Halo 3 beta in May, new video now

  • By Emma Boyes, Tim Surette, GameSpot UK
  • Posted Apr 10, 2007 4:58 am PT

[UPDATE] Bungie's shooter open for testing worldwide on May 16; new "Vidoc" shows off never-before-seen features including instant replay, shield grenades, man cannon.

For those lucky gamers who managed to nab themselves a Halo 3 beta key over the last couple of months, the wait is almost over to test-drive the new first-person shooter. The multiplayer beta will be going live on May 16 on Xbox Live globally, Microsoft announced today.

Halo 3 Multiplayer

The staff at Bungie talks about Halo 3. Plus, bubble grenades!

The announcement also scotched rumours that there would be two different beta start dates for those who had got their beta keys either through the Rule of Three promotion or through purchasing a specially marked copy of Crackdown. Access to the beta will be rolled out simultaneously worldwide at 1 p.m. GMT (5 a.m. PDT) on May 16, and will end on June 7 at 7:59 a.m. GMT (June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT). Those who have not yet obtained a Halo 3 beta key can still sign up by buying a copy of the Xbox 360 game Crackdown.

There will be three maps available to play--Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla--which will "represent a mixture of large- and medium-scale combat environments." New vehicles will include the nimble Mongoose all-terrain vehicle, and new weapons will be available, such as the "new and improved" Assault Rifle, the Brute Spiker, the Spartan Laser, and Spike Grenades.

On Bungie.net, community liaison Frank O'Connor makes the disclaimer that the Halo 3 multiplayer beta isn't completely indicative of the final product that is releasing this fall. O'Connor says there may be some "quirks, a couple roughedges and all that jazz," and that testers' focus should be on gameplay rather than snazzy graphics.

Even though the beta will include the aforementioned new vehicles and weapons, Bungie isn't pulling out all its tricks until the fall. "...a lot of secret features are hidden in this Beta," says O'Connor. "We're keeping a lot of our powder dry for fall."

But for those who can't wait for May 16 to see the game in action, Bungie has released a "Vidoc" titled "Is Quisnam Protero Damno" that shows off the multilpayer portion of Halo 3 in action. The video is now available at Bungie.net, Xbox Live Marketplace, and GameSpot.

In the short, several new features of the game are shown off, including the Spartan-launching man cannon (and the inevitable sniper picking helpless players out of the air), the shield grenade first shown off in the Halo 3 TV ad, and instant replay, complete with customizable camera angles and freeze-framing for recounting pure ownage.

O'Connor also says that the mysterious function of the X-button is also revealed in the video, but doesn't explain exactly what it does in the announcement on Bungie.net. However, on the Bungie.net forums, he says "X Button is DEPLOY EQUIPMENT" (emphasis in original) and that it is shown three times in the video. Halo fans are assuming that the Shield Grenades and Trip Mines (explained in the video) are two of the instances, and the third may be a portable gravity lift (watch the blue Spartan on the left side of the screen 23 seconds into the video) which allows players to boost up to higher ground with ease.

For more information on Halo 3, read GameSpot's previous coverage.

937 Comments

  • Warthog259

    Posted May 9, 2007 1:08 pm PT

    the graphics are amazinbg dont no wat ur talking about im about to make a comparison i mean look at the graphics when they were all in a small map and shooting at each other. 10x better then halo 2 graphics. these graphics are better and good

  • Geoff_Geebs

    Posted May 5, 2007 5:29 am PT

    Gotta agree with mike on this one, hell yeah halo is an awesome game, and if halo3 is all its cracked up to be it might persuade me to get an x-box. But at this moment, the game footage looks pretty much equal to halo 2.

    p.s. loving the way that masterchiefs armour just keeps getting more greased up and shiny, i know that your armour will apparntly get damaged, but trying to sneak up on someone with armour thats brighter than the sun itself, dayyyym.. you gonna get owned.

    p.p.s its alllll about GTAIV

  • Incubus420

    Posted May 1, 2007 10:17 pm PT

    It kinda looks the same as Halo 2....Thats not good enough for me, When he got snipped in the air he fell into water but the water never moved i hope that was just the beta graphics and they will sharpen things up when it gets closer to release date. Its on the 360 no not the xbox...I know the 360 is weak but it can't be that weak spice it up alittle.

