Halo 3 online mutiplayer beta.

[Soi]

Reports I'm getting seem to be universally "meh" - I'm in here looking for the Fry, Nige, Boris and comments here as regular halo players - I wonder how many posters in here will still be playing in a week ?

My first impressions (after a dozen or so games) are that it is Halo 2, only a lot better.

I?ve played about 15 hours of Halo 2 in the last week, so it is very fresh in my mind, and the improvements in the Beta are huge.

It looks much better and the weapons feel better to me. The AR is a great starting weapon, and the new X button items are great. The bubble shield, especially, looks awesome.

Anyone who violently disliked Halo 2, won?t like this. However, anyone who liked Halo 2 will love this I?m sure. I certainly do. No other game has the matchmaking, and no other game is so varied.

More detailed random comments:

• Two of the maps (High Ground and Valhalla) look superb. Much more detailed than anything in Halo 2. The snowy one is a bit bland and disappointing to look at (it is mostly white as you?d expect) -but it has cool snow effects;
• You can?t throw flags anymore ?probably a good thing and makes capturing harder;
• Territories games have been changed ?the games I played were round based in which one a plot was captured, it stayed captured and you scored a point. The round ended when all the plots were done.
• The new mode VIP is great. One guy on each team is the VIP and has a permanent overshield. Points are scored by killing the other side?s VIP (doesn?t matter who kills them). When the VIP dies, a new VIP is picked.
• The plasma pistol has been toned down ?its charged shot is not so big and doesn?t home as much. Noob combo still works, but harder to do
• Spike grenades are great fun!

[Mardigan8]

Aye, the diversity that the bubble shield brings to a battle is superb... sparking one up as you get surrounded by the enemy and then as it powers down the rest of your team come bounding over the ridge and open fire on all the enemies with near empty clips, hehe, magic!!

The video stuff seems to be getting forgotten about at the moment and for me it is a tremendous addition and I cant wait to rip it apart tonight.

Honestly, the BETA has delivered more than I expected so I am foaming at the mouth thinking about what they are gonna deliver on launch day.

Can see the Halo2 madmen being underwhelmed after ridiculous hours on that but it will take time to adjust for these guys I think. We haev to remember this is a BETA build and there is still a lot of polish to be applied to the visuals so comlaining about these kind of things aint right. If the controls were borked that would be different but you have to admit the matchmaking interface, game controls and general functionality are awesome at this stage.

I am blown away and to be honest that is all that matters!!

[Soi]

And you'll probably find that all the people who like it are too busy playing to post here! I would be playing if I could...

[Klis]

The BETA build aint about visuals at this stage if you ask me, its about the game mechanics and functionaltiy and if you ask me it looks to way ahead of expectations.

We'll at this stage in the project (just five months to release) there isnt going to be a massive increase in the visuals, just gameplay tweaking. Yes, I'm sure the single player will look nicer but it wont be the huge improvement I was hoping.

Don't get me wrong, i'm loving the BETA, its great - pure Halo goodness - I just had high expectations as it is Microsofts flagship game.

Anyway, why cant people criticise the game? Nothings ever perfect

[Uli]

i was able to make only 3 or 4 kills in 2 rounds and continuously got my ass sniped away... guess i have to play with friends to really enjoy this.

is there only matchmaking? and no ability to chose map and gameplay type?

i wonder whether there will be co-op games against bots in the final game. if not i don't see myself playing Halo 3 MP for very long.

[in5ane]

I think it's dangerous to assume this is a real BETA. It's not and the final game probably won't be much better. The game is so close to shipping, and MS would be mad to release a truly buggy beta product. Of course the internet is going to go Halo 3 mad, so they've put out the best they can.

From what I remember, wasn't this meant to be more of a network beta, i.e. test the network or something like that.

[Mardigan8]

If Live co-op is not in the final game there will a revolt and all Bungie offices will be burned to the ground

I know for a fact I will be playing this every chance I get until they so rudely strip it from the live environment.

Am pretty sure the sinlge player is where the real improved visuals will be hence it is being kept underwraps and we dont get a build of that to play, hehe. But who knows and TBH who cares we have Halo 3 multiplayer to play for the next 3 weeks, Huzzah!!

[Soi]

i was able to make only 3 or 4 kills in 2 rounds and continuously got my ass sniped away... guess i have to play with friends to really enjoy this.

is there only matchmaking? and no ability to chose map and gameplay type?

i wonder whether there will be co-op games against bots in the final game. if not i don't see myself playing Halo 3 MP for very long.

