Halo 3 Beta

by Lesley Smith on September 6, 2007

Of all the gaming events in 2007, none was more impatiently awaited than the multiplayer beta of Bungie’s FPS, Halo 3. Despite a technical hitch which left many gamers – including this writer – unable to access the beta via their copy of Crackdown for 24 agonising hours, millions of 360 owners logged in during the three week trial to see a glimpse of what the final installment of the Halo franchise will look like.

The Beta itself offered unlimited matches with other players around the world with a choice of three different maps: ‘Valhalla’, ‘Highground’ and ‘Snowbound’. Graphically the beta is vastly superior to Halo 2, but the maps aren’t actually that complicated. In the heat of battle, though, this all changes. Highground becomes a tropical maze where lush foliage can hide numerous foes, and Snowbound, which feels straight out of Lost Planet, induces snow blindness as you wander across a snowfield and then into a cavern system where death can lurk around every bend.

The thing about Halo 3 beta is, despite all the hype and the improved graphics, it’s just like playing the multiplayer of Halo 2 with the addition of a few new combat vehicles and some very cool weapons. This is understandable given the nature of the first-person shooter and the Halo franchise itself. To expect Halo 3 to break the multiplayer mold is very unlikely. After all if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Amusingly though, a kind of shock affected many players who became so absorbed with the look and feel of the new maps that their Spartans just stood there in the open, while they picked up their jaws from the floor.

The game itself plays well with fluid controls at a cut-throat pace. The world of the multiplayer is by nature one of survival of the fittest – or in this case, the fastest. The graphics are beautiful to look at, but the gameplay is very much just a taster for what is to come. The sight of subtly coloured Spartans running around taking potshots at one another will warm the cockles of any Halo fan’s heart, but at the end of the day, the release is still quite a way off. We can’t wait to get a proper look later in the year.