14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday evening, Microsoft rolled out the much awaited Halo 3 beta, opening to the larger audience of gamers as soon as next week. Gamespot got their hands on the game right away and made up a pretty convincing review of the beta. I indulge you to check out some selections I made of the review, so you can get the big picture right away.
Graphics: just as the gaming site says, Halo 3 is so well polished that it strikes you right from the get go. It is a higher-resolution version of Halo 2, with razor sharp textures and details.
Player models (Master Chief): The player models in the beta are the same blue and red Master Chiefs, now featuring rag-doll physics - dead bodies will bend and buckle according to the environment around them; you can now see your legs.
Levels/Maps: the beta is limited to Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla, but there is a bigger number of gameplay modes: Rumble pit is the typical slayer, or deathmatch, mode, Team slayer (lets you team up with a maximum of three other players), Team skirmish (an objective-based mode - capture the flag etc.), Big team battle, (taking place only on the largest map in the beta, Valhalla, the only one that can accommodate more than 12 players).
Weapons: the assault rifle (couldn't not be there), the brute shot, new spike grenades, the Spartan laser, machine gun turrets, missile pods etc.; some of them seem a bit more powerful now.
Vehicles: Covenant Ghost (one-man vehicle), Mongoose, (human two-man all-terrain vehicle that doesn't pack any weaponry but can transport you across the battlefield faster) lacks weapons, but the passenger can use weapons currently on him.
Controls: just like in Halo 2, but there is a key difference: the right bumper on the gamepad is now used to mount and dismount vehicles, the site says, because the X button is used for deploying equipment.
The beta includes the ability to film all your games, thus players can save their action and watch it later or upload it to share with others.
That's about it. Remember, next week, Halo 3 Beta will commence on a general level, so make sure you're among the ones getting to play it before it's launched.