Halo 3

Developer Bungie Studios Publisher Microsoft Game Studios Picture format 720p (HDTV) Releases  USA September 25, 2007 Europe September 26, 2007 Japan September 27, 2007 Genre First-person shooter Rating ESRB: M Platform Xbox 360 Media DVD-DL Input Xbox 360 Controller

In the final sequal to the story you willl follow the main character of Master Cheif. The gameplay is still a first person shooter and is said to take place mostly on foot but with vehicles available to be used in different points of the game. Designer Lar Bakken has described the better adjusted balance of weapons as better fit for muliplayer modes. The gameplay will include weapons, grenades, and melee attacks. All three of these types of weapons will be available at any point simultaneously during game play while on foot. With the ability to carry almost any combination of weapons there will be advtangaes and disadvantages to different combinations. This will benefit in gameply by giving players more abilities in different encounters. By balancing the game play with the multiplayer mode will be much more exciting for online and offline play. With the new weapons, modes, multiplayer features, and great eye candy Halo 3 is sure to surprise and delite many gamers on its U.S. release September 25, 2007.

There are some changes that have been made to the controller layout. The Right Bumber will now become the "action" button. This includes things such as pickup, reload, board vehicles, activate switches, etc. The X button will be used to manage equipment. B will be the melee attack and also used to remove the gun tarret off of the tripod for mobile use. You will still also have the ability to change the default layout of the controles in the options area.

Cheat Codes / Questions / Answers
You can visit the dedicated Cheat Masters Halo 3 page to view the latest cheat codes and questions and answers!

Cooperative
Halo 3 features up to a four player cooperative gameply using either Xbox LIVE or system link. There will also be the ability for two players to play cooperative using split screen. Previous releases of the game supported cooperative with split screen but in Halo 3 players will be able to do this while playing over system link and Xbox LIVE for up to 16 players. During muliplayer scrimages player 1 will play as Master Cheif, player 2 as Arbiter, players 3 and 4 will play as new Elite characters in the series N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham. Master Cheif begins play with an Assault Rifgle and the Battle Rifle. The Elites will begin with a Plasma Rifle and Carbines.

Multiplayer
The maximum players on a single Xbox 360 is going to be the usual four players using split screen. You can have up to 16 players using either Xbox Live or a LAN connection. You can use any combination for the amount of Xbox 360's or split screen systems as long as you dont exceed 16 players.

Online
Halo 3 will have a custom version of online ranking use the "TrueSkill" ranking system for online matches. There will be ranks based on skill and expereince. Skill will consist of the "TrueSkill" rank using 1 point for each win in the online play. On top of this using the a Military rank based on the time a player has been playing. There is also a RP system built into the game to try to reduce the amount of players that quit from matches during online player. This became a major problem in Halo 2. In Halo 3 if you quit a match before it is finished you will lose 2 RP. It will be possible to have a negative RP.

Interface
The menus have been changed from Halo 2 making it easier to setup custom multiplayer matches. You will also be able to save "setups" of online matches that can be shared online using new File Sharing Feature. You will have the ability to share custom games over Xbox LIVE. At the same time you will be able to browse other public multiplayer setups via Xbox LIVE. A new feature allows a player to mute any players in the game very easily from the scoreboard view. There is also word that you will be able to change the gravity in multiplayer games.

Weapons and Equipment
Halo 3 will include most of the weapons in previous installments. Some of these older weapons will have some few alterations such as appearence or power changes. The MA5B which was only in the first installment will be returning as a MA5C. The gun is said to have a smaller magazine of 32 and a slower rate of fire, however it will have longer range, greater accuracy, and more fire power. Some new weapons that will be introduced into Halo 3 will be called "support weapons". The weapons are going to very large powerful two handed weapons that will force you to play in a third person perspective while in use. You character will also move more slowly. The known weapons for the release are a Machine Gun Turret, Missle Pod, Flamethrower, and a Covenant Plasma Turret. When your character is carrying secondary weapons they will be stored on the characters back or on a leg holster depending on size. You will not be able to hide the powerful support weapons. Your enemies will be able to see what weapons you are carrying this will bring more challenges to the multiplayer modes.

