Halo 3 BETA Logged 610,000 Games in 24 Hours

The Halo 3 BETA is easily the most popular Xbox Live game on the 360 and with good reason. It seems to take everything that was good in Halo 2 and further enhance them through Xbox Live. From Missile Pods to Spartan Lasers and Valhalla to High Ground, the game has everything a Halo fan needs to feed his Master Chief obsession.

[gta_cb]

i like playing the demo, and hope to make the game numbers go up 2day =D

[gta_cb]

oh but i dont like the the mode territories.

[sak500]

How is it compared to H2? I dint buy crackdown :(

[Matchews]

completly agree... territories is a pile of tripe :(

and shotty/snipers sucks an' all :(

but CTF is as good as ever (but the flag douesn't bounce anymore?)

[gta_cb]

its really fun, except when you get a good team to go against and then someone on your team dies so they leave!

but except for that its all good, oh and if you get 8 friends you know wont quit its even better as you get to work as a team especially with that freakin sweet bubble shield!

i recomend people to rent or buy Crackdown (as it is a good game anyway) and have fun, perhaps rent it on Friday night when you get back from college/work/whatever and then spend the weekend kicking @SS!

[evilmark220]

yeah i really don't like territories and shotty/snipers

[FeralPhoenix]

Well I just took a break from the Beta myself, my neck was hurting from leaning my head for the last 4 hrs (bad habit)...I haven't played Halo2 in a long time but honestly its so much like Halo2 in so many ways the differernce IMO is this multiplayer is alot more balanced than Halo2, and its just more fun, although I'm getting my butt kicked alot, I'm learning and its not nearly as bad as the first day; so just give me time....and I will be spreading massive beat downs throughout the Halo realm.

[FirstknighT]

I LOVE snipers/shotty. I never use the shotty and love getting noscopes on close players using the shotty. All the gametypes are perfect but if I would choose one that I dont want...that would be VIP.

610,000 games in 24 hours??? HAHA, that is completly insane. This game is going to DESTROY records. I can't wait!!! Eat your heart out sony.

[Ravenator529]

So far I have racked up 71 total games since the "Crackdown" beta release.

And so far I have come to the conclusion that I still suck at Halo, even after 71 games!

I could so far tell you where every weapon is on ever level but yet I still get my rear end handed to me in just about every game.

Although I do show some flashes of greatness with an 18 kill game here or there but most likely I end up with no more than 10 kills per round. And its usually less than that!

Oh well, I still have a blast playing! Even if there are the same A-Holes from Halo 2. At least I know that I am not playing some kid with a modded XBox. I always felt cheated with Halo 2.

[THAMMER1]

It just feels right and looks good. The maps are well laid out with weapons and cover. You get a good since of atmosphere and OMG the sound is awesome. Did any one else notice the leaves and flowers were 3D or am I just too into Halo for my own good.

[wasted]

Yeah i know its beta but come on its just like playing the old xbox game in HD, this it supposed to be one of MS flagship next gen games and it has nothing new from the xbox.
they must be just using an slightly updated engine from the old game. sad day.

[Black Republican]

this game is awesome
i had alot of fun playing this game
halo I do not think will be as good as Gears of War graphically BUT playing this game in its beta build was alot of fun playing online with friends and ppl
and at the end of the day thats all that matters to me - if a game provides a good gaming experience and this halo3 beta definitely did.
I assume that the final version of Halo will look better graphically, but even if it stays the way it is now - ppl who say this game looks the same as halo2 are fanboys/liars/haters.
OR
I have really good eye sight because I could tell the difference right away.
LOL

[Drew]

If I could, I'd spend every waking minute playing this game. I don't think I've ever had this much fun with a finished game before, let alone a measly sampling of three maps, a couple of weapons, and a few vehicles. God, when the full game comes out, I don't know what I'll do.

[iceice123]

It's VIP that is trash, hate that mode with a passion.

[OldSchoolGamer]

After almost achieving my LT rank, here are my thoughts on Halo 3.
The graphics:
They do look look much better and sharper than Halo 2. While not jaw dropping like say Gears of War, for a company that focuses on mechanics and gameplay first, then on graphics, they do simply look amazing. The water is simply gorgeous, the details put into it such as having your dead spartan floating downstream in Vahalla after a mishap and look up through the water shows some TLC. They do need some polish though, I want to see the fog implemented and maybe some blowing dirt in the multiplayer, possibly some snow foot prints on the snow level.

