First Halo 3 Gameplay . . . Et tu, Brute?

[Ozena]

Straight from the Bungie and GameTrailers (http://www.gametrailers.com), Et Tu, Brute? shows the first gameplay footage from Halo 3's documentary video.

HD Version (http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=mov&id=15807)
"Standard" Version (http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?type=mov&id=15806)


We've been waiting for this.

[ÜberJumper]

Is it just me or is there something missing in how halo (all games) characters connect to the ground. I know 3's a work in progress, but the brutes still seem, disconnected from the ground.

In Gears, I don't recall of many instances of the characters doing those sliding shuffles that break immersion.

Maybe I just watched to much red vs blue.

[2HeadedBoy]

Saw this yesterday.

Ramdom thoughts: Looks alot like Halo 2. Yeah i know its pre-alpha/alpha or whatever. Just saying the level design I saw looked like Halo 2. I'm sick of the SMG. Take that bitch out.

Some of the animations were cool though. Also the enemies fighting in packs is a nice feature too.

[wiredInsanity]

Yeah, I kind of wish they did not release this video....kills that hype factor for me.

[caenelgren]

yeah, it definitely reminded me a lot of halo 2 in its dynamic. i mentioned on another message board that graphically it was nice but nothing stood out very much (though yes, it's not final, blah). however, the battles and map design seemed to settle in very much with established halo design, so for those of us who enjoyed the firefights from the first two halo games, it looks like we'll have more of the same to enjoy. otherwise, i couldn't really spot out much more gameplay-wise that stood out to me. up-close, the brute tactics were pretty neat to watch, but in the scenes where the camera-person was shooting back they could have easily been elites and i wouldn't have noticed a difference (in regards to how the battles seemed to be playing out).

[Elysium]

Most of what was shown in terms of the levels were sandboxs (http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9340) for AI testing and gameplay development. . The footage is also several months old and pre-alpha.

[51|RandoM]

What did people expect? Of course it is going to look alot like Halo 2. That might be why they named it Halo 3...

They're not going to deviate too far from the multi-platinum Halo formula.

[caenelgren]

Most of what was shown in terms of the levels were sandboxs (http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9340) for AI testing and gameplay development. . The footage is also several months old and pre-alpha.that's true, that's definitely the impression i got as well. the video was more just to show off some potential changes for the game and center on the brutes, and what their plan was for them from the time. i definitely wouldn't consider the video to be footage of halo 3's "gameplay", more like "in-engine" footage from a pre-alpha build, or whatever it was at the time.

[Venkman]

They better step up that graphics engine seriously.

[Vandenh]

This video is about AI, not graphics.

[fitbabits]

I watched this last night and I was left feeling empty. I got the impression from the people interviewed that they were having more fun hanging out with each other than making the game. Then again, it's important to have team unity on any project, I suppose.

[caenelgren]

What did people expect? Of course it is going to look alot like Halo 2. That might be why they named it Halo 3...

They're not going to deviate too far from the multi-platinum Halo formula.i think for some people (because obviously i'm guessing there are people out there who expect the game to look completely different from its sequels) including myself, we're just interested in seeing what more of the halo world can look like. halo 1 and 2 (uh..guess i should warn with a semi-spoilier here for people who never played the games) for the most part took place in similar environments. the beginning of halo 2 was different but then the game takes a turn and things seem rather familiar - i wasn't disappointed by this and enjoyed the game, i know some people didn't like it though.

halo 3 -- at least from what we know of it so far (since bungie can be amazingly tricky) -- seems to have a chance at keeping the game set in a completely different type of locale from a lot of what we have seen so far. or at least, to expand on things we only briefly experienced. when i say the game appears similar to halo 2, i don't mean in artistic style or map design, more just that what we have seen so far in screenshots seems very similar to what we have seen in previous games, and i was just expecting a different type of setting. of course, i think that with most game creation (i have no experience so i wouldn't know) they build the engine first then start integrating new art assets, which would explain why it may seem so similar. i think some of us are just waiting for screens/vids to show the newer things the third game may have in store. this vid showed off - or at least informed us about - new things to look forward to for the brutes, which is cool though they are nothing new to us. i'm just waiting for the vids/screens of things i haven't seen yet to get me even more excited about the game ;)

[hideouslywrinkled]

This video is about AI, not graphics.

