are your Gamertags? I've got maybe three or four people from this forum, and only two of them are actually in the beta :P

[TheAntipop]

''Beskhu3epnm''

I'll be on Wednesday at my mates house, although we'll be taking it turns to play, but we'll both be using comms either way.

[AmishSlayer]

Science H Logic

[Stigmata]

Soupstorm

[TheAntipop]

Mate of mine from Manchester just uploaded this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00NGdE1OPdE

Shotgun kill.

[Gray Fox]

Surprisingly I think it looks good. But way more importantly and more impressive is how ****ing smooth it all is, the fps seem to be at a constant 60 fps which is great.

[i am HOLLYWOOD]

from what i've seen, the people that are hating on this game are pretty much just wanting it to fail.

and my gamertag is

PR0J3T 86

just tell me your from the HL2.net boards and i'll add ya

[ChiChi]

Is it just me, or are the melee animations and sound effects completely reused from Halo 2? And I hate the fact that the Battle Rifle still fires in bursts.

Edit: This is judging from Gametrailer videos, but the Battles Rifle, Carbines and Brute Shoot look and work exactly like they did in Halo 2.

[Iced_Eagle]

briguy992


ChiChi: If you want a gun similar to the BR but in full auto, that's why they have the assault rifle. It's more of a close-med range weapon though. It's the tradeoff you make.

Also today I played some new gametypes of Crazy King and Team Shotty Snipers which was pretty fun.

No idea on respawning weapons if they are taken, but I'm thinking no. I'm sure if it's, if the weapon was picked up and then on the ground for X amount of seconds and nobody picked it up, then it will simply disappear and then respawn back at it's original point. If you allowed weapons to continuously respawn, it would be possible then to have an entire team of rocket launchers or such. Kills balance which is why that will never happen probably.

Dual-wieldables are also still valid and I've gotten tons of kills with them. SMG bullet hoses for example. It's just that sometimes using a shotty or BR/AR is much more effective than two SMG's.

FPS is solid. There's been only one time where FPS has chugged and that is when I blew up a warthog with my shotgun with rockets going off everywhere.

Don't be disappointed in the graphics though. It looks and feels like a next-gen Halo. May not be the best of the bunch, but it certainly does the job and does it great.

TheAntiPop: Yup, just a first-person viewpoint of yourself.

Misslepods are a weaker rocket that slows you down (you can still jump). Sort of a bleh weapon and I've only gotten two kills with it by spaming all of the rockets at one guy. I wouldn't really suggest this weapon.
The turret though is pretty deadly. Doesn't have a warm-up time (or a very very minimal one). You are vulnerable cause you do walk slower and such.

[AmishSlayer]

briguy992
No idea on respawning weapons if they are taken, but I'm thinking no. I'm sure if it's, if the weapon was picked up and then on the ground for X amount of seconds and nobody picked it up, then it will simply disappear and then respawn back at it's original point. If you allowed weapons to continuously respawn, it would be possible then to have an entire team of rocket launchers or such. Kills balance which is why that will never happen probably.


If weapons spawned like in Halo 1 it'd be perfect for game balance. Shotguns for example spawn quickly, like every 30 seconds 2 shotguns would spawn in the Blood Gultch base whereas the sniper rifle and rocket launcher was a much longer respawn - 2-3 minutes. This allowed for more than one person to have the weapon, but keep it in check enough so not EVERYBODY had a rocket launcher and sniper rifle, but if an enemy sniper was being a real pain and somebody else had your base's sniper rifle, you could wait it out and get a respawn to counter-snipe.

It also helped that the good use of the pistol and grenades could sometimes counter these weapons if you played it smart (as I had said before, the pistol was the great equalizer of Halo 1).

[destrukt]

verisa

The more I play the more disappointed I am with the graphics but I'll be able to live with it as the MP is better than Halo2 and for other notable reasons.

I don't like Snowbound very much but I do like the other.

