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You’ve seen the multiplayer Vidoc, but have you noticed these things about it?
April 10, 2007 | 1:20 PM PSTby: Phillip Levin and Sascha Lichtenstein
We’re all Halo fans here, so we’ve done the same thing any other self-respecting Halo nut would do: we’ve watched the “Vidoc,” as Bungie calls it, 100 times. Okay, maybe not that many times. But we’ve re-watched it enough to draw some conclusions and make some observations that only a paranoid and obsessive Halo fan could come up with. Plus, we've outlined some new facts about Halo 3 that the footage reveals.
Check out all 19 of those bad boys below.
The Assault Rifle Sounds Like the SMG
You know that popcorn popper sound effect the SMG from Halo 2 emitted? It’s back, baby, and the Assault Rifle’s doing it now. Sure, it’s just a sound effect, but could it mean anything about the weapon’s power? It’s hard to say at this point, but the sound effect is very similar.
The Assault Rifle Has Longer Range?
The new Halo 3 Assault Rifle has longer range than the Halo 2 SMG and appears to be more accurate than the original AR from Halo: Combat Evolved based on the smaller, more focused reticule. Bungie has stated that the AR has undergone significant change, but has yet to fully detail the damage stats for the weapon. Based on the comments made in the documentary regarding the benefit of using melee attacks and grenades to weaken opponents in order to make the most of the weapon's shallow clip, it seems likely that each bullet from the AR will do approximately the same damage as a bullet from Halo 2's SMG, but thanks to the tighter spread and greater firing distance, a far higher percentage of the shots fired will hit - dealing greater cumulative damage to the target over a similar period of time.
Everyone’s Running Around Using the AR
The original Halo is famous for its pistol – three-shot-kill – gameplay, and even Halo 2 is played by serious Halo players who rely mostly on a pistol-esque gun: the Battle Rifle. However, it seems that Bungie, at least internally, prefers running around using the AR. Why could that be? Is the weapon really that effective in any given situation that members of Bungie feel better off running into combat with it than taking the time to pick up a shotgun or battle-rifle?
More Confirmation that You Start with the AR, Not the BR
In the new Vidoc episode, throughout the video, you can see Master Chiefs running over idle Battle Rifle spawns and picking up the weapon, dropping their currently-equipped weapon. Hardcore Halo fans weren’t too happy when they learned you didn’t spawn with the BR in Halo 2. The gun is the spiritual successor to the Halo 1 pistol so it makes sense you’d spawn with it, right? Wrong. Unlike the original Halo, players will be spawning with one weapon only, and that weapon will be the new and improved AR. The reason? The new AR, despite being more accurate than either the original AR or the Halo 2 SMG, still doesnt seem precise enough to nail headshots as easily as the BR or pistol. Check out most of the combat footage throughout the vidoc - how many headshot kills can you count being pulled off with the AR? We count zero.
Looks like Unreal, Not Halo
Speaking of which, a lot of the combat footage looks like a chaotic cluster****. Halo has always had a more methodical pace and put a larger emphasis on weapon selection, positioning and mixing things up with melee and grenades. Bungie says they want more of that in Halo 3, but their actual performance shows people running-n-gunning.
There is Less of a Focus on Dual-Wielding
Will dual-wielding even be used now that players have to go out and find two separate weapons? In Halo 2, it took between 5 and 10 seconds from the time of spawning to find another one-handed weapon, now players have to find TWO. Dual-wielding better be worth it, otherwise players will probably just stick with the AR, BR or Shotgun rather than waste time running around with a single pea-shooter.
Grenade Explosions Have Same Radius as Halo 2 Grenades
Anybody that has played Halo 1 will tell you the grenade explosion radius in the original game is much larger than in Halo 2. Halo 3 seems to be following in the footsteps of Halo 2, at least from what we can tell in this video.
“We Need to be as Good as Halo 2”
At one point in the documentary, a Halo 3 designer makes the statement that “We need to be either as good as Halo 2 or even better.” While we love Halo 2, we do find it interesting that Bungie, internally, has made Halo 2 their “benchmark” and not Halo 1. Why the surprise? Didn’t a Bungie employee recently rant about how much Halo 2’s multiplayer sucked (his words, not ours)? Considering that statement, one would think the developer preferred Halo 1, so if that’s the case, why are they aspiring to best Halo 2 and not the original Halo? Do they feel Halo 1 is out of their league?
No Recoil for the Assault Rifle?