Amen... if you thought this was going to be a showcase of graphics for a game that's still at least seven months away... well, too bad. It wasn't that.

I was fairly impressed by the short. It really shows how much effort they put into character design and AI, which has always been what makes the Halo single player experience work so well. I'm excited to know Halo 3 will improve that formula.

Of course, all this Halo 3 hype has actually got me thinking that I'll need to buy an Xbox 360... That's really going to tempt me to break my arbitrary "Never spend more than $200 on a console" rule.

[phantomhitman]

the ai still looked dumb as hell, the transitional animations sucked as well as the weighting of the characters. the models do look impressive but not over the top halo 3 omg impressive. oh well

[deadwood]

Is it me or do the levels in Halo 3 look exactly like the levels in Halo 2. I mean EXACTLY.

[Grimmjow]

meh.........

[Ph00p]

OMG!!! NO TEXTURES IN HALO3 WERST GAME EVAR!!!!!1111

But anyway the textureless render looks alright its smooth moving you get an idea of the lighting, the action looks the same unfortuantely and what they had described about the different ranks of Brute sounded much like the different ranks of covenant so boourns there, its like they can never get TOO creative they just stick to the same old boring shit, so halo3 instead of killing waves of the same covenant it'll be just brutes.

I bet they still haven't hired a level designer yet either heh, probably going to continue the shitty halo map style tradition, ah well.

[Vandenh]

>the ai still looked dumb as hell

Dude... you have no idea what you are talking about. Something is dumb as hell, but it is not the AI in that video.

Halo 1 had pack AI and plenty of other games. It looks like the "commander" AI is something new and something I haven't really seen a lot in FPS games. Most FPS games that I have played or sniffed at the AI code have been cheating a bit on the commander AI. Usually the game AI makes decisions and then the game engine links that decision to a "commanding" unit.

Example: AI decides to outflank player. Commanding units shouts "To the right men!". (this is what happens in GoW... I LOVE the game but I have not seen very clever pack AI in GoW, just good individual AI. I guess HL and Halo are the kings of pack AI).

It looks like Bungie is trying to add real commander decisions. Hard to tell of course based on this video but I can imagine the possibilities. To be honest I am no AI expert... I have done a lot more work lately on procedural asset generation and purely mathematical AI but I can imagine similar things in AI. The commander unit for example could be given a much more "cheating" view of the battlefield (removing LOS for example) so he can take much more tactical decisions. Anyway.. no use raving about it... we will see when we play the game.

[cp#]

The Brutes need bigger guns.

They better step up that graphics engine seriously.

Yup

[Morratut]

It's was just a video focussing on the Brutes, thats all. It's a work in progress. Bungie are just letting us in on the work. I like it when Bungie do this, I find it interesting.

[Mdot23]

It's was just a video focussing on the Brutes, thats all. It's a work in progress. Bungie are just letting us in on the work. I like it when Bungie do this, I find it interesting.

smartest thing i read all day.

[TempestBlayze]

I think it was bad for them to release this also. I, along with SOME people know thats it's in alpha and most of their things are still only running in Maya.

The majority will usually take the graphics literally and think thats what the graphics will really look like.

[maharahaj]

what exactly was wrong with the graphics that were shown in the gameplay snippets near the end of the video? it looked good to me.

[snubber]

GOW > Halo 3. Even the Brute models look like old tech...stretched textures, middling modeling, etc. Ok, fine, a work in progress. But there better be a LOT of progress then.

[Sloth]

i'm underwhelmed.

