Talk:Halo 3/prerelease

Halo 3 is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game ends the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued with Halo 2. The final version of the game was released on September 25, 2007 in New Zealand (where its midnight release made it first available for retail), Australia, Singapore, India, Canada, Brazil and the United States; September 26, 2007 in Europe; and September 27, 2007 in Japan. On August 29, 2007, Halo 3 officially went gold. GameSpot reported that 4.2M units of Halo 3 were in retail outlets on September 24, 2007, a day before official release, a world record volume release. Halo 3 is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game ends the story arc begun in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued with Halo 2. The final version of the game was released on September 25, 2007 in New Zealand (where its midnight release made it first available for retail), Australia, Singapore, India, Canada, Brazil and the United States; September 26, 2007 in Europe; and September 27, 2007 in Japan. On August 29, 2007, Halo 3 officially went gold. GameSpot reported that 4.2M units of Halo 3 were in retail outlets on September 24, 2007, a day before official release, a world record volume release.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Halo 3 largely builds upon the previous iterations of the franchise. It is a first-person shooter that, once again, follows the character Master Chief and his struggle against the Covenant and the Flood. The game's action takes place largely on foot, but there are vehicles available for the player to use at certain points in the game.

The balance of weapons and objects in the game has been adjusted to better adhere to what Multiplayer Designer Lars Bakken describes as the "Golden Triangle of Halo". These are "weapons, grenades, and melee"; all three of which are simultaneously available to a player at all times while on foot (unless they are dual wielding or using one of the new class of support weapons).

The idea of "balance" (at least in multiplayer) is that each specific weapon or piece of equipment has specific areas where it is most useful, and others where it falls far short. No matter what combination of weapons a player chooses (players are limited to only two weapons at any one time in Halo), there will be situations in which they have an advantage, and others in which they have a disadvantage. The result is that there is no one weapon/vehicle that is overpowered for every type of situation the player might encounter.

Campaign
The only officially broadcast campaign footage released has been at E3 2006, the "Et Tu, Brute?" Vidoc and again at E3 2007. There are several distinct types of environments that players will have to traverse in Halo 3; lush jungles, built up towns and sparse desert environments have all been seen.

AI behavior of both enemies and allies in the campaign will be greatly enhanced in Halo 3. Marines' driving and gunning skills on the Warthog, Grunt flanking maneuvers in battle, and Brute "pack mentality" have all been mentioned by Bungie as examples of using the Xbox 360 hardware for more than making the game look better. Enemy AI will also have new non-combat behaviors, to make them feel more "alive" and realistic.

Cooperative play
Halo 3 features up to four player cooperative gameplay over Xbox LIVE or System Link and two player cooperative split-screen. Although previous games also supported split-screen co-op, system link and XBL variants of this game mode is a first for the series. Players playing split-screen can also join other players over system link and Xbox LIVE for a total of up to four players.

For plot reasons, instead of having each player be an identical Spartan like in previous Halo games, the first player will play as Master Chief, the second player the Arbiter and the other two players newly created Elites; N’tho ‘Sraom and Usze ‘Taham each with their own backstories. Each player has identical abilities although the starting weapon will be different depending on whether the player is Master Chief or an Elite. Master Chief will have the Assault Rifle, with the Battle Rifle being the secondary weapon, while the Elites will be equipped with Plasma Rifles and Carbines for every mission.

Meta-game
Halo 3 features a "campaign meta-game" in which a player is awarded a numerical score based on their performance while completing a level in the campaign. Points mostly come from defeating enemies, with extra points being awarded for stylish moves such as performing "headshots", or progressing through a level quickly. Finding and activating Skulls, a continuation of Halo 2's gameplay-altering items, allows a player to obtain even higher scores in the meta-game. As it records individual performance for each player, the meta-game also introduces a competitive aspect to co-op play. If a player themselves die, or kill a co-op teammate however, they will lose points. Campaign play also unlocks even more armor permutations for use in multiplayer.

Players' gamerscore is awarded for successfully getting over a certain score in each level, and medals are awarded for specific accomplishments.