No custom games in the Beta. They are using the Beta to test the match making. But if you want to play with friends you can play "Team Training" with 8 of you in a party. It will pick a random game and random teams -which is genius.

I'd bet a lot of money that there won't be bots in the final game. I promise you that with a bit of practice, you'd be reasonable at the game. Once you've tasted playing with people properly, you'll never want to go back to bots.

[Brats]

Just curious, what innovations are you talking about here?

There are numerous. On their own, they sound like small things, but they make a fundamental difference to the way the game is played:

• Super melee attack - Before Halo, melee attacks in FPS were a last resort. They were the last ditch attack that did little damage and you only used when all your ammo ran out. In Halo and games since, they are deadly weapon in their own right and have their own unique button. If you think about it, it makes no sense that the butt of your gun should do more damage than a bullet, but in gameplay it works.
• Health System - The regenerating shield (or similar) has been employed by more games that I can remember, from FPS to Splinter Cell.
• Grenades - Grenades used to be relegated to 'second option on the 5 key'. Again, Halo promoted them to have their own designated button. You didn't have to swap guns to select grenades anymore, hence this made a massive difference to the way the game actually played.
• Two Weapons Only - Sometimes less is more. The concept of not carrying a huge arsenal around and having to make tactical choices.

Basically, if you look at a game like Call of Duty 2, you can see all of those four Halo specific innocations employed. yet because it has now just become a part of the furniture, people forget. You never hear someone call COD2 a 'Halo clone'.

There are games that flaunted with a couple of those innovations, but never really made a thing of it. To take away Halo's credit would be like saying Wolfenstein 3D wasn't innovative because of 3D Monster Maze.

Plus there are numerous advancements that Halo didn't introduce alone, but helped to push forward along with other games. Stuff like the use of vehicles, squad combat, open sandbox levels and more advanced AI.

Although it has it's detractors, no-one has ever put forward a convincing argument that Halo isn't a landmark game.

[Soi]

From what I remember, wasn't this meant to be more of a network beta, i.e. test the network or something like that.

Yeah, it is primarily a network test. Though that doesn't mean that the rest of the game is finished... It is probably the case that the multiplayer game will look pretty similar to the Beta.

The single player will almost certainly look better, but I'm not too bothered about that. That is a weekend's entertainment for me. It is the multiplayer that is important to me.

They will also use the data from the Beta games (they monitor everything) to balance the weapons and playlists.

EDIT: As interesting as it is, can the "Halo/innovation/PC games are better" talk go to another thread?

[EvilBoris]

I've really been enjoying it at first I was a bit underwhelmed, "its just a prettier Halo 2" but as I started to get the hang of things I can see the subtle improvements in existing weapons and some of the ways to use the new ones.

I do think it is going to be the objective based games where this is really going to shine due to the equiptment.

The weapons are great, I'm yet to get used to the AR, I try to use it from too far away. The sniper rifle is better now with its slightly slower rate of fire and the new disgusting noise it makes when you are shot.
The SMG is pure evil , the sound it makes is crazy!

[Jebus]

Halo 1 : I don't get it.

Halo 2 : I don't get it.

Halo 3 : I STILL don't get it.

WHY does everyone want to have sex with this game? MadWindy is sat here playing it loving it, I just don't get that feeling...

I desperately want to get it as well, but I just don't

The weapon you start with is absolute dog **** as well, I assume that's the assault rifle?

[Mardigan8]

Also, what is the deal with the handgun with the blade underneath the barrell, I didnt get a chance to use it effectively but it looks proper mean.

[Uli]

No custom games in the Beta. They are using the Beta to test the match making. But if you want to play with friends you can play "Team Training" with 8 of you in a party. It will pick a random game and random teams -which is genius.

I'd bet a lot of money that there won't be bots in the final game. I promise you that with a bit of practice, you'd be reasonable at the game. Once you've tasted playing with people properly, you'll never want to go back to bots.

thanks mate, will check it out. maybe with one of you guys here. so if someone wants to make sure he gets some sure kills just add "Uli 68" to the party

ja, most likely there wont be bots - not even co-op games at all. but given the great AI routines Bungie had in store for them this was really a pity.

[EvilBoris]

The weapon you start with is absolute dog **** as well, I assume that's the assault rifle?

Try getting closer to your opponent before you start firing, it looks like it should have a big range, but it doesn't.

The Rbute spiker is cool, combine it with another one or with and SMG for some carnage.