Halo 3

[Ziot]

Article: http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?link=ilikethisgame

Screenshots:
http://www.bungie.net/images/games/halo3/screenshots/H3_MPAlpha_ValhallaGoose.jpg
http://www.bungie.net/images/games/halo3/screenshots/H3_MPAlpha_SnowboundCarnage.jpg
http://www.bungie.net/images/games/halo3/screenshots/H3_MPAlpha_HighGroundAssault.jpg
http://www.bungie.net/images/games/halo3/screenshots/H3_MPAlpha_ValhallaLaser.jpg


ORGASM

http://www.bungie.net/images/games/halo3/screenshots/H3_MPAlpha_LaserFP.jpg

DANGER, THIS THING SHOOTS MOTHER FUCKING LASERS.

[SandDemon]

Eh, we'll see if they improve the game - for computer fps players, halo2 was crap

[auren]

Eh, we'll see if they improve the game - for computer fps players, halo2 was crap

halo 2 reinvinted xbox live, look at the popularity of halo 2 to counterstrike, quake 4, cod, or moh and the numbers are astronomical. i believe halo 2 knocked the FPS bar up tons to what it was before; as you can see now with tons of great FPS games like gears of war, fear, etc.. halo 3 will do the same imo.

[SandDemon]

Because a lot of people play it, doesn't mean it was good. Halo2 only made it because of xbox live and it's popularity - how'd Halo do on the PC, hmm? It'll never compare.

[Dunce]

GOW > all tyvm !

[auren]

Because a lot of people play it, doesn't mean it was good.

thats kind of ironic, people play games because they are good, not really because everyone else does

[Ralrra]

thats kind of ironic, people play games because they are good, not really because everyone else does

Or they play them because it's the only halfway-decent option for the type of game they want to play.

Take the Madden franchise for instance, while it has gotten better, a large portion of that game still sucks complete ass. Yet tons of people play it because it's the only game there is.

[Soruss]

Console fps? Pass.

I'm pretty sure comparing Halo in any incarnation to CS in terms of popularity and moving online gaming forward is pretty much laughable. Why you prefer one or the other isn't worth debating.

[Liger]

lost planet mp is pretty sick

[Roddyrotten]

thats kind of ironic, people play games because they are good, not really because everyone else does

Yeah and people don't like movies when they're in the theater, and then turn complete 180 when they realize everyone else loves it (I recently noticed this the most with napoleon dynamite). And people don't ever listen to the music they do because they radio says its good, or that the particular "artist" won American Idol.

Some people actually enjoy Halo. I thought for single player it was a solid game with decent story, voice acting and had a nice all-around flow to it. Multi-player sucks ass and is only considered the "best" because it IS... for xbox. For those without a mind of their own, which is sadly the majority of consumers, they buy what their friends tell them are "the best games ever" and automatically assume they are. They then deny that there will ever be a game better than it and will never think otherwise causing a snowball effect where as long as bungie keeps making halo and doesn't completely screw it up, people will buy it.... and camp-out in line to get it, 'cause they're dumb.


FPS games like gears of war

Have you played GoW? LOL! I didn't know the camera was behind you in FPS games. :P




I'll prolly play it, won't buy it unless it turns out to be amazing in some way (i.e. single player is awesome, or they have a really good co-op for campaign like in GoW).

[Athrun]

GoW is amazing online and will be having some serious tournaments in a year, like WCG, etc. mark my words

[auren]

haha you have me on the 3rd person thing, but it is technically both since you go to first person to aim. anyways i disagree with the halo 2 multiplayer. perhaps in free for all matches its not very great, but there is so much strategy in the group objective matches; there are very few games out there with that. but what sets halo 2 apart from those is the combat. graw is a game like that, but its such a quick kill in a slow paced game it's different.

to the other point; I dont believe halo 2 is a culture flare like you say it is. Look at snakes on a plane, that was intended to be a culture flare but it pretty much failed. napoleon dynamite is so pointless people had to watch to see if that was true, or that was why i saw it.

I would also say halo is in the position it is because it started out as the reason to get the xbox. The campaign was so good people bought it, on top of it was the best FPS (for console) ever made after the shithole that was the PS2. The campaign is the original reason i played halo 2, to do more of the story. The terrible cliffhanger ending sets halo 3 up so most people will get it.

[Ziot]

WHO CARES. IT SHOOTS FUCKING LASER BEAMS!?

