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Halo 3 Beta Closes Up Shop
"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."
Graphics don't matter, what is important is that the teabagging is slightly improved.
I'm not really a Halo fan. Completed the first one on the PC, never played 2 and only played 3 because I wanted Crackdown.
Having said that, I'd expect the final release to have much better graphics than the demo -- and not because they've still got a few months to work on it. Basically, the H3 beta had to be delivered via Xbox Live. So, they had to keep the download size reasonable. Now, if you're looking to strip stuff out of a game, your choices are limited. Simplify the map layouts or alter the game engine and you're (a) making way too much work for yourself and, (b) not really giving an accurate representation of how the game behaves.
The only real way to reduce a game's size without upsetting the aims of the demo/beta is to seriously drop the size and quantity of the world's textures. Possibly drop the complexity of some non-critical models too.
I've seen this happen before. Compare the Xbox Live demos of Crackdown and Forza 2 -- both demos are significantly crappier-looking than their full retail counterparts.
So, whilst I'm not expecting anything jaw-dropping from Halo 3 once it's out, I'd certainly expect it to look significantly crisper and slicker than the beta.
What's the frequency, Kenneth?
So, so far there are a bunch of "haters" out there... so need some positive energy or something here.
Halo 3 is the best Halo MP I've played. Every issue that I had with 1 and 2 has pretty much been dealt with with 3. The maps are laid out really well. The new game types are actually interesting, if not revolutionary. (The new territories makes for such a better game) The weapon balance is fantastic. I never felt like anything was "broken". In any match up if I was killed, it was because they had a skill or strategic advantage, not because they were using the "newb combo" or something. The graphics may not be Teh BomB0rz but they didn't detract from the game nor are they ugly. But by far, the most impressive thing is they fixed the "people".
With the 360's rep system, the easy to mute in game and the ability to turn off having to listen to the other team, I never once was called a racial or homosexual slur. I was amazed. When people drop out of a game, they lose RP (XP points basically?) and you can tell the 360 never to play with those people again. Now, if they can just keep the cheating out, they will have fixed the biggest problem with Halo 2. The People.
And that could make Halo 3 a bigger success than any other online FPS I've played yet.
Oh, and as to, "What have they been doing for 3 years?" It was 3 maps on a limited multiplayer to test their servers. Not three years worth of work. Fool.
..but I'm more interested in the single player. It's what kept the original alive for so long for me. The giant maps, huge battles, shitloads of Flood to feed shotgun pellets to.. Halo isn't really known for its fantastic graphics.. they are good but have never been at the top. Halo 2's storyline was a huge disappointment to me, so I'm hoping that they make up for it this time around. But it seems like they are focusing more on MP, as that is what kept Halo 2 alive for so long.