  • Goku30

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 1:56 pm PT

    Halo 3 is going to be the best game for 360.

  • Mike_Carrington

    Posted Apr 24, 2007 2:00 am PT

    RainbowUnicorn: I laugh at those who say Halo 3 is going to own the PS3. Im Not a fanboy for the PS3. i love the Halo series. But i hate those who dont think to play other games than JUST Halo, live halo, breath halo, and Paint their Capn' Crunch box's to Masta' Chiefs Snaps. If you can actually agree with me and say that 360 Fanboys are fool of themselves with Halo, then Throw Up Holla.

    i love halo1 and 2 and know i will love halo 3, that doesnt mean im a 360 fanboy and want to see it kill ps3 or anythin, i plan to buy a ps3 when price drops becoz i cant afford one at the moment and then horror of horrors i will own rival consoles, the fanboy universe will be shaken.

  • FullSurface

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 5:33 pm PT

    Cool So when is Bungie gonna delay the beta again.... MGS4

  • MoDollars

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 9:25 pm PT

    if any one wants to know things that maybe come out on halo 3 go to
    http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/halo-wish-list.htm
    im not sure if it's true but it's amazing !

    submit a reveiw to tell me what you think

  • scalaneckian

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:21 am PT

    halo 3 is gonna be sick

  • mrmuppet

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:51 am PT

    I just hope they don't focus completely on multiplayer. The campaign needs to be equally as good.

  • RainbowUnicorn

    Posted Apr 20, 2007 9:54 pm PT

    I laugh at those who say Halo 3 is going to own the PS3. Im Not a fanboy for the PS3. i love the Halo series. But i hate those who dont think to play other games than JUST Halo, live halo, breath halo, and Paint their Capn' Crunch box's to Masta' Chiefs Snaps. If you can actually agree with me and say that 360 Fanboys are fool of themselves with Halo, then Throw Up Holla.

  • devious122799

    Posted Apr 20, 2007 1:36 pm PT

    Rumor has it the 360 elite will have access to the Halo 3 beta.

  • O_OdazX_X

    Posted Apr 20, 2007 12:18 pm PT

    I liked Halo 1 & 2, i never quite understood all the hype and this is the biggst hyped one yet, everyone knows it will be good yadda yadda and it's an undenyable buy even if just for the online - erm where am i going with this? Anyway yeah the only x360 owners that wont buy this are the people that intentionally don't want to like Halo or doesn't like FPSs I'm neither, and I'm sure many of you are so I look forward to playin some of you guys.

  • MegaKnuckles

    Posted Apr 20, 2007 10:07 am PT

    I hope campaign is more like the first game

  • Esteban011487

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 9:38 am PT

    Waiting to come out!. It better not suck!!.

  • Drgn_slyr

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 9:30 am PT

    wait i know it is going to rock.

  • Drgn_slyr

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 9:22 am PT

    i cant wait for halo 3, i think it is going to rock.

  • Mike_Carrington

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 7:53 am PT

    mines wud slow it down becoz ppl will constantly be checking to make sure they are not about to trigger a mine, so will be moving around slower, i hate mines, they suck

  • kakashi_00x000

    Posted Apr 19, 2007 6:44 am PT

    i read the mines and bubble grenade are hard-to-find, and i don't see how mines would slow it down.

  • jetjedi

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 6:01 pm PT

    moneymaking owns )

  • mace8704

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 3:47 pm PT

    To Flowzmental: It's a genius idea. Buy our mediocre game so you can play an amazing game before everyone else.

  • jetroe

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 1:03 pm PT

    In response of FLOWZMENTAL's comment, I think it is pretty useless to get the legendary edition, simply because you can just google the videos that our on the disks. I do that kind of stuff all the time. They won't be HD but still, it gives you the basics. I'm not burning the idea or anything, I just think it is a little useless for me to buy legendary edition for something that will be out on the web sooner than later.

  • FLOWZMENTAL

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 12:37 pm PT

    Lets get this straight I have to buy an over simplified game called Crackdown just to play the Halo 3 beta. Why in God's name can't they just release a payable download of $8 600ms points for the beta? Wait! I know they want you to buy their Crapdown game. And 600 points is all I will pay for the demo, I mean it's just a demo plus I already paid $130 for the lengendary set. I mean come on Square Enix released a free FFXI beta demo out for like 4mos. Bungie can do pretty much the same.

