Halo 3 Beta: My thoughts

Just had a few quick games (anyone who doesn't believe me:
http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerSt...layer=Zomoniac ), so
here are some very brief first-10-minute impressions before I go to bed:

First off, let me say that I am a diabolical Halo player. I finished
second to last in all three games, with 5 kills in the first game, 2 in
the second (both on Snowbound, the first a Slayer and the second a
Sniper one) and 8 on the third (Slayer on High Ground). Therefore my
opinion isn't valid, but here it is anyway:

It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements. The control
feels ever so slightly faster which makes a big difference.
Graphically, yes it's Halo 2 HD. Though I can't say I cared much. You
don't notice when you're in the heat of battle. The only vehicle I got
a go in was the Mongoose. Imagine if someone scaled a Warthog down to
go-kart size and took the guns off and you have it. The levels are
decent enough (High Ground is much the better of the two), and I didn't
have my headset on so can't comment on the twunt Yanks.

The weapons: The assault rifle from Halo 1 is the default weapon. Only
this time it's clip is 32 instead of 60. It runs out *very* quickly and
isn't too powerful. The carbine and sniper rifle are as was. The brute
shot is only useful if you get three or four shots of a clip on target
as it's not too powerful and takes an eternity to reload. The rocket
launcher absolutey owns all, the spiker is pretty good and the
needler/cov pistol aren't much different from H2.

I picked up two power ups: Power Drain just empties your shield.
Useful. Almost as useless is the bubble shield. The first problem is it
only stops bullets coming in, not people, so if you use it in the heat
of a battle then someone can still sneak up behind you and **** you
over the head. The second problem is that it takes about two seconds
from you dropping it for it to deploy, and you have to be within about
a foot of it to be caught in the radius and protected. So basically you
have to stand still for two seconds, which usually means death in any
scenario where you'd feel compelled to use it.

And Active Camo is ace, I managed to get 3 kills (amazing for me!) in
the 30 seconds or so that it lasts.

Sorry this is so brief but I'm knackered and need sleep. Hopefully
they'll get the Crackdown debacle sorted out soon.

--
Zo

Zomoniac wrote:
> Just had a few quick games (anyone who doesn't believe me:
> http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerSt...layer=Zomoniac ), so
> here are some very brief first-10-minute impressions before I go to bed:
>
> First off, let me say that I am a diabolical Halo player. I finished
> second to last in all three games, with 5 kills in the first game, 2 in
> the second (both on Snowbound, the first a Slayer and the second a
> Sniper one) and 8 on the third (Slayer on High Ground). Therefore my
> opinion isn't valid, but here it is anyway:
>
> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements. The control
> feels ever so slightly faster which makes a big difference. Graphically,
> yes it's Halo 2 HD. Though I can't say I cared much. You don't notice
> when you're in the heat of battle. The only vehicle I got a go in was
> the Mongoose. Imagine if someone scaled a Warthog down to go-kart size
> and took the guns off and you have it. The levels are decent enough
> (High Ground is much the better of the two), and I didn't have my
> headset on so can't comment on the twunt Yanks.
>
I agree largely with your review - I thought it looked nice and hid for
a while to have a good look - only had two quick goes this morning - it
is faster and obviously has been playtested to death.

i enjoyed it - and I didn't play like a total twonk - came third in the
second match with 16 kills I think - that mounted machine FTW!

Look forward to killing you miserable bunch of twonks tonight

Zomoniac wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!

> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements.

Ergo it is **** then, and Bungie have already agreed to that fact!


Halo 3 = just another jumpathon for merkins and simple people.

