Halo 3 Beta Afterthoughts

Well I've been playing the Halo 3 beta for a full week now (I was one of the people lucky enough to be chosen to participate in the "Friends and Family Beta" that started last Friday , May 11th) and have become quite fond of it.The first thing I noticed is that it feels very reminiscent of Halo:Combat Evolved.Like for instance the depth perception,in Halo:CE you seemed to always have no problem seeing where everything was.In Halo2 though,it seemed like the view was zoomed in and everything was always right there in your face.Now though,in Halo 3,it seems that the view has been backed off again and having a good viewing angle is no longer a problem.
Aiming seems to take more skill now as well.I'm not sure if this is a result of the the depth perception (doubtful),Bungie altering or outright removing the subtle auto-aim that has always been in the Halo games (possible) or if they scaled back on the ginormous hitboxes that Halo 2 had (most likely).
One thing that I've read on numerous websites is how balanced the weapons are now.This I completely agree with,I nolonger find myself actively hunting the rocket launcher,sniper rifle or any other power weapon.I do often find myself hunting down the spartan laser,but only because it's new and really fun to use.I love that it has to be charged for several seconds before being fired.Even the needler has been beefed up in terms of power,although it is no longer dual-wieldable.For the record though,the needler was never "weak" in the other games,people just didn't know how to use it (that's right,I said it).
The new assault rifle is great,a much better starting weapon than the smg.It is more accurate than the original but the smaller clip keeps it from being the up-close terror that it was in Halo:CE.I must admit that I would have preferred the assault rifle from Halo:CE over the new one,but That's just my opinion.For the record though,the new one sounds alot wimpier than the MA5B from Halo:CE.The brute spiker gun is good,not really that "exciting" , but an able weapon none the less.When dual wielded it is a pretty formidable weapon.The smg also seems more powerful now as well.The plasma rifle is now able to stand on it's own again witout being dual wielded,although the "stun" effect from Halo:CE is still missing.The plasma pistol has been altered to avoid "noob comboing",it no longer tracks as well and every second that you charge it the battery depletes.It also can work as a kind of E.M.P. now ,stopping vehicles in their tracks if hit with a charged blast.The sniper rifle appears to kick a little more now.You can't just pop off two consecutive shots to drop someone like in previous games because there seems to be a short break between shots and if you miss the first shot you might not get another.The battle rifle and carbine seem pretty identical to there Halo 2 counterparts.The brute shot now holds six shots and the grenades do not bounce.The beam rifle seems to have been given the same treatment as the human sniper.The shotgun has been transformed into a working weapon again.The inconsistancies that plagued Halo 2's shotgun have been removed.The rocket launcher no longer has lock-on capabilities and the rockets seem to fly a little slower.
I love the new brute spike grenades and the sound they make when stuck to someone.When they explode , spikes fly out and sometimes ricochet around.Unlike the plasma grenades,the spike grenades will stick to anything,not just people and vehicles.The plasma grenades also make a sort of high pitch sound right before detonation,alerting anyone near it to get the hell out of the way.Frag grenades are unchanged as far as I can tell.One significant change that I immediately noticed was how far you can throw grenades now.This seems to be yet another aspect of gameplay that has returned to it's Halo:CE roots.In Halo:CE you could throw grenades far and accurately.In Halo 2 this was changed and resulted in grenades not going near as far or as accurately.Throwing a grenade across snowbound doesn't seem to be a problem.
When I first heard about the addition of "equipment" I was a little skeptical at first.That seemed like a major change in gameplay and I wasn't sure how well it would fit into the Halo universe.After playing the game and using equipment in combat I can safely say that it fits just fine.The most talked about piece of equipment is the bubble shield.This is exactly what it sounds like,a bubble shaped shield that protects the occupant from gunfire and explosions.Next is the portable gravity lift.It can be dropped anywhere and used to reach higher areas of a map.Very handy for quick access to the spartan laser tower in Highground.The trip mine is just what the name implies;a pressure sensitive explosive device that detonates when walked on,driven over,shot at or a grenade explodes near it.The power drainer creates a bubble similar to the bubble shield when dropped except it hurts anyone inside the radius rather than protecting them.All of the equipment seem worthy of the halo universe and I'm lokking forward to any other pieces coming in the full game.
There really isn't anything to say about the vehicles since the only new addition is the Mongoose.It handles well and is fun to drive but other than that it's just another vehicle.
The new support weapons are great additions to the game that I wasn't expecting.The support weapons are basically stationary turrets that you can pick up and take with you.First is the machine gun turret.Now when you walk up to and mount a machine gun turret you will be prompted to press the "B" button to detach the turret.Next is the missile pod launcher.This doesn't come as an already mounted turret,instead you'll find it lying on the ground in your base on Valhalla.The missile pod is an over sized rocket launcher that holds eight rockets and automatically locks onto vehicles when the curser is moved over them.The missiles don't really seem as powerful as the rockets in the rocket launcher,but the ability to fire them quickly and consecutively make up for that.
The Halo 2 matchmaking ranking system remains intact,but has been complimented by a SOCOM style military rank system.You start at "private" and work your way up to ranks like "sergeant-grade 2".The difference between this and the matchmaking ranks is that the class ranks never go down and they are the same no matter what playlist your in,ranked or not.It's a kind of experience rank going off of how long you've been playing rather than how good you are.Another addition that seems to be a friendly nod to SOCOM is the M.V.P. award.Now after each game an M.V.P. is awarded to one player.I'm not quite sure as to what the criteria are for winning M.V.P. as it doesn't seem to work off of just who gets the best stats.
Another new addition is the "save film" feature.Although very limited in the beta,it's still a great peak at whats to come.After a match is over you must press the "back" button to view your stats,in this screen you can also save the film for that match.You must save the film for a match before you begin the next match or it will be lost.Once saved you can upload the films and rocommend them to a friend.While in a party with friends you can select their name from the player list and view and download their films.This can also be done while selecting a friend in the 360 "friend blade".Right now they can only be watched,they can't be paused,rewound or have the camera angle manipulated.According to Bungie,the final version will supply loads of editing options.
I know that alot has been said about the "man-cannon" but it's basically just a more powerful 45% angle version of the vertical gravity lifts from Halo 2.They appear to be the replacement for teleporters.
Last thing I'll talk about are the controls.Obviously with the jump from Xbox to Xbox360 the controls have changed a little,but it's not a bad thing.Before I played the beta I knew that the controls were different and was expecting the change.Now it took me longer than the "ten minutes" that Frankie over at bungie said it took him to get used to the change,but now I prefer the new way.Reload has been moved to the "right bumper" while the "left bumper" handles switching greandes or reloading your left handed weapon if your dual wielding.This is nice because if you are dual wielding you can now reload the weapons independant of each other.The "X" button is now the "drop equipment" button.Press the "X" button while carrying a piece of equipment and it will quite literally drop right in front of you.Another addition that seems to have alot of people excited (although it didn't really matter to me one way or the other) is the ability to "toggle crouch".If your not familiar with the term it just means that you click once to crouch and click again to stand back up rather than clicking and holding the thumbstick to crouch.
That pretty much does it for what's in the beta.I know that there are more weapons,grenades,support weapons,equipment and vehicles that we won't get to see until september 25th,so I will be anxiously awaiting that day.Until then,see you online in the beta.