  • coldjonathan

    Posted Apr 18, 2007 7:04 am PT

    Looking down the page, there's a lot of people who hate the halo series. Lets just get this straight. a) It's an amzingly enjoyable game to play. Really. b) Well, despite what some say, the campaigns weren't bad. Halo 1 was fairly well thought out, and original- a giant ring, the flood, the covenant. And when it came out, it had some truly beautiful graphics. Halo 2 gained in playability and graphics, but its true that the campaign was a bit jumpy, but at the core it was amazing.

    So Halo rocks, so far.
    So they had better make this one even better. Lol. Don't screw it up. Pleeease.

    And some of these new ideas look great fun- for online play in big competitions, as long as they are limited and not over used.

    Overall, I can't wait till 3 comes out. It's going to be great.

  • patmacfad

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 9:15 pm PT

    I hope that tripmine isn't easy to obtain. It would probably nerf the usefulness of armed vehicles if they were placed all over the map.

  • mrfrieze

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 5:09 pm PT

    We will see, let's hope it's better the 2.

  • Wardenb

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 1:12 pm PT

    i don't see anything wrong with the graphics, and im very picky, the mines are a good thing im my veiw, just think about it like timespliters 2, going online and laying trip mines everywere hahaaa oh the good days =]

  • jetroe

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 1:09 pm PT

    I really hope they keep their skills up on the physics, cause when you get shot from the air you wouldn't wave your hands around while falling, you'd just be flat out dead. I think that if you shoot someone and your not a noob you would be able to kill them before they get a chance to drop their bubble-shields unless they have over-shield, then your not a noob, there are just not enough bullets in a clip of a battle rifle to take the guys over-sheild down and kill him before he turns around and throws that bubble-shield down. Overall I think it's really good so far. Can't wait to play!

  • Mike_Carrington

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 6:14 am PT

    mines are stupid, they will slow the game down, the reason halo is so good is because of the pace of multiplayer, maybe thats just me seeing as how ive never been a fan of mines on any FPS

  • Kruegmeister

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 9:11 pm PT

    I don't think the Trip Mines and Shield Grenades will take away at all.
    Anyone remember Duke Nukem 3D. (No Not Duke Forever).

    They had Pipe Bombs, Laser Trip Mines, Jetpacks, Moving Trains and Buses.
    They all made for some really interesting Multi-player matches. Setting up Traps for people, or protecting your blind side with Laser Trip Mines made for great strategical and some times hilarious take-downs. Sometimes getting killed would be as fun as the reciprocal.

    I would personally like to see even more variety in the weapons. That is one of Resistance's Strong points is the variety of ways you can take some one out. But, Resistance Lacks the Vehicles in Multi-Player

    More Weapons, More Vehicles, More Mines, Grenades, Planes, Jets, Jet Packs, WaveRunner... It's all Good.
    Even if it creates unbalance in some weapons. We can always toggle certain weapons out of the Match when we set it up.

  • jeffyess

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 4:08 pm PT

    lol its a beta people. of course its going to be no where near the final product. the purpose of the beta is to test gameplay.

  • luengoalvareza

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 2:58 pm PT

    fro those who think this is not that great..... shuold be banned its actually better than quake im myswlf playesd the original and i think this is gonna be awesome and those new stuff will make the game even more funner that before iam looking forward to this .

  • birdmandaddi

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 2:11 pm PT

    Energy shield and shoootin tires at those b@stards lol ITS GONNA ROCK

  • Beesters

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 12:50 pm PT

    Just by watching that video, I almost had to goto the bath room!! I can not wait for this game to come out. The aspect of the game that stood out more was the replay of kills! That is just incredible. Its like having the of both sides of the world! There are a couple of things that I find a little iffy! The shield? Thats a little to much like star wars! But, who knows it actually might play out to be a good addition!

  • rebelross

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 8:10 am PT

    Trip mines and sheild grenades?? Seems thats gonna take away all the speed from the gameplay that made Halo 2s multiplayer great.

