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Halo 3 Beta Impressions
Yesterday in New York City Microsoft held an invite-only preview of the Halo 3 Beta, and passed out early Beta keys to a group of game journalists. The result is a barrage of coverage about this most-anticipated title. Notable features beyond basic previews include Dan Hsu's take on the game, Dean Takahashi's 'I got my butt kicked' perspective, the San Jose Merc's interview with Bungie Community Lead Brian Jarrad, CVG's hosting of the official Beta Movie, and Joystiq's interview with Frank O'Connor, Bungie's writing lead. From the 1up preview: "It's unmistakably Halo gameplay, despite the rearranged controls (which feel natural after 10 minutes), and all of the additions fit perfectly into the multiplayer universe we've come to love. The interface has been overhauled and is even easier to use, and you now have such niceties as being able to change your control layout at any point on any screen. While the visuals are rich and beautiful, it's the audio that's really impressed us so far. The rumbling throttle of unleashing dual SMGs makes them feel incredibly powerful, and the Spartan Laser tearing past your head is as scary as you'd imagine. Audio cues are more important than ever, and the better your sound system the more next-gen this will feel." More coverage below.
I hope the story is damn great, because the visuals don't look all that interesting, and under a barrage of some truly great titles coming to the PC it'll be tough.
"Oh boy"
Halo3 three will include a variety of "Chair Weapons":
* A Wooden Chair in which you can break and stab and lacerate people
* A Ikea Chair in which the recipient simply throws the left over peices at any attacker
* An Executive Leather Chair in which the attacker simply places their opponent in the chair and spins it, until the opponent passes out.
* And the classic "Operator Chair" which is simply picked up and thrown.
The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. - HGTTG
Wake me when a console FPS game ships with a mouse and keyboard.
how many seconds does it take to revoke your beta key, when you criticise something about halo 3? 3 seconds? 1.5seconds?
(and no, neither could i say something negative nor positive about it, as i will never have an xbox to play it)
Now, instead of hearing 12 year olds scream in joy when they frag me, I will here their shrill wails in 5.1
Oh joyous day.
The graphics quality of the game looks about what Battlefield 2 looked at medium quality. At this point in development the graphics aren't ever going to get much better. Halo games also aren't know for their unique or revolutionary gameplay so what reason do I have to buy this?
But I have played Gears of War. Quite a bit, it's almost my favorite game now. How does Halo compare to Gears?
It is a beta after all. If you criticize things to try to make it better you will never be banned. If you bash and criticize to troll the other players then I would hope pretty quick.
If you play Halo and the only thing you can say the whole time is "this game sucks" then why play? There are so many other great games why waste your time?
Swi
As I've never owned an Xbox (too much like a PC for me and no interesting games), I've always wondered what the deal with Halo was. I mean, it's not the first FPS, not even the first one on the consoles. Is it just from kids who are too young/haven't played real PC shooters, or was because MS made a concerted effort to push Halo as a "story" driven FPS?
A FPS on a console is not my bag. Even Gears of War, as fun as it is, would be that much better with a keyboard and mouse. Maybe on the Wii they will be something less sucktastic, but so far no one's done a FPS right on a console.
And yes, that includes Halo and Goldeneye.
--Reverend Raven
Desperate days demand dire deeds.
any one have a ogg mpg or avi for us?
Money is the root of all evil?
Audio cues are more important than ever, and the better your sound system the more next-gen this will feel.
That's kinda why I'm particular to PC gaming. A good pair of headphones is all you need to hear those 'audio cues' and lacking that, anything above 2 speakers is gravy since most games ship with decent sound engines for realistic 3d sound.
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
Even with the facts behind you, you do not account for the "Frat Boy" market. Halo 3 will be a smash hit on name recognition alone.
Man I cannot understand the long time FPS players. Most people who complain about joypad have been using mouse and keyboard for ages... they do not even notice they are used to play with those. Of course it's easier with your mouse and keyboard, you've been playing with this duo for ages. I mean, I've been playing Rocket Arena for years, of course I handle my mouse and keyboard better than this Xbox 360 joypad I've had for 3 months. I was playing like shit when I began playing FPS on PC. Now I am far better. A friend of mine was used to play FPS on PS2 for months and told me he could not think of using a mouse and a keyboard to play these... The point is that the joypad is not better or worse than your pc set, you just become accustomed to one or the other. I am not used to the 360 pads but these are damn great and precise. I've played Doom 3, Lost Planet and I come to like this setup. So come on, let's end this pointless battle. The only advantage that may have the mouse is that it can be used more often than a gamepad, for other uses, so that you can perhaps have lenghtier training.
