Halo 3

Halo 3
File:Halo 3 front-1-.jpg
Developer(s)	Bungie Studios
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Game Studios
Series	Halo
Engine	Proprietary
Platform(s)	Xbox 360
Release	Fall 2007 Fall 2007
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single Player, Multiplayer, Xbox Live, System-Link

Halo 3, the third game in the best-selling Xbox game franchise Halo, is a highly anticipated first-person shooter video game under development by Bungie Studios for the Xbox 360 and is expected to "set a new high water mark" for next-generation games. An official announcement on the developers' website states that Halo 3 will end the current story arc of the Halo trilogy. A beta test of the multi-player component of the game began May 11th, 2007. The final version of the game is due to be released in Fall 2007.

Features

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Official logo for Halo 3

Plot

The only plot points that have been revealed so far are that Master Chief is back on a thoroughly conquered and Covenant controlled Earth. Cortana is still a prisoner of Gravemind, Covenant ships are hovering over an excavation site only a few miles from the ruins of New Mombasa, The Covenant have also uncovered a large artifact in this site, which is presumably The Ark. The Arbiter, along with the remaining Elites, have allied themselves with the human forces, according to the "Halo 3 Website".

Graphics

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Work-in-progress Halo 3 screenshot of hidden-line rendering in the alpha-build. Not all polygons are shown.

Halo 3 will utilize a proprietary, in-house graphics engine aptly named the "Halo 3 Engine". This engine builds upon the technologies of the Halo 2 Engine (and previously the Halo 1 Engine), and is re-optimized for the architecture of 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 real-time depth of field effect. Depth of field however will only be used in cutscenes and not during gameplay. Certain surfaces, including the Master Chief's visor (when visible) and the armor of a Ghost, will have real-time reflections. Most of the objects in the game will cast real-time shadows on itself and the environment around it, including the game's plant-life.

Halo 3 will use Normal, Bump and parallax mapping to add much more detail to surfaces without dramatically increasing the number of polygons. Bungie has also stated that the draw distance (horizon of the game world) will be in excess of 10 miles (16 km). Sophisticated new atmospheric models are used in the game. Dust and smoke particles can be used to add to the realism of the environment, and the haze effect which is often used in video games to save processing power is so realistic that it actually costs processing power. Water effects are also dramatically improved; it can reflect and refract images simultaneously. As well as being able to simulate effects such as water falls, it will visually flow around objects in its path and splash when players or vehicles, or other objects, travel through it.

Physics

The foliage in the game is physics-enabled, meaning 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 from 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 many more individual pieces of combat dialogue than in either of the preceding Halo titles (Halo 2 had over 15,000), and 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, making for a more realistic experience. Distant gunfire sounds which may seem like pre-recorded ambient sound, in Halo 3, is often the result of an actual firefight happening in the distance.

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.

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.

Gameplay

Halo gameplay will adhere to what Multiplayer Designer Lars Bakken describes as the "Golden Three Things of Halo," which are weapons, grenades and melee attack, all three of which are simultaneously available to a player at all times while on foot (unless they are dual wielding). Halo 3, like its predecessors, will also feature a strong vehicular component, with many of the series' vehicles returning in the third installment.

AI behavior of both enemies and allies 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 power of the Xbox 360 for more than just increased polygon counts. Enemy AI will also have new non-combat behaviors, rather than just sitting around waiting for players to kill them.

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The current default controller layout.

The new default controller layout will see the Right Bumper become the "action" button (pick up, reload, board vehicles, activate switches, etc), with the X button being used for deployment of special equipment, such as the Bubble Shield, the trip mine and the power drainer. When dual-wielding, weapons can be individually reloaded using either the left or right bumper. Other buttons are unchanged, but B (melee attack) also can be used to take a stationary gun turret off it's tripod for mobile use, as well as perhaps other context sensitive functions. When a player is carrying a second weapon in Halo 3, the secondary weapon will be stored on the character's back or leg holster, depending on whether the player would use it with one hand or two (two-handed weapons will be stored on the player's back, one-handed weapons will be stored on the leg holster). Also, when the player carries some weapons like the machine gun turret and the Missile Pod, the view will change to third person and the player will become slower.