"Zomoniac" <the_proper_one@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5b1hl9F2r5u00U1@mid.individual.net...
> Just had a few quick games (anyone who doesn't believe me:
> http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerSt...layer=Zomoniac ), so
> here are some very brief first-10-minute impressions before I go to bed:
>
> First off, let me say that I am a diabolical Halo player. I finished
> second to last in all three games, with 5 kills in the first game, 2 in
> the second (both on Snowbound, the first a Slayer and the second a
> Sniper one) and 8 on the third (Slayer on High Ground). Therefore my
> opinion isn't valid, but here it is anyway:
>
> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements. The control
> feels ever so slightly faster which makes a big difference.
> Graphically, yes it's Halo 2 HD. Though I can't say I cared much. You
> don't notice when you're in the heat of battle. The only vehicle I got
> a go in was the Mongoose. Imagine if someone scaled a Warthog down to
> go-kart size and took the guns off and you have it. The levels are
> decent enough (High Ground is much the better of the two), and I didn't
> have my headset on so can't comment on the twunt Yanks.
>
> The weapons: The assault rifle from Halo 1 is the default weapon. Only
> this time it's clip is 32 instead of 60. It runs out *very* quickly and
> isn't too powerful. The carbine and sniper rifle are as was. The brute
> shot is only useful if you get three or four shots of a clip on target
> as it's not too powerful and takes an eternity to reload. The rocket
> launcher absolutey owns all, the spiker is pretty good and the
> needler/cov pistol aren't much different from H2.
>
> I picked up two power ups: Power Drain just empties your shield.
> Useful. Almost as useless is the bubble shield. The first problem is it
> only stops bullets coming in, not people, so if you use it in the heat
> of a battle then someone can still sneak up behind you and **** you
> over the head. The second problem is that it takes about two seconds
> from you dropping it for it to deploy, and you have to be within about
> a foot of it to be caught in the radius and protected. So basically you
> have to stand still for two seconds, which usually means death in any
> scenario where you'd feel compelled to use it.
>
> And Active Camo is ace, I managed to get 3 kills (amazing for me!) in
> the 30 seconds or so that it lasts.
>
> Sorry this is so brief but I'm knackered and need sleep. Hopefully
> they'll get the Crackdown debacle sorted out soon.
>
> --
> Zo
>

I just had a quick go and won my first game - if only other players would
always be this average. Graphically you're right but really they need to
sharpen this up for release. I felt disappointed in the look of Snowbound.
Overall it plays fast and fluid but I'm beginning to wonder how much mileage
there is left in this game. We're only really going to know come September.
Saved films look cool though. On the down side for me it looks like they
won't be bothering to allow button remapping - idiots.

Northern Deity wrote:
> Zomoniac wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!
>
>> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements.
>
> Ergo it is **** then, and Bungie have already agreed to that fact!
>
>
> Halo 3 = just another jumpathon for merkins and simple people.

Thats why over 5 million pre orders for the game are wrong you numpty.

lol.

scoopex wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!

> Northern Deity wrote:
> > Zomoniac wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!
> >
> >> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements.
> >
> > Ergo it is **** then, and Bungie have already agreed to that fact!
> >
> >
> > Halo 3 = just another jumpathon for merkins and simple people.
>
> Thats why over 5 million pre orders for the game are wrong you numpty.
>
> lol.

Yes, and more than 5 million followed Hitler, doesn't make them right
though.

**** me, anyone complaining about the jaggies on Forza should play
this, it is nothing more than an Xbox1 game, **** to look at with a
poor framerate, and no new gameplay! Bungie should be embarrassed.

Anyway, you have shown your self to fall into the simple people
catagory scoops.

"DBSnappa" <davidjREMOVEMEboughton@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:LsT2i.19312$085.3405@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.u k...
> > Just had a few quick games (anyone who doesn't believe me:
> > http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerSt...layer=Zomoniac ), so
> > here are some very brief first-10-minute impressions before I go to bed:
> >
> > First off, let me say that I am a diabolical Halo player. I finished
> > second to last in all three games, with 5 kills in the first game, 2 in
> > the second (both on Snowbound, the first a Slayer and the second a
> > Sniper one) and 8 on the third (Slayer on High Ground). Therefore my
> > opinion isn't valid, but here it is anyway:
> >
> > It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements. The control
> > feels ever so slightly faster which makes a big difference. Graphically,
> > yes it's Halo 2 HD. Though I can't say I cared much. You don't notice
> > when you're in the heat of battle. The only vehicle I got a go in was
> > the Mongoose. Imagine if someone scaled a Warthog down to go-kart size
> > and took the guns off and you have it. The levels are decent enough
> > (High Ground is much the better of the two), and I didn't have my
> > headset on so can't comment on the twunt Yanks.
> >
> I agree largely with your review - I thought it looked nice and hid for
> a while to have a good look - only had two quick goes this morning - it
> is faster and obviously has been playtested to death.

