Ten Reasons We’re Pumped For Halo 3
Added 09/24/2007 by Kenneth
10. The Score: A big part of what has made the single-player aspect of Halo so memorable is the music, courtesy of genius composer Marty O’Donnell. From the opening music that played at the main menu in the original Halo, it was evident that gamers were in for one heck of an experience. And we didn’t just get a great experience, we got an amazing experience in Halo’s single-player, with music that fit chillingly well with the present situation. Halo 2 managed to retain this while adding some nice guitar riffs for some of the bigger moments in the game. Halo 3’s score doesn’t seem to be anywhere near breaking the excellence of the music from Halo. The music from the E3 2006 trailer was more than enough to tell us that we’re going to be treated to both a great game and some amazing tunes. The first two Halo’s have just gone to show that great music can really add a lot to the experience; I’ll be keeping an eye out for the Halo 3 soundtrack when I drop by Best Buy.
9. Brutes Refined: The Brutes became the enemy of focus in the last third of Halo 2’s campaign. There was just one little problem, they weren’t exactly “good” enemies. Really the only strategy against beating the Brutes was to keep on shooting them and try to avoid being bashed by one of those that went “berserk”. This time around, as the main enemy in the game, the Brutes have been given a good few refinements to make them as deadly as the Elites, maybe even more so. These adjustments should help to make for a better experience than the last couple hours in Halo 2’s campaign; all we can do is wait to find out just how well these overgrown apes have evolved.
8. Online Multiplayer: The real treat Halo 2 offered for most of its fans was the massive multiplayer experience, and taking this experience online had gamers become more involved than ever. Heck, there are still thousands of rabid Halo fans still playing Halo 2 to this day. The Halo 3 beta that was released a few months ago was the real buzz in the gaming community, and for good reason. Fortunately, for those that didn’t get to experience the beta can rest assured that it was only a very small sample as to what the whole online multiplayer experience will have to offer. So brace yourself, because Halo 3’s online multiplayer is dead-set to keep you coming back for more than even Halo 2 did.
7. New Maps: While we’re all excited to see how some of our old favorite maps will be remade in Halo 3 (such as how Zanzibar has received some major facelifts), what we’re waiting to see are some new maps. The beta had three new maps to try out and, along with several websites and magazine articles; its clear Halo 3 has quite a few new maps already spoiled to the public. Among the new maps are Valhalla, High Ground, Snowbound, Sandtrap, Narrows, Guardian and Epitaph. Those combined with Last Resort, the Zanzibar remake makes for at least seven maps guaranteed to be included on the disc at retail. So don’t worry, there’s bound to be a few more maps included when Halo 3 comes out (since Bungie has stated that Halo 3 will come out with about as many maps as Halo 2 did, which means we’re looking at about eleven maps at launch). So have fun with the new maps when Halo 3 comes out, so long as you don’t send me off a ledge or something.
6. New Weapons: Halo’s been home to some interesting weapons, they’ve become a big part of what’s separated it from other shooters. Where other FPS games tend to include the typical mix of pistols, machineguns, and rifles, Halo has had a pretty bizarre mix of firearms. One that’s made a pretty big splash is the Spartan Laser, which could best be described as a laser-firing weapon that has the power of a Rocket Launcher and the precision of a Battle Rifle. These crazy armaments combined with the two weapon restriction have made strategy with weapons an essential part of survival in Halo. There’s bound to be a few unannounced guns to toy around with when Halo 3 arrives, so expect the unexpected.
5. New Vehicles: Just like the weapons, Halo’s vehicles are a large part of what makes Halo stand out against the hordes of other shooters. Before we were merely driving around in all-terrain trucks, small hovercraft and intimidating army tanks. However, now we’re looking at not one but two interesting aerial crafts, a single-wheeled “blade-chopper”, and a gargantuan, thunderous fortress tank that can carry even the largest vehicles in the game. And that’s not even naming half of the available vehicles in the game. Warthogs, Ghosts, Banshees, Scorpions, Wraiths, Hornets, Prowlers, Mongooses, Brute Choppers, Elephants, they’re all going to be available for use in Halo 3. Just be sure you test drive these bad boys out before rushing online and being the next suicide superstar.
4. Equipment: A new means of taking enemies down (and in some cases helping you and your comrades), Halo 3 now allows players to carry equipment around with them. These interesting new devices include the Trip Mine, Bubble Shield, Power Drainer and a Regenerator. These nifty little mechanisms are bound to make the Halo experience even more dynamic and twisted than before. Might as well call Halo 3 Halo: Twisted Metal Now Obsolete. What? You seriously thought Bungie had pulled out all the stops with the weapons and vehicles that have made the series insane in the past? Oh, if you thought that was all there was to see, then you’d better wake up and smell the burning vehicles and bodies.
3. Who Lives, Who Dies: One of the biggest questions on gamers’ minds is if the Master Chief will in fact die. And they’re not just scratching their heads over his fate, but as well as what’ll happen to the other characters. Since Halo 3 is supposed to be the last game in the trilogy, there’s likely to be a lot of twists and turns, some of which might involve the death of one or more of the characters. Tension’s building with several biting their fingers over this subject, and this Tuesday we’ll finally know just who will make it to the finish line of Halo’s storyline.
2. “Forge” Map Editor: A big, new feature added to Halo 3, the new map editor aptly named “Forge” is dead-set on one thing: making Halo’s multiplayer even bigger than ever. While in Forge, you take on the role of the 343 Guilty Spark monitor, adding, deleting, and moving items around as you see fit. These options will apply to weapons, vehicles, equipment, transporters, crates, spawn points and so much more. Thanks to Forge, gamers will be free to change the way people play on the maps to make the experience even better. Heck, if you have the trait of creativity, Forge will be your treat to crafting some pretty insane stunts (a good few examples of which were shown in the new ViDoc detailing Forge and saved films). The Halo experience is about to get even deeper thanks to Forge, so here’s to looking forward to seeing what interesting variants everyone comes up with.
And now for the # 1 reason we’re pumped for Halo 3:
1. Finishing the Fight: Halo 2 might have been widely praised for its stellar multiplayer portion, but many were left mortified with its single-player; mostly thanks to the untimely cliffhanger ending. With the E3 2006 trailer giving Halo 3 the motto “Finish the Fight” gamers have been eagerly waiting to do just that. After three games the Halo storyline will finally come to one big finale with the many questions on gamers minds finally being answered. Who dies? What’ll happen to Cortana? What’s going to be Earth’s fate? What role will the other Halo’s play in the game? And what exactly will the Ark on Earth spell out for the fate of the universe? All these questions and then some will be answered, when Halo 3 comes out this Tuesday, September 25; get ready to finish the fight.
