Halo 3

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The Master Chief engages a group of Brutes.

Halo 3 is a game by Bungie and, supposedly, the final game for Bungie in the Halo saga (another company is creating Halo Wars). Bungie is notoriously secretive and only releases small amounts of information at a time. However, in Halo 3 Trailer - Behind the Scenes, Bungie confirmed that the trailer was made using in game assets and that the final product will be very similar to the trailer.

Release Date

File:Halo3 Packshots.jpg
Different versions of the Halo 3 release

Bungie has offically announced that Halo 3 will be released in the fall of 2007.

A public beta test will be available in Spring 2007 and is scheduled for online play at midnight (U.S. West Coast Pacific-Time) on the 16th of May, 2007. The full game will be coming out sometime afterwards in that year.[1] The 2007 release date for Halo 3 hasn't been set yet but there has been a lot of speculation. Companies like Best Buy and Gamestop.com are predicting the November mark (Gamestop states Nov 2, 07[2] and Best Buy states Nov 15, 2007[3]). Amazon.co.uk states the release date as 23rd November 2007. According to IGN Halo 3 may ship in September so Microsoft will have a lead going into the holiday season.[4] There have also been a number of websites that are counting down to the date of Halo 3s release. Halo 3 Count Downis a page that is counting down to the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Halo 3 is released. The only thing bungie will say so far about Halo 3's release date is "when its finished".

  • Halo 3 will ship in 3 different versions:
    • Normal version: includes game.
    • Collector's Edition: includes game, Halo fiction and art book, and extra DVD containing extra/bonus content.[5]
  • Legendary edition: includes a replica of Master Chief's helmet, Halo 3 story board art, and 3 discs.
      • Disk 1: Halo 3 Xbox 360 Game
      • Disc 2: Making of the game
      • Disc 3: Spin-off material(Red vs. Blue, This Spartan Life, etc...). It will also include every cutscene from Halo 1, Halo 2, and Halo 3 in high-def.

Pre-Alpha

For Christmas, Microsoft & Bungie gave the U.S. soldiers in Iraq a chance to play the Halo 3 multiplayer public pre-alpha.[3]

Trailer Analysis

Main article: Halo 3 Announcement TrailerIt required long hours and hard work from many, many Bungie staffers, it utilizes real-game assets, fiction and locations from parts of the "real" game."

Cortana's line in the trailer: "This is the way the world ends,"[6] references the first of the Cortana Letters. The line itself refers to T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which ends:

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Cortana's emphasis on "this" implies she is rejecting the poem, and that the world will end with a bang.

Plot Line

The details of the plot have yet to be revealed. All Bungie has confirmed is that the Master Chief has returned to Earth. The Covenant has uncovered a massive and ancient Forerunner artifact under New Mombasa (The mountain in the background is indeed Kilimanjaro[7])and Cortana is still trapped in the clutches of the Gravemind.

The Ark

The Portal at Voi as seen in the Halo 3 announcement trailer.
An artifact - rumored to be The Ark - seen in the Halo 3 trailer.
Main article: The Ark

The Ark is mentioned in Halo 2 as a place where all the Halo rings could be fired at once. While the structure in the trailer is thought to be, but not officially confirmed as, The Ark. All evidence points to it being the Ark:

  • In the Halo Graphic Novel one Elite says "We need to clear this area before we can secure access to The Ark" -- Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa.
  • It is also seen in this small sketch from the DVD.

Also, in Bungie's FAQ, they said that although they wouldn't tell what the structure is, Halo fans may recognize it. The structure looks somewhat similar to a structure seen in the Halo 2 multiplayer map Ascension or the circular structures on the exterior of Halo which is visible in the opening menu of Halo. It also looks like the dock that the Forerunner ship at the end of Halo 2 was stationed in. Bungie may also be refering to the Jjaro station in Marathon Infinity (an artifact used to contain a being within a sun). Also, in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, the Dyson Portal is described very similarly to the structure, albeit much smaller. There is also an interesting comparison here. [4]

Screenshot Anomalies

File:Pumaontire.jpg
Puma on Tire
  • In one screenshot, the word "Puma" can be seen on the tires of the Warthog, this is possible homage to the popular online Machinima series Red vs Blue, which uses the Halo game engine. "Puma" came from Episode 2, where Red Team was discussing what to name their new LRV (a warthog), and "puma" came up as a suggestion.
  • In screenshots in the campaign mode and the Halo Trailer, there is Master Chief armed with the new MA5C Assault Rifle, and in the middle of the gun, there is the Marathon symbol, Click here for Image.