[EGO]

Considering this video is really focused on the fact that they're beefing up these monkey things (I don't play Halo, so I didn't really pay attention and they didn't get me wet, but whatever) and how far it is from release, it looks pretty cool.

I'll reserve judgement until closer to launch, versus *at least* 6 months out.

[Vjornaxx]

I think you guys are missing the point here. This is PRE-ALPHA. That means they're using placeholder textures and animations. A lot of what you see is probably not going to be in the final build. They're fleshing out ideas in terms of graphics, animations, and sounds. Don't you guys remembers when footage from Gears of War first came out? That was beta and the animations still had a long way to go. Besides, the subject of this video was "Here are our ideas about what we're going to do with the Brutes" and NOT "Look how cool our game looks"

[GunnyMo]

Looked awesome. Obviously alpha build so I can't wait to see the final version next year. Woot.

[Zanzibar]

The video had one purpose - to get people excited about fighting Brutes instead of the Elites. The Elites were a LOT of fun to fight against in Halo 1 and Halo 2, and, by necessity of the story, we're not going to be able to fight against them any more.

In Halo 2, the Brutes just didn't do it for me, or for anyone. I'm sure there's been grousing on the boards about how the Brutes were the least interesting characters to fight against. So, for Halo 3, Bungie decided to focus on re-imagining the Brutes as the Elite replacements, and thus they wanted to get that information out to the rest of the Halo Nation, so people wouldn't go 'meh' when they heard they'd be fighting lots and lots of Brutes in Halo 3.

Notice what they did. All the armor worn by the Brutes now has the same look and angles as the Elites' armor did. In looking at the video, I definitely got the same 'feel' that you were fighting Elites again. That's the key to H3: how to make fighting Brutes as much fun and give the same feel as fighting Elites.

So, of COURSE you're not gonna see anything new except for the Brutes. Bungie is the MASTER of showing you only what they want you to see.

Anyone else notice that they specifically showed the animation team roleplaying the death animations? Kiss the Havok Ragdoll deaths bye-bye. Thank fucking God.

[Telefrog]

I don't get what all the negative comments are about. If you don't like the artistic choices in the Halo universe, then that's a valid opinion. If you said, "I think the backstory on the Brutes is retarded," or "the Brute concept, as a whole, is weak," then bully for you. I haven't seen anyone specifically bitching that way. What I have seen is a lot of nancying about the renders and gameplay sequences.

Saying you don't like the graphics in the pre-alpha gameplay or example render portions of the video is really ignorant. Have you seen the FX renders or rough animatics for a movie? They look like crap. The animatics for Spiderman or The Lord of The Rings look terrible. Not surprisingly, the final movies don't actually look like that.

[silv]

Why are people so negative on the graphics? This was about the Brutes. Not a tech-demo of the graphics.

Is it not painfully obvious this is using builds of the game that have significant chunks of the graphics pipeline disabled?

[Sloth]

because it was a step backwards in graphics from what was seen at e3

[silv]

But that is exactly it. These maps have not been optimized yet, probably neither have the brutes, shaders probably aren't done.

What you saw at e3 was most likely polished as well as they could make it. These random little fighting areas used to test AI that will never see the light of day aren't. For good reason.

[bapenguin]

I'm really surprised Microsoft's PR let this come out. They are very protective of their IPs and this doesn't show the game in a very good light to the general public. Most of us understand what a pre-alpha is, etc..but a good majority of people don't.

[The Iron Weasel]

The Brutes now look like a very cool enemy to fight, I really like the designs on them, and did anyone else notice the dual plasma swords on the elite in that animation routine? I think they're dropping suttle hints as to whats going to be in the game. Also the mystery button thing, I think it might be the flashlight.

