Halo 3 Impressions (No Spoilers)

[Destructor]

Just as an FYI to everybody reading this:

Do NOT skip the credit sequence.

I repeat - DO NOT SKIP THE CREDIT SEQUENCE.

Be nice to the Bungie devs as they say some funny things at the very end of it.

[Kevin Grey]

Man, this game is *so* much better than Halo 2.  I'm on the sixth mission and the campaign and it's been pretty damn amazing.  Once again, I cannot fathom anyone who can call these graphics a disappointment.  The sheer scale of some of these battles has been mind-blowing. 

[disarm]

I'm on the sixth mission and the campaign and it's been pretty damn amazing.  Once again, I cannot fathom anyone who can call these graphics a disappointment.  The sheer scale of some of these battles has been mind-blowing. 

exactly...may not be the absolute best looking game, but the enormous scale of the battles is incredible.  i just finished the 'Assault' chapter and the end of that battle was unlike anything i've ever played.  the amount of stuff happening on the screen at one time is just awesome, and i have yet to run into a single framerate hitch no matter how intense the action.  i'll glady trade a little graphical detail for the epic combat sequences and silky smooth framerate

[CeeKay]

Alright, I played the first portion on both heroic and normal.  holy crap, heroic really kicks it up a BIG notch.  I just finished the second mission, got to the warthog segment and so far I'm not very wowed.  The graphics are decent, but I have to agree that Gears looked better.  I won't get to play ny tomorrow night but it looks like I'll definitely be trading it in this weekend.

[denoginizer]

Alright, I played the first portion on both heroic and normal.  holy crap, heroic really kicks it up a BIG notch.  I just finished the second mission, got to the warthog segment and so far I'm not very wowed.  The graphics are decent, but I have to agree that Gears looked better.  I won't get to play ny tomorrow night but it looks like I'll definitely be trading it in this weekend.

Actually you are just getting to where the graphics and gameplay start to ramp up.  The second level is defiantly the low point of the game in terms of graphics IMO. 

There is a part shortly after where you are when a dropship drops a warthog and as you and your squad hop in, the Halo theme starts playing and you charge into a big battle.  I got a big shit eating grin on my face at that point of the game and have been having a blast ever since.

I'd say stick with it a little longer if possible.

[CeeKay]

Alright, I played the first portion on both heroic and normal.  holy crap, heroic really kicks it up a BIG notch.  I just finished the second mission, got to the warthog segment and so far I'm not very wowed.  The graphics are decent, but I have to agree that Gears looked better.  I won't get to play ny tomorrow night but it looks like I'll definitely be trading it in this weekend.

Actually you are just getting to where the graphics and gameplay start to ramp up.  The second level is defiantly the low point of the game in terms of graphics IMO. 

There is a part shortly after where you are when a dropship drops a warthog and as you and your squad hop in, the Halo theme starts playing and you charge into a big battle.  I got a big shit eating grin on my face at that point of the game and have been having a blast ever since.

I'd say stick with it a little longer if possible.

that's about where I left off last night.  Those new Covenant vehicles are kinda neat.

[Kevin Grey]

The second level is the low point for the game for me so far. Almost every level since then has just been more awesome than the last. 

[IkeVandergraaf]

I am glad to hear that the second level is the low point of the game for most.  That's where I am right now, and it seems to be a whole lot of running back and forth.  So far I'm enjoying it a great deal.  I never played Halo 1 or 2 when the first came out, and raced through them both in the 2 weeks before 3 came out.  While I'm a little confused about some parts of the story, I love the Halo universe, and really like the characters a lot.  The graphics are fine as far as I'm concerned.  No, the textures aren't as good as Gears or Bioshock, but the outdoors environments are lush and the lighting effects are fantastic.  I'd gladly give up texture detail on the character models for more things to shoot at.  My biggest complaint is the controls.  Having played the first 2 so recently, I find that I keep accidentally using my equipment when I want to reload.  I wish there was an option to set the configuration the same as the first 2 Halos.  And why can't I carry around 4 grenades any more?  On the other hand, new favorite weapon is that giant hammer some of the brutes carry.

[StitchJones]

I'm really liking the game so far.  I'm playing on Heroic and it's pretty tough.