[auren]

WHO CARES. IT SHOOTS FUCKING LASER BEAMS!?
gogo sentinel rocket launcher!

[Roddyrotten]

WHO CARES. IT SHOOTS FUCKING LASER BEAMS!?

I like u.

[Devilnaut]

halo 2 reinvinted xbox live, look at the popularity of halo 2 to counterstrike, quake 4, cod, or moh and the numbers are astronomical. i believe halo 2 knocked the FPS bar up tons to what it was before; as you can see now with tons of great FPS games like gears of war, fear, etc.. halo 3 will do the same imo.


Shrug... I am a big UT2k4 DMer and Halo 2 is nowhere close


I cannot comprehend how anyone would play a console FPS EVER after being into any of the really kickass PC ones... I noodle around with a controller and I just feel like a big douchebag. Metroid, Halo, Goldeneye, and all ten thousand of those army games can all go to hell.

like.. if some guy on a pc could come into a halo 2 match with a UT character and play according to UT physics he would smash everyone..

[auren]

Shrug... I am a big UT2k4 DMer and Halo 2 is nowhere close


I cannot comprehend how anyone would play a console FPS EVER after being into any of the really kickass PC ones... I noodle around with a controller and I just feel like a big douchebag. Metroid, Halo, Goldeneye, and all ten thousand of those army games can all go to hell.

like.. if some guy on a pc could come into a halo 2 match with a UT character and play according to UT physics he would smash everyone..

you are comparing apples and oranges here, UT is wayy different than halo 2 in the fact it is a fast paced fragfest. halo 2 is more strategy based not run and gun. i cant think of any computer FPSes that are as strat based as halo 2 in objective matches, which is where it shines.

just think about it, since you prefer ultimate fast paced fragfest games like UT deathmatch, then of course you will prefer it. but how do UTs objective match games compare to halo's? they dont hold a dime.

edit: plus you are now ocmparing relative strength of characters in 2 games, how does that hold?

[Soruss]

WHO CARES. IT SHOOTS FUCKING LASER BEAMS!?

pew pew lazer gunz.

[Soruss]

i cant think of any computer FPSes that are as strat based as halo 2 in objective matches, which is where it shines.

I'm pretty sure you haven't played any computer FPS at all.

[auren]

cod, cod2, mohaa, mohaas, mohaab, halo, bf 1942, bf vietnam, Ut 2004, quake 4, bf 2, far cry, doom 3; is that enough? compare any of those to a standard 5v5, 8v8 coagulation standard CTF match with 2 *skilled* teams, they simply dont hold.

[SandDemon]

Yeah but did you ever play action quake? Rocket arena 2? How about doom 1? quake1 with the nailgun? Or better yet, mutha-fucking Alien vs Predator 2?!? Listen kid, you don't know FPS! Halo 2 has always been shit, and will always be shit compared to the classics. Ever hear of any serious professional gamers playing Halo2? Exactly.

You a serious UT2k4 DMer Devilnaut or just for fun? I've won a few tournaments although I must admit it's been a few months since I've touched it.

[Soruss]

standard CTF match with 2 *skilled* teams

Standard CTF is something that many of the aforementioned PC games have.

You mentioned that the strategy is only visible between skilled teams which indicated that it is rather subtle and something that you pick up through experience. You're more than likely only experienced with Halo and so those are the only strategies you're familiar with. And I'd be willing to bet that you aren't experienced enough with any of the aforementioned games to know about the strategies that *skilled* teams use.

I'd also like to see your response to Devilnaut's claim that console controllers are insufficient to even allow any console FPS to compete competitively with a PC FPS. A claim I agree with btw.

[Soruss]

Listen kid, you don't know FPS!

Oh no an old man has stuck his head into the ring! ;p

[auren]

Yeah but did you ever play action quake? Rocket arena 2? How about doom 1? quake1 with the nailgun? Or better yet, mutha-fucking Alien vs Predator 2?!? Listen kid, you don't know FPS! Halo 2 has always been shit, and will always be shit compared to the classics. Ever hear of any serious professional gamers playing Halo2? Exactly.

never touched any old FPSes, graphics are too pathetic. on the controller thing, mouses are more precise, but i prefer buttons over the keyboard.


