Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Halo 3 Beta Closes Up Shop

Posted by Zonk on from the until-september-mister-c dept.

"Don't get attached to anything" is the message conveyed by Bungie, concerning the end of the public Halo 3 Beta. The event, which concluded yesterday, was the proving ground for multiplayer portion of the highly anticipated title. Halo 3 is due out this September. "The Beta has been a great success for us in terms of the sheer amount of data it allowed us to gather, for matchmaking, networking, general bug-bashing and of course some gameplay elements. As the Beta heads to the great software graveyard in the sky, it's vital to remember that things you got used to during these short few weeks, are almost certain to change. Some of those changes will be subtle, nuanced, perhaps even invisible. Others will be less subtle - with shifts in game types, weapon functionality, spawn points and map details."

2 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Thank god... by Karganeth · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    That beta was awful... incredibly disappointing graphics wise.

    1. Re:Thank god... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      What is amazing about the giant thud gamers had to Halo 3 and Forza 2 is how the very poor graphics have turned 360 owners into Wii owners in just a single month:

      "I don't care about superficial things like 'graphics', all that matters is the gameplay'

      Too bad Halo 3 is at best your average at best fps online game.

      Epic really screwed things up for every other 360 developer with the shameful Gears of War PR shots they still try to pass off as real even though they are really massively high resolution with giant amounts of AA and texture and normal map detail cranked up. They've done so good a job about lying about what Gears of War actually looks like that most 360 owners are now disappointed with everything else.

      Bungie could have gone with the 'gimp the game so we can make attractive PR shots' route and forced Halo 3 into the same format Gears of War used:

      * Tiny, tiny corridors or rooms limiting what is seen
      * Draw distances that are usually no more than 30 to 50 feet
      * Smeared out the background with blur to cover up the aliasing problems and tiny draw distance
      * Limit the number of things on screen to just 4-8 or so at a time