Laugher's Halo 3 Beta Review

[Laugher]

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the Beta and I while the Beta is very fun and exciting at first, it does get repetitive as it does only have 3 maps. I think the final version that will be released in September will drastically improve because I think Bungie is going to listen to its fans. After all, we are Beta testing Halo 3 and Beta testers are supposed to point out the flaws and such in a Beta. Let's take a look at the Halo 3 Beta and what needs to change.

The Assault Rifle
The Assault Rifle is the default starting weapon for the majority of the matchmaking games in Halo 3. As I played around and got a few games in here and there, I noticed the Assault Rifle isn't much of an improvement over the SMG in Halo 2. It plays that same role. It's that gun that you start off with that you can't do anything with against an already well-equipped player unless your in close quarters combat. To fix this, Bungie should increase its hit damage and the clip size should be increased to around 50. This needs to be done for the Assault Rifle to be worthy of one's starting weapon.

The Battle Rifle
As the Battle Rifle currently stands, I think it is perfect for Halo 3. If the starting weapon was to be changed the Battle Rifle, I think it would produce a larger skill gap than in Halo 2. This will allow the more skilled players to actually outplay the lesser skilled players whereas in Halo 2 there wasn't much of a skill gap and a lesser skilled player could quickly take down a more skillful player. I also think that Bungie should change the clip size back to 36 instead of 32. You only can squeeze 10 shots out with the 32-clipped Battle Rifle but you can squeeze 12 shots out with the 36-clipped Battle Rifle. You may think that doesn't really matter but it is a drastic change when it comes to reloading and finishing kills.

The Sniper Rifle
Being close to perfect in Halo 3, I think the Sniper Rifle will see a new era in terms of sick kills with it taking more skill to use this time around. I expect to see already great snipers such as Gandhi or Killer N to dominate with this sniper if they choose to play it competitively. The slow rate of fire keeps it from being overly powerful and that's a good thing oppose to Halo 2's sniper which could pick a couple of people off right from their spawn points.

The Spartan Laser
I love this weapon. I think the Spartan Laser is the new Rocket Launcher. It takes a decent amount of skill to use and it is actually a power weapon in Halo 3 Beta. We are seeing alot of what we used to call power weapons in Halo 2 becoming almost useless.

The Rocket Launcher
Bungie turned this weapon upside down. The Rocket Launcher went from being a power weapon that teams struggled to get their hands on to a little measly weapon that doesn't have much splash damage and fires at a reeeeallly slow rate. Bungie needs to fix this in order for anyone to even want to get their hands on the Rocket Launcher.

The Carbine
I think this weapon is perfect as well for the Halo 3 Beta. It is another weapon that you will WANT to pick up as you find it and you will know you can get a couple of kills off with it. Instead of hearing players say, "Gandhi's got the rockets on Blue 2!", I think you will hear players yelling "Watch out! Gandhi's got a Carbine!" I think this will be a weapon that smarter teams will maybe get in a fight over if Bungie strategically places it around the map.

The Needler
There has been quite a talk about this little fellow. Bungie had talked about upgrading the Needler but man I think they took it a bit too far. The Needler is the most powerful close-range weapon with you only having to hold the trigger down for a few seconds to kill someone and with its big clip size. I'm actually not sure what Bungie should do about this one. I'm not sure if they should downgrade it to make its hit damage that of an Assault Rifle or they should or what.

The Brute Spiker
I like this weapon. The Brute Spiker is going to get the kids back on Halo 3 who were in it for the dual wields. I haven't seen the Brute Spiker as a very dominant weapon yet. I've been killed easily by some dual Brute Spikers but that happens seldomly. I think this gun is a perfect fit.

The Grenades
Oh, boy! The Grenades! Bungie really screwed up on this one. The grenades have the weirdest arch in Halo 3 and you don't get much distance out of them unless you throw a Plasma grenade into a Man-cannon. Bungie should bring back a lesser damaging version of the Halo 2's grenade. I think it would be a perfect fit for Halo 3.

Deployables
I love these things! They are awesome. Deployables add a new exciting mix to the Halo era. I think we are going to see alot of new tactics and strategies based around Deployables. I look forward to it.


I'm done with the weapons so let's move on to some other aspects of the Beta such as the objectives, graphics, and the controversial button layout.


