Official Xbox 360? Thread...Part Deux

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RagingBITCH

Lifer
Sep 27, 2003
17,618
2
76
Originally posted by: michaels
I seriously don't see the SP graphics looking that much better. they would have to be at least 3-4x times better for me to be wowed..this game looks horrid in its current state.

It's not meant to compete with Gears in terms of graphics. It's way more action based, more stuff on the screen. And it's only a beta. Get over it.
 

RagingBITCH

Lifer
Sep 27, 2003
17,618
2
76
Originally posted by: jlmadyson
Originally posted by: Kraft Single
Is it too late to go buy Crackdown to try the beta?

Believe so. Just got in my first match, that snow level looks sick.

Um, no. He can still buy Crackdown and download the beta...I bought my copy this morning.
 

jlmadyson

Platinum Member
Aug 13, 2004
2,201
0
0
Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Originally posted by: jlmadyson
Originally posted by: Kraft Single
Is it too late to go buy Crackdown to try the beta?

Believe so. Just got in my first match, that snow level looks sick.

Um, no. He can still buy Crackdown and download the beta...I bought my copy this morning.

That's what I meant. It's late lol, thought he asked could he still get in with Crackdown not that it was too late. :p

Yea Crackdown still works for all I know, pretty much why it's backorderd at EB Games/Gamestop online today, heh.

The game play so far is pure intensity and hella fun, smooth as butter as well.
 

kmrivers

Golden Member
Oct 22, 2004
1,541
0
0
Rent it like I did. I even got it for free by signing up for Blockbusters two week online rentral service trial. You need to have the disk in the drive when you play. Blockbuster gives you 5 days and their are no late fees now.
 
Oct 19, 2000
17,860
4
81
Well, I woke up this morning to a freshly downloaded Halo 3 Beta. I love it, but of course I expected that I would. I know you are all chomping at the bit to get my thoughts ;).

First and foremost, this is just feels like Halo, which is a good thing. It feels like an extension to Halo 2, but so far it seems worthy of a new game and not just an expansion pack. I've read discussions on whether this actually felt like Halo 3 or Halo 2.5 on a new console. Everything feels identical to Halo 2 in movement, pacing, and fighting.

Personally, I think the graphics look fantastic. I played my first match on Highground, and I think this definitely looks next gen. What's weird about Halo 3 is that at first glance, it looks just like Halo 2. But it's all the details that make it stand out. There are definitely more polygons on the screen, the textures look better, the lighting is WAY better, and the models look better. What more could you ask for? I've only played two matches thus far, with Snowbound being the second. Snowbound was a bit bland, but what can I expect with a bunch of snow?

I can't comment on weapons much, since I never changed from the default weapon. It was working fine. If you have a good aim, you can take someone down with one clip, which I like. Keep your aim true and make them miss a couple of times, and you'll have won the mini-battle (assuming they are using the same weapon). The grenades feel good, but they are what you'd expect. In my two matches, I could never hear any audial clues that you picked up the nades, and on my 52" HDTV, the grenade numbers in the upper-left are hard to just glance at, sometimes impossible on Snowbound by blending in with the sky. I just like to hear something to know that I nabbed them, as I also typically use that sound to know if I'm full of nades. If I'm fighting around nades, I can spam a few at my enemy whilst working my way to pick up more. I typically do this without ever taking my eyes off the center of the screen, especially when I'm in the middle of a fight.

I haven't played Valhalla yet, and I haven't played any team games, so not much vehicle use yet. I did hop on the new 4-wheeler, which was fast, but nothing special. Just another means to get around in, although more agile and quicker that all other vehicles.

One thing about the matchmaking system that I noticed different was how it automatically started finding another game for you as soon as you were done with the last one. Not that big of a deal, but in Halo 2 it would throw you and your party back to the party lobby, and you could view your stats and such from there. Now you have to quit to the lobby party, although the option is always there to view your stats while it's searching for another game. I like the new player profile screen. Shows what medals you got for the match, and explains them to you.

My stats:

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerStatsHalo3.aspx?player=blurredvision06

I did pretty damn well in my first two matches, placing 2nd and 1st respectively, with 44 kills and 26 deaths overall. I'm typically a middle-range skill player, so these stats are way too inflated. I also seemed to like melee'ing from behind, since I got 2 Assassin medals in each of my first two games.

Overall, I obviously like it. I'm looking forward to playing with you guys on some team games. Remember, my first two games aren't typically indicitive of my play, as I'm usually best suited as a support-type player. I die more than I kill.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Link

Now the better news?.you get MORE Halo 3 MP Beta action: Given the circumstances today, we will be extending the duration of the "Halo 3" multiplayer beta from June 6 to June 10, 11:59 PM PDT.

