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Article - Halo 3 for Xbox 360 Impressions - GameDaily

Before Microsoft and Bungie roll out the Halo 3 multiplayer beta on May 16, both parties invaded New York City to give the press a first look, and yes, it's excellent. The developers took the enjoyable Halo 2 experience and tweaked it, adding improvements into the game that will impress long time fans and curious newcomers.

The third-person camera is the most striking feature. Certain weapons, like the Missile Pod and the gatling gun turret, automatically launch this over-the-shoulder perspective, which gives players a better view of the battlefield in exchange for moving slower. The turret fires missiles one after the other, making the trusty Rocket Launcher look aged by comparison. Walking around with a big gun leaves players vulnerable to bloodthirsty snipers.
Other new weapons include the Brute Grenade, Spiker and Trip Mine. The Brute Grenade contains all sorts of nasty objects such as nails and bits of metal, compacted into a deadly device that sends shrapnel in all directions. It is without question one of Halo 3's most devious weapons, producing a neat effect while at the same time stabbing opponents.

The Spiker, a crude looking handgun, fires (as its name implies) spikes at its enemies. The gun can be dual wielded, and like all dual wielded weapons can be reloaded independently using the Left and Right bumpers.

As for the Trip Mine, gamers will delight in surprising their opponents with these nasty weapons, which excel at taking out ground-based vehicles. At the same time, their blast radius may also kill the offending player, so people should toss the mine and then run away. Or, if they're about to die, they can take the enemy with them.

Other weapons will be familiar to Halo veterans. Classics, like the Plasma Rifle, Covenant Carbine, S2 AM Sniper Rifle, M90 Shotgun, MA5B Assault Rifle (the primary machine gun in the original Halo), Plasma Grenade, Fragmentation Grenade and the Battle Rifle make an appearance.

To use weapons, players press the right trigger, and if they're dual wielding, the left and right one for each respective hand. Instead of reloading with X, players press the right bumper, a design change that takes some getting used to.

This time around, the X button activates equipment. Devices include, but are not limited to the Bubble Shield, Grav Lift and the Power Drain. The Bubble Shield encases the player in a temporary shield, protecting them from damage but forbidding them from returning fire (only vehicles can pass through). The Grav Lift (a portable version of the Man Cannon) gives people a boost about the map, offering a quick getaway. Finally, the Power Drain depletes other players' energy shields within an undisclosed radius, giving the thrower a great advantage over the opposition.

Gamers will ride around in four vehicles. The Warthog makes a return, offering space for the driver, someone in the passenger side and another player on the back, operating the chain gun. Then there's the new Mongoose, an unarmed ATV that carries up to two people. Although it lacks weapons, it moves super fast, giving players a speedy means of transport. In addition, the beta includes the high-flying Banshee as well as the low-riding Ghost, which both appear in Halo 2.

Beta players will enjoy three maps: Snowbound, High Ground and Valhalla. Snowbound takes place in a snowy environment dotted with Covenant architecture. Motion sensitive gun turrets (similar to the ones in the film Aliens) surround the map and automatically engage players foolish enough to wander past the map's outskirts. Players will find the Spiker, Assault and Battle Rifles and all three types of grenades (Fragmentation, Plasma and Brute). Underground canyons cause intense firefights in very close quarters.

Overall, the map feels great. The only problem entails the same players re-spawning in close proximity of each other, which sucks for inexperienced players that continuously run into a more advanced player.

High Ground moves the action to a desert-like location, where dust and dirt overwhelm sparse patches of grass. A large, damaged fortress (armed with gun turrets) sits on a hill, and some players take the "high ground" while others approach from the map's lowest point, attempting to capture the fort. Against skilled players, seizing the fortress proves extremely difficult, but patience and good communication may help achieve success.

Valhalla, the beta's largest map occurs within a snow-capped mountain range. Within its confines sit clusters of trees, rushing water and waterfall and two large U.N.S.C. (United Nations Space Command -- the good guys) structures sit at opposite ends, providing gamers with plenty of Fragmentation Grenades and Sniper Rifles. They also include the Man Cannon, a stationary version of the Grav Lift that launches players at a 45-degree angle to the middle of the map. They can even propel the Mongoose from it, though because of the game's physics system, the vehicle doesn't move as far as a character; Gamers can fire their weapons while in flight, though well-hidden snipers will pick them off.

Similar to Halo 2, the beta supports 16 players. While in the lobby, gamers have the option of vetoing a selected map, and if half of the people agree, the game will automatically load a new location. Furthermore, gamers will see all of their stats as well as the number of people online. A ranking system displays how long they've played. They can also view their accomplishments and tweak their party options, altering gravity, speed and other things. The game also sorts people based on skill level, evening the playing field.

Regarding modes, Slayer (death match), Team Slayer (team death match), Capture the Flag (steal enemy flag and return it to team base) and King of the Hill (hold a point longer than the opposition) return, along with a new game mode called VIP. In this game type, one team must protect/escort a chosen player to various checkpoints while the other team looks to assassinate him or her.

A Save Films feature grants people the opportunity to save matches and send them to friends to show off their best/worst moments. The files will save to the Xbox 360's hard drive, but will also upload to a File Share system.

At first glance, the game doesn't look visually striking, but after a few minutes, people will see all of the subtle (and not so subtle) improvements, such as the increased draw distance, shinier textures, floating dead bodies in water, kicked up snow and most importantly, the water. Bungie's done a remarkable job programming realistically flowing water that'll garner plenty of praise. Even better, if someone dies and their head goes under, the sound changes accordingly, bombarding the ear drums with muffled sounds and inducing claustrophobia.

The audio in general stands out as one of the game's best features. Pumped through a surround sound system, players will delight in hearing bullets clink off the ground, the echo of distant gunfire and other delightful things.

Overall, the Halo 3 beta destroys the Halo 2 multiplayer experience, providing a comfortable balance between the tried and true formula and new content. Drool over the screens, get in some practice on Halo 2 and be ready for May 16.

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I'm going to kill myself if this doesn't come out soon...=(

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