Weapons

These are the confirmed weapons known to be in the game(all are subject to change):

Covenant

United Nations Space Command

File:Halo 3 TV Ad.jpg
Master Chief's Detachable Helmet seen on the Starry Night trailer

UNSC

  • Pelican - Halo 3 Alpha Screenshots. Confirmed at halo3.com.
  • Mongoose - Halo 3 Alpha Screenshots.
  • Warthog - Halo 3 Alpha Screenshots.
  • Gauss Warthog - Confirmed in EGM's account of small campaign video
  • Scorpion - Confirmed at halo3.com

Multiplayer Levels

File:H3 map.jpg
A concept model of High Ground.
  • Valhalla
  • High Ground
  • Indoor Covenant level
  • Snowbound
  • Large indoor level
  • Icy outdoor level[12]
  • Jub jub (unofficial name)
  • Unidentified Forerunner level (possiby Gephyrophobia)
  • Last Resort (Seen in ViDoc at 0:57, also leaked)
  • Warthog INC.[13]

Xbox Live Features: According to bungie in EGM, Halo 3 will be taking XBL to the next level, if you create a gametype, you can advertise it, and if it gets good ratings it will become a matchmade game, and if you have the vision camera you will be able to video chat with your friends, and the ranking system will be based on actual military ranks, instead of numbers. And now you can rank up in custom games.

Multiplayer gametypes

Characters

Cortana appears as John-117 emerges from a wreckage in the Halo 3 announcement trailer.
Cortana in Halo 3 trailer.

New Features

  • The physics have improved for this game greatly. [15]
  • It seems that characters' limbs may now be severed. For in part of the Halo 3 ViDoc trailer a brute ripped the arms clean off a marine, or when the duel sword wielding elite chopped off both of a brute's legs before stabbing him in the chest. If you watch carefully the first time the chief shot a brute up close with a shotgun his limbs including head and chest flew in all different directions.
  • Some Grunts are forced to fight for the Brutes.
  • The Man Cannon is an addition capable of catapulting a player across a multiplayer map. It seems to have replaced the teleporters for Halo 3.
  • Energy Shield doors have been added to some multiplayer levels, which allow players to pass through, but cannot be shot through. Spike grenades can stick to these walls
  • It might be also important to note that the graphics seen in the Alpha build in the Halo 3 ViDoc are not the graphics that are going to be in the game. Have no fear, they will improve. Also the shotgun light looks to have been changed from green to blue (the light is right above the ammo gauge) and you might be able to dual wield energy swords.
  • Decorators, such as grass and weeds, will move when too close to a grenade explosion or rocket explosion. They will also be affected by the weather, such as wind. Some of these decorators are said to be completely destructible.
  • Matchmaking will feature more customizations akin to the pre-game options from Halo. As revealed in a Weekly Update, these customizations include a feature for manipulating gravity. [16]
  • You can turn the camera when you die in multiplayer, so you can see the one who killed you.(leaked footage n.4)
  • There is a more detailed way of changing your button layout.
  • A "Replay Feature" was explained in the EGM issue. The Feature re-creates the entire battle, you take the view of it like a "Ghost" or spectator and can watch every detail of the match-in slow motion or sped up!
File:Halo3 emotionfix.png
The new piece of Halo 3 art.
  • The Gravity-Towers(blue Jackal sniping towers) are now destructible.
  • Phantom Drop-ships are now destructible. [17]
  • The Fusion cores have been upgraded and given a new look, as revealed in the April 6th Weekly Update
  • The new ViDoc, released on 4/10/07, showed possible X-Botton activations. The Bubble Shield which was previously seen in the Starry Night commercial. And the Trip Mine, a high-explosives device that can take out an entire Warthog. It's not clear whether the Trip Mine will make it into the final product.
  • In the new ViDoc at the 00:00:23 point a blue spartan appears holding what appears to be the chain gun off of a Warthog turret. Notice the shadow below the spartan looks like the outline of a turret. Bungie has said "no, you can’t pull the chaingun off the back of a Hog" although it is speculated that once the Warthog has been destroyed it is recoverable from the wreckage. [5]
  • A new "Veto" system has been placed into the Halo 3 Matchmaking. Before the game starts for any game, players can choose whether to veto the map or not. If enough votes are casted to veto, the game will assign a new map for the gametype.