Multiplayer
Up to four people can participate in multiplayer match on a single Xbox 360 in Halo 3 via a split screen layout. Up to sixteen may participate in a single match over a LAN or Xbox Live. A combination of some or all of these methods may be combined for a match with up to sixteen players. A public beta test of the multiplayer component of the game occurred between May 16, 2007 and June 10, 2007.

Like most multiplayer Xbox 360 titles, Halo 3 will use a customized version of TrueSkill ranking system for its online matchmaking facilities. Halo 3 ' s matchmaking system will be based on two different ranks, skill and experience (Rating Points or RP). Skill will simply be the TrueSkill rank of the player in a given playlist, and experience (RP) is a linear measure of experience (1 point for each win in the online playlists) overlaid by a Military rank; a player with a designation of a "General" will have played for a longer time than someone who is a "recruit." The addition of the experience ranking is intended to make the system more fair and to reflect the effect of experience on players' profiles. The RP system also has a mechanism built in to dissuade players from excessive quitting from matches, which became a problem for some players in Halo 2. When players quit from a match before it has finished, they will lose 2 RP. So players that regularly quit games, leaving their teammates stranded, may eventually end up having negative RP.

The UI (user interface) has been redesigned from Halo 2, making it easier to generate a custom game in Halo 3 multiplayer, which can now be saved and shared online with the File Sharing Features. Players will now be able to "advertise" their custom games via Xbox Live Public, making it easier to find a multiplayer match to a player's taste without having to link up with friends. To help players have an enjoyable time online, a new feature dubbed the "A-hole button" allows players to mute annoying players in the game quickly and easily from the in-game scoreboard view. Bungie employees have stated that gravity will be a new customizable option in Halo 3 custom games.

Weapons
Most of the weapons available in previous installments of the series return with minor cosmetic and power alterations; including the Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Covenant Plasma Rifle, Brute Shot and the Covenant Needler. The Assault Rifle which appeared in the original Halo as the MA5B, but was absent from Halo 2 is returning for Halo 3 retooled into the MA5C. Developer Bungie hopes it will fill the role as the "ultimate spawn weapon", allowing players to hold their own in a fight straight away (unlike the SMG in Halo 2) but not be so powerful as to overshadow all of the other weapons (like the M6D Pistol in Halo: Combat Evolved). In hopes of fulfilling this, it has a smaller magazine (32 instead of 60) and slower rate of fire than its previous iteration but a longer range, greater accuracy, and more fire power.

Halo 3 introduces a new-to-the-series class called "support weapons". These are a group of exceptionally large, powerful and cumbersome two-handed weapons that, when carried, change the view to a third-person perspective and cause the player to move more slowly. The two weapons available in this class during the Public Online Multiplayer Beta were the Machine Gun Turret and Missile Pod, although a Flamethrower also features in this class as well as a new Covenant plasma turret.

As a visual change to the weapons, when a player is carrying a second weapon in Halo 3, the secondary weapon will be stored on the character's back (for larger, two-handed weapons) or on a leg holster (for smaller, one-handed weapons). This makes it impossible to "hide" a powerful secondary weapon and surprise unsuspecting foes.

Equipment
A new class of usable items in Halo 3 are known as Equipment. These items have various effects and functions, ranging from defensive effects (Bubble Shield and Regenerator), or objects which blind or confuse the enemy (Flare and Radar Jammer), to ones which can actually harm and kill (Power Drainer and Tripmine). Most of these are named by their function.

They are not designed to give one player a significant advantage, as they affect both sides equally, but as items which change the dynamic of a fight momentarily. The Bubble Shield, for example, produces a protective dome but, a person inside cannot fire out, just as a person outside cannot fire in. This creates a stalemate situation until the Bubble Shield fails, or players move through the shield onto one side of it. Equally, once the Portable Gravity Lift is dropped it can be used by both sides to gain greater height into the air, often to get over specific obstacles.