  • jetjedi

    Posted Apr 16, 2007 1:22 am PT

    So what are you expecting from me? Argue to death on each spot? Sorry, no. My point was about my current game impression, it was boring (these features might be cool in 2000 but not in 2007. btw, first "man cannon" was invented in old Quake 3 Arena...) and old. Even if they could improve lighting and particles it still low poly and bad animated... no matter... You believe in wonders? Fine, this is your point. I don't. Happy now?

  • drac989

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 6:57 pm PT

    Hmmmm "jetJedi" i'm awaiting your next comment!? I'm sure you'll have another knowlegeable reply to zappa02 that will go against everything he has said so far. You are all knowing master and i await your next comment!

  • zappa02

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 3:51 pm PT

    Bungies update on the multiplayer beta of Halo 3.

    we thought we should go over some of those questions we raised. We're purposefully leaving some stuff as either a surprise, or a deeper revelation, but we should definitely give you guys props on your sleuthing. The number of things you discovered from single frames, or blurry moments, or distant sketches on whiteboards - astonishing. Of course, there were almost as many cockamamie theories as correct ones, but we'll let you figure out which were which in May and then again in fall.

    We did show off a few levels. Three of them you'd seen before - Valhalla, High Ground and Snowbound. Those are the three that comprise the Beta and you'll be playing them yourselves in about a month. One of them, which I've seen described as everything from a "Forerunner castle" to a "remake of Gephyrophobia" and it is in fact neither, although the latter is a fair assessment of its bridge-like structure. In fact, we didn't show off the most interesting part of that level.

    You also saw some concepts, placeholders, prototypes and things that were never planned for inclusion in the final game. You saw some fake and placeholder and ancient UI (my favorite thing was a fan video where they thought they'd discovered how many campaign levels were going to be in the final game.) and loads of other accidental red herrings.

    So, almost all of the reaction we read was positive, but there was some grumbling about the graphics. You can decide for yourself if you like the look of the game in a few weeks, and you'll certainly recognize moments and areas from that footage. All three levels however, have undergone significant improvements since that footage was taken, months ago, including lighting, decorators, textures, and my favorite - water effects. I don't want to overpromise here and set your expectations too high, so I am deliberately capping the type of language I use to discuss these improvements. A good example however, would be the water in Valhalla.

    In one moment of the Vidoc, we see a Spartan launch out of the Mancannon and meet a sorry, embarrassing end in mid air as a sniper uses him for target practice. Now in that footage from old build, he tumbles into the river and slides splash-lessly into a boring placeholder water effect. He won't do that in May. He'll do something neater.

    You guys did see the final revelation of the mysterious X-Button. It's what's known (at the moment) as Equipment. The two very plain examples shown in the Vidoc were the Bubble Shield and the "Tripmine." Both can be used in all manner of strategic and hilarious ways. There might have been another, but you can wait a month to see that one.

    First, I'll address some of the panic about the balance issues inherent in the implementation of an all-new feature. I read many mails and posts about how Bubble Shields would littler the landscape like an Igloo village. Well, they won't. A piece of equipment will be a rare and valuable find. It will be located, you will pick it up and you will choose when and where to deploy it. As you can see in the HUD, it's indicated that you're carrying it. Pressing X will drop it - not throw it. In the old alpha footage you're watching, the shield generator actually rolled downhill and the player protected inside it had to walk backwards with it to enjoy its shelter. In the beta, it won't roll. We're still playing around with things like that. It's also possible to simply walk inside the shield and fight the inhabitant. It only protects them from explosions and projectiles. Vehicles and people can wander right through. If you die without deploying it, you'll drop it, just like a gun or 'nades. Someone else can then pick it up and use it.

    In the Beta build, it has a short-ish lifespan and in fact, can be destroyed. You stand inside the bubble and shoot the generator til' it explodes. Usually, there will be just one available on a map at any given time. Same thing goes for the tripmine, and any other equipment items we may or may not include in the game. Rest assured, they are incredibly fun to use, and add a subtle layer of strategy, without fundamentally impacting any of the typical Halo "flow." In fact, it improves it. There. I said it.

    One weird detail I kept getting asked about is, "do you hurl them like grenades?" The answer is no, you just drop 'em - but that means if you stand on a cliff edge, you drop it over the cliff edge. You choose where you drop it, in other words.