I played a Rockets match and you get unlimited ammo (The little infinity image is a nice touch, hah) as opposed to in H2 when we played (With our custom made 'Rockets only' settings) where you started with however many.. or am I just being retarded and you could set Rockets to unlimited ammo ?

I think the bubble shield needs to be just a tiny bit more noticable and I think once or twice it just hasn't shown up at all and the only way I knew it was there was a guy would just stand still, mocking me, next to the little equipment piece. I think. D:


Whoever asked what happens when you play a film, it's exactly what it looks like when you were playing, basically. :o

[Warbie]

Mate of mine from Manchester just uploaded this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00NGdE1OPdE

Shotgun kill.

v.nice :)

I was planning to hold off from playing the beta, but my resolve is crumbling with every new vid.

[TheAntipop]

He also uploaded this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B-UfMfEq_4&NR=1

'Bomb Overkill'

I'm not sure exactly what the hell just happened. The bombs defence countdown is still ticking so it wasn't the bomb that just blew up those 3 guys. The thing he throws which seems to DESTROY EVERYONE!!11, is it a trip mine?

[ríomhaire]

- Needler (non-dual wieldable! Very very powerful now though)
There's hope for Halo 3 yet! But where the hell is Blood Gulch?

[TheAntipop]

If theres going to be another Blood Gulch they had better seriously upgrade it/alter it in order for it to become at least a bit different.

There is a Zanzibar remake, called 'Last Resort', though. Looks quite nice. The base looks much bigger from the inside and not as cramped.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DUn45x6R4c8

Unfortunatly, the person who uploaded the leak added possibly the most annoying and cringeworthy music over the top.

[AmishSlayer]

He also uploaded this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B-UfMfEq_4&NR=1

'Bomb Overkill'

I'm not sure exactly what the hell just happened. The bombs defence countdown is still ticking so it wasn't the bomb that just blew up those 3 guys. The thing he throws which seems to DESTROY EVERYONE!!11, is it a trip mine?

It was the trip mine. One guy walked right over it while next to another guy, the closest guy died because he was weakened from just a bit before.

[TheAntipop]

Goddamn I can't wait to use them.

Iced_Eagle/destrukt: How long do trip mines stay for? Can you lay down more than one? Can you detonate them yourself by shooting them?

[Iced_Eagle]

Trip Mines, once deployed, stay until they are blown up or round ends. You cannot lay down more than one, because only one spawns, and it won't respawn until it's been used I believe (?). Yup, you can detonate them by shooting them.

Also, bubble shield is sexy. It's saved me many times.

[TheAntipop]

Nice!

What about vehicles? Warthog any different at all? And is loading up a Mongoose with two people going to be a driving double kill just waiting to happen? Any good being on the back firing at people? (any kills been done that way so far, etc?)

[Warbie]

Just read this at ntsc:

'....looks like they've built a warning beep into the warthog and mongoose. Whenever you approach a mine or you get targetted by that mini pod launcher, you'll hear this very cautious and frequent beep going on. Very useful considering that hte rockets on the mini pod launcher are slow so you have a chance to react. It actually saved my life as I managed to jump out of the warthog turrent and as I jumped away I saw the warthog explode towards me.'

Sounds pretty neat :)

[TheAntipop]

Kind of like the Ground to Air Missiles in BF2, then. Awesome.

[AmishSlayer]

Just read this at ntsc:

'....looks like they've built a warning beep into the warthog and mongoose. Whenever you approach a mine or you get targetted by that mini pod launcher, you'll hear this very cautious and frequent beep going on. Very useful considering that hte rockets on the mini pod launcher are slow so you have a chance to react. It actually saved my life as I managed to jump out of the warthog turrent and as I jumped away I saw the warthog explode towards me.'

Sounds pretty neat :)

Good, sounds like they're not completely ignoring balance issues.