Vehicles
Halo 3, like its predecessors, will also feature a strong vehicular component. Vehicles, and their countermeasures (rockets, mines, etc.), are tightly integrated with Halo gameplay. Many of the series' vehicles are returning in the third installment. Vehicles cover a wide range of types, including light reconnaissance vehicles, large, heavily armored tanks, troop and vehicle transport craft, plus various atmospheric and spacecraft, though not all are usable by the player.

The Mongoose ATV, a small quad bike, originally designed for Halo 2 but later cut out, is available as a vehicle in Halo 3. A second player can ride on the back of the vehicle to provide some offensive capability. There will also be a new variant of Warthog, with rear seats for troops instead of a gun, and a light human aircraft called the Hornet, which is similar in function to the Banshee. They can both be seen briefly in the E3 2007 video. The Hornet will not be featured in Matchmaking because it is "too overpowered" and thus will only be accessible in custom games, Campaign, or the Forge game type.

There are also two entirely new Brute vehicles, dubbed the Brute Chopper and Brute Prowler to expand the Brute sandbox. Unlike other vehicles in the game attributed to The Covenant, which entirely hover or fly above the ground, the Chopper has a single large and heavy wheel on the front with a hovering driver seat in the back. It has been referred to as a "vehicle smasher", able to destroy other vehicles with a single hit. So far, it has only been seen in the E3 2007 trailer.

The Covenant Banshee aircraft and Wraith tank have been altered in terms of gameplay. The Banshee now has the ability to fire its Fuel Rod Gun in multiplayer matches, an ability which was formerly restricted to Campaign and the multiplayer of Halo for Windows and Mac, and in Halo 2 for Xbox and the new edition for Vista. However, the Banshee can no longer point directly down. The Wraith can now carry two people instead of one. One drives the vehicle and fires the main cannon, while the other fires the smaller plasma turret. The plasma turret was formerly exclusive to AI in the Halo 2 campaign.

Forge
Forge is a tool that enables players to insert game objects into existing maps. Bungie has stated that this should be considered more a gametype than a tool. Almost all weapons, vehicles, and interactive objects (various crates and barriers) can be spawned, moved and placed into maps with Forge. In an example of its uses, one of the testers was able to place an unusually large number of exploding fusion cores in a large vehicle set to as close an instantaneous respawn as the game would allow, which caused the vehicle to charge wildly around the map.

In games where Forge is enabled, players can switch to the editing mode at any time. While in this mode, a player appears to other players as a Forerunner Monitor and is still vulnerable to being attacked and killed. Objects can be spawned into the game in real-time and parameters such as ammo counts (for weapons) and respawn rates can be altered for each object. The number of objects that can exist in a map at any one time is limited, however, as each object created takes up a set amount of credits from the particular map's limit. Players can remove some of the default objects to regain credits. Not all objects (especially vehicles) are available in all maps, and a player can hold the X button to learn more about the object and modify its properties on the map.

As well as changing alterations to spawn weapons to assist a player in real-time, altered maps can be saved and then recalled in a normal multiplayer game mode. These altered maps can also be transferred to other players using the File Sharing features. Modifications made by Forge can change the way a map plays quite drastically from its original configuration. Forge was also the name of the editing tools included in another Bungie game, Marathon.

Eight players may use Forge via Xbox Live, while four may use Forge via splitscreen.

Saved films
Halo 3 will have a feature called Saved Films. This feature allows players to save a copy of the game data of a multiplayer match or campaign session to their Xbox 360's hard drive, so that they may watch it later on. It is essentially the same as many "replay" features found in driving games, and which has been available in PC games for many years including Bungie's own Marathon. However, the scope of its implementation is largely unprecedented in a game console game.

100 files can be saved on a hard drive at a time. Though the public beta's implementation was very limited, its functionality is planned to be extended for the final game.

Players will be able to view the action from almost any angle and any player's perspective (including a free-roaming camera), as well as being able to slow down the speed and also play the recording in reverse. The Saved Films can even be edited in game to create a shorter clip of a particularly amazing or special moment. Players can also use the tool to take still pictures from films and upload them to the Bungie website.

