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Friday 8 February, 2008
GAMEPLAY:
In this gamelog session I will be focusing on Halo 3's multiplayer. Multiplayer has always been what stood out in the Halo series, and this holds true in Halo 3. The multiplayer is very refined and is a nice improvement on Halo 2's multiplayer. Some of the changes I noticed were all of the weapons and vehicles seemed more balanced, which is essential for a good FPS. Each weapon has is ideal range and situation, but no weapons are overpowered in all situations. This keeps gameplay interesting because players are using different weapons.
Each weapon in the game has a few standard characteristics that define it. These include effective range, rate of fire, ammunition per clip, reload time, and damage per bullet. Each weapon has a unique combination of each of these characteristics, and therefor has an ideal situation in which a player would want to use it. Learning when to use one weapon over another is one of the core elements of the gameplay and separates the elite from the novice. Another element of the Halo 3 combat that is a staple in the Halo universe is the beat-down, or melee attack. This can also be timed and when used effectively is very deadly.
DESIGN:
The design of Halo 3 is spectacular. The Bungie team spent a lot of time and money refining the game engine and it shows. They really learned from their mistakes in past Halo games and the series has really evolved. One of the main problems with Halo 1 and 2 were unbalanced weapons. In Halo 1 the human pistol was all you needed to kill anyone, whether they had a rocket launcher or sniper rifle. With the human pistol, if you could see someone you could kill them, regardless of range. Some problems that plagued Halo 2 were the over powered energy sword and plasma pistol. These weapons were far too deadly in the hands of a skilled player and took away from the fairness of the game. Halo 3 did an excellent job of ridding the series of over powered weapons and this shows in the multiplayer experience.
Halo 3 added many new weapons, grenades, and vehicles, yet none of them seem over powered. This is a result of Bungie putting their heart and soul into Halo 3, along with hours and hours of play-testing. One really cool thing about Halo 3 is that if a player knows that they are doing they can kill anyone with any weapon. The player must learn the effective range of all the weapons and use their weapon when it is most effective while exploiting their enemies effective range. Players can spend countless hours learning these interesting and detailed dynamics of the game. I have played all of the Halo games since the original came out on the Xbox, and I am still learning new tricks.
Halo 3 is one of the best first person shooters on the market. This title did not come easy, but rather from Bungie's passion and expertise in making a good FPS. It is Halo 3's balance and refinement that make it a great game.
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