[Roc Ingersol]

They shouldn't have released the video.
Everyone knows Halo's coming out.
The teaser trailer just hit.
This video looks like crap and doesn't really show off what they were supposed to be showing off (AI).

syncronized shuffling with pistols in a halo 2.3 environment is not getting anyone excited - other than the people who need no video to be excited.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

I hate how they shuffle and clip between animations. It was very uninspiring. They should've waited a year before showing what they were working on.

[Elysium]

The point of these videos are not for promoting the game- the teasers and trailers they release fit that role.

This video speaks to those people who have played the first 2 games, understand the gameplay, and want an insight into the direction the story takes, the gameplay improvements, and what happens behind the scenes in game development.

They are not showing vacuous graphics tech demos like some other developers, just to sensationalise the game.

[Sinistar]

What concerns me is how it seems that Halo has lost it's way.

Halo 1 was so good, a fun story & game to play. Better yet, it was really fun to play coop with a friend. The Covenant were a great new race. The mystery of "Halo" was intriguing. The Flood were a pain in the ass but a cool 3rd character that still were a pain in the ass.

Halo 2 brought the game to earth and, to me, really took the game back a few notches. The background story was convoluted and un-inspired. The Brutes - meh. But KILLER multiplayer over live.

Halo 3, from what little we know, seems to be turning a new direction. I was more disappointed in this new direction (so far) for the brutes. Flesh them out? Who cares?

I'll buy it because I can't resist it but the "incredi-hype" that was Halo 2 was huge and the end result was so underwhelming. Here's hoping they do better this time around!

[Adam Blue]

It's good to see shit like this. When shown the CG video people say, "dammit, I wanna see some gameplay!!!!!". Then when shown some gameplay(and I'm talking EARLY shit), this happens.

Everyone just cries.

[Kem0sabe]

Remember the Halo 3 trailer that was supposedly made using the "game engine"? After seeing this gameplay video, that trailer looks very much like a CG pre-render... Yet another Motor Storm :p

[Zanzibar]

This video looks like crap and doesn't really show off what they were supposed to be showing off (AI).
Yes, because the video obviously was supposed to show off the behaviors, that's why it was called 'Et tu, Behavior?'

Bungie: HEY GUYS, WE KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT AN ENTIRE GAME FULL OF THE HALO 2 BRUTES, SO HERE'S HOW WE'RE GOING TO DISTINGUISH BRUTE CLASSES IN HALO 3.

[TheFlyingOrc]

smartest thing i read all day.

...the smartest thing you read all day said "i like it when bungie do this"? :confused:

[megaman]

Isn't the footage shown in the earlier parts of the video from halo 2? Those in the later parts look a lot better

[Zanzibar]

Isn't the footage shown in the earlier parts of the video from halo 2? Those in the later parts look a lot better
Yep, they were showing the differences between the old and new brutes. Some of those Halo 2 textures on the walls just looked like shit.

[Venkman]

Why are people so negative on the graphics? This was about the Brutes. Not a tech-demo of the graphics.

Is it not painfully obvious this is using builds of the game that have significant chunks of the graphics pipeline disabled?

A lot of people took issue with my comment about stepping up the graphics, and I'm sorry I didn't elaborate.

I want them to throw some real work into that stuff. After seeing Resistance and Gears, with the war torn cities, I want to see a locale that looks like it has been through, or is going through, an actual war.

I don't give a crap if this is pre-alpha or what- Gears in it's very, very early low-framerate alpha build still looked damn hot at the time. Like it or not, we can and should compare it to software that is being developed and has already been released.

Killzone on the lowly PS2 had really nice details in the environments. When walking through the mall in Killzone, when there was a hole in the ceiling, it wasn't just a gap in the geometry. There were girders bent out of the frame of the building extruding downwards through the hole, as if a shell actually impacted from above. There were piles of rubble below, and chunks of ceiling strewn about the floor. The buildings would have massive sections missing from the sides, potholes in streets, stairs were uneven and broken, wires dangled from electrical areas.

Those level designers, while making an average game, looked like they studied war torn cities and conveyed that in the game like no other I had seen on console.