Does anyone here do any multiplay?  If so please add me to your friends list.  I would love to do some team based games with you guys. 

Gamertag: UNCJones

[Mattc0m]

Man, this game is *so* much better than Halo 2.  I'm on the sixth mission and the campaign and it's been pretty damn amazing.  Once again, I cannot fathom anyone who can call these graphics a disappointment.  The sheer scale of some of these battles has been mind-blowing. 

Couldn't agree more. Halo 2 was one of my favorite and most played games of all time, but also one of my most disappointing games of all time. For example, I beat the original Halo campaign about 8 times (one on Normal, one on Legendary, then 6 more times with various other friends & family). Halo 2's campaign I played once, and never looked back, and remained rather disappointed. Halo 3, on the other hand, has all the excitement & fun that Halo 2 brought me, without any of the bitter disappointment.

Definitely GOTY material, I know it's not hugely innovative as a campaign, but the additions going on all around it are going to make this bad boy have some serious replay value.

[Brendan]

And why can't I carry around 4 grenades any more? 

Technically, you can carry 6 grenades now!  You just can't figure out how to affix more than 2 of each type to your super cyborg armor.

[Caine]

And why can't I carry around 4 grenades any more?

Technically, you can carry 6 grenades now!  You just can't figure out how to affix more than 2 of each type to your super cyborg armor.

wait a bit.  you'll see  

finished the game last night, took about 9 hours.  if you think the cannon/mg is cool, there's an even better variant of that later on.  i felt like a real badass at that point. 

not only are the later mass battles fun, but they are huge.  to me, that makes up for having such a clean look throughout. 

[Brendan]

finished the game last night, took about 9 hours.  if you think the cannon/mg is cool, there's an even better variant of that later on.  i felt like a real badass at that point. 

Will you play it through again to get skulls and the score-based achievements?  Or is it on to multiplayer?

[Caine]

well, i will definitely want to go through on coop on the harder difficulty levels, just for that experience, but i would like to get the skulls for the changes they add to scoring.  plus, the ending is a bit changed for legendary i hear, so i'd like to see that.

as for mp, i prefer coop/objective based games over pure deathmatch, but i do intend to test myself against the masses.  even though i'll probably be one of the faceless dead.

[Brendan]

as for mp, i prefer coop/objective based games over pure deathmatch, but i do intend to test myself against the masses.  even though i'll probably be one of the faceless dead.

There's plenty of objective gametypes (depending on whether your predilection is capturing of flags, or arming of bombs, or, uh, kinging of hills, etc).  You may want to try the Team Tactical playlist, which has more of an emphasis on smarts than twitchiness.  The typical game in that playlist is five rounds of "first team to five kills", so you can't go running around like a crazy person.  It's a totally different pace than usual.

[Caine]

as for mp, i prefer coop/objective based games over pure deathmatch, but i do intend to test myself against the masses.  even though i'll probably be one of the faceless dead.

There's plenty of objective gametypes (depending on whether your predilection is capturing of flags, or arming of bombs, or, uh, kinging of hills, etc).  You may want to try the Team Tactical playlist, which has more of an emphasis on smarts than twitchiness.  The typical game in that playlist is five rounds of "first team to five kills", so you can't go running around like a crazy person.  It's a totally different pace than usual.

sounds good.  even though i must have died a hundred times in the later stages, i did try to avoid going all rambo and just charging in blindly. 

[metallicorphan]

oh by the way people,have you seen what happens when you look at someones profile from the guide button?

a friend of mine came online as i was playing Halo so i press the guide button to see how far he had got with it(bastard finished it last week,he got it early)...but now instead of teh usual compare games,you can check out his service record like you can on bungie.net

i checked calvin as well from the guide button,it showed a picture (again like the one on bungie.net)of his spartan,red it was ,LOL


Ont eh last level of halo now,level 8,the one i just did was terrible,and i never want to play that level again

[IkeVandergraaf]

What's the deal with the skulls and scores?  Is that just for co-op or can you get those SP too?

[Brendan]

What's the deal with the skulls and scores?  Is that just for co-op or can you get those SP too?