Stupidity is the root of all evil.
Bungie has really done an amazing job with the halo series. This is coming from a PC gamer. I think a lot of the haters out there just have never actually sat down and tried to have fun with the game. Multiplayer halo rewards teamwork and positioning far more than twich reflexes. With the exception of the sniper rifle, having a mouse wouldn't really give you a major advantage.
For me though Halo was all about playing through the coop campaign on legendary. Me and my brother used to do speed runs through assault on the control room without dying. Halo is one of those games where the enemies seem incredibly smart and tough, but not cheap. (this is one of the mistakes I believe they made in the Halo 2 campaign. Some of the enemies, such as the sniper jackels seemed cheap and those parts of the game weren't any fun)
Looking Glass Studios?
I'm so ashamed. Yes, we bungie employees have all been working round the clock to secretly promote our game on the internet. We were just so afraid that without the publicity no one would have heard of our obscure game called Halo. And if no one knows about Halo, then there will be no coal for the furnace, and no Christmas for little Timmy.
The fact is, when halo came out is was a very good game, and built a huge base because of its great weapon balance, multiplayer maps and good campaign story. Halo 2 followed, sure as hell failed with the campaign, because everyone wanted to come back and fight at earth, but obviously if they did that the idea of a trilogy would be seriously flawed as you would save earth in number two. What they did instead, rather than come up with something good like MC goes to the enemy stronghold, they just redid the halo 1 campaign- showing a glaring hole. This however ceased to matter after a while because the multiplayer gameplay was good, it was strong, it was lots of wholesome fun, and it worked well- becuase the huge player base of players caught by halo 1 went online on halo 2 and found, hey this is a hell of a laugh- I know this cause I've been playing halo 2 online for 2 years now, and i find it really fun, when it first came out there was no multiplayer online xboxlive game that was an FPS and successful (There were other great successes like Midtown madness 3)
Halo 1- kickass game
Halo 2- Over hyped, benefitted as a sequel but dealt a killer blow with its online gameplay.
Halo 3- There's no longer a xbox live benefit- it's just expected. It will definately get helped by the huge online, and fofline fan base, hwo are virtually guarenteed sales, but most importantly, they WILL have to deliver an impressive game, it's the difference between the trilogy becoming legendary and just people saying 2 & 3 were let downs after an amazing 1.
*note when I talk about the online play, i'm refering to consoles only of course, comparing like for like.
Typical "mine is 9 inches and your's in only 8" logic, that completely ignores the detail of knowing how to use it.
40 players per match??
Who the hell cares, I've played every FPS on virtually every console and everything for the PC (although Live is so good I've all but abandoned by PC at this point), and the number of players does NOT share a linear relationship with gameplay, sorry.
Dedicated servers for lagfree online play??
Ya right, everythng runs in perfect realtime when its put on it's own box.. Too bad MS can't afford dedicated servers ah well
Completely free??
So Sony is paying your ISP as well? Hey at 6 bucks a month a Live gold subscription is well worth it, and much preferred over Sony's "let the game publishers deside" attitude
Bottom line you sound like another Sony fanboy, and yes I've played the PS3 and not just 5 mins at the local EB, and I remain unimpressed with the current titles and only slightly less unimpressed with the hardware. The 360 and the PS3 are probably within 5% in several categories so comparision needs to fall on the games, any guess on who has he better line up so far (I'm talking the entire line up), yup you guessed it Xbox360, and they are way way ahead my friend.
No, we really, really do NOT need to stop explaining why it's impossible to play an FPS with a console controller.
Well that's just flat out wrong. This story is about people playing Halo. They were doing it with console controllers. Halo is an FPS. There for, playing an FPS on a controller is clearly possible. You might think a keyboard and mouse is better, that hardly means that using a controller is impossible.
Now lots of people play FPSs on consoles, and they seem to be enjoying themselves, so I don't think theres anything wrong with using a controller. I do think using a keyboard and mouse is better, if by better we mean provides faster response times. In any multiplayer game, where half the players were using K/M and half controllers, the K/M guys would win every time, all other things being equal.
On the other hand, I think controllers have some advantages over K/M. My consoles are all in my living room, and I play games sitting on my couch. I don't have a desk in front of my TV, so there's nowhere to put a K/M. Try balancing a keyboard on your lap and running you mouse on the cushion next to you. Comfortable? Thought not. I also prefer a thumbstick to WASD.
But really, why does it matter? As the OP said, why do we have to keep having this stupid argument? You like the K/M, dislike the controller. OP likes controllers. I'm happy with either. Why does each side feel the need to not only say "I like x" but to also insist "because y is inferior"? I feel like I'm back in the playground arguing about C64s and Spectrums.