The game will feature the ability to record and send video clips via Xbox Live at any time, making Halo machinima even easier for users.

Multiplayer

Like most multiplayer Xbox 360 titles, Halo 3 will use a customised version of True Skill ranking system for its online matchmaking facilities. Halo 3's matchmaking system will be based on two different ranks, skill and experience. Skill will simply be the True Skill rank of the player in a given playlist, and experience identified by a Military rank; eg. a player with a designation of a 'General' will have played for longer time than someone who is a 'recuit'. This is in order to make the system more fair and to reflect the effect of experience on players' profiles.

The interface for matchmaking from Halo 2 will be completely revamped. Call signs (consisting of one letter and two numbers) will be used instead of small HUD emblems to identify allies in games. In addition to the customisation of call signs, players can now choose 3 different colours (as apposed to 2 in Halo 2) for their armour in multiplayer (primary, secondary and detail), as well as three for their multiplayer emblem.

Bungie also stated that they have redesigned the UI (user interface) from Halo 2, apparently making it easier to generate a custom game in Halo 3 multiplayer. Hosts 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.

In the November 11 Bungie Weekly Update, it was 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.

A new feature dubbed the "A-hole button" will be used to mute players in the game. "As it stands", the strength of the effect of gravity is customizable as one of the game settings in creating custom games. It is unknown whether or not this will be in the finished game.

There will also be a greater number of medal announcements in multiplayer, including several "Easter egg" medals that will be awarded for very unusual events.

Miscellaneous

Fauna are undergoing testing for inclusion in the final build of the game, specifically seagulls and a cockatoo-like creature. Both will exhibit flocking behavior. Some Bungie employees are reportedly keen on the possibility of going grousing in Halo 3.

Although Halo 3 was planned to end the Halo series, future Halo games are likely. 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." This refers to the two announced games in the Halo universe, including the new Halo Wars by Ensemble Studios. Of the other project, very little is known. Bungie said that it will be on the Xbox 360 and will "be made in partnership with Lord of the Rings and King Kong director, Peter Jackson" and a recently formed development studio headed by him under the name of Wingnut Interactive.

Pre-release marketing

As one of the most anticipated video games in history, the marketing campaign for Halo 3 has been extensive and is planned to be epic in scope. Much of the advertising to date has focused on appealing to the general public, rather than just hardcore fans of the game. Microsoft has announced the launch of an international advertising campaign using the Forerunner Structure imagery (often with massive banners hung from city skyscrapers). The campaign's scope has been compared to that usually seen for a major motion picture.

E3 2006 trailer

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The Master Chief emerges from smoke and rubble that litters an African plain.

The first public look at Halo 3 came in the form of a real-time cinematic trailer shown at Microsoft's press conference at E3 2006. The trailer is set in the dry plains of Africa, a few miles away from New Mombasa's remains, around a third of the way through the game. Parts of the broken space elevator and bridge are in the background, along with the foothills of Mt Kilimanjaro. The Master Chief is slowly revealed though smoke and dust, holding the renewed assault rifle, occasionally obscured by distorted overlaid images of Cortana transmitting a message:

"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."

In the "Behind the Scenes" video, it is stated, "We don't know what has happened to her... We don't know it's Cortana. It could be any sort of bizarre, almost Satanic sort of voice. Something seems wrong."

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Covenant ships disperse as the ancient Forerunner artifact is activated.

In the trailer, a massive Covenant fleet holds position over an enormous crater. Inside of which is a circular, Forerunner related, metallic structure over three miles (4.8km) in diameter. Above the structure is a swirling cloud, given depth by paralax mapping techniques. Covenant Banshees and Phantoms (dropships) fly towards it.

The structure begins to move and a brilliant light from its centre whites out the screen. Cortana delivers with her final line (detailed above) and the trailer ends with the tagline "Finish the fight". This tagline has been used throughout the Halo 3 marketing campaign as seen on official t-shirts, along with the imagery of the Forerunner structure.