As the Saved Films are only the game data (not an actual video), this allows the file sizes to be relatively small. A recording for a typical "long" game is in the region of only 6 MB. Films will also be played back at whatever resolution the Xbox 360 is set to, regardless of the resolution at which the player was using at the time of the recording. All games are recreated in real-time on the Xbox 360 using the Halo 3 engine. This allows them to be shared amongst any other Xbox 360 without any compatibility issues because they all run off the same code. The Saved Films feature is described as an "excellent training aid" since players can gain valuable tactical insight into the strategies of other players by viewing the saved films. Alternatively, they could have a look at other games uploaded through the fileshare.

This feature will also facilitate the creation of machinima and other game-related videos, as well as give the creators of such videos advanced tools to enhance the quality of this medium. Video game montage creators can save games to the hard drive of their Xbox 360 console for later use, so they never have to miss a camera shot, while machinima directors and cinematographers will have expanded camera options, instead of having to resort to using a first-person, gameplay perspective.

File share
File Sharing in Halo 3 is an online storage and sharing service for a range of files that are created in the game, and is an extension of the game's online capabilities. Files such as Saved Films, screenshots, custom gametypes and Forge settings can all be uploaded to the File Share. When the game launches, items stored there then appear on a players Bungie.net Halo 3 profile, with the ability to comment on them and queue items to download for when the player next plays the game online.

Players can view and transfer these files individually to others while they are online, but can also upload them to a central, Bungie run server so friends (or rivals) can then view and download them even when the creating player is not online. During the Beta each player had 25 MB of storage space on the File Share, which may change by the time the final game ships. Bungie announced that players will be able to purchase additional storage space and slots for 750 Microsoft Points, dubbed "Bungie Pro"; all Gold subscribers get 6 file slots and 25MB of storage. Bungie Pro bumps storage up to 24 slots and 250MB. While players with Xbox Live Silver do not have access to the free file-share, they may purchase Bungie Pro to share their files. Bungie has also extended the file-share to their website; players may "flag" files for download (up to 8) on Bungie.net. The next time a user signs on to their Xbox, it will automatically download the flagged files to their hard drive.

Characters
The Master Chief again returns as the main protagonist, with the Arbiter making several major appearances. The other characters below, and some others, have been revealed in promotional media.

Plot
When the game begins, Master Chief is back on Earth, where the Covenant loyalists (Brutes, Drones, and Jackals), led by the Prophet of Truth, have laid waste to most of the planet. Covenant ships are hovering over an excavation site a few miles from the ruins of New Mombasa and have uncovered a large artifact in this site (seen in the E3 2006 trailer), and Cortana is still the prisoner of Gravemind. The Arbiter, along with the Elites, Hunters, and some of the Grunts have split from the Covenant during the civil war at the end of Halo 2 and formed an alliance with the UNSC.

The game will not begin right where Halo 2 left off. Instead, the comic mini-series, Halo: Uprising, will bridge the story gap between the ending of Halo 2, and the beginning of Halo 3.

Graphics
Halo 3 utilizes a proprietary, in-house graphics engine, often referred to as the "Halo 3 Engine". This engine builds upon the technologies of the Halo 2 Engine (and previously the Halo Engine) and is re-optimized for the architecture of the Xbox 360.

As detailed on the Bungie Studios website, it will employ advanced graphics technologies such as High Dynamic Range, global lighting, real-time reflections and depth of field effects within cutscenes. Certain surfaces, including the Master Chief's visor (when visible) and the armor of a Ghost, will have real-time reflections (these were not present within the Beta). Most of the dynamic objects in the game will cast real-time shadows on themselves and the environment around them, including the game's plant life. Halo 3 will use normal, bump, and parallax mapping to give surfaces more detail without dramatically increasing the number of polygons.

Bungie has also stated that the draw distance of the game will be in excess of 10 mi. Sophisticated new atmospheric models are used in the game to replace the traditional skybox, allowing several layers of cloud and atmospheric cover, and even a pseudo "space" beyond that.