No, it appears that you can still do scoring even without additional players.  The skulls are hidden around the campaign, and each of them (besides giving you an achievement) allows you to add a difficulty multiplier to the scoring mode through modifying the gameplay.  I think the campaign scoring guide I linked to has the whole list, but they do things like allow your enemies to throw grenades farther, or give brutes better armor, etc, etc.  You also get score multipliers for the difficulty level you're playing on, and the speed in which you complete the level.

[leo8877]

What is the campaign meta game and what the scoring all about?

[Brendan]

Well, it's a reason to play the campaign multiple times with slightly different conditions.

Basically, you can turn on team or individual scoring, and the campaign tracks your in-game accomplishments (the sorts of things that would result in medals in multiplayer play:  kills, headshots, beat downs, sticks, etc).  Different actions result in points, and so there's a sort of high score component that you can compete in.  This is the guide provided by Bungie.

[leo8877]

Thanks man!!

[Lockdown]

I just had my first taste of Halo multiplayer ever. 

Doopri, jancelot, jblank, kato, and me.  I had 6 kills, 6 assists, and died 16 times.   

We played some sort of attack and defend mode.  We lost.  I did have 1 capture though... WooHoo!

The game plays fast and from what I can tell, is filled with a bunch of guys jumping all over the place.  It's different than any FPS I'm used to playing, that's for sure. 

Was kind of fun though. 

The team part is REALLY cool.  Pretty simple really.  I go to my friend's list, see that Kato is joinable.  Join his game, just in time to find...  It's not his game.  It's Doopri's game.  I have no clue if that was luck or what.  Send out invites to a bunch of guys... next thing you know, we are all in a staging lobby together.  Doopri picks a map and we all zone in on the same team against a bunch of other guys that are "theoretically" our skill level.  THAT part I really, really like a lot.

I ranked up one level to "worthless" I think it's called.   

[Ridah]

Wowza,  I've put a little over an hour into Halo 3 so far and it's awesome! I was becoming worried from reading a few ho-hum impressions around here, but so far I'm loving everything. The graphics are great, not GoW level but still very good, and silky smooth. The character models, save for the humans, look great as well, especially Master Chief. The controls are perfect for a console FPS, after playing MoH: Airborne, Bioshock, and The Darkness, I'm surprised at how much better Halo 3 controls in comparison. The weapons are also unique and fun to use. The weapons could use some more kick it feels. These are my very early impressions, obviously, but so far I'm enjoying every aspect of the game, I guess level design and story are the remaining factors that will determine how much I enjoy the game overall.

[Eduardo X]

I'm underwhelmed, as expected. Granted I'm only a little bit in, and I quit Halo out of boredom, but... this is just another generic FPS in my eyes.
MORE LATER.

[Chaz]

I'm on level 4, I think.  I'm liking it so far.  As others have said, level 2 is definitely lackluster, though there's some good firefights with the good guys being outnumbered, and me making some fancy moves with my grav hammer (that thing's just awesome).

I'm finding myself relying a lot on the spiker when I can't get my hands on a battle rifle or assault rifle.  I still don't like the plasma pistol, but will use it dualed with the SMG, and I haven't tried the covenant carbine yet, because I hated it in Halo 2.

I'm going to hop in with you guys one of these days.  I like that you can see who's in the party of people on your friends list, so I can see ahead of time that six folks from my list are all in a game together.

Something I'm wondering is if my GF wanted to play online with me as my guest, what do I do to make that happen?

[Lockdown]

I think you were one of my spam invites, Chaz.  I was hoping you or Soulchilde would accept, which would have given us an even 6 of all GT guys.  We ended up having 1 'outsider'.  I'm not sure how your girlfriend/guest coming into the staging area with you would work.  We should test that out.

The fast mp gameplay is not my cup of tea at all really, but the team aspect is great.  Warping in together as a team from the staging area reminds me of Chromehounds, which I love.  Having some type of "Clan Stat Page" would be so cool if they did that.

(I wonder if Call of Duty 4's team games work like this?)  

[Chaz]

I was playing the campaign when you sent the invite, and either it didn't pop up, or I just didn't notice it (probably the latter), and by the time I saw it, I was headed out for the night.  I might be on tonight, but I'm away for the weekend (probably playing Halo with buddies at a farmhouse in the boondocks).