There is also going to be new Halo 3 equipment in this installment. These items will have many various functions and are used from anything to protect yourself and to harm or kill the enemy. Some of the known equipment is defense items as a Bubble Shield and a Regenerator. Other items which confuse the enemy are Flares and a Radar Jammers. Onto the more powerful ones that have the ability to kill enemies which are the Power Drainer and Tripmine. Since both sides will have equipment one side will have a huge advantage over the other. For instance when you use the Bubble Shield you cannot fire from within the bubble.

Vehicles
Halo 3 will of course be strongly oriented with vehicle involvement. This will include vehicles and the weapons attached. Many of the vehicles have been seen in the previous installments and some will be new. There will be light reconnaissance vehicles, large armored tanks, troop and vehicle transport craft, plus new spacecrafts and more. A vehicle originally designed for Halo 2 called the Mongoose ATV a small quad bike will be available in the third installment. It will have the ability to have a second player riding on the back of the vehicle and some offensive capabilities. They are introducing a new variation of the Warthog with more seats. A new aircraft called the Hornet will bee seen and is said to be similiar to the Banshee. The Hornet will not be available in matchmaking because it is to powerful so it will only be available in custom games, campaign, or the forge game type. Along with this new improvements you will see some new "Brute" vehicles which have been named Brute Chopper and Brute Prowler which is expanded from the Brute Sandbox. These vehicles seem to be made to smash through other vehicles. In Halo 3 the Banshee and the Wraith tank have been changed. The Banshee has a new weapon which will fire its Fuel Rod Gun in multiplayer modes. The Banshee can no longer point directly down and the Wraith can carry two people instead of one with one driver and operator of the cannon and one firing a smaller plasma turret.

Forge
Forge is a tool made for players to insert game objects into the existing maps. Bungie stated this is more of a game type than a tool. Almost all weapons, vehicles, and interactive objects can be inserted into the maps and moved around. You can do anything from placing large number of your favorite vehicles or from stripping the map clean of many objects. Forge will also allow you to add objects in real time. You will be able to save custom setups and share and download them using the File Sharing feature.

Halo 3 Legendary Set

Saved Films
You will now be able to save game play footage during multiplayer or compaign to your Xbox 360's hard drive. You will be able to replay these videos from your Xbox 360. You will be able to save up to 100 files at one time. The file size of these films will be relatively small because the films are saved as data and not as actual video files. The films will play back at whatever resolution the Xbox 360 is set to no matter what resolution the video was recorded at. You will be able to share and download saved films using the File Share feature over Xbox LIVE.

File Share
We have been mention a lot of features that take control of the File Share feature using Xbox LIVE. This feature will simply enable players to share things such as videos, custom game types, screenshots, forge settings and more. Once players have these items they can share them over Xbox LIVE. You will also have the ability to browse public files over the network and download things you want. You will be able to have 6 file slots and 25MB of storage if you are a Gold Subscriber. Otherwise you can upgrade to 24 slots and 250MB by paying for Bungie Pro. Xbox LIVE silver subscribers do not have access to the free file share but can purchase Bungie Pro.

Versions
Upon release there will be 3 versions of Halo 3 for sale. There will be a standard edition, a Collector's set, and a Legendary Edition. The table to your right shows you what each set has. The Collectors edition will be a hard cover game case with a bonus disc and artwork. The Legendary DVD has a scale replica of the Master Chief Helmet and bonus discs.

Technical Information
Halo 3 will utilize its proprietary in house graphics engine referred to as the "Halo 3 Engine". The engine was built from the Halo 2 engine and has been re-optimized for for the architecture of the Xbox 360. Graphics for the game will use advanced graphics technologies such as high dynamic range, global lighting, real-time reflections, and depth of field. The draw distance of the game will exceed 10 miles. New technology for the atmospheric models will allow several layers of cloud and atmospheric cover and even a pseudo space beyond. Water effects are said to be dramatically improved as water can now reflect images simultaneously and include waterfalls. Water will flow around objects and splash when players or objects travel through it. Audio will be in full 5.1 surround sound.