Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta: Hands-On Preview

We tell you everything you need to know about Halo 3 Multiplayer in time for its public Beta release this week.

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Your standard starting weapon is basically trash as far as I'm concerned, so you'll want to investigate the surroundings for better kit straight away. Most will be familiar - Sniper Gun, Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, Needler, yada yada. But some existing weapons have been enhanced since Halo 2; the Needler for example, while still looking gay, is more powerful and might actually kill people this time around. You can also disable a moving vehicle just by letting a charging weapon like the Plasma Pistol weapon overcharge nearby, which is going to come in useful when your pal think it's hilarious running you and your friends over again and again for five minutes.

Apart from the overpowering Spartan Laser we mentioned earlier, you're also now able to pick up a huge Machinegun Turret from the ground for extra firepower. What you gain in destructive capabilities you lose in mobility, as the camera switches to a third-person perspective, following you as you plod around the map. A new grenade called the Brute Spike Grenade sticks wherever it lands (including people) and then blasts spikes out everywhere to seal the deal. Bungie has also said that there will be many more weapons in Halo 3 than are available in the Beta, and players are already enjoying the new enhancement that lets you independently reload weapons when you're dual wielding, allowing for more precise two-weapon assaults. Vehicles, to be honest, don't seem to offer much that's incredibly new in this Beta; you can try out the new ATV-like Mongoose vehicle, which behaves like a nimbler Warthog. Flying about and shooting everyone is always good fun too.

It terms of control, playing people of this calibre is fast turning me into one of those types who insist on using mouse and keyboard for all their FPS action. How are you even supposed to play when it takes half a second to turn around 180 degrees to find out who's shooting you, only to end up looking at the sky when your neck gets crunched. It's like, why even bother. So I would definitely recommend turning the 'look sensitivity' up - and thankfully all settings and controls can be tinkered with in-game by pressing Start (you'll want to hurry though since you can't pause a live game, of course). Otherwise, in the critical moment, you'll be fumbling around and things might seem a bit on the sluggish side, for action that's this fast and brutal. Generally, control is as good as it's going to get with a controller, and I really have no idea how some of these experts are pulling off such precise manoeuvres and doing so much stuff at the same time with so much skill. It's just freak ability and it's made me respect what Halo mastery seems to be all about.

Valhalla

The technical quality of the game in terms of audio and visuals is not to be sniffed at, although it is not as arresting as the expectations we have for Singleplayer (based on the first Halo 3 trailer, and the fact that Bungie says Singleplayer will look better). While it's impossible to draw conclusions about the visuals of the final game based on the Beta, it's worth pointing out that the game may not impress you as much as some other recent Xbox 360 offerings. This is no Gears Of War - not yet, at least.

In terms of Multiplayer visuals, first off, I think a game that depends a lot on very fast motion and orientation for accuracy DEMANDS 60 frames per second, but here we're looking at a standard 30 fps. Most people won't see this as a big deal (and it's not, really) but I can only imagine how much more fluid things would seem if we had a better refresh rate (after all, Prey and the upcoming Half-Life 2: Episode 2 both manage it on the same system). Also, the aliasing seems a bit shoddy for a big-time Xbox 360 title to be honest, resulting in some relatively harsh lines - is it just me? On the plus side, high dynamic range (HDR) lighting does look pretty, and all the fancy detail like water and textures are technically impressive and lovely to look at. The trees are some of the nicest we've seen in a game, particularly on the High Ground stage where all the leaves are individually rendered and rustling in the wind, with the occasional leaf flying away.

But what really makes the atmosphere in Halo 3 is the excellent positional sound engine. On the one hand we'd expect no less after Half-Life 2 and Halo 2 both raised the bar three years ago, but the sound here is still something special. Try sneaking off into a cosy, leafy hiding spot; sit back, relax and wait for a sniping opportunity as the tree sways gently and you hear the todes of the sea or an insect buzzing about: a stark contrast to the distant noise as those more eager players exchange gunfire. It's a pity this laid back admiration of the beautiful Halo ambience isn't going to get any POINTS FOR KILLING. Elsewhere, the expected physics system is in place and it's still impressive to see the endless ways Chief can be thrown all over the place and fall over, down, into and under things when he's blown up.

It's great to be playing Halo multiplayer in proper high definition, with the kind of clarity that makes us wonder how we ever lined up an enemy for sniping back on standard definition consoles. But beyond this and some basic refinements and additions, it's difficult to call this 'next-generation' stuff when Xbox 1 was already doing so much of what keeps Halo 3 fun - perhaps ahead of its time. Bungie always had its work cut out in improving the Halo formula further, and it will be impossible to say if it has succeeded until the final product is judged as a whole. If it's as good as Multiplayer in its own right so far, then things seem promising indeed.

Enjoy playing the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta from Wednesday, 16 May at 12AM PDT (8AM UK time) - and try to remember to sleep.

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