After the E³ showing, Bungie demonstrated some of the game's visual effects to the press at the conference. The Assault Rifle was fired to demonstrate that the muzzle flash was reflected off Master Chief's visor in real-time.

The trailer fanfare sports a wholly new arrangement, the addition of trumpets, and the noted absence of Halo's signature "monks."

ESPN TV "Starry Night" advertisement

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Master Chief using the trailer version of Bubble Shield device. Nearby is a Mongoose ATV.

On December 4, 2006, a 60-second CGI commercial for Halo 3 was aired on ESPN, followed by a release on Xbox.com and Xbox LIVE. Its airing marked the start of the first phase of sign ups on Halo3.com for the spring Beta. It does not contain any gameplay footage, and was created entirely by Digital Domain, using a mix of live action (for the two children), animation (using Bungie-supplied assets) and pure CGI.

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The Master Chief's MA5C Assault Rifle, along with an overturned Warthog in the background.

The ad comprises two scenes. The first shows two children lying in long grass looking at the night sky, wondering whether they will ever meet beings from "up there". The location and identity of the children are deliberately ambiguous; this being up to the interpretation of the viewer. This scene then cuts to Master Chief's point of view, waking from unconsciousness after being thrown from a vehicle. He is on Earth, in the middle of the Covenant invasion around the events of the E³ Announcement.

In the advertisement, the Master Chief's secondary weapon is stored magnetically on his back, or on a leg holster for smaller weapons. This is later revealed as an actual visual feature of the game.

Separated from the Marines, the Master Chief evades plasma mortar impacts (with the aid of the previously unseen 'Bubble Shield' device, resembling a transparent geodesic dome) and engages a group of Covenant Brutes and Wraith tanks. The ad closes with the same "HALO 3", "FINISH THE FIGHT - 2007", the Xbox 360 logo and additionally the "Jump In" slogan of the Xbox 360 marketing campaign.

Reaction to the advertisement was enthusiastic. It was the first cinematic-quality glimpse into the Halo Universe, designed to appeal to a mass audience. Fans of the series immediately started picking over the imagery for clues relating to the plot or gameplay of Halo 3.

The advertisement was aired only once, but remains available for download on many websites, including the official Bungie website.

"Et tu, Brute?" video documentary

The "Et tu, Brute?" ViDoc (a portmanteau of video documentary), released on December 20, 2006, focuses on how the Brutes have been almost completely redesigned for Halo 3 to better reflect the idea that they are meant to be a worthy adversary for the player. The ViDoc shows pre-alpha graphics, none of which are final, and some elements may be completely redesigned before launch.

The ViDoc explains that the three classes of Brutes have been differentiated, the same way Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 featured different classes of Elites, Grunts, and Jackals. They are all shown with much heavier armor than the Brutes in Halo 2:

• 'Standard' infantry Brutes that wear blue armor held together by buckles.
• Brute Captains, who wear more elaborate helmets and armor.
• Brute Chieftains, who have the most elaborate helmets and armor.

The color scheme of Elites in the prior games seems to have been applied to Brutes (blue is the lowest rank, red is higher, and gold is the highest). To reflect the Brutes' violent nature, some new brutal animations have been created. Examples shown in the ViDoc include a Brute ripping off the arms of a Marine, a Brute ramming a Marine into a vehicle, and another Brute punching the stomach of a Marine lying on the ground.

The AI has also been updated to incorporate the new idea of a Brute pack. A Chieftain in Halo 3 may order all of its troops to throw grenades at the enemy together, or may decide to focus on attacking one character.

The film also includes some other previously unseen elements, such as dual-wieldable Energy Swords (only used by AI) and the new Spike Grenade. The "Spike Grenades" may stick to any surface except water and release a shaped charge upon explosion. A Brute Chieftain is seen firing a weapon resembling an un-deployed plasma turret from Halo 2. However, the game as shown, is still in a pre-alpha stage, and the graphics and game elements in the ViDoc are currently unconfirmed for final release in the game.

