Halo 3 Assault Rifle detailed

Bungie releases information on one of the staples of its upcoming game; new AR will hold 32 rounds, has better range.

Da Chief with Bertha, his MA5C.

One weapon Halo players got awfully familiar with in the game was the MA5B Assault Rifle. With plenty of ammunition per magazine and solid effectiveness in midrange combat, the assault rifle was a jack-of-all-trades gun--specializing at nothing but ample in most situations.

The assault rifle gave way to the M7 Sub Machine Gun in Halo 2, but it's making its return in Halo 3. On its Web site, developer Bungie Studios has released in-depth information on the MA5C Assault Rifle in its latest update, following a debriefing on the Mongoose All-Terrain Vehicle.

Bungie describes the MA5C as being somewhere in between Halo's assault rifle and Halo 2's battle rifle. Like the battle rifle, a fully loaded MA5C holds 32 rounds--down from the 60 that the MA5B held per magazine. In exchange for the loss of rounds per clip, both the power and accuracy of the assault rifle have been improved.

Halo 3 is due out in 2007, with beta testing beginning this spring. For more information, read GameSpot's previous coverage.

268 Comments

  • haloboy10

    Posted Jun 8, 2008 1:33 pm PT

    I'm Sure the new and improved assualt rifle will live up to the name of the old one.

  • HandstaKingame

    Posted Aug 12, 2007 4:52 pm PT

    nice

  • spirit-reaper

    Posted Feb 6, 2007 3:38 pm PT

  • malmeid2

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 9:41 am PT

    WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE GUN HOLDS 32 BULLETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY LIFE IS NOW COMPLETE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder what type of a person actually considers this "news"... (Not to say that I'm not looking forward to Halo 3 though, because I am....)

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Jan 22, 2007 6:41 am PT

    Fry baby fry!

  • Daytona_178

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 7:08 pm PT

    DUDE THATS SOUNDS PRETTY COOL TO ME!!!

  • GabrielNHBnyc

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 3:14 pm PT

    They better have a option to go full auto on that thing. That's why everyone loved the first rifle.

  • Vash67

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 9:58 am PT

    You know a game is overhyped when a rifle gets pubicity for the game. Goddamn people! It's a normal weapon that should be found in every game!

  • Dante565

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 11:33 pm PT

    Wow an assault rifle thats some interesting news. (yawn)

  • r4v3gl0ry

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 7:47 pm PT

    This is great news cuz the SMG reeeeeeeks of dirt. The assault rifle is the best rifle!!!

  • AndysInsane515

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 7:04 pm PT

    uhhhh all it says is 32rounds...thats it?....man i was like hopeing for NEWS...i juss wanna play the game alreadyyyy...omg AHHHH =D....HALO3!!!!!

  • gmayronne

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 1:07 pm PT

    uuuuum this is "news", i know halo 3 is huge but this is the most bare bones halo 3 "news" ive ever heard, im sorry i wasted my time clicking on this.............

  • dbeddow

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 11:43 am PT

    GTCzeero: This is not a major news site, if that what you are wanting then go to CNN.com, there you wont see all the tibits about Halo. But if you are here for gaming then this is the type of news that you are likely to see.

    I never liked the assualt rifle, it was too weak, hopefully i can finally find a use for it in H3.

  • jmartinez1983

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 7:22 am PT

    GTCzeero: Its a story, and Halo is one of the most popular franchises out there. Anything related to it is going to be reported.

  • GTCzeero

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 4:33 am PT

    I like Halo, but how does this qualify as a major news story?

  • Pablo620

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:12 pm PT

    Chuck Norris will round house Master Chief any day of the week and end all this nonsense once in for all

  • Jedi_Osborn

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 7:07 pm PT

    not much info, but any news is news I guess

  • SimmySamSam

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 6:17 pm PT

    i remeber playing halo with my friends and we hated the assault rifle. it was to inaccurate at MEDIUM range, and only good for taking out grunts, halo 2's battle rifle wasn't much better, having more accuracy and punch, but no fully automatic fire and the worst klip size ever. but if u read the article (Like the battle rifle, a fully loaded MA5C holds 32 rounds--down from the 60 that the MA5B held per magazine. In exchange for the loss of rounds per clip, both the power and accuracy of the assault rifle have been improved.)its just a battle rifle with an assault rifle casing and fully automatic fire(which will just drane the clip faster)... and its not wuts on the outside...its wuts on the inside. I hope there is something special that pulls it through...or master chiefs is gonna be pissed...