The guns and equipment:
Wow! That sums it up, the variety is outstanding! Whether you choose to dual wield spikers/SMG's/or even plasma rifles, a smart sneeky player can drop multiple BR/covenant carbine players really fast. The Battle Rifle is still a tad over powered (especially when compared to the Carbine Counterpart) but it is definitely beatable, a huge improvement! The sniper rifle was changed dramatically, and for the BETTER! No longer do people fight over it because it takes major skill to use! There is realistic Kickback and a delay before being able to fire a second time. The bubble shield is simply a wonderful addition, and adds to the strategy as much as the shield walls! Run into one and when they think you will slap em with your weapon drop a grenade, step out, and watch the contained explosion! The portable lift has huge strategic value, while the energy drainer seems rather worthless as deploying it will most like hurt you as much (if not more) than all but the most incompetant enemies. The portable landmines are nice, but using them effectively is quite challenging. The spartan laser in the hands of a master still tears me a new one, and takes alot of practice and timing to use. The needler is the new glorious weapon of doom able to drop a br or VIP in seconds (no longer the weapon to laugh at very hard). The shotgun still leaves something to be desired as it makes using it when not the host, or in a Europe based game quite woefull, yet remains quite strong. The plasma pistol has received a good power reduction, where locking distance was reduced dramatically, but becomes versatile in disabling ghosts and warthogs for a roughly 10 second time span. The turrets just bring smiles to my face, and are vastly under used. The missle turrets and the chain gun just speak of power! The grenades add solid strategy as well, with more options and better physics!

The gametypes:
Team Skirmish:
Territories and Land Grab show some thoughtful revamping. While in Halo 2 the games were decided by where a team spawned these require killing skills and strategy now as take times have been lenghtened to EPIC levels. There are so many times you catch yourself chanting come on you bastard, take this stupid thing before they respawn. The strategy of waiting in a group to speed up the take or having one guy take the base while others guard them, or splitting up and taking four at once, just leaves many strategic options! The VIP is simply ridiculous because of too many times spawning amid 3 opposing player spawns on the snow level leaves much room for improvement. They need to drop the kills needed to 5 and the game would be much better. Oddball seems a favorite as one hit beatdowns with the ball make being the carrier no longer a chore. One flag seems consistent with part 2 and mad dashes from a flag base a stressful event. The bomb matches are fun, with the change being you plant the bomb instantly and try to keep the bomb planted for 15 seconds while the enemy tries to disarm it. While fun, this game type should be switched to 2 bombs to add some depth, as of now, getting the bomb into the base and armed against a good team is so hard it leads to too many draws of 0-0 scores (COME ON BUNGIE THIS IS NOT EUROPEAN FOOTBALL!)

SLAYER:
Snipes/shotties gets vetoed too much and is a personal favorite. Quick games to 25 scores change the pace but too many people are unskilled at the new realistic sniper rifles. Rockets seems more like mexican jumping bean matches, and still goes to whoever gets the high ground first. Simply the least skilled matches. While I have hit a 15 rank in slayer the lack of maps/gametypes makes skirmish the only way to go. Reaching lvl 25 or even 30 in skirmish requires a decent team but not impossible for 75 games.

The mechanics and layout:
Got to love the new RP system, where a players skill is ranked much more efficiently than a numeric value! Some guy may be a one but you see his gunnery SGT rank and you know its not his first rodeo! The WORST THING IN THE GAME IS HAVING TO USE THE DIRECTION PAD TO TALK TO YOUR TEAM. COME ON BUNGIE! FIX THIS! I want to be able to talk to my team all the time, and if someone is annoying you gave me the option to mute them very easily! The hud is vastly improved less time looking away from the action to check the radar. Matchmaking will be amazing when the game launches and there are more than 50,000 people online where finding a mixed skill party can take up to 1 minute and a half on occasion. This was one of those if its perfect dont fix it! Man cannons are again strategic as you must know when to take them and when to hop on the warthog and clear out those camping bastards!

Saved Videos:
Simply Brilliant! Watching that first Kill Frenzy (10 Kills), Running Riot (15 kills) Rampage (20 Kills) never gets tiring and adds levels of depth to strategy, teamplay, and simple wow that was a bad-@ss game!

Overall:
If you liked halo multiplayer at all, you will love part 3! If you don't enjoy the killing goodness, then there is always Viva Pinata. The negatives are far outweighed by the vastly improved positives. This game has huge potential and will be another huge hit, see you in the beta!

[FeralPhoenix]

Your comments absolutely NAIL the feeling of the Halo3 Beta!....with a few tweaks and modifications Halo3 will be a legendary GOD among mere mortal videogames! [insert LOUD evil laugh]

[PS360PCROCKS]

I LOVE HALO3!! The multiplayer is so ridiculously fun and balanced and the graphics are so nice anyone knocking them is weird I like how it looks