Halo 3 Beta Impressions

May 27th, 2007, 18:42 Posted By: Triv1um

Via Games Toaster

Halo 3 is going to break all sorts of records upon its release later this year, that much is almost certain. The original game single-handedly moved XBoxen from shop shelves for the best part of a year, and its sequel topped the charts both in retail and on Xbox Live. With the second sequel almost upon us, we've taken a look at the multi-player beta.

The first thing you'll notice is the familiarity of it all. The weapon load-out is tweaked here and there, but remains largely unchanged. Your avatar is still the Master Chief, and he's still running around the same rocky, grassy vistas and snowy tundra as in previous games.

Worse, the graphics aren't the giant leap forward one would expect from the blockbuster series' debut on the Xbox 360. There are some nice environmental effects - grenades fling up dirt, water sloshes around you and so on - but the textures aren't sharp, the architecture is perhaps too sharp, and the rocky plains lack real definition. It's not quite last-gen, but it's a far cry from platform-leading visuals.

For this gamer, however, the biggest bone of contention is the community. With only the press and those who have access through the Crackdown promotion currently able to play the beta, it is perhaps too early to judge accurately, but on current conditions, the community is not a very welcoming place. As an American-produced game about a alien-battling space marine, the audience is understandably populated by over-enthusiastic, under-sexed teenagers, who endeavor to suck the fun out of proceedings. Whether it's a problem with the matchmaking-system, the community itself or something else is unknown, but this is a major issue for the casual gamer, and one which will hopefully be addressed upon release.

Based on the beta, Halo 3 is shaping up to be very much evolution over revolution. For fans of the series, of which there are many, this will prove to be enough. For those still on the sidelines, they're likely to be underwhelmed, even put off by those fans who insist on taking things so seriously.

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