  • Tree06

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 6:13 pm PT

    I can't wait for the achievement list for this game. This game will be hard as hell on lengendary. I hope it has coop play over Xbox Live.

  • MRD3ADmach4

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 3:53 pm PT

    this game will be the best.

  • crazy_boy166

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 2:43 pm PT

    cant wait for this

    this game alone is the reason im getting a 360 plus a thousand more

  • picklepik

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    Sweet. (Cartman-Style)

  • psgored21

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    weird how many negative halo comments there are up here...the rifle being a hybrid only makes sense, the pistol will probably be a hybrid too, you have do a delicate job trying to appease all those people that allegedly "suffered" thru the h2, im curious to see what button config they are going to come up with now considering wht and blk (or what they have become) are now reload, and if they keep the greenthumb layout (my favorite, wish gears had it).

  • siran_choke

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 12:18 pm PT

    who cares about some dumb assault rifle, we want to know more about the needler!

  • BILLNYE6983

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 12:16 pm PT

    "Korak33"

    That's not the reason that anyone (that I have heard from) didn't like Halo 2. The reason I personally say that the first Halo is a better game is because it is. Nothing in Halo 2 screems 'Halo 2' to me, it's more of a 'Halo 1.5'. That being said not much was added to Halo 2, and dual weilding weapons is not impressive in the least (you could do that on Golden Eye for N64). I think Halo 2 came out way too fast, most likely cause the original Xbox had no good exclusive titles other than Halo 2, as Halo also came out for PC, (there are a few that are debatable, but nothing stands out big time) which is why I didn't buy an Xbox (HOWEVER, that problem seems to be being fixed as they now have Gears, which I think is better than Halo, but that's just me). Honestly Halo 2 didn't really do anything better than the first game, adding a few weapons, vehicles, and maps doesn't really make a game a good sequal, a content pack could do the job in that case, and if your gonna throw the 'story' in that is stupid as Halo 2 had a horrible story, and a short one too. My major beef with Halo games in general is that they are perfect but at the same time, nothing is that innovative in then, even if the take things that everyone has done and made them better, it still doesn't feel unique to me, which is a big thing for me, a person who is mainly into 1 player games (like Zelda, GOW, DMC, RE) I'm used to playing those 'movie-esque' games that are unique and crazy, but Halo is a standard shooter, albeit an amazing one... but still.

    And that is why Halo 2 was not that good, well at least as not as good as the first one (and I mean that as in, in the what was it 2-3 years they made Halo 2, they could have done better, and that in it's time Halo was much better). Well to me at least.

    Anyway, I really hope Halo 3 turns out good, I may buy a 360 if it is, although still live is great I used to play Ghost Recon 2 everyday after school at my cousin's, but I don't know if I want to spend $50 to get pissed off at annoying twelve year olds...

  • Incubus420

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 12:08 pm PT

    They need alot of cool weapons because Resistance Fall of Man has a boat load that do crazy stuff and a blast to kill with...So lets just move on from the old weapons and get cracking on some sick ones...its supposed to be like a million years in the future and we are still using weapons our military still uses today and no one seems to care. With all those amazing looking spaceships and what not in the game the Humans should already have weapons that are sick enough to take out the COV in like 2 shots. So whats up with bringing back old guns that should be extinct...Don't get me wrong I love halo and all but resistance and gears are ready to put the series to bed, just my thought F''' you if you hate on it.

  • keyhunter

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 11:25 am PT

    They oughta bring back the old halo 1 magnum and ditch the scope. That would balance it out.

  • keyhunter

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 11:20 am PT

    There was a flamethrower in the halo 1 demo for PC...

  • Anuebis

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 11:12 am PT

    Nice Gun.

  • iliyun

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:39 am PT

    i still think i would like OG .. MA5-B

  • Get_Shorty

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:34 am PT

    Now what about the flamethrower they were supposed to have for Halo 2

  • darth-revan

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:19 am PT

    KORAK33 "This weapon is hybrid of Halo's assault rifle and Halo 2's battle rifle. Like the battle rifle, a fully loaded MA5C holds 32 rounds--down from the 60 that the MA5B held per magazine. There are less rounds per clip,but both the power and accuracy of the assault rifle have been improved. This sounds like a great compromise, to me. I agree,40 rounds would be a better number, per magazine. Hopefully, the origional pistol will return. One observation; Most people, that I know, liked both HALO games, equally. Those, that did not care for HALO2, usually, were not very good ,at playing the game! If you can't play that well: Don't trash the game! URN OUT! "

    as for the pistol,
    ive heard tons of rumors on it and saw it in the CG trailer. i dont think any of it holds any merrit however as bungie would rather have it balanced than that back in. ive noticed all everyone wants is a small sniper rifle with more ammo per clip, faster fireing power and less dmg. bah, forget what i say i still just want it back, BALANCE BE DAMNED