I downloaded it this morning and had one quick game of Oddball on Snowbound
(and did woefully, as usual). It's not eye-poppingly stunning to look at,
but it is a bit nicer than H2 in HD. I'll reserve judgement on the gameplay
until I've played a bit more, but from first impressions, it does feel very
familiar and comfortable.

> i enjoyed it - and I didn't play like a total twonk - came third in the
> second match with 16 kills I think - that mounted machine FTW!
>
> Look forward to killing you miserable bunch of twonks tonight

Oh, yes. Bring it on, etc...


Chris.

GT: SomethingWitty

<Northern Deity> wrote in message
news:RrCdnUDf5bpphtHbnZ2dnUVZ8v6dnZ2d@bt.com...
> scoopex wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!
>
> > Northern Deity wrote:
> > > Zomoniac wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!
> > >
> > >> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements.
> > >
> > > Ergo it is **** then, and Bungie have already agreed to that fact!
> > >
> > >
> > > Halo 3 = just another jumpathon for merkins and simple people.
> >
> > Thats why over 5 million pre orders for the game are wrong you numpty.
> >
> > lol.
>
> Yes, and more than 5 million followed Hitler, doesn't make them right
> though.
>
> **** me, anyone complaining about the jaggies on Forza should play
> this, it is nothing more than an Xbox1 game, **** to look at with a
> poor framerate, and no new gameplay! Bungie should be embarrassed.

What's weird is that the beta has looked promising in the various clips
online but on my HDTV the lack of AA is quite startling and I'm no graphics
whore at all.

The interface is ok, though I found navigating to the saved film a bit
confusing.

> I picked up two power ups: Power Drain just empties your shield.
> Useful. Almost as useless is the bubble shield. The first problem is it
> only stops bullets coming in, not people, so if you use it in the heat
> of a battle then someone can still sneak up behind you and **** you
> over the head. The second problem is that it takes about two seconds
> from you dropping it for it to deploy, and you have to be within about
> a foot of it to be caught in the radius and protected. So basically you
> have to stand still for two seconds, which usually means death in any
> scenario where you'd feel compelled to use it.
>

Power Drain removes the shields of everyone around it. Meaning enemies
are pretty much 1shot.

The bubble shield has some very good tactical uses from what i have
seen. It can be used in doorways to stop incoming fire (you can just
stand behind it), in desperate situations it can provide a safe place
to reload, you can use it to recover your shield, if a sniper is
pinning you down you can just pop in it, you can take out turrets with
it (cover the turret with a bubble, although why you would want to i
dunno i am making these up as i go along!), you can hide the flag
carrier in it and defend him especially useful if he is nearly dead,
trap an enemy in there with a grenade!!, and loads more inventive uses
that no doubt the community will come up with. Its only been 6 hours!

One use i have found for it is that it attracts enemies like bait. On
high ground going into the path of the turret popping a shield and
seeing the turret guy constantly shoot me in vain, whilst the rest of
his team run towards me in order to melee me. Leaving the defences
wide open =)

On 2007-05-17 09:32:15 +0100, "Northern Deity" <> said:

> Zomoniac wrote: I did the dirty , it felt good!
>
>> It's good. Very good. Like Halo 2 with slight improvements.
>
> Ergo it is **** then, and Bungie have already agreed to that fact!

They said H2 single player was ****.


--
Zo