Yay
 

EKKC

Diamond Member
May 31, 2005
5,895
0
0
those complaining about graphics: remember this is a BETA. and not considered a demo.
 

raystorm

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2001
4,712
2
0
I finally found the last agility orb in crackdown and now I have just 12 hidden orbs left to go. Halo 3 Beta is alright. I don't see anything special with it. The visuals are underwhelming as is the 30fps but its a beta so I'm sure things will get better. I don't think I could get used to the slow walk and turn speed of the game (compared to favorable pc fps') and I will always suck with a gamepad though I did well enough. I never played the first 2 Halo's online though so understand my viewpoint as one from a Halo noob.


I did get annoyed in one round though that turned into a horrible bunny hop fest with little kids jibba jabbering on the mics. wowzers..I ran away from that real quickly. :p
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,641
6,523
126
Originally posted by: michaels
Originally posted by: EKKC
those complaining about graphics: remember this is a BETA. and not considered a demo.

Oh please...

oh please what?

bungie has stated over and over and said it bluntly as they possibly can, that the graphics are not representative of the final product.

i do not see why people on the internet are having such a hard time understanding this.

and they never ever said that they will be better or even as good as Gears of War.
 

jlmadyson

Platinum Member
Aug 13, 2004
2,201
0
0
That save film feature is pretty sweet. Heh, nothing like going back and watching my face get melted a few dozen times.

Oh yea on the graphics side of things check out these pics by Tapout, second post their, pretty much what it looks like on my Sammy.

Text

Looks damn nice to me, particuarlly for multiplayer, of course if they can throw on AA and/or AF in the final version that would be icing on the cake.
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
Originally posted by: kmrivers
Rent it like I did. I even got it for free by signing up for Blockbusters two week online rentral service trial. You need to have the disk in the drive when you play. Blockbuster gives you 5 days and their are no late fees now.

I just started blockbuster. How many days do you actually get to keep the game to avoid being charged a fee?
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
Did anyone else have trouble with the marketplace last night? I couldn't get in, I just got that stupid image of the Xbox with the circle of dots around it. I was able to play multiplayer games though
 

bucwylde23

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2005
4,180
0
71
Originally posted by: Kev
Did anyone else have trouble with the marketplace last night? I couldn't get in, I just got that stupid image of the Xbox with the circle of dots around it. I was able to play multiplayer games though

that happens to me sometimes. I just backout and try again and it works... I had no problem with it last night at all.
 

michaels

Banned
Nov 30, 2005
4,329
0
0
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: michaels
Originally posted by: EKKC
those complaining about graphics: remember this is a BETA. and not considered a demo.

Oh please...

oh please what?

bungie has stated over and over and said it bluntly as they possibly can, that the graphics are not representative of the final product.

i do not see why people on the internet are having such a hard time understanding this.

and they never ever said that they will be better or even as good as Gears of War.

Sure there might be a slight difference, but it will be nothing major. I hope I am wrong as the game looks average in multiplayer form right now. And I have asked before with no answer, but what graphical features are not in the demo that will be in the final game?
 

RagingBITCH

Lifer
Sep 27, 2003
17,618
2
76
Only played the Snow level this morning (let it download last night after I got home, played one game this AM)

Graphics: I liked the graphics. Are they revolutionary? No. But it looked pretty good on my 46" Sammy. Everything looked crystal clear. There were some jaggies but it's still a beta build.

Controls: played a lot more like Halo 1 IMO. You move faster than from Halo 2. Seem to jump higher/further. I do have to say - I don't like the individual reload. I kept pressing X to try to reload and nothing happened, and the few times I had the bubble shield, I accidently threw it and wasted it. :| The dual wielding is weird too...guess I don't like the bumper dual wielding. Guess I really just need to get used to it.

Guns: loved the new assault rifle, it's def not the POS the SMG used to be, and a lot more powerful/useful as a starting weapon. The Brute charge shot or whatever it's called - is there a way to lock onto people using that? I thought there was...regardless, I killed people 3/5 times I used it, from a good ways across the map. I guess it's like an alien rocket launcher now, but with faster bullets. Like that weapon :) The new SMG style weapon - Spiker - seems like a cheap fast weapon. Dual wielded two and killed everyone I faced until I got sniped in the head. Battle Rifle - is it just me, or is it harder to aim now? It seems more like a sniper when zoomed in trying to aim than it did in H2. I couldn't for the life of me feel comfortable with it. Weird grenade - don't understand what the point of that is, compared to the frag. Having more grenades is good, but just didn't seem that useful.