Confirmed facts about Halo 3

File:Spikers.jpg
Spikers, and visible secondary weapons are two of Halo 3's new features.
  • The matchmaking system from Halo 2 will be revamped. Call signs will be used instead of small HUD emblems to identify allies. Also, Halo 3's matchmaking system will be based on two different ranks, skill and experience, in order to make the system more fair and to reflect the effect of experience on players' profiles.[18]
  • A new version of the Assault Rifle (The MA5C)makes an appearance.
  • Master Chief's gauntlets and armor have also changed noticeably.
  • Bungie says that despite several triple wielding illustrations, that is purely fictional and was drawn with an artistic license.
  • The combat AI is said to be in testing.
  • There will be an ingame video recorder that will allow the player to send and recieve machinima videos over Xbox Live.[19]
  • Bungie has confirmed via their Weekly Update at Bungie.net that multiplayer as well as singleplayer testing are currently in progress for the title, in varying stages of completion.
  • The Bungie website also alluded to "a devastated and Covenant controlled Earth".
  • During the Bungie Weekly update of 8-11 it mentions that the testing of the combat dialog for Marines, Elites, and Brutes was underway. So it can be inferred that Brutes will be in the game. Also it alluded to Ghosts and the dialog that would be said when one was hijacked.
  • Bungie revealed that the game would have a new "materials system" so advanced that "you could see light reflect off the ground and onto his armor", which will be able to "[show] the difference between his armor and the rubber undersuit". The site also includes that "It's so detailed that if you bring the camera close to the Master Chief's visor, you see everything in front of him reflected in it, right down to the ammo counter in his rifle" [6]. In addition, there would be new advanced texturing to reflect permanent, persistent damage.
  • In the trailer, Master Chief's Mark VI armor is battle-worn and plasma-scored. Developer Marcus R. Lehto's response: "The Chief is shown as warrior who has seen horrific battle – and it shows. The Earth is dry, barren, ravaged by the Covenant."
  • Actress Julie Benz is not voicing Miranda Keyes for Halo 3 as she was never approached by Bungie to reprise the role. [20]
  • Bungie has confirmed crates in the game in one of their updates.
  • The Master Chief from Halo and Halo 2 is confirmed to be the Spartan in the Halo 3 trailer.
  • Although Halo 3 was planned to end the Halo series, future Halo games haven't been entirely ruled out. On the Halo 3 FAQ from the official Bungie website it says, "Q: Is this the last ever Halo game? A: It is the conclusion to this story arc." Fans note that it is therefore possible that future games could be produced in the Halo universe, even if this particular story arc isn't continued. This was confirmed when Bungie released that the game Halo Wars will be released and is in creation.
  • Multiplayer characters have their secondary weapons on their body, visible to other players.[21]
  • On November 15, Microsoft and Bungie announced a 60 second TV spot to air on Monday Night Football, December 4th on ESPN. And will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace shortly after.
  • Bungie has confirmed that the "face" in the Halo 3 trailer was nothing more than reflections of clouds and Covenant ships.
  • In the November 11 Bungie Weekly Update, it has been stated that due to a "significant chunk" of Halo 2 players being female, there might be an option to have a female voice for the Spartan character in multiplayer.[22]
  • In the December 15 Bungie weekly update Frankie stated that Brutes would NOT be playable characters in Halo 3.[23]
  • Weapons can now be reloaded individually when dual wielding. The right bumper will correspond with the right weapon and the left bumper will correspond with the left weapon. When not dual wielding, the right bumper will reload and the left bumper will switch grenade types. The X button will be use for the bubble shield and the trip mine, as reviewed in Bungie's update.
  • Actress Jen Taylor will continue to voice Cortana, as revealed in a Bungie Weekly Update.
  • The Elites, formally apart of the Covenant, are now allied with the humans to fight against the Covenant and the Flood together.(According to halo3.com)