I want them to live up to the level of design present in a PS2 game. I didn't even see a hint of that here, although their attention to animation was nice to see.

I want to see massive draw distances, huge city vistas, and dense jungles. Say what you will about Perfect Dark 0, but those cities were large and meaty, with the weight of a real city.

[Roc Ingersol]

Yes, because the video obviously was supposed to show off the behaviors, that's why it was called 'Et tu, Behavior?'

Bungie: HEY GUYS, WE KNOW YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT AN ENTIRE GAME FULL OF THE HALO 2 BRUTES, SO HERE'S HOW WE'RE GOING TO DISTINGUISH BRUTE CLASSES IN HALO 3.
I'm sorry, I thought the apology forces had determined this was about brute ai?

If this is about brute graphics then they really failed.

[Venkman]

Remember the Halo 3 trailer that was supposedly made using the "game engine"? After seeing this gameplay video, that trailer looks very much like a CG pre-render... Yet another Motor Storm :p

I totally belive that video was done in real time. There was nothing in there that could be considered pushing the system.

[Zeal]

I watched this last night and I was left feeling empty. I got the impression from the people interviewed that they were having more fun hanging out with each other than making the game.

Exactly, all I saw was unprofessionalism and arrogance. The animation was complete ass (no suprise there, considering John Butkus is still with them) and the graphics were unbelievably bad.

I am now convinced that Bungie doesn't actually have a working game, much like what happened with Halo 2, six months before it was shipped.

I don't see how the public's "first glimpse of campaign" was thrown together from buggy, untextured "pre-alpha" footage. They didn't even have any actual levels to show.

EDIT: And let me just say something about Bungie's claims of "unfinished this" and "placeholder that". We all went through the same rambling claims with the Halo 2 updates and what happened in the end? Most of the so called 'placeholders' and unfinished graphics were actually the final in-game graphics.

I hate to say it, but you cannot believe a word these guys say. This is from personal experience, too, so I can claim such.

[Disgustipated]

Exactly, all I saw was unprofessionalism and arrogance. The animation was complete ass (no suprise there, considering John Butkus is still with them) and the graphics were unbelievably bad.

I am now convinced that Bungie doesn't actually have a working game, much like what happened with Halo 2, six months before it was shipped.

I don't see how the public's "first glimpse of campaign" was thrown together from buggy, untextured "pre-alpha" footage. They didn't even have any actual levels to show.

EDIT: And let me just say something about Bungie's claims of "unfinished this" and "placeholder that". We all went through the same rambling claims with the Halo 2 updates and what happened in the end? Most of the so called 'placeholders' and unfinished graphics were actually the final in-game graphics.

I hate to say it, but you cannot believe a word these guys say. This is from personal experience, too, so I can claim such.

Zeal, bashing Halo? This video must be REALLY bad.

And John Butkus... haha. Butkus.

[Zeal]

And John Butkus... haha. Butkus.
Oh my arguments with that fag are legendary on TeamXbox. Trust me, the arrogance of Bungie employees...simply unbelievable.

[Venkman]

I guess my biggest issue is that it seems like their team is missing a Dave Jaffe (God of War art director). They need to have someone with a rock solid artisitic vision to unify the game and tie it to some believable visual aesthetic. When those guys say "I like to come in and be surprised by what he does, and then see what he does..."

Dave Jaffe was up in people's faces, arguing with them, telling them what he wanted them to convey.

Ah well, I guess I just want to see Halo 3 be all it can be. I'll still buy the damn thing. ;)

[Zeal]

That person was called Alexander Seropian, the creator of Halo. He left and founded a game studio called Wideload Games.

He also developed the original groundbreaking Halo engine with Jason Jones.

That guy has more creative talent in his pinky than all of Bungie studios.

[Disgustipated]

Oh my arguments with that fag are legendary on TeamXbox. Trust me, the arrogance of Bungie employees...simply unbelievable.

