This game is going to let you s*** in your pants before you even begin to finish the fight. I got hold of this new bunch of screens of Halo 3 with tons of new information, including new weapons, armor, levels and the works. I cease to wonder if EGM’s September issue will contain all these details or not? But here’s the stuff before all of you can actually grab a copy of the English version of the magazine.
The following details are from magazine which a French mag and Jap Famitsu, and since I cannot go beyond the word Si, I’ll just fill in what I could figure out from the scans.
There is more to the world in Halo 3. It’s grittier than before. The scans include humungous structures in the midst of jungles. Sierra 117, maybe? Most of the scans show Master Chief being cornered from all sides, showing off the intensity of the battles in Halo 3. The game is portraying a situation of a dilapidated war, and humans are, well getting their arses kicked all right…There is a scan which shows a stiff battle being fought at a docking bay. Think Far Cry sans all the water, only more chaotic. There are a couple of new weapons in the game as well. The Humans have brought out their artillery in full force this time around, it is earth after all! Have a good look at the Elephant as shown in one of the scans. I’d reckon it’s a massive Minecrawler. The covenants have brand new stationary plasma cannon at their disposal, more of a mini turret than a full fledged cannon.
The mauler, Gravity Hammer, Hornet are present in the game along with a curious trident like object. I remember seeing something like this in Call of Cthulhu. It could be a fore runner artifact for all I know. There are moving pads in the multiplayer; somehow they are useful in Capture the flag. Spidey’s (Scarab tank) has been shown pretty pissed off…The Chief looks puny in front of its humongous stature. Hit the links to have a look at the entire thing:
www.enregistrersous.com/images/2/27039485020070727140616.html
www.enregistrersous.com/images/2/206219176120070727140520.html
www.enregistrersous.com/images/2/170091112820070727140429.html
www.enregistrersous.com/images/2/55029675120070727140709.html
Here are a couple of maps from the single player campaign:
Sierra 117
The storm
TASVO highway
Multiplayer includes:
Gurdian
Last Resort
Epitaph
Sandtrap
All of the multiplayer maps have already been showcased earlier. Here’s a Famitsu scan:
http://www.jeux-france.com/images1_4_21144.html
Microsoft had also showed a couple of brand new levels to the press and Sympatico had their hands on time with the game, here’s a report about the hands on experience:
“I haven’t come close to finding one, however, and the huge alien attack vehicle seems to be stalking me and my soldier sidekick as we race around the battlefield in a two-man Mongoose vehicle.
Nearby, other marines exchange gunfire with smaller Covenant vehicles in the shadow of a huge factory complex. In the distance, the fight continues. And above, the battle rages in the air as well, as Earth forces fight for the survival of their planet against the alien Covenant.”
On Dear old Spidey (Scarab):
“In ‘Halo 2,’ he was a big piece of moving geometry. He wasn’t really real,” Griesemer adds. “He was hand-animated and didn’t really react to what you were doing. He had a scripted path that he went on. But in ‘Halo 3,’ he’s an AI (artificial intelligence). He’ll chase you around, he’ll acquire targets. If he can’t find you, he’ll search for you. He’s the biggest character we’ve every done, essentially. And there are dozens of ways to kill him.”
Here’s a little more information on the levels shown off to the journalists, “Tsavo Highway” and The Storm, both set in South Africa:
“It’s the first vehicle mission of the game and the mayhem mounts the deeper you progress. More enemies turn out, with more weapons and more cover. Eventually, you have to leave your vehicle and cross the wreckage of a twisted, destroyed highway and bridge.
More danger is just around the corner. Covenant Brutes, elite hard-to-kill troops, are lying in cover. They launch into the air, coming down with guns ablazing.
A Covenant Wraith tank fires away. Again there are multiple ways of taking it out. None come to me too quickly, although eventually I snuff out the danger.
The Storm takes you through hostile ground in a factory complex before eventually meeting the Scarab. The Covenant seems to be around every corner.”
The Scarab can be taken down in 12 different ways and I used to think GTA was open ended.
Oh yeah I think I should mention this to all ya sagging graphic geekaloids out there, the game looks exactly like the version shown at E3 2006.
Halo 3 is hogging all the hype as its release date comes closer and closer. If Gears of War plagued everyone, I sit and type in fear what calamities Halo 3 will bring about and that is only the beginning of the virus spreading. GTA IV is the next best thing to New York City. Life in the virtual world seems to be a bright gritty happy eternal loophole all right!
–By Neelesh Mukherjee