Not a huge shocker, really. The original Assault Rifle didn’t have recoil, either. However, the SMG – the Halo 2 spawn weapon – did (even though it was a mechanic to balance it since it could be dual-wielded).
There’s a Porta Potty
Not much to say about this little statement, which comes direct from Bungie. However, it means Halo 3 will continue the franchises’ quasi-trademark easily-described locations within level design. Camp Fro? Check. OS Ramp? Check. Library (BR spawn on Lockout)? Check. Porta Potty… uh, double check.
Assault on the Control Room from Halo Returns… in Multiplayer
The latest multiplayer footage reveals what looks to be a revised version of the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign level Assault on the Control Room. In the Halo single-player level, at one point, players must make their way across a sky-high bridge, which served as one of the most memorable Halo backdrops for firefights the franchise has seen. Now it seems Bungie is bringing back the bridge – this time in multiplayer form.
More Maps Designed Specifically For Certain Game Types
Emphasis on asymmetrical maps translates into a larger focus on offense/defense team play modes. Do asymmetrical maps work as well for standard CTF and deathmatch? Are specific maps being designed for specific gameplay modes like in Halo 2?
You Can’t Use Weapons While Using the Shield Bubble
In the scene in which a Bungie employee uses a Shield Bubble, he stops firing and throwing grenades, meaning you probably can’t use those things while the shield is active. That, or the shield works both ways and firing inside it would be a waste of ammo and a potentially deadly waste of a grenade. Furthermore, the player that deployed the bubble also stopped moving, which indicates that the shield wont move with the player. Can players move outside of the shielf while its deployed, or are they trapped inside it? While the time spent within the safe confined of the bubble would probably be adequate for recharging a shield, it doesnt do much for a player being hunted with a rocket launcher or sniper-rifle. It anything, the bubble would trap a player in one spot and give a sniper an easy shot once the shield fell.
Trip Mines Revealed
Bungie revealed a proximity mine-like item that can be dropped, GoldenEye-style, which will explode when someone gets close enough to it. The scene in which it’s unveiled depicts an incoming warthog being exploded into hundreds of tiny bits and pieces when a Spartan drops one of these bad boys in its path.
The Sword is Back, and so is the Pistol
At one point in the documentary, there are eight or so television screens running Halo 3 in the background. You can see a couple of screens revealing that the pistol is in the game as well as the sword. No other footage with either is presented, unfortunately.
You Can Watch Saved Movies From Multiple Player Perspectives
The details here are a bit sketchy, but according to a Bungie designer in the video, you’ll not only be able to save video of your favorite multiplayer matches, you’ll be able to re-watch those same videos from the perspectives of other players in the match. Maybe you didnt notice, but nobody in the video bothered to tell us the actual mechanics of this feature. How exactly do players control when the game starts and stops recording? How much of a pain in the ass would it be if you had to take the time to set the in-game VCR before taking a sniper shot in order to capture it? If this feature is going to work in-game, it needs to be highly configurable via a pre-game menu, or controllable with very few buttons...and last we checked the only button on the controller unaccounted for was the X button...
Bubble Shield and Trip Mines are Not Grenades – The X Button Revealed?
In the same scene that the Trip Mine is revealed, if you watch carefully, you will see that after “deploying” the item, an icon independent of your grenade ammunition representing the number of mines in stock disappears. Bungie employee Frank O'Connor even posted on a message board today, confirming that the X button is used to deploy special items, such as the Shield Bubble and Trip Mine.
Deployable Air Lifts?
At the 23-second mark in the video, you can see a Spartan using a lone air lift (one that’s much smaller than the others shown, thus far) to jump up and reach the second level of the map’s main base. While you don’t seen the air lift dropped from the Spartan in the video itself, we question whether or not the air lift is part of the level design. It is located on the outside of what is supposed to be a secure base compound, and provides immediate access to a turret. Why place a tool that would allow you to jump right over the breakable gateway, disable the turret and get into the base?
Deployed Items Must be Picked Up, They Are Scattered Across Maps Like Regular Weapons
Just like you have to run over a weapon, like a Rocket Launcher or Battle Rifle, to pick it up, it appears the same is true for these “deployable items.” You can see mysterious floating objects that Spartans in-game are running over and picking up throughout the new multiplayer footage. Unlike the overshield from the previous Halo titles however, these powerups to not take effect immediately. Rather, the player can save them for a rainy day, and make use of them when they are most needed.
There you have it. Keep in mind that these are all just our observations based off the new multiplayer footage. None of this is official information from Bungie, so don’t write home just yet.
February 8, 2010
