The Halo 3 multiplayer beta is here, and like true Halo fans, we’ve spent the last week screaming at our TVs, blaming Bungie for our incompetence as players. Sure, we admit it: maybe it’s our own fault we got Spartan Laser’d in that Warthog on Valhalla, giving XxXxLeetSniperxXxX an Overkill. Maybe the majority of our entire team shouldn’t travel innocently in one impending death trap on wheels, and maybe our fourth player shouldn’t follow conveniently so closely behind us in the Mongoose -- whatever!

That noted, it’s not all our fault. Some of the blame can be placed on Halo 3, which is far from perfect, thus far (after all, it is a beta). From underpowered starting weapons to having to stop moving so we can press the D-pad to warn our team mates that they’re about to get Beatdown, Halo 3 is responsible for some less-than-fun moments we’ve experienced in the last week.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of things in Halo 3 that we feel need addressing by the official Halo developer itself: Bungie. These things range from balance problems to simple nitpicks. Yes, we love Halo 3, and yes, we’ll be playing it tonight, but this is a beta, right? Aren’t we, as gamers, required by law to bring these things to the attention of Bungie’s, so that on September 25, 2007, we can boot up a more improved version of Halo 3? The answer is yes, boys and girls: yes

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Polish the Graphics
Halo 3 is by no means an ugly game, but it’s not going to drop any jaws either. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t be a huge problem, but this is the game that Microsoft is banking on to dominate the holiday season. It should outclass everything else on the market, so Mr. and Mrs. casual consumer can’t help but look away from the television ads and in-store displays. Educated gamers and videophiles will notice jaggies, muddy textures and relatively flat lighting; those who aren’t versed in the proper jargon will probably just resort to describing the game’s look as “meh.” Seeing as the recently released Halo 2 maps actually have better detail than the maps in the beta, chances are the final game will look better – just how much better remains to be seen.

Give the Needler a Make-Over
This is a pretty minor complaint, but it ties into the presentation. Bungie has been trying to get Halo players to take the Needler seriously for a while now, and third time’s the charm because it’s now a mid-range powerhouse. Too bad you’d never know from looking at the thing. After years of taking the sight of a Needler as a cue to charge the enemy, it’s going to take some time for players to unlearn that reflex, and a new, bigger, badder (editor’s note: yes, we just official-ized that word) two-handed look for the Needler certainly would have helped get the point across. It’s not something that’s likely to be changed, but we can still dream.



Push-to-Talk is Stupid
Communication is key for Halo team play modes, but apparently Bungie believes that players would prefer their voices – and the voices of their teammates – to go unheard unless they take the time to press an irritatingly-placed chat button. Why, in the midst of a battle for the flag, would a player want to take their thumb off the analog stick and press the D-pad just to alert their team to the sniper in the rocks to the left? If this is a measure to prevent the children from hearing a constant stream of swearing and homophobic slurs, then Bungie is completely off-base since A) it interferes with the gameplay to such an annoying degree that using the function is likely to incite such speech, and B) the filth spewed on Xbox Live is more often than not coming from the little “angels” themselves. That’s the only conceivable reason we can think of for preventing unfettered in-game chatter, and quite frankly it borders on 16-digit-friend-code levels of family-friendly stupidity. Let the Xbox Live feedback system handle the a-holes, and let us chat without putting ourselves in harm’s way. Did we mention every push of the D-pad is met with a mind-splitting screech? Argh!