You mentioned that the strategy is only visible between skilled teams which indicated that it is rather subtle and something that you pick up through experience. You're more than likely only experienced with Halo and so those are the only strategies you're familiar with. And I'd be willing to bet that you aren't experienced enough with any of the aforementioned games to know about the strategies that *skilled* teams use.

the strategy is far from subtle, there are 1001 ways to get a flag from the enemies base into yours while defending your own. If you dont believe me go read the original post by bungie ziot has. that is one screenshot with half a page of strat. In other games, objective matches dont appeal to me, only ffa fragfests/ts matches are fun. i have done CTF in quake 4 and it just doesnt take the strategy because you dont have options to get away, team slayer matches are my absolute favorite because i have great reactions and can decimite any team with a railgun.

[SandDemon]

never touched any old FPSes, graphics are too pathetic. on the controller thing, mouses are more precise, but i prefer buttons over the keyboard.


Hah, shows how much you know....as if graphics made the game - go play Lineage or Hello-Kitty World ya whipper-snapper! AvP2 owns you any day of the week and twice on Sunday! Kids these days....

And no serious FPS-maniac uses a keyboard these days anyways. Nostromo n52 gamepads are the best option. X-box controllers blow anyways - I thought this debate was about PC versus Console anyways....and you still haven't brought up the fact that Halo did absolutely shitty on the PC. That and the fact that Halo is never taken seriously in any competitive sense?

I think there's a game out there for you that might do you well, kiddie...it's called Railroad Tycoon. Get outta the way, kid - real FPS men are walking around here!

And if you EVEN bring up the Wii as a viable FPS game because "I can duck behind the couch and shoot!".....god have mercy on your soul. "BOOM! HEADSHOT!" - was he talking about Halo? Absolutely not.

/end oldman rant

Now where's my System Shock disks...

[Ziot]

Halo is actually pretty big competitively

[Soruss]

Halo is actually pretty big competitively

Certainly. But it's naive to act like it has more strategy than PC games that are very similar.

[SandDemon]

Halo is actually pretty big competitively

Never seen big cash prizes for Halo tourneys in the professional leagues, although I could be out with the times since I haven't been in that area for a few months....but it was always UT2k4 and CS:Source when I left. I've seen some local stuff or smaller tourneys, but you'd never see the big names there.

[Emilenda]

Or better yet, mutha-fucking Alien vs Predator 2?!?

Man I loved that game.

[SandDemon]

Man I loved that game.

everyone did :)

[Devilnaut]

edit: plus you are now ocmparing relative strength of characters in 2 games, how does that hold?


I guess what I meant was that UT2k4 gives you so much more control over what you can do; not that the characters are inherently more powerful or anything, just that the control mechanisms seem very limiting on console. There are worlds and worlds of strategy in one UT2k4 DM game, but I agree that it is (or can be) very fast paced.

As for more overarching objective-based strategy, shrug... I never got that into Halo 2 to notice, so fair point. I found bombing run in UT2k4 to be a lot of fun, but people hardly play it. Had no interest in the onslaught mode.

BF1942 I played a lot though and it seemed to have pretty good strategy. Is Halo 2 comparable or how is it different?

[Devilnaut]

You a serious UT2k4 DMer Devilnaut or just for fun? I've won a few tournaments although I must admit it's been a few months since I've touched it.

Just for fun, I never do 1-1's and play (well I don't play currently) only in pubs. I got good enough that I could reliably win most public servers but at that point there is a certain threshold that requires me getting a new computer (mine is pretty fucking old) and a new mouse / mousepad etc, and seeking out some other serious players to compete with, that I just never bothered to cross.

Had a hell of a lot of fun with it though and I still reinstall now and then and play for a few months..

[Margus]

Ye' good ol' UT2k4...ahh that we're good times :D

[auren]

BF1942 I played a lot though and it seemed to have pretty good strategy. Is Halo 2 comparable or how is it different?

I dont like BF all that much because it is hard to lead 20-30 other people you never will come in contact to again, so its often just everyone go off on and do their own thing. I never wanted to get into a clan or start a clan for BF, where as halo i had a good group of friends irl who i played with a ton.

Back to your orignal question, since the main game type in BF is capture the node, but halo's is mainly CTF. The thing is, you get so many choices in BF, and some are the total wrong choice so really in a clan match i guess you'd have to have a great leader; even though you need a leader in halo, its more based on individual skill and knowing your group's strength and weaknesses. Take for example CTF Coagulation (def my favorite), there is only 1 sniper per side so it's very important for your team's best sniper to get ahold of that. Then the other 3 run in and assault. One of the biggest things that makes or breaks a team is cooperation, where as i never noticed that in BF.