Water effects are also dramatically improved, as water can now reflect and refract images simultaneously. In addition to being able to simulate effects such as waterfalls, water will visually flow around objects in its path and splash when players, vehicles, or other objects travel through it.

Physics
Halo 3, like Halo 2, uses a version of the Havok physics engine for much of its physics calculations (although parts of the physics, like melee, are done with custom code on top of the middleware).

A wide variety of objects are affected by physical interactions in Halo 3. Crates, canisters, objective objects, dropped weapons, characters, bodies, vehicles, and some parts of the world geometry all interact with each other and the world around them in generally more believable physical ways. Trajectories of thrown objects are also affected by the gravity lifts in the game (including the "Mancannon").

Some of the foliage in the game is physically reactive; it not only moves in the simulated wind, but actually reacts to the player's (or other creatures) presence and bullet fire, as well as explosions. Some flora in the game will also be destroyed after receiving enough damage.

Audio
As with all titles on the Xbox 360, Halo 3 will fully support 5.1 surround sound audio. In the game, there will be over 50,000 pieces of audio, with nearly 40,000 of those being NPC dialogue. This is many more than in either of the preceding Halo titles; Halo 2 had over 15,000 pieces of dialogue. The AI controlling this dialogue is designed to ensure the exchanges flow naturally and convincingly.

Separate recordings have been made for nearby and distant gunfire to make for a more believable sound experience. Distant gunfire sounds, which may first seem like prerecorded ambient sound, may often be the result of an actual firefight happening somewhere in the game. Marty O'Donnell is again composing the original score. Some pieces of the game's music are produced with a much larger real orchestra than anything in the prior two games. For example, the music for the announcement trailer was recorded with a 60-piece orchestra and a 24-piece choir. Halo 3 will be the first game in the series to feature custom soundtracks, allowing players to replace in-game music with their own choices. Voice actors returning to reprise their roles in Halo 3 include: Jen Taylor as Cortana and Steve Downes as the voice of Master Chief. Actress Julie Benz, however, is not voicing Miranda Keyes for Halo 3. Celebrity presenter Jonathan Ross has also done some voice acting for Halo 3.

Versions
There will be three different versions of Halo 3 for retail sale: the Standard Edition, which contains the game disc and a manual; the Collector's Edition, contained in a metal case, which contains the game disc, manual, interactive Xbox 360 bonus disc with several featurettes, and Beastiarum, which is a "hard cover, bound collection of information and art covering the species, cultures and civilizations of Halo 3." according to Bungie; and the Legendary Edition, which contains the game disc, manual, interactive bonus disc, Beastiarum, Legendary DVD containing special content exclusive to the Legendary Edition, and a scale replica of the Master Chief's Helmet as a case for the three discs. Gamestation stores in the UK also offered a limited edition Master Chief figurine only available to the first 1000 pre-orders.

At release, in addition to the various versions of the game, there will also be numerous Halo 3 branded accessories, including a green and orange Xbox 360 Premium console (with matching control pad) and Wireless headset (available separatly). Also available are two wireless control pads printed with either Spartan or Covenant characters. Prior to release, shops have been selling a Halo 3 branded Xbox Live 12 month subscription with 1 month free, to promote the online presence of the game which was a major selling point of Halo 2. There have also been some early reports that in the Limited Edition version of Halo 3, the hub that is supposed to keep the game discs in place is faulty. This may lead to scatched game discs. However, this does not appear to be a problem in either the Legendary Edition or the Standard Edition.

Pre-release and piracy
More than two weeks before Halo 3 was due to be released, full retail copies of the game complete with photographs of the open game box started to appear on the internet auction site eBay. A week before Halo 3 was due for release, major UK catalogue retailer Argos accidentally released some of their final retail copies of Halo 3. Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division were quoted as being "disappointed that it happened" but that "it was just an honest mistake" and that Microsoft had no intention of punishing Argos for the error.