"Is Quisnam Protero Damno!" video documentary

A ViDoc detailing the development of the multiplayer game was released on April 10, 2007. It highlighted the major ways in which the developers have sought to improve upon the Halo 2 multiplayer game which was so successful. All graphics shown were from an alpha build - no decorators were yet in place, many textures were still only placeholders, and the HDR lighting model was not being used. Nevertheless, the graphics were already demonstrably far superior to the game's predecessors, which is unsurprising as this is a next generation installment for the series. Previously unseen gameplay elements include:

• The Bubble Shield Device is confirmed to be used in-game (though it understandably looks different than it did in the trailer film); when dropped, a geodesic shield is set up, protecting the player from anything outside the shield perimeter. However, the shield does not look completely stationary, it seemed to roll down the hill it was placed on meaning you might need to move to stay inside it. Although, in the Bungie weekly update, Bungie alluded to the bubble shield staying in one place when deployed (this is still subject to change, but in the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, it will remain stationery when deployed).
• The "tripmine", an explosive triggered by either proximity or touch, that is deployed like the Bubble Shield.
• A "jump pad" (miniature grav-lift) can be seen (although not pointed out) being used by a Spartan on High Ground, and is presumably carried and deployed like the Bubble Shield,
• A new weapon was shown, that resembled a human machine gun turret, being carried and fired while not deployed by a Spartan assaulting the base on High Ground, although in a Bungie weekly update they stated that this was not a turret or a chaingun, and that you could not take the turret off of any vehicles. This is not confirmed for the final product though.
• An in-game camera will allow you to see how your enemy killed you as well as allow you to record gameplay clips from first-person view as well as any other position. The recording can be shown in slow-motion.
• At least three new multiplayer maps were shown.
• A new game type is possibly shown; at one point "Game: Escort" can be seen.
• A new map name is possibly shown; at one point "Map: Warthog, Inc." can be seen.
• The man-cannons have replaced the teleport modules that were found in Halo 2. Bungie has stated that in pre-development they thought about how to get a player across the map. The man-cannon will serve this purpose and add a level of excitement in the final version of the game.

Public beta testing

On April 10, 2007 Bungie announced that the beta testing phase would run from May 16, 2007 at 5am PDT to June 6, 2007 at 11.59pm PDT. Internal beta testing has begun at Microsoft and although the internal test is NDA compliant, leaked footage has been put on the Internet showing new weapons, equipment, and other game elements. Bungie recently endorsed a new video of the internal beta made by a Microsoft employee.

The primary method of entry into the Halo 3 Beta was through the 'Rule of 3' program, which consisted of 3 phases;

• Phase 1: Sign ups on Halo3.com at the time of the 'Starry Night' commercial release.
• Phase 2: Be among the first 13,333 to sign on Halo3.com after playing 3 hours of Halo 2 on Xbox Live in February
• Phase 3: Buy a specially marked copy of the Xbox 360 game Crackdown.

Additionally, some Beta places were given out to certain community websites in Europe over the Xbox Community Network (XCN) program. There will also be a 'Friends and Family' Beta access starting a few days before the public beta, whose participants have already been chosen. Some of whom, will be Bungie.net members who will get a Beta invite code sent to them on the evening of May 11 via a private message on Bungie.com.

The public portion of the Beta will consist of matchmaking play only on three multiplayer maps: Valhalla, High Ground and Snowbound. Bungie has stated that the beta will support split screen for up to two players.

The public beta will also contain a special feature after the game called by many bungie.net members "Action Replay" during this players will see a third person view of their battle and what they did right, and what they did wrong. In the public beta the only Options available will be to Pause the Video, Rewind the Video, and Fast Forward the video. In the final game there will be more options such as, cutting a clip out, slow motion, and special effects. Players will also have a choice to publish a video to a "Share File" where other players can watch and view your clips. Microsoft states this as the "Ultimate Trainer" when you can watch the winner of a game's video and see their tactics. You may learn something.

