Halo 2 was my introduction to online gaming. Before being thrust into my first melee with
15 random geeks, I just didn’t see what the big deal was concerning online
gaming. Halo 2 changed all that. Running around an environment launching
rockets at a bunch of trash talking fools and watching them jump around like
fools trying to avoid shotgun blasts and needler shards put a smile on my jaded
face. This fun didn’t last too long
though. After about a month or two of
playing online, I moved on to other games and didn’t revisit Halo online for
about 6 or 7 months. When I jumped back
online, it was a massacre each and every match I joined. These trash talking
pre teens had gotten much better at both playing and coming up with imaginative
racist comments to yell while beating you with the ass end of their rifle. I stopped playing Halo 2 online almost
altogether. The only time I’d hop back on is when 7 or 8 of my friends got
together and hosted closed matches.
Halo 3 beta has a more comprehensive matchmaking system that
seems to be working much better than before.
Almost every match I’ve taken part in, I’ve felt like I could pull off a
victory or at least end in the top half of the match. Rather than matching people up based on how
many times they’ve played, matchmaking takes into account all sorts of other
stats to help make matches fair and more fun.
Each weapon in the game is balanced, meaning there don’t
seem to be useless weapons anymore. Dual
wielding weapons is even better than before now that each one can be reloaded separately,
ensuring a steady flow of fire. If you’d
rather not dual wield, there are plenty of weapon options and grenades spread
throughout each environment. A new
spiked grenade is my personal favorite. With a little practice, you can stick
the grenade onto some unfortunate soul’s face and watch as they desperately try
to get close enough to take you both out.
The grenades will also stick to walls, vehicles or ceilings which is
very helpful when retreating from an over anxious foe.
The items are great too. There is one bubble shield on each level which can be deployed at any time and will protect you from all types of fire. Other people can enter the bubble and kill you, but it's got to be close range. The energy drainer lays out a field which instantly depletes shields and will kill anyone who stays in it for more than a few seconds. The portable grav lift can be placed anywhere and shoots you 20 feet into the air, helping make new shortcuts or forcing that pesky vehicle to flip over your head just before it runs you over.
The three maps included in the beta are great. One takes place in a base by a beach with
rolling hills, crumbling walls and tons of short cuts, interior rooms and
underground passages. Another map is a snowy wasteland with two bases connected
via underground tubes and passages.
Above ground there are huge turrets scattered around the edges of the
map which wait for anyone to go out of bounds before firing mercilessly. There are plenty of hiding places for snipers
and enough places to hide underground for those of us who aren’t so hot with
the 3 different varieties of sniper rifles.
The third map has two bases on each end and rolling hills and cliffs between
them. Each base is equipped with a “Man
Cannon”. Simply step onto one of the three launch points and you’re instantly
shot across half the map while people on the ground below try to take you out
mid flight. Each of the three maps have
several vehicles including a new ATV which holds up to two people, one driver
and one hanging on the back providing covering fire.
There are several issues with the Beta, but none are
unexpected. There is occasional lag
which is annoying and has lead to several untimely deaths. This seems to be the worst when using the Man
Cannons. Sometime it takes several attempts before you are able to launch and
when watching players soar across the board, they seem a bit too jumpy and are
hard to get a target on. This will no
doubt be ironed out before the official release, that’s why there’s a beta
after all. The graphics are beautiful,
but with Gears of War fresh on all our minds, there’s still some work to be
done. Bungie will definitely be cleaning
up the graphics as that’s one of the last things that developers work on. Halo has always been about the game play, and
Halo 3 has that in aces.
If you own a 360, you owe it to yourself to go out and
pick up or rent a copy of Crackdown (A terrific game on its own) and check out
Halo 3 beta. This is a sure fire system
seller and could announce the end of the PS3 if (read when) coupled with a
price drop.