Gameplay - seemed more action packed/faster paced than Halo 2. Seems to jump higher. I like the turrets killing you if you go out of bounds on levels, although I expect to see some glitches in maps when people somehow find ways around them. (I cornered a guy there and threw a grenade - he could either die via the guardians or by me, and he took the guardians) Also seems like you die faster when shields are down - I noob comboed once with the alien rifle and plasma pistol - it was like one, maybe two shots to the body with the rifle after no shields and he was dead. Bubble shield - I liked the addition - could make for some interesting King of the Hill matches. I like the fact that shots cant get outside if you shoot inside and vice versa - I ran in, tossed a grenade, jumped out, and then went back in and killed a guy after he got ****** by the grenade.

That was only based off one free for all match that I had, look forward to playing it more. It definitely seems funner somehow than Halo 2 did, at least from my brief experience with it.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Originally posted by: michaels
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: michaels
Originally posted by: EKKC
those complaining about graphics: remember this is a BETA. and not considered a demo.

Oh please...

oh please what?

bungie has stated over and over and said it bluntly as they possibly can, that the graphics are not representative of the final product.

i do not see why people on the internet are having such a hard time understanding this.

and they never ever said that they will be better or even as good as Gears of War.

Sure there might be a slight difference, but it will be nothing major. I hope I am wrong as the game looks average in multiplayer form right now. And I have asked before with no answer, but what graphical features are not in the demo that will be in the final game?

Who knows. It's been said before that a game doesn't really come into its own until the last month or two as it heads into crunch-time and the spit and polish is added to refine it and the devs work extra long hours.

Bungie mentioned this is why Halo 2 wasn't as good as they would have liked it and are determined not to miss out on this refinement time this go-around.

Take a look at Spiderman 3. That is a game that clearly needed the extra refinement time but ended up coming out looking like a turd because the movie deadline didn't allow for it.

Now we just have to wait until September to see how much of an improvement they can make between now and then.
 

ivol07

Golden Member
Jun 25, 2002
1,475
0
0
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: kmrivers
Rent it like I did. I even got it for free by signing up for Blockbusters two week online rentral service trial. You need to have the disk in the drive when you play. Blockbuster gives you 5 days and their are no late fees now.

I just started blockbuster. How many days do you actually get to keep the game to avoid being charged a fee?

Are you guys getting the game from a blockbuster store or do they send games thru the mail via their online service?
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Originally posted by: ivol07
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: kmrivers
Rent it like I did. I even got it for free by signing up for Blockbusters two week online rentral service trial. You need to have the disk in the drive when you play. Blockbuster gives you 5 days and their are no late fees now.

I just started blockbuster. How many days do you actually get to keep the game to avoid being charged a fee?

Are you guys getting the game from a blockbuster store or do they send games thru the mail via their online service?

BB does not do online game rentals. Store only. If you sign up for their online service though, you can get one or two coupons (depending on what level of service you sign up for) that you can use for free in-store movie or game rentals.

To Kev's question - You get the rental period plus 5 days before they charge you a fee.

They do require a credit card "pre-authorization" before they will rent 360, PS3, or Wii games though.
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
Originally posted by: ivol07
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: kmrivers
Rent it like I did. I even got it for free by signing up for Blockbusters two week online rentral service trial. You need to have the disk in the drive when you play. Blockbuster gives you 5 days and their are no late fees now.

I just started blockbuster. How many days do you actually get to keep the game to avoid being charged a fee?

Are you guys getting the game from a blockbuster store or do they send games thru the mail via their online service?

you get them through the store only
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Originally posted by: Queasy
Who knows. It's been said before that a game doesn't really come into its own until the last month or two as it heads into crunch-time and the spit and polish is added to refine it and the devs work extra long hours.

Bungie mentioned this is why Halo 2 wasn't as good as they would have liked it and are determined not to miss out on this refinement time this go-around.

Take a look at Spiderman 3. That is a game that clearly needed the extra refinement time but ended up coming out looking like a turd because the movie deadline didn't allow for it.

Now we just have to wait until September to see how much of an improvement they can make between now and then.

You don't nail down graphical settings before knowing what you will be displaying. That'd be inane and you'd almost either expect underestimating or overestimating the graphical prowess leading to poor graphics with overhead left over or slower/choppy gameplay because the system is too taxed.