Which you obviously do not know, because *you* *are* *not* *a* *gamer*. Deal with it.
AH, so you are the final arbiter of who is and isn't a gamer? Wow. Am I a gamer? I've been playing video games for twenty years, but I like some console FPSs, so I might fail your test. Perhaps you mean he isn't a PC gamer? Are PC gamers the one true gamer clan, to whom all others are inferior? Are those who are unwilling or unable to drop stupid amounts of cash on new graphics cards and processors supposed to keep quiet and never offer an opinion? Should they just kneel in supplication and reverence before their PC gaming overlords?
if you dislike us so much, as you say, then why the hell do you strive to be just like us?
I'm not even sure what this means? Where exactly did he say he was trying to be like you?
Oh, just FYI, the first time I played Doom, I used a joypad (yes PAD! not even a joystick), because I hated the keyboard and mouse so much. It was a lot easier back then, since there was no looking up or down. I didn't start using the K/M till quake came out.
"I realise this is not a very popular opinion but it's the truth, and there for needs to be said" -Bill Hicks
...When Epic already did it for them?
Do you ever wish you'd been bought by Apple instead?
Serious question.
...a beta preview? What's next? This just in, Bungie had an idea, preview it next week...
As far as the actual content goes, I didn't notice anything huge. New levels, a new gun or two, and a few new vehicles(it really bugs me that the little 4-wheeler thing looks so much like a shrunk warthog too) but the graphics didn't really look all that much better.
They each have their benefits. Saying either side is the best is just a pointless debate. Having played EXTENSIVELY on both setups I feel I'm qualified to enlighten you on 4 pros and cons of each. Since I'm reading mostly PC gamer hate I'll start with PCs so that they can see why people play console games it isn't arcane at all.
PC Gaming:
Pros
1. A Mouse makes a very intuitive and sensitive device to aim with, there are a variety of them to use so you can pick the one that works the best for you. You use it while your using the computer so you become very accustom to it.
2. A Keyboard offers a virtually limitless medium for configuration. Keyboards come in different shapes and sizes and even can be purchased specifically designed for the game your using.
3. The graphics are unparralleled. The latest greatest hardware always shows up in PCs first and the graphics truely show that.
4. PCs are used for far more then just games so it is easier to convince your spouse, parent, or self to buy.
Cons
1. All PCs are not created equal. In competitive and even advanced gaming it is clear that there is always an edge to the gamer with the best hardware. Even to build your own really good PC, not the best, your talking a $2000 a price of entry FAR higher then console gaming. While this is not necessarily a consideration for casual gamers it is frustrating to know that your computer may be what is holding you back.
2. The keyboard's single greatest strengh, configurability, is also its greatest weakness. Learning to play on a standard keyboard is not pretty for a new gamer. The buttons you press have little to no corelation between the action the game takes and learning which buttons do what can be very frustrating. The buttons are often not oriented in an easy to press intuitive manner and require some skill to master and time to learn. Buying a keyboard specifically designed for gaming can make learning easier and button placement more intuitive, but setup on those controllers, depending on game, can sometimes take hours.
3. Graphics are designed to be bleading edge in most games; in order to stay up with the graphics, you need to upgrade hardware at least every 2 years, depending on how much you spend on it. PC games made the graphics card market what it is and the games are usually designed around the latest greatest with the ability to play pretty well on moderate hardware. PC gaming can be VERY expensive. Low frame rates in a game can kill the experience completely.
4. PCs are used for other things and this con sometimes lead to annoyances for gaming. Other people in the house might need to use the computer, you might get viruses or other things that slow it down, sometimes applications that are running in the background can have a dramatic effect on performance, and because the platform is open PC games are a much more attractive market for cheaters.
Console Gaming
Pros
1. Entry cost is relatively low when compared to PCs and you don't have to upgrade for usually 5 years.
2. Everyone plays on the same hardware. Every console is pretty much the same, making for a far more level playing field. The software was designed for the hardware. Because every console is the same and every controller is the same, games are designed ground up to maximize that piece of hardware and gameplay is designed to be intuitive for the controller.
3. Multiple people can play on the same piece of hardware, making it a far more social gaming device. It is much better to see the expression on your friends face when he gets taken out then to hear about it over voice communication.
4. The community the hardware the online experience is all closed. Typically leading to a much more secure gaming environment.
Cons
1. The hardware isn't as good as PCs can be. You are limited to the hardware the console company can afford to put in there rather then what you can afford to buy. You don't get the cutting edge graphics that you do on PCs and until recently the
While the multiplayer in this multiplayer beta test exhibits typical Halo levels of excellence, the single player was significantly lacking. The single player consists of no AI, no objectives, and is played on the same maps as the multiplayer levels. While some fun can be had running around in circles, we find it hard to justify the purchase price compared to games that offer hours of interaction and direction.
Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta Test:
Graphics: 9
Halo isn't Gears of War; Get over it. It still looks great.
Sound: 10
Heartstopping.
Multiplayer: 10
It's Halo.
Singleplayer: 2
Strangely neglected.
Overall 5/10
Excellent online play, but most gamers will have a hard time finding value in the single player experience.
Windows live will allow PC halo gamers and Xbox halo gamers to compete on the same servers against each other. That will show us which type of controller configuration is best for playing FPS. If PC players dominate the charts, then we'll know that mouse-keyboard is superior, or better FPS players prefer it. If the charts are evenly distributed, then we can say it doesn't matter.
I welcome our new 99% overlords.
I know your trolling, but I'd just like to point out these fun facts:
r -hit-4-million-244018.php
M an#Critical_Reception
o n
3 Million PS3s sold -- not copies of Resistance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3
3 to 4 million copies of Gears of War sold
http://kotaku.com/gaming/neogaf/rumor-gears-of-wa
I haven't played it, but apparently Resistance is a good game which was well received:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance:_Fall_of_
Unfortunately for your argument, Gears was much moreso:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gears_of_War#Recepti
http://brandonbloom.name
LOL, a Gears of War fanboy. If there are people more pathetic than Halo fanboys...
5.1 sound lets you tell whether someone is sneaking up behind you, or about to jump out from around that corner you're approaching. And don't try and tell me your headphones are 3D :)
The main difference between a joystick/pad and a mouse is not a question of ergonomics or resistance. The quantity being controlled by the mouse in a FPS is the angular position of the line of sight. Using a mouse, there is only a gain between the mouse position and the angular position of the LOS. Thus, the control is direct.
Using a joystick, pad, or keyboard, the player controls the rate of change (i.e. speed) of the LOS movement (and with non-analog controls, even that is fixed, the player only controls when to start and stop moving). Thus, there is an integrator in the control loop. An integrator is a low-pass filter, and it is impossible for a human to react as quickly with such an indirect control.
It is indeed possible to play using both schemes, but the gameplay just cannot be the same. It's just a question of choice. For a direct control scheme, if you don't want to wave your arm all around you, you need a way to interrupt the input while you reset the controller. This is what we do when we lift the mouse at the end of the mouse pad to put it back at the other end to continue the movement. This is much harder to implement in a console controller.
I'm one of the haters who actually sat down and wanted Halo to be great and was let down. LIke you, I'm a PC Gamer. I was excited about Halo when I saw the E3 2000 video when it was suppose to be a 3rd person shooter for the PC that was like Tribes on crack. I camped out for my Xbox and got my copy of Halo. My friend and I played through the co op and after wards we gave game our own special title:
:( Best console fps for me still is Goleneye.
Halo: Repetition Evolved
The game just let me down on soooooo many levels. Absolutely nothing about it lived up to what I wanted. What I played before that: Goldeneye, Time Splitters, Tribes 2, Quake 2 DM/CTF, Quake 3 Rocket Arena, UT2004 DM/CTF, Rainbow 6 series (Raven Shield being the favorite). I felt like it tried to take the best of other games(mainly Tribes) and just failed at it as far as multiplayer was concerned. Single player well yea, that just sucked for me.
"There is no real right or wrong, just what the majority accepts at the time."
being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
yeah it's a shame Bungie couldn't come up with a Resistance killer. Oh wait, if Halo 3 flops (half the sales of original Halo) it will still have sold twice as many copies as Resistance.
Oh sorry, Anonymous Sony Fanboy Coward, I didn't meant to ruin your dreams of Sony world domination. I'm sure Bungie is going to run back to the drawing board after you told them how Halo is going to fail as a Resistance killer. Oh wait, wasn't Resistance supposed to be a Halo killer? Or is that for Killzone?
being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
... I think that word does not mean what you think it means....
don't like browser based streaming players ?
/ h3_mrjukesbetalicious_hq.wmv
http://futurenet.vo.llnwd.net/o2/uk/cvg/video/797
Resistance killer what? I don't even KNOW anyone with a PS3. Resistance doesn't need to be killed, the PS3 was stillborn.
...as were the guys I play Battlezone II with. We watched halo all through development, and it it started out looking like the FPS/RTS hybrid we all wanted so much. At some point it got dumbed down to what it is.