The Objectives
Bungie took it way too far in Halo 3 this time. The Oddball is an easy kill with it being a 1-punch kill. You don't even have to jump. You just melee a person and their dead. I kind of like this though because it is actually going to give the ball guy a chance to be aggressive and have some sort of defense when wielding the ball. Halo 3 Beta's Hill is rediculous. There is no need for a 30 foot tall Hill that is close to being opaque. I think Bungie needs to bring back the Halo 2 hill and keep it that way. Let's get to the flag. The Flag doesn't have any bounce this time around. The bouncing of a flag played a key and versatile part in Halo: CE and Halo 2. I don't think Bungie should remove this aspect because it is going to take away alot of the skill used to run the flag.

The Vehicles
The Vehicles are way too easy to topple over and they need alot more stability to even be considered useful other than some quick transportation. I am depressed because I can't ramp a warthog into the air without it flipping over.

The Button Layout
Sure, the button layout takes some time to get used to but it's a perfect button layout in my opinion. All they need to do is take out the Dpad-to-talk function and it'll be good. I think we should be able to talk to each other without hitting a button (e.g. Gears of War).

The Heads Up Display (HUD)
I kind of like the new Heads Up Display besides a few things here and there. When I played the Beta, I noticed that no one shows up on your radar until they are right next to you almost. I think they need to expand the radar's capabilities a little bit. On a second note, when you go to pick up a weapon, a very faded silhouette of the weapon you are standing over appears at the top right of your HUD and is very hard to make out. You actually have to sit there and study it to see what is. I think Bungie should make this a little more visible to the eye. Other than those two things, I like the HUD.

Graphics
While the graphics are reminiscent of Halo 2, I don't care. They still look great and I think they will look even better in the final version. The graphics are not the best but they suit Halo for being a FPS.

[x Euphoria]

=) i got to play the beta for the first time today at my friends house and when I was playing i had trouble with it for just a little because of like the opacity of the weapon things and it was just different. But I pretty much agree to everything you said about the beta. Good write up :]

[Pooner]

you might want to elaborate on your comment that the recoil takes the skill out of sniping, because it seems to be a bit contradictory. most of your descriptions were pretty nice though.

you start it out like it's going to be a formal article/review with that opening little paragraph and with some of the comments you made about the weapons. your language however, was very casual so i was a bit confused about that. it works very well if you intended it to be the more informal.

you forgot to capitalize Christ's

[Laugher]

I've stayed up for like 24 hours now. I don't really give a fuck. No offence. I'd do a better job when I care. I just can't go to sleep.

[R o c K 3 T]

Wow some many Beta reviews. I think i might even make one...

[LeGeNdZ]

Originally Posted by R o c K 3 T

Wow some many Beta reviews. I think i might even make one...

Don't you suck.

Nice review Mclaugh. I aree with pretty much everything.

[ShocKTecK]

I really hope someone from the bungie design team reads this because you hit all the right points. nice job

[Popcorn Zombie1]

i agree with mostof your opinion exept the missle pod, everyone knows its quite hard to use at distant combat, in close range you can pick up some cheap one shot kills, but it has an advantage over 3 crazy spartans rolling up to you in a warthog, the fact that the turrets are made to be heavier gives people a chance to fight back to.

[Tattie]

Originally Posted by Laugher

First off, let me say that Halo 3 Beta is an extremely exciting and fun game for a BETA that is. I think we all know it will be alot better when the final game rolls out in September. But to ensure that Halo 3 is a good game, I think Bungie needs to do a bit of tweaking to the game.

Assault Rifle: Let's start off with the AR since it is the starting default weapon in almost every game on the Beta. The AR is an overall improvement over the SMG start in Halo 2 but not by much. The AR needs more power. I think Bungie should increase its clip size to 64 and the AR needs to hand out a little more damage. Let's say around 25% more damage to be worthy of a starting weapon.

Battle Rifle: The Battle Rifle is back in the Halo 3 Beta and it is worse for the better, in my opinion. I think this can be a good thing if you look at the bigger picture. I think the BR is close to perfect for the Beta. If Bungie changed the starting weapon to a BR then there would be a wider skill gap where the good players can dominate the lesser skilled players instead of the lesser skilled player being able to kill more dominate players easily. That is a good thing. I think Bungie needs to bring back the 36 clip size and take out the 32. The BR fires 3 bullets in 1 burst so you can get 10 shots with the 32 and 12 shots with the 36. I think the BR deserves it because of the downgrade in hit damage.

Rockets: Bungie made the Rockets close to useless now. The Rockets feel like they shoot out 50% slower than Halo 2's and it doesn't have a big splash radius so basi