  • Yazu13

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:16 am PT

    You know, I wish that Halo didn't get special treatment all of the time, and by that I mean that every little snippet of news about the new Halo game gets a full news article on every website. Come on people, Halo 1 and 2 were fun, and Halo 3 is going to be great, but seriously, a full news article about one of the new guns in the upcoming Halo 3 even though it's just a slightly modified version of a gun in the other two Halos!

  • Zeroni76ers2131

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:12 am PT

    Wow!!!!!!(end sarcasm)

  • Paul_TheGreat

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:07 am PT

    This isn't worth the news.

  • GFofgaming

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 9:54 am PT

    Yep, the orignal pistol was very fun to use. Hm.., this guns looks promising.

  • mmduggans

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 9:13 am PT

    I agree, the original pistol should make a return as it was a solid and satisfying piece of the arsenal. Nothing feels better than scoping in and taking down a hunter in one shot. Probably true for most, but the Halo 1 pistol in the right hands was a force to reckon with.

  • KORAK33

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:47 am PT

    This weapon is hybrid of Halo's assault rifle and Halo 2's battle rifle. Like the battle rifle, a fully loaded MA5C holds 32 rounds--down from the 60 that the MA5B held per magazine. There are less rounds per clip,but both the power and accuracy of the assault rifle have been improved. This sounds like a great compromise, to me. I agree,40 rounds would be a better number, per magazine. Hopefully, the origional pistol will return. One observation; Most people, that I know, liked both HALO games, equally. Those, that did not care for HALO2, usually, were not very good ,at playing the game! If you can't play that well: Don't trash the game! URN OUT!

  • mmduggans

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:37 am PT

    Lets hope that with the reduced sized ammo cartridge that they have made room for the advanced micro coffee maker and we can pump master chief full of caffeine before he rushes in. And a nice scope system would be nice as well.

  • RobXIII

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:24 am PT

    As Long as it's automatic |I don't care. The sweetest thing about the first Halo was just coming across a hoard of Flood and just emptying your entire clip into their faces, and the resultant chaos...

  • terrabreak13

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:15 am PT

    Never played Halo 1 but in Halo 2 the Battle Rifle was godly. 32 rounds is kind of low but lets wait and see how powerful this weapon is.

  • SemiMaster

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 8:04 am PT

    The best thing about the original Halo was the battle rifle, please let this one not suck...

  • gmg157

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 7:57 am PT

    i am a fan of the old school battle rifle... lets see if halo 3 can live up to the hype

  • Legacyoftain

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 7:38 am PT

    Weapons sheapons......show me new gameplay features..you better be able to do more than run and jump this go around...take some cues from LP and Gears...cover fire > run and gun....grapple hook > all....lord forbid we expect more from the game we hail as "the best console shooter ever"..frankly after playing both games I find Lost Planet to be a more enjoyable MP experience just based on the variety..ya halo was "cooler" but LP was more innovative..I guess i am a whiner but dog gone it...wow me Bungie

  • dmastor

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 7:16 am PT

    dag more reloading for me to die from during multiplayer. gosh but bungie knows best for us. how we lose you bungie is halo 3 coming out this year anyway.

  • Berserker_2

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 6:14 am PT

    I know that everyone knows about the beta test. But it isn't just any beta test. It's a "public" beta test. For the 1 guy that hasn't heard of it, he may think that it's your typical internal beta test.

  • axillia

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:51 am PT

    Sweet, I'll take the assault rifle over the sub machine guns any day even if the clip is half the size.

  • lord-azrael

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:40 am PT

    i was praying for 60 round clip,it was so funky on original when you getting swarmed by flood and you just blasting away with rifle watching the little counter hit zero

  • vampiredust99

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:40 am PT

    Glad to see Bungie choosing to use a decent weapon in Halo 3. The Battle Rifle and SMG sucked in Halo 2.

  • Sheiko

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:28 am PT

    Meh 40 rounds would be better but if its from Bungie its gotta be good!

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