By Shaun Inguanzo
e-Talk
IF YOU haven’t heard about Master Chief, then you must be from another planet. The cyborg soldier has a knife-edge attitude and enviable sharp-shooting skills. Master Chief is the tough-as-nails protagonist in the Halo video game series. He’s the guy who is going to save Earth single handedly from alien scum.
Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 will host the next installation of the Halo series – Halo 3 – and will be released worldwide on 25 September.
It will capitalise on the successes of Halo 2’s gameplay, making minor tweaks and changing several weapons for improved variations after years of feedback from the Halo gaming community to developer Bungie.
This week, gamers who own a copy of the game Crackdown were given the opportunity to taste the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta – an early version of the game’s online multiplayer element.
E-Talk has played the Beta and the first impressions are indeed lasting ones, and for all of the right reasons.
The controls have been tweaked for the 360 controller and the weapons seem more balanced than in Halo 2’s multiplayer.
The assault rifle from the first Halo makes its return as Master Chief’s primary weapon, and it makes for a formidable default weapon.
The new Spartan Laser is an example of balanced gameplay, giving players a one-shot-kills weapon but requiring them to charge the laser shot for five seconds.
The game’s matchmaking function is disappointing as it takes far too long to find a game under the best connection filter.
But this is likely to be because of the lack of Australian gamers involved in the beta.
New items that can be deployed during gameplay add spice to the gameplay.
Our favourite is the Bubble Shield, so called because when deployed it creates a transparent dome around the ground that deflects all forms of attack – except players running into the dome and engaging in melee attacks.
E-Talk also applauded the gravity jump that can be deployed in any location, and acts as a lift over a high wall.
This allows for unorthodox methods of entry into an enemy fortress, keeping opposition players on their toes and allowing the attacking team to more easily penetrate the defence.
A new vehicle, the Mongoose, is an ATV that can carry up to two players and is agile and able to fit into smaller, confined spaces, making for some interesting corridor combat.
Criticisms are confined to a lower-than-expected frame rate, slow matchmaking, and ability yet again for snipers to dominate a multiplayer first-person-shooter.
Halo 3 is shaping up to be another smash hit for the Xbox platform, and E-Talk hopes Bungie can iron out the kinks ahead of the game’s 25 September retail release.