[leo8877]

This week has really been busy for me, so I'm only in mission 2.  It certainly doesn't live up to the hype for me, especially after playing through Bioshock already this year.  It's basically the same as the first 2 Halos, just with a face-lift.  I do enjoy the universe though, so I will be playing through for sure.  The meta game has me interested as well, so I'm sure I'll try for points after completing.  I'm playing through on Heroic, so that I get a longer experience out of the game.  The last 2 I played on Normal and they were cake walks. 

Online has been fun.  I have voice coms turned off, so that might be the reason   I can't aim for crap with a controller so I get owned pretty hard, but it's fun to screw around.  My gamertag is LE08877 (the 0 is a zero) if anyone wants to group up for some ranked matches.

EDIT:  Does anyone know if there's a guide for the UNSC Campaign Report?

[EngineNo9]

I can't wait until you guys are done with Halo 3 so the forums get some normal thread traffic going again. 

[Chaz]

I can't wait until you guys are done with Halo 3 so the forums get some normal thread traffic going again. 

Your input has been noted, and will be routed to the proper authorities most expediently.

[CeeKay]

I can't wait until you guys are done with Halo 3 so the forums get some normal thread traffic going again. 

wait until all the threads that will be started for Tingles Rupee Colored Thingies comes out.

[Scott]

So far its pretty good, though hard on Heroic.  The graphics look great I think.  The sound blows though.  The guns sound horrible.  I thought I read there were sound bugs?  I'm playing in double digital, and it sounds muted at times.

[Kevin Grey]

So far its pretty good, though hard on Heroic.  The graphics look great I think.  The sound blows though.  The guns sound horrible.  I thought I read there were sound bugs?  I'm playing in double digital, and it sounds muted at times.

I'm not really sure what happened to Bungie's sound mixing.  Halo 1 had great sound that packed a lot of punch.  Halo 2, in contrast, was way too muted.  Halo 3 is an improvement but is still lacking the punch of the original. 

[KePoW]

So far its pretty good, though hard on Heroic.  The graphics look great I think.  The sound blows though.  The guns sound horrible.  I thought I read there were sound bugs?  I'm playing in double digital, and it sounds muted at times.

I'm not really sure what happened to Bungie's sound mixing.  Halo 1 had great sound that packed a lot of punch.  Halo 2, in contrast, was way too muted.  Halo 3 is an improvement but is still lacking the punch of the original. 

it's pretty strange, that's for sure

at least they didn't screw up the music, that still remains great

[leo8877]

I was wondering if the sound is that way because I use HDMI, but don't have a 5.1 sound system.  I'm just using the TV speakers atm.

[Kevin Grey]

at least they didn't screw up the music, that still remains great

Yep.  I don't think Martin O' Donnell's contributions to the franchise can understated.  The scores for these games are absolutely near the top of my favorite game scores and they beat most films too.  Truly iconic.

I can't wait for the score album to be released.  I already bought the Finish the Fight single off of iTunes- the music queue used in the Halo 3 announcement trailer.  Just love that piece. 

[Kevin Grey]

I was wondering if the sound is that way because I use HDMI, but don't have a 5.1 sound system.  I'm just using the TV speakers atm.

Nah, it seems to be a common issue- I've heard others just using TV speakers complain about it and I'm experiencing it in 5.1 via optical connection. 

[Chaz]

Agreed, the main theme is perfectly suited to marching into battle.  Even better that they use it to great effect is some fantastic setpiece fights.  It's hard not to get a big grin on your face when you're rolling into the fight, tons of enemies arrayed against you, and that music comes on.

[Calvin]

at least they didn't screw up the music, that still remains great

Yep.  I don't think Martin O' Donnell's contributions to the franchise can understated.  The scores for these games are absolutely near the top of my favorite game scores and they beat most films too.  Truly iconic.

I can't wait for the score album to be released.  I already bought the Finish the Fight single off of iTunes- the music queue used in the Halo 3 announcement trailer.  Just love that piece. 

I agree completely and also bought that piece trying to find the official soundtrack-coming November 30.