[TheAntipop]

How many players can there be online, anyway? I've seen the game types (Team Skirmish, Rumble Pit and Slayer (all ranked) but can it be more than 4 v 4 in Team Skirmish?

4 is good because that's the amount of players I'll know as close friends from near me, but I'd like to do some 6 v 6 assault, CTF, etc.

[Cerpin]

16 players, I think.

[TheAntipop]

Yeah, 16 sounds right but wasn't Team Skirmish, in Halo 2, just a 4 v 4 game? I really want to do skirmish games like Assault with 8 v 8.

Just been reading about Call Signs. Awesome.

[The Monkey]

Will it be released to PC?

[Wanted Bob]

It probably will be released for PC, but I doubt anytime soon (look at what happened with Halo and Halo 2).

[Stigmata]

I think the beta is limited to 6 on 6, for reasons unknown, while the final build will allow 8 on 8.

And it'll come to PC eventually, maybe in two or three years.

[TheAntipop]

6 v 6 is good, then.

Really want to play territories on High Ground. Attacking and defending is going to be so awesome. Turret + last stand at the only flag left + oncoming wave of attackers = fuppin' win.

From what I've seen in pictures, regarding your GT above your head, am I right in that it's the Call Sign that people see (ala, B32) and when they run their crosshairs over you it extends to their full name (Beskhu3epnm, etc)? A minor thing, but still awesome.

[Stigmata]

6 v 6 is good, then.

Really want to play territories on High Ground. Attacking and defending is going to be so awesome. Turret + last stand at the only flag left + oncoming wave of attackers = fuppin' win.

From what I've seen in pictures, regarding your GT above your head, am I right in that it's the Call Sign that people see (ala, B32) and when they run their crosshairs over you it extends to their full name (Beskhu3epnm, etc)? A minor thing, but still awesome.That's exactly what happens. I'm foreseeing some callsign problems though, since if it's an A-#-# format, there's only 2600 different possible callsigns, and you're bound to end up with two or possibly three people on one team with the same callsign at some point.

6v6 should be fun though. Every time I joined an 8v8 match in Halo 2 matchmaking, it was just complete and utter chaos, so 6v6 should be more strategic and slow-paced.

[Iced_Eagle]

I've actually only seen 4v4 for tight AFAIK... Maybe there's more and it's slipping my mind.

It's probably just because the netcode isn't optimized fully or they don't want to have the FPS stutter since it's also unoptimized with too many players on screen. It's smooth as it is right now though, which is nice.

[Stigmata]

I'm starting to hear that there's a vehicle in the beta that nobody's seen yet, so I'm thinking that there's content in the beta that just hasn't been enabled in the playlists yet, and will be added come Wednesday.

[AmishSlayer]

You can play with guests in the beta right? I really hope you can or else there's gonna be a line out my door waiting to play come Wednesday.

[TheAntipop]

Haha yeah, I think theres about 8 of us heading over to my mates this Wednesday :laugh:

Stig: got any forum links of rumours/speculation and stuff? Sounds intresting. Hope it's something new, if anything.

[Stigmata]

I think you're allowed only one guest in splitscreen. It's not much, but it's something :P

And as for rumors, I pretty much just idle on the TeamXbox.com forums, and latch on to any cool rumors I read there. I think the one about the extra vehicle came from a podcast interview with some Bungie guys... I'll try and find the link.

[edit] I think this is the link: http://cache.libsyn.com/podtacular/podtacular113.mp3

I haven't had a chance to listen to the whole thing though, so there might not even be any new info in it!

[TheAntipop]

Cheers.

One guest is cool, that's good enough for me anyway. Never liked 3/4 split-screen as it's really hard to concentrate on what's going on, unless you've got a monster TV.

[Iced_Eagle]

Currently in the beta it only allows one guest for split-screen, however it will definitely support 4 players in the final version (just like Halo 2). It gives you a warning that it will only block 3+ players in the beta version of Halo3.