    Folks spotted other things in the Vidoc too. A new weapon. I saw it referred to as the "chain gun" but I ain't talking. Although I will tell you that no, you can't pull the chaingun off the back of a Hog. They saw the Spike grenades in action. You cycle through the grenade selection just like in Halo 2, only you use the LB button this time (depending on your chosen control method) and yeah, you have to think about which grenade you're using next. I usually plan things out in advance before taking off on a grenade spree.

    The movie stuff - the Saved Films feature shown in the Vidoc is going to be huge. We showed a pretty advanced version of it in the Vidoc - which you won't get to play with in its entirety during the beta. We'll give you a wee taste however, allowing you to save films and view them, we're just going to limit your camera controls. I think the saved films feature is going to make Machinima fans delirious, but more importantly, regular players are going to use it for entertainment and skill improvement. The ability to see how someone beat you, and analyze it, is a fundamental improvement, but it's just the tip of the iceberg.

    We'll have map guides, and more info around the time the Beta goes live next month. But lots of stuff happens this month too.

  • Evo700

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 3:14 pm PT

    This halo multi-player is going to be a lot more tactical than its predecessors. I'm also glad that they added some defense measures: trip mine, and the bubble shield.

  • True_Blu3

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 1:45 pm PT

    I do notice that Halo3's mutliplayer gameplay is going to be more "team based".

  • Tom_Bucic

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 11:29 am PT

    people, time to start playin halo 2 coz halo 3 maps look both easy and hard, so get ur assualt rifle ready.

  • HotSauce19

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 10:07 am PT

    Does anyone else getting the feeling that they are straying away from the fairly simple gameplay of halo 1 and 2? It seems like 3 is going to be more complicated with A LOT more of add-ons.

  • markfarren2004

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 8:58 am PT

    I hope to god I get to play

  • dpyroaxis

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 8:14 am PT

    Tylert20 they still may have portals on some levels. I just hope that you dont jump between characters in the main story when the game comes out, thats what I hated with Halo 2.

  • jetjedi

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 7:58 am PT

    "think its a ploy by bungie to make us think the graphics are sh*t and then blow us away in october"

    LOL

    sorry, no offence

    "I ll eat my hand"

    wow. will you post it? pleeeeeeeease

  • dimension5150

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 6:35 am PT

    The recent video/vidoc of halo 3 multiplayer was an alpha build so its graphics are going to be at a minimum. The so called "beta" that will be put out to the public is actually a "delta". So whatever the graphics in that are going to be will be closer to the finished product. We are yet to see graphics from that build. I think its a ploy by bungie to make us think the graphics are sh*t and then blow us away in october. I ll eat my hand if the graphics are sub-standard come launch day.

  • tylert20

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 5:48 am PT

    The graphics are going to be good, lets leave it at that. Lets talk about the positives and the could be betters. The X button function I feel could of been put to greater use, I wonder what the reload button is now. I love the mancannon over portals because you lose that gay advantage of just popping back and forth between places. I love the weapons, but seeing how presently in 2007 they have an automatic shotgun in existance, it's sort of a disappointment that the technology hasn't caught up, despite the inbalance an automatic shotgun would cause. Oh well, anyway it looks like Halo 3 is gonna be great.

  • KnuckleZ_V8

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 4:34 am PT

    for all those people going on about graphics in multiplayer... stop B****ing. multiplayer graphics in games have always been crap, take rainbow, or graw for instance, single player is beautiful, multiplayer looks tacky, was the same with halo 2, online an off, as far as ive seen, multiplayer just looks like a revamped halo 2, with "add-ons". which, dont get me wrong, is sweet, but its the single player thats going to be the most breath-taking!

  • jackalll

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 3:54 am PT

    We all hope halo 3 will have a better multi player then halo 2 and a better champaign then halo 1 then ull have a gr8 game ^^ and of course some better graphics

  • RyD3n

    Posted Apr 15, 2007 3:05 am PT

    I seriously hope this'll be better than the first 2. They were so over-rated, especially the first. Not bad, just over-rated. With all the hype it got I thought it was going to amazing, but all I got was a generic shooter. But I'm really looking forward to this one, hopefully i won't be disappointed again...

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