Months before the release of Halo 3, the game's final testing copy before its gold release (codenamed Epsilon and confirmed by Bungie to be 99.9% complete) was leaked to the Internet. Microsoft reacted to this leak by having the Xbox Live accounts of gamers caught playing the Epsilon copy banned until the year 9999. Halo 3 ' s final retail copy was leaked online over a week before its official release. The 6.14 gigabyte file of the game was hacked and downloaded by "thousands" of people within 24 hours of the leak. Videos of the ending of the Halo 3, obtained from the leaked copy, were captured and posted on popular file sharing sites, such as YouTube.

On September 23, 2007, Microsoft released the game manual online, to promote its new browser plug-in, Microsoft Silverlight.

Critical reception
Famitsu awarded Halo 3 a high "Platinum" mark of 10, 9, 9, 9 for a total of 37/40. In a leaked review of the Australian wing of Official Xbox Magazine, Halo 3 was again highly praised with a score of 10. Halo 3 was awarded by IGN in its review a 9.5. GameSpot has also reviewed Halo 3, giving it another 9.5 rating. Fran Reyes of Official Xbox Magazine has reportedly written a ten page review for the November 2007 issue. UK-based review website Press Start Online gave the game a Gold Award, the first in the web site's history. Dan Hsu awarded Halo 3 a perfect 10 for 1UP.com; the Electronic Gaming Monthly review will be withheld until issue publication.

Pro-G in its review flatly stated, "Halo 3 transcends video games. It is a global entertainment experience. Just as Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Spider-Man 3 brought to a close two of the most lucrative and epic film trilogies of all time, Halo 3 brings to a close perhaps the most complete, engaging and downright fun video game trilogy of all time." Eurogamer celebrated, "The best game yet in one of the best FPS franchises of the era," while Games Radar reported, "The single player is bigger and brawnier than anything that's been attempted on a console before." Of multiplayer play, IGN praised, "There's no first-person shooter on 360 that can equal Halo 3's blend of cinematic action, adrenaline-pumping shootouts, and male- (and female)-bonding gameplay."

The Forge level editor and saved films features were singled out as particularly strong features, as GameSpot stated, "...It’s the addition of the Forge level editor and the saved films that give the game an even longer set of legs, legs that will probably keep you running at full speed until Bungie figures out where, exactly, to go from here." Team Xbox claimed, "...It’s Forge and the Saved Films features that will likely go down in history as Bungie’s crowning achievements."

GameSpy noted one of the game's few shortcomings in its 5 star review, "[The] single-player campaign is somewhat short."

As of September 24, 2007, the MetaCritic score is 96.

Marketing
Various marketing techniques have been employed in promoting the release of Halo 3. This has included various trailers of the game; real-time cinematics, recorded gameplay sequences, pre-rendered CGI and even live action film. Throughout the course of development several "developer documentaries" were released, which explain the processes behind creating parts of the game. A large scale multiplayer Beta test was played on Xbox Live with many members of the public being able to take part and experience the game for themselves. Beginning in June 2007, Iris, an alternate reality game, began on the internet, designed to create hype for the game while involving players in slowing revealing some background information for the game.

In addition to high profile events, Bungie often talked about the game in its Weekly Update, occasionally releasing media of the game on their site. Numerous interviews with Bungie staff have been conducted by many gaming press establishments, covering a vast range of subjects. Magazines and journals also occasionally ran stories revealing new information. Pepsi-Cola have announced a new line of soft drink, a variant of Mountain Dew named Game Fuel. The packaging reflects Halo 3, sporting images of Master Chief. As Halo 3 draws nearer to completion and release the marketing drive is set to increase. Much of the advertising to date has focused on appealing to the general public, rather than just hardcore fans of the game. Microsoft announced on August 9, 2007, that pre-orders for Halo 3 had exceeded one million in North America. Some 7-Eleven stores have recently begun advertising Halo 3 and will be selling copies of the game. On September 12, 2007 the "Believe" Halo 3 ad campaign, focused on the epic nature of the story and heroism told through dioramas and third party accounts of Master Chief's service, began with the video "Museum". The same video which aired as the second Halo 3 commercial during NFL football on September 16 2007.

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