[Garim]

cod, cod2, mohaa, mohaas, mohaab, halo, bf 1942, bf vietnam, Ut 2004, quake 4, bf 2, far cry, doom 3; is that enough? compare any of those to a standard 5v5, 8v8 coagulation standard CTF match with 2 *skilled* teams, they simply dont hold.

All awful not single one of those games comes close to Q3 or CS in terms of gameplay.

[keboman]

Q3 Rocket Arena is as good as it gets for competition. It all comes down to skill, ping, and voodoo in the console.

[auren]

All awful not single one of those games comes close to Q3 or CS in terms of gameplay.
cs is the most boring fps i have ever played. I have never played quake 3 but i cant imagine a great game producer like id making the sequel to a very popular game worse than the original... but i dont know my view may be skewed.

[SandDemon]

If you're referring to Doom3 or Quake4, they fucking suck - Q3 and Q2 were the best

[Bress]

If you're referring to Doom3 or Quake4, they fucking suck - Q3 and Q2 were the best

I thinkQ2 is good , but Q3 is a snooze bomb.
And as you've noticed people have different opinion (that explains the "I think" part) and just because you think a game is bad there could be hundreds of other thinking the opposite.

So you can never say that something absolutely does suck, just conjecture that think it does.

[SandDemon]

Q3 screwed up the railgun, gave it a delay - id may be innovative with their engines, but their thought process sucks. Railguns with delays...riiight

[auren]

Q3 screwed up the railgun, gave it a delay - id may be innovative with their engines, but their thought process sucks. Railguns with delays...riiight

so a critical weapon of a game is terribly flawed, which makes it amazing...?

[SandDemon]

so a critical weapon of a game is terribly flawed, which makes it amazing...?

Incomparison, it's not as good as Quake2 - Quake3 still showboats Halo anyday of the week. Rocket Arena 3 was the some of the most fun I've had...while everytime I tried Halo2 I was like "that's it?"

[Ziot]

http://www.cad-media.com/mediaitem.php?mid=233&c=xbox360

Multi-player beta test

[drozz]

so do i

[keboman]

Incomparison, it's not as good as Quake2 - Quake3 still showboats Halo anyday of the week. Rocket Arena 3 was the some of the most fun I've had...while everytime I tried Halo2 I was like "that's it?"

The nice thing about the halo games is you can play them with regular people and they'll have fun. Quake3 RA has such a steep learning curve it'd take years for a non-pc fps player to be competitive.

Do you want to talk on the mic with ]clanasskicking[jackthequake666 or Hotgirl18?

[SandDemon]

1) I don't care whose on the mic, as long as their good - if you're attempting to meet chicks in X-box live, you got serious issues. Get a life.

2) What's wrong with learning curves? Notice any competitions of Minesweeper out there? Sometimes it's *good* to make a game challenging so *gasp* you might actually have to work at it.

[keboman]

1) It was a joke.
2) Yeah, I want to invite a friend of mine over who doesn't play video games and have him play Quake3 with me. That will work great.

[SandDemon]

Friend that doesn't play video games? You and I have vastly different friend basis :)

[Ziot]

Bungee thread: http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=9311325


Ok, the beta is up!!

I might want to make another entry later though because as the great Louis Wu said:
<LouisWu> It's possible (unlikely, but possible) that the random number submitted to the SWF is also passed through to the registration form - and if it doesn't exist, they MIGHT (probably woudn't) void the entry.

Requirements


Please note that in order to register* for the beta, you must be 17 years or older and a resident of the 50 United States (includes District of Columbia) or Canada. If selected to participate, you must have access to the following:

- An Xbox 360 Pro console (includes hard-drive) or an Xbox 360 Core console with hard drive
- A valid Xbox Live Gold subscription
- A valid Microsoft. NET Passport account with a Xbox Live gamertag linked

1. ) http://www.microsoft.com/games/38A1CF4E-721B-AC63-FF43/halo3/shell.swf

2. ) http://www.microsoft.com/games/38A1CF4E-721B-AC63-FF43/halo3/coming/shell.swf?id=0001

3. ) https://reg.msgamestudios.com/default.aspx?site=Halo3Teaser

4. ) http://www.microsoft.com/games/38A1CF4E-721B-AC63-FF43/halo3/coming/shell.swf?id=0001

Just keep trying with the flash pages, you gotta go through the flash in order to get your id through beta registration.

[Roddyrotten]

Wii > Halo 3