Halo 3: Beta Hands-On Preview

"Bungie's got a lot to do!" was the universal response here in TVG Towers following the release of Epic Games' Gears of War last year. The curtain-raising tale of Marcus Fenix and the remnants of humanity on Planet Sera seemed to be all conquering in the first blow of Microsoft's shooter civil war. Whether the Seattle studio manages to live up to the enormous expectations that millions of Xbox 360 owners have for Halo 3 will be judged several months from now. But for the next few weeks, a selection of gamers will be able to get their first next-generation experience of Master Chief with the Halo 3 multiplayer Beta, which runs until 7:59am (BST) on June 7th.

However, as the clock continues to tick down towards the public release of the Beta on Wednesday, Microsoft has given a section of the gaming press access ahead of the crowd. Armed with the new Spartan Laser and a couple of Spike Grenades, TVG entered the Halo 3 Beta to see how the multiplayer modes are shaping up.

There's no denying that Halo 3 will be something of a second coming for Microsoft after a drop in hardware sales at the beginning of the year. Bill Gates famously proclaimed back in 2005 how the third instalment in the series would curb the sales performance of PlayStation3, and Halo 2 ruled the Xbox Live Most Popular charts for over two years until the release of Gears of War. In other words, Halo 3 and the ever increasingly self-confident Bungie have a lot to prove.

It doesn't seem to be getting off to the best of starts. Despite disclaimers from both Bungie and Microsoft that every element in the beta is subject to change, including the visuals, the three maps (Valhalla, Snowbound, and High Ground) all suffer from the dreaded jaggies, and visuals that barely move beyond what the studio achieved with Halo 2. "Spit and polish" next-generation gloss like HDR lighting doesn't make its mark like it should, and character models leave a lot to be desired in terms of motion and textural detail. But hey, we're still several months ahead of Halo 3's final release, and Bungie remain relentless in their insistence that everything (including the visuals) are beta and placeholder - so perhaps they're planning on springing a surprise later in the year to show off the 'true' next-generation look of Halo(!)

Thankfully, Bungie's skills in map design doesn't seem to be on the wane, with all three maps in the beta (Snowbound, Valhalla, and High Ground) forming a strong taster across the various gametypes available over the next three weeks. Each of the three maps are very different, revealing not only a variety in the environments themselves, but also in the sort of tactics players will have to quickly adapt to in the heat of the action. The heavy snow-covered Snowbound, which is surrounded by several hostile automated turrets, utilises both the map's surface and underground tunnels to create a tense atmosphere - especially when the tunnels underneath the Covenant base is scoured with shadows and alternate routes. In stark contrast to that, the enclosed valley of Valhalla, despite its waterfalls and flowing river, will feel all too familiar to Halo fans, harking back to the Blood Gulch map of the original Halo six years ago. Two bases, one on each side of the valley, have more than a slight air of "Red vs. Blue", while the addition of anti-gravity lifts capable of throwing Spartans halfway across the valley in a single bound allows re-spawned players to land straight into the middle of the action without relying on travelling on foot or by Warthog too much. The third map, and from my experience with the beta over the last couple of day, my favourite, is High Ground. Perhaps best described as the Halo equivalent of the D-Day landings, the map is based on the coast with an uphill run to a single fortress-like base. At the top of the main entrance arch is one of Halo 3's new weapons, a chain gun that Spartans can dismount and walk around in a rather Schwarzenegger-like manner. Inside the base, there's a courtyard with a defunct SAM installation, and a number of small rooms linked together with walkways and a handy open vent duct - suitable for hiding in with a sniper rifle...Let's just say that High Ground will be the bloody battleground during Capture the Flag matches.

New maps are just a part of the story in the beta, with Bungie expanding on the weapons and vehicles available to players. So far, the only new vehicle revealed by the shadowy studio is the ATV Mongoose, a two-man quad bike that zips through the maps like a Warthog with a turbo charger. Though unarmed the Mongoose is quite fun, however a well-placed grenade can destroy it a whole lot quicker than the more-established four-wheeler. How many other vehicular surprises Bungie has in store for gamers is unclear - will the mooted Warthog variants last seen in Halo 2 concept art finally make an appearance? How about a Pelican dropship? Only three vehicles are available in the Beta, with the Covenant Ghost joining the two UNSC land-based units, so unfortunately there won't be any flying around in the Banshees over the next few weeks.

Bungie has been a bit more open about the new weapons in the game, although here they're also planning on revealing more later in the year. The Unreal Tournament-inspired Spartan Laser is one of the more over-the-top weapons featured in the Beta, together with the already mentioned Chain Gun. The Covenant's Brute bodyguards also get their weapons of choice in the game, with the Brute Spiker Carbine joining the Spike Grenades and the re-appearing Assault Rifle from the original Halo. Bungie's decision to remove the ability to dual-wield Needler pistols is one of the more unusual moves, though this may be rectified by the time of Halo 3's release towards the end of the year.

Halo's multiplayer has always been the strength of the series, and from the battles that we've taken part in during the last few days it's clear that Halo 3's multiplayer will be much more of a refinement than a serious stab of revolutionising the experience. The new 'Equipment' button, which allows players to use the Bubble Shield seen in the CGI "Starry Night" trailer, can also be used to activate Trip Mines and portable anti-gravity platforms, not to mention the Power Drain bomb, which removes the protective effects of the Spartans' Mjolnir armour allowing for a quick kill. Overall, the Equipment seems to throw some variety into proceedings, though for the most part they remain almost a novelty. With the addition of Equipment, the ability to reload weapons has shifted over to the right shoulder button, away from the traditional X face button. The ability to dual-wield weapons has also moved on, with players now able to reload weapons independently with the left shoulder button, and it doesn't take long for these changes to become second nature.

One of the more interesting features coming in Halo 3 is the ability to save movies of a previous battle to the Xbox 360 hard drive, or even to an online space held by Bungie. For the Beta, replays are restricted to a first-person viewpoint, but in the final release gamers will be able to use a free-camera to view the action from anywhere on the map. Thrusts of originality pepper the online experience, with additions like the ability to 'Veto' a map and gametype throwing in an ounce of democracy to the Halo lobbies. Players will also be able to access the rank and status of people on their Friends Lists via the Guide button, and view some of the Films shared by them on their hard drives. Matchmaking has also been tweaked beyond the Veto, with gamers able to 'Party up' with others in the lobby, allowing them to continue playing together but without the commitment of adding them to your Friends List. So far the Halo 3 experience has been enjoyable, however the feeling that little progress has been made since Master Chief's last appearance over two years ago, has marred what should have been a true example of what the next-generation holds.