• Cortana
• Gravemind
• Commander Miranda Keyes
• Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson
• Arbiter
• Prophet of Truth

Enemies

Covenant

• Jackals (Kig-Yar)
• Brutes (Jiralhanae)
• Grunts (Unggoy)
• Drones (Yanme'e)
• Prophets

The Flood

• Infection Form
• Combat Form
• Carrier Form

Allies

UNSC Marine Corps

• UNSC Marine Infantryman

Ex-Covenant

• Elites (Sangheili)
• Hunters (Lekgolo)
• Grunts (Unggoy)

Human Vehicles

• M274 ULATV Mongoose
• M12 LRV Warthog
• M12G1 LAAV "Gauss" Warthog
• M808B Scorpion tank
• D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship

Covenant Vehicles

• Ghost
• Wraith
• Banshee
• Phantom
• Capital ship

Locations

• Earth, Sol System
  • Kenya, East African Protectorate
    • New Mombasa and Old Mombasa
    • The Forerunner structure
    • Mt. Kilimanjaro

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Human Weapons

• MA5C Assault Rifle
• M6G Pistol (dual-wieldable)
• M7 SMG (dual-wieldable)
• BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle
• M90 Shotgun
• SRS99D Sniper Rifle (redesigned)
• M41 Rocket Launcher
• Spartan Laser (W/AV M6 Grindell/Galileian Nonlinear Rifle)
• UNSC Missile Pod (3rd person)
• Portable Machine Gun Turret (3rd person)
• M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade
• Fusion cores

Covenant Weapons

• Plasma Pistol (dual-wieldable)
• Plasma Rifle (dual-wieldable)
• Needler (more powerful but not dual-wieldable)
• Covenant Carbine
• Particle Beam Rifle
• Energy Sword (limited battery)
• Brute Spiker (Type-25 Carbine)
• Brute Shot (six shots)
• Brute Hammer (resembling Fist of Rukt gravity hammer used by Tartarus)
• Brute Spike Grenade (Type-2 Antipersonnel Fragmentation Grenade)
• Plasma Grenade

Equipment

• Bubble Shield (ONI-designed)
• Tripmine
• Portable Reverse-Gravitational Lift
• Power Drainer
• Radar Scrambler

Multiplayer Maps

• Snowbound
• Valhalla
• High Ground
• Jub Jub (unofficial name)
• A new map with many similarities to Gephyrophobia in Halo 1 PC

Multiplayer Game Types

• VIP
• Slayer
  • Team Slayer
• Capture the Flag
• Territories
  • Land Grab
• Oddball
• King of the Hill

Miscellaneous

• Multiplayer emblems
• Multiplayer call signs
• Direction of fire/damage arrows
• The Man Cannon

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External links

Official Sites

• Official site
• Official Halo 3 site at Bungie.net
• Halo 3 at Xbox.com

External Homepages

• Halo 3 article at Halopedia

News

• Halo 3 Revealed! on Xbox.com
• Three Weeks of Halo 3 at 1up.com
• Halo 3 News and Updates
• Halo 3 Story on IGN
• Image Press Kit (Direct download link - 102 MB - Zipfile)
• 5 Years of Halo and an update at 360-Play.com
• Halo 3 2006 Recap
• Halo 3 overview
• Halo 3 Public Beta FAQ

Videos

Official videos are also available on the Xbox Live Marketplace

• HD announcement trailer, on Microsoft.com. (Direct link - WMV)
• Halo 3 anounce Trailer (Flash video format)
• Halo 3 Outline on GameSpot (Included with small trailer)
• High Resolution Behind The Scenes on Bungie (Direct download link - 383 MB - Windows Media)
• Halo 3 ViDoc "Et Tu, Brute?" on Game Videos
• Halo 3 'Starry Night' TV Ad on Game Videos (HD Downloads at link - WMV (23.5 MB) MOV (101 MB))
• Halo 3 TV ad on Xbox.com
• Halo 3 ViDoc "Is Quisnam Protero Damno!" on YouTube (Also available on Xbox Live Marketplace)
• Halo 3 Documentary Bungie.net in-depth documentary of the E3 2006 teaser trailer.
• 3 Halo 3 Beta videos on Xboyxde.com. HD, SD and streaming variants available. As well as a gallery of screencaptures.