Not that it isn't a great FPS...they did a wonderful job...it just wasn't a thinking persons game like I'd hoped. Not surprising, really, given the shortage of thinking persons to buy such a game.
More accuracy does not equal a better experience.
I play both (a Windows system with a 24" Dell Display, AMD FX CPU and SLI GTX card and Audigy w/ 5.1 dedicated for PC gaming - I do my work on Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris - and 360 with 50" HD Plasma and 5.1 Surround for gaming (a setup bought over a year ago - before I any HDTV feed, again specifically for gaming). I mention all that just to get the point across that I take my gaming pretty seriously.
I have way more fun playing a game like GRAW on a big comfy chair in the living room, with a larger display and a huge display and superior sound system) than on the PC - and that's not just due to the inferior quality of the PC port, the console version is a cinematic experience designed for a console. I prefer Halo on the console too. These are games who's gameplay is specifically tailored to a console environment.
I prefer Unreal on the PC, and Battlefield on the PC too (though the console Battlefield plays differently, as it should for a console). Unreal and the PC Battlefield series rely much more on pixel perfect accuracy and positioning and less on CoF dynamics and just looking at a nearby object to 'use' it, the circumstances and manner in which you take damage are often different too (particularly when playing against AI). As a result, the gameplay is different.
There is no doubt that you can place shots more accurately using a keyboard and mouse and sitting very close to a screen. It doesn't mean it's always more fun to play that way - if everyone else is using a console, it's not like you are at a disadvantage in any way (and I would argue that's a good reason NOT to include keyboard support in multiplayer FPS games - that and such a tiny percentage of people would use it I'd rather console developers focus on features that actually matter to most people).
I enjoy both. I think the people who complain they find using a controller difficult are either being close minded, or have mental deficiency when it comes to hand-eye coordination. If most 7 year olds can manage it (and I know a 4 year old that can do it just fine) it's something these so-called gamers should be embarrassed about finding difficult.
One thing that worries me about the comments on the Halo 3 beta are that the game modes "Land Grab" and "Territories" "Gets intense when time's running out, and only one or two markers are left to defend/capture." or "Very fun when it's tied 2-2 and everyone's going after the last one!"
What about the rest of those matches? Why can't it be "very fun" and "intense" the whole match? I'm thinking of games like Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory where all of the action is always focused, so it's almost always "very fun" and "intense".
I guess I'm just biased towards focused objective-play vs. splitting everyone one up around the map until the very end. Especially when there are only 4 players per team, you really need them all focused in one place.
I mean, it almost makes sense on a 64-player Battlefield server to split the players up among 8 control points, but you still have 4v4 action at each point. If you have multiple control points but only 8 players, things will of course be sparse until the end.
Why is it that game developers feel the need to call their games a killer of some kind? Ironically, I've only heard this expression used in conjunction with the FPS genre. As far as I can tell, no better game has ever truly killed the great game that came in line before it...and more often than not those games that are truly great are fondly remembered years down the line--for me, nothing will ever replace the experience of playing Team Fortress for the original quake, in its pixelated and later GLQuake glory :P
There is one simple reason why using a mouse is better than any controller; the ability to turn around quickly.
You simply can not turn around quickly with a controller, unless the sensitivity is set insanely high, making it impossible to turn a small amount with any amount of control.
It doesn't matter if gamers are doing just fine with the controller, the control and movement of a mouse will always be much faster, and more accurate to control.
Sorry but this is plain wrong. My gaming rig (AMD X2, 6000+, 2GB RAM and GeForce 8800 GTS) cost AU$1800 all up. it would have cost AU$2100 if not for the AMD price drop of late (or for similarly spec'd Intel equivalent). A mid range gaming PC will cost around AU$1200 these days, the price of admission for the minimum needed for a gaming PC is AU$1000 which is the same price as a PS3. In the states (and many other countries) it would be lower than the currency conversion (1 AUD = 0.83 USD) as we Australians get shafted by Hardware manufacturers.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
You know, the 'ZOMG 40 peoiple no lag KEKEKE" arguement just doesn't matter to me. I much prefer 4 vs 4 (or 3 vs 3 vs 3 vs 3) fights instead of Big Team Battles in Halo. Why? I have 2-3 friends in the room with me.
You could have the best squad in the world, and it won't matter if the other 16 guys on your side are idiots.
east coast models
I tried Halo 3 Beta version for xbox 360, I'm very disappointed on the game experience including graphics, sound, weapons etc. Truly hope that the beta version is just a tease and the real game is by far better than what I have seen so far. Gears of War and Rainbow 6 in my experience and personal choice are by far much better games in every aspect in comparison with the H3 beta. Hope Halo 3 is not just marketing with no future. NorthWolf