Halo 3 Beta: May 16th - June 7th

[jetrii]

First official Halo 3 video released by Bungie:

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=news&cid=12432

 

[AlNom]

How um... appropriate they they're playing Halo CE music.

So which part was the beta? *runs*

hm... I dunno... The first 30 seconds actually looked like the waterfall in the second level of the first game, and the water could have been from Silent Cartographer. I think the only thing I liked was the revamped first person view weapon models and arms. That splitscreen looked... not good. :|

*sigh*... When the final game comes, I know I'll be wow'd beyond...3D, and I guess a few more months of depression can't hurt. :|

 

[NovemberMike]

My disappointment revolves around the settings of the Halo games versus their technical merit, graphics wise.

For a full blown war, the games seem to pretty much place you in pristine locations. The games always look too clean and neat, which ruins the atmosphere for me.

I think each of the Halo games represented the first human incursion into each of the Halo rings.

 

[rusty]

How um... appropriate they they're playing Halo CE music.

So which part was the beta?

I thought the video was quite good... Considering it is multiplayer, I'd say it's already looking better on a graphical level than all the multiplayer games I've played so far with the exception of Gears of War (off the top of my head, COD3, GRAW 1&2, R6:Vegas, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat...). Given the Scale I don't think that's too shabby an achievement, especially given that what we are seeing is beta (and according to the blurb, old beta material at that) and will no doubt meet with some nice polish towards the end of production...

It'd sure be nice if they could squeese something of the level of Gears' multiplayer on the larger scale of halo out of the 360 though, here's hoping the polish stage can push it up to those levels - I don't think it it has that far to go to reach it in all honesty.

Above all, it still looks pretty fun though!

 

[Tap In]

holy crap that looks like fun!

can't wait to try it out next week in hiDef.

 

[TurnDragoZeroV2G]

How um... appropriate they they're playing Halo CE music.

So which part was the beta? *runs*

hm... I dunno... The first 30 seconds actually looked like the waterfall in the second level of the first game, and the water could have been from Silent Cartographer. I think the only thing I liked was the revamped first person view weapon models and arms. That splitscreen looked... not good. :|

*sigh*... When the final game comes, I know I'll be wow'd beyond...3D, and I guess a few more months of depression can't hurt. :|

Sorely tempted to agree completely. (seriously, exact same thoughts on the waterfall and first person models)

Perhaps the Public Beta build will be (much) more representative (than this internal beta) of what we've already heard, and we'll get HD footage of that today... (I hope it's HD, direct feed....)

 

[AlNom]

At least with HD footage we may be able to determine if we may be getting AA or not.

As for gameplay (forgot to mention in my post), it looks like Halo 2 MP, so it'll be good... *shrug*

 

[Tap In]

let's not forget, this is multiplayer footage (4:3 aspect SD) which is toned down compared to SP which has not been shown at all yet. although... I am impressed because this is Halo Extra Strength with its roots intact. The game play looks solid and spectacular. Also this is not the same build in the public beta, it's a lesser version.

example of toned down MP...

Stinkles

the entire game uses HDR then.

It's toned down in MP for gameplay reasons. Coming out of a dark cave into blinding sunshine = ownage. Nobody wants a simulation of real life. Half of us would have a heart attack running up from that beach.

Also Blimblim from Gamersyde is getting a beta copy today and will have many screens and vids as there is no embargo on the content.

 

[Tap In]

Beta FAQ post, well done by GhaleonEB at Neo Gaf

 

[AlNom]

let's not forget, this is multiplayer footage (4:3 aspect SD) which is toned down compared to SP which has not been shown at all yet. although... I am impressed because this is Halo Extra Strength with its roots intact. The game play looks solid and spectacular.

Well, I was only commenting on the video itself, and it left me underwhelmed starting at the introduction. I wasn't exactly sure what he was trying to show off. The rest looked like Halo 2 MP action + lazr, which was nice, but... it's just a bunch of people playing MP. um... yay? hoorah? Not particularly new? I did like finding out that the ATV is affected by the porta-grav, and the focus on the laser cannon at the end.

I don't expect the MP formula to change that much compared to SP hence the underwhelming...ness of the video (except for lazr cat).


Allow me to...re-comment ->

ya that's great... looks like Halo 2 formula + a couple new items. Halo 3 MP is going to rock. I'd rather be playing it than watching a bunch of guys play *yawn*, not much else to see with pre-public beta gfx. Looks like they finally updated the first-person-view arms and animations, you can sticky people with the spike grenade, and the laser cannon is a 1-hit killer.

The side-by-side, 4:3 splitscreen shows exactly why I hate it over just extending the sides as widescreen is all about not changing vertical view but extending the lateral plane.

 

[Tap In]

well I think the fun part was that the player in that vid was one of the best Halo players I've ever seen and showed off the best of Halo gameplay!

also with the NEW record a match feature we should get some awesome videos coming out from the beta as entire matches can be saved in real time and played back with adjustable camera.


first Beta impressions

Originally Posted by Blimblim:
Lighting = great
particles = great
textures = great
geometry = not so great
gameplay = Halo

 

[AlNom]

I agree. The record feature will be great, though personally, it's not something I would use often unless I somehow got into a wicked awesome 8v8 match. For machinimas... I expect it to be used shamelessly. The omnipotence of the camera would allow people to do their thing and then go back and get the right angles for simultaneous recording without resorting to weapview/hud removal tricks (or something like that). 8)

 

[Tap In]

yea, I expect I will use it to learn how to get better or to see some strategy and eventually as you said it will become the sole domain of machinimas.

I'm sure I'll save the games where I kick ass though too.

 

[AlNom]

Lighting = great
particles = great
textures = great
geometry = not so great
gameplay = Halo

Ask Blim^2 if there's AA, pls!

Speaking of Blim, he just posted a ton of pics:

http://www.xboxyde.com/news_4324_en.html



fav-> http://images.xboxyde.com/gallery/public/5401/798_0033.jpg



Foot poking out of the depression in the water wave -> http://images.xboxyde.com/gallery/public/5401/798_0046.jpg


*cough* someone just gained a bajillion website hits.

 

[Tap In]

first screens

evident aliasing but looks pretty good so far. I'm assuming even better in motion.

 

[kyleb]

I'm gonna be really dissapointed if the finshed game doesn't have any AA.

 

[TheChefO]

first screens

evident aliasing but looks pretty good so far. I'm assuming even better in motion.

Looks good. This is one game I think could use subtle depth of field though. And someone please help Bungie get some better vegetation libraries!! uggie.

 

[Tap In]

lots more screens... looks even better
allegedly the game play is (as expected) unbelievable and the sound is being reported (by blimblim) as the best Next Gen sound yet

 

[Tap In]

I'm gonna be really dissapointed if the finshed game doesn't have any AA.

that's got to be 2x, no?

 

[Tap In]

in motion