Sources

  1. ^
    File:Halo3 Packshots.jpg
    The Halo 3 boxes.
    Halo 3 to have public beta test By by the BBC Thursday, 16 November 2006, 09:11 GMT
  2. ^ gamestop.com Release Date
  3. ^ Best Buy Halo 3 Release Date - Accessed on Dec, 2006
  4. ^ [[1]]
  5. ^ http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13025/Microsoft-Officially-Announces-Three-Editions-of-Halo-3/
  6. ^ Please have Cortana's lines pronounced so that I don't see 36 threads about it.

    "I have defied gods and demons."

    "I am your shield, I am your SWORD."

    "I know you, your past, your future."

    "This is the way the world ends."

    Frankie --Weekly Update May 12, 2006
  7. ^ That is indeed the ruins of New Mombasa. The artifact and the Chief are where they appear to be, on the desert outskirts of New Mombasa, and many miles inland. The mountain behind him is Kilimanjaro. -- Bungie.net Weekly Update May 12, 2006
  8. ^ Bungie Weekly Update Posted by Frankie at 8/11/2006 4:41 PM PST
  9. ^ http://forums.xbox.com/7661336/ShowPost.aspx
  10. ^ Exclusive in-depth look at three multiplayer maps
    By Luke Smith 11/08/2006
    With the MA5C Assault Rifle, the clip-size has been drastically reduced from 60 to 32, and as a trade-off, the weapon's accuracy at long-range has been increased. Why the revisions to the Assault Rifle? Well, the starting weapon in Halo 2 -- the SMG -- didn't exactly work out how Bungie wanted it to. Jamie Griesemer, lead designer on Halo 3 (you know, that "30-seconds of fun" guy), points to the two previous starting weapons and their problems. "It shouldn't do headshots... and it shouldn't be dual wieldable," according to Griesemer. The new MA5C Assault Rifle allows neither. Instead, in the MA5C, Bungie believes it's found the third side of the multiplayer "Golden Tripod" (seriously... Bungie's words, not ours) -- Melee attacks and Grenades need to supplement a versatile, functional (but not too functional) starting weapon.
  11. ^ [2]
  12. ^ http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9610
  13. ^ http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=56068
  14. ^ http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=56068
  15. ^ http://www.msngamenews.com/pages/topgames/?page=game
  16. ^ http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?link=ohhhhhhhtakeit
  17. ^ The really fun thing about “Omnipotence” over “medusa” is the ability to take out vehicles, including Phantoms (and more) with a single pistol shot. Now THAT’S superbadass.Chetz N Hax
  18. ^ http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3155479
  19. ^ 1up-confirms-halo-3-news-more-to-come
  20. ^ Dexter's No. 1 Gal — Julie Benz — Previews a Killer Finale Friday, December 15, 2006
    TVGuide.com: Are you all done with your voice work for the Halo 3 video game?
     Julie Benz: You know what? I am actually not a part of Halo 3. I was informed a couple of weeks ago that they are actually changing the voice of Captain Miranda Keyes, and giving her an accent.
  21. ^ Image:Spikers.jpg
  22. ^ Bungie Weekly Update Posted by Frankie at 11/10/2006 5:34 PM PST
  23. ^ The fact is, Brutes in Halo 3 will be significantly more exciting, clever, graphically impressive, terrifying, numerous and angrier than in Halo 2, but they won't be playable, especially since you, in the role of Master Chief, will be spending a significant amount of effort and ammunition reducing their population.Bungie Weekly Update Posted by Frankie at 12/15/2006 10:47 AM PST

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