His last name is hilarious. If someone was gay, the first big signal would be a last name like that.

That person was called Alexander Seropian, the creator of Halo. He left and founded a game studio called Wideload Games.

He also developed the original groundbreaking Halo engine.

That guy has more creative talent in his pinky than all of Bungie studios.


Yeah, Stubbs The Zombie was a blast. Can't wait for a sequel/another game from that studio.

[Zeal]

His last name is hilarious. If someone was gay, the first big signal would be a last name like that.
Oh, I didn't mean it literally. I'm just extremely pissed off with these assholes right now. We used to call him John the Butt Kisser, because that's the only way he could have gotten into Bungie with such piss poor animation skills.

EDIT: Don't be surprised if Bungie employees drop into this thread any second now and start a flame war with me. These insecure fucktards read everything, EVERYTHING.

They scope forums like Agents from the Matrix. They phase-in, target any negativity and fire away.

[GreenIce]

what terrible people, defending their work. I'm glad we have you around to protect us zeal, less we have to make our own conclusions and decisions.

[Zeal]

What, are you blind. People have already made their own conclusions.

The general consensus is that the footage was ass, which it was.

[The Iron Weasel]

That person was called Alexander Seropian, the creator of Halo. He left and founded a game studio called Wideload Games.

He also developed the original groundbreaking Halo engine with Jason Jones.

That guy has more creative talent in his pinky than all of Bungie studios.
I thought that Seropian was just the owner of Bungie, and had very little to do with the development of Halo. I'm pretty sure I read the credits and saw that he had little to do with the game.

Edit: Also I thought you said that Luke Smith of 1up has played finished campain levels and said it will make you say "Gears of Whaaa?", you said you had never known the man to lie, so I'm just curious about that.

[Venkman]

Edit: Also I thought you said that Luke Smith of 1up has played finished campain levels and said it will make you say "Gears of Whaaa?", you said you had never known the man to lie, so I'm just curious about that.

I hope that's true. Despite my critique in previous posts, I still love me some Halo. I'm always harsh on the people I think have lots of talent. I expect them to get better the more games they make.

[fatefodder]

I heard Luke Smith say the same thing on one of the EGM Live podcasts.

But then, from what podcasts I've heard it seems that Luke is a big Halo fan, so perhaps some salt is in order...

There was a screenshot of the Master Chief on a warthog in December's issue of EGM, taken from the single player. It didn't look bad, but it was no Gears of War. The description box was more optimistic, describing things that were not shown.

This video? Sure, pre-alpha whatever. I liked the animations shown, but I hope that the non-scripted in-game stuff is as varied and smooth.

The AI also looked pretty bland in the video.

Maybe Bungie should have shown just some static shots and anything they had that was near "final," or as close to it as available. After that CG commercial--heck, after the original E3 trailer, this video was underwhelming.

[Zeal]

I thought that Seropian was just the owner of Bungie, and had very little to do with the development of Halo. I'm pretty sure I read the credits and saw that he had little to do with the game.

Edit: Also I thought you said that Luke Smith of 1up has played finished campain levels and said it will make you say "Gears of Whaaa?", you said you had never known the man to lie, so I'm just curious about that.
Yeah, good questions all around.

Seropian and Jones founded Bungie together and developed Marathon, Myth, Minotaur, Pathways into Darkness, and Halo. Jason Jones was responsible for writing the Halo engine and Seropian came up with the Halo universe along with Brandon Boran, Eric Troutman, and Matt Soell.

Alexander Seropian later left and founded Wideload. Brandon, Eric, and Matt are also long gone, with Frank eventually replacing Matt's role as PR liason.

Matt works with Alex at Wideload on PR, and Brandon and Eric are freelance.

As for Luke, he claims the footage he was shown has not been yet been revealed to the public. I really have no reason to doubt him, but the footage shown in the latest "ViDoc" was pathetic to say the least.

He made the "Gears of I Don't Care" comment at the end of the following 1UP podcast:

http://zdmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/1UP/1upshow_0406_640x360.zip

[Rirath]

EDIT: Don't be surprised if Bungie employees drop into this thread any second now and start a flame war with me. These insecure fucktards read everything, EVERYTHING.

Or dude, you're just really, really obsessive about this stuff and believe that Bungie is looking over your shoulder at all times. Sometimes, just sometimes, you remind me of the Comicbook Guy from The Simpsons.

The graphics, if real, looked pretty dang good. If so I'll take back my Halo 2 comments. Sure, it's not Gears of War, but I also expect it to be entirely first person and longer. It doesn't have to be the best looking game evar, I just want it to look like a 360 title.

As for the team, maybe it's just the video editing but I don't have a heck of a lot of confidence. If they said the word "brute" one more time I was going to scream. "I can't believe you invaded my planet!" Oh come on, who would /ever/ say that? It kind of reminds me of the dorky videos of Bethesda pre Oblivion, but oh well. I'm sure they're great guys, I just hope they don't forget about the game.

[Zeal]

Or dude, you're just really, really obsessive about this stuff and believe that Bungie is looking over your shoulder at all times.

No, I mean literally. I was banned from http://nikon.bungie.org/ for actually getting into huge arguments with the development team over the absurdity of Halo 2.

I know for an absolute fact that Bungie employees read this site.

Eric Nylund wasn't playing around when he said he reads EA.

You have no idea what a public enemy I am to these people. They will follow me and Durandal anywhere we go.

Besides, I'm paid to criticize.

[The Iron Weasel]

Yeah, good questions all around.

Seropian and Jones founded Bungie together and developed Marathon, Myth, Minotaur, Pathways into Darkness, and Halo. Jason Jones was responsible for writing the Halo engine and Seropian came up with the Halo universe along with Brandon Boran, Eric Troutman, and Matt Soell.

Alexander Seropian later left and founded Wideload. Brandon, Eric, and Matt are also long gone, with Frank eventually replacing Matt's role as PR liason.

Matt works with Alex at Wideload on PR, and Brandon and Eric are freelance.

As for Luke, he claims the footage he was shown has not been yet been revealed to the public. I really have no reason to doubt him, but the footage shown in the latest "ViDoc" was pathetic to say the least.

He made the "Gears of I Don't Care" comment at the end of the following 1UP podcast:

http://zdmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/1UP/1upshow_0406_640x360.zip
So would I be correct in saying that most of the people responsible for the gameplay aspects of Halo are still intact? I know that the gameplay designer is still at bungie. But you are very correct in saying that some of the guys there came of extremely egotistical, and probably shouldn't have considering what they showed looked sort of pathetic, but I think the AI looked very cool (for where they're at). But thats not a problem for me ever since Gears. With CliffyB's ego that game still turned out fantastic.

[Venkman]

Sure, it's not Gears of War, but I also expect it to be entirely first person and longer. It doesn't have to be the best looking game evar, I just want it to look like a 360 title.

Ah, thank you for wording in two sentences what I could not in four paragraphs. I love Halo, and I want it to be impressive when it lands on Xbox 360. The bar has been set so very high by other developers. I want bungie to jump over that bar, or at least meet it. I'm rooting for them.

[Venkman]

But thats not a problem for me ever since Gears. With CliffyB's ego that game still turned out fantastic.

I think that was a case of him thinking he was the shit, but having the gameplay, graphics AND technology to back it up. Well, when your team is intimately familiar with that impressive Unreal Engine, they better have your back.

Whoever those modelers were at Epic doing that work were some amazing people. Probably underpaid and locked in a duungeon for 4 years. ;)

[Zeal]

A very small minority of the original Halo team still works at Bungie. A majority of the people working on H3 are new, besides Chris Butcher, Matt Noguchi, Jamie Griesemer, Paul Burton and a few others.

As for Cliffy B, I have been told personally that his attitude is more of an act encouraged by the marketing folks. You know what I mean.

Hell, at least he actually had a game that looked amazing.

[The Iron Weasel]

A very small minority of the original Halo team still works at Bungie. A majority of the people working on H3 are new, besides Chris Butcher, Matt Noguchi, Jamie Griesemer, Paul Burton and a few others.

As for Cliffy B, I have been told personally that his attitude is more of an act encouraged by the marketing folks. You know what I mean.

Hell, at least he actually had a game that looked amazing.
Well I'm just asking all these questions as to why you all of a sudden have almost no faith in Halo 3, you were one of the few people around here that were touting it to be the shit, and that kept my faith alive! Now all of a sudden its like you have a personal vendetta against bungie, what happened?

[cp#]

Halo 2 sucked.

[Zeal]

Because it's starting to become clear that Bungie is using smoke and mirrors once again, just as they did promoting Halo 2. What they're showing as the game is not actually the game.

I mean, come on, I'm not the only one upset. The overall fan reaction (check any videogame related forum) concerning the ViDoc footage was overwhelmingly negative. Bungie then tried to release a damage control Q&A update immediately aftwards. Coincidence? Yeah, right.

I am no longer promoting this game until I play the Campaign.

Halo 2 sucked.
Nothing more needs to be said.

[The Iron Weasel]

Because it's starting to become clear that Bungie is using smoke and mirrors once again, just as they did promoting Halo 2. What they're showing as the game is not actually the game.

I mean, come on, I'm not the only one upset. The overall fan reaction (check any videogame related forum) concerning the ViDoc footage was overwhelmingly negative. Bungie then tried to release a damage control Q&A update immediately aftwards. Coincidence? Yeah, right.

I am no longer promoting this game until I play the Campaign.


Nothing more needs to be said.
Oh I'm not saying your the only one thats upset, I was just asking some questions as to why, I know the fan response is overwhelmingly negative, but I think that mainly has to do with the graphics.

[Rirath]

I know for an absolute fact that Bungie employees read this site.

You have no idea what a public enemy I am to these people. They will follow me and Durandal anywhere we go.

I know you believe it, but I seriously, seriously doubt a single person at Bungie sits around thinking "Darn that Zeal! Let's get him!" I don't doubt you've argued with a dev, and I don't doubt you were banned... that's what happens. But on the Internets, it's fairly easy to argue with anyone if you stick around long enough. Devs are human and some of them get too involved with opinion.

As for "public opinion" on the video footage, I'd rather not go reading "gaming forums" filled with fans whining because a game they don't have the first clue about isn't meeting up to their wet dream expectations. I expect Halo 3 to be a fairly good game. If it sucks, if it's another Halo 2, then so be it.

People have a twisted sense of what is "good" anymore. Doom 3 was a "good" game. Halo 2, in many respects, was still a "good" game. Not the greatness that was Halo 1, but not the steaming pile people make it out to be.

[Zeal]

I know you believe it, but I seriously, seriously doubt a single person at Bungie sits around thinking "Darn that Zeal! Let's get him!" I don't doubt you've argued with a dev, and I don't doubt you were banned... that's what happens. But on the Internets, it's fairly easy to argue with anyone if you stick around long enough. Devs are human and some of them get too involved with opinion.

As for "public opinion" on the video footage, I'd rather not go reading "gaming forums" filled with fans whining because a game they don't have the first clue about isn't meeting up to their wet dream expectations. I expect Halo 3 to be a fairly good game. If it sucks, if it's another Halo 2, then so be it.

People have a twisted sense of what is "good" anymore. Doom 3 was a "good" game. Halo 2, in many respects, was still a "good" game. Not the greatness that was Halo 1, but not the steaming pile people make it out to be.
I'm currently under an NDA by Microsoft, so I am unable to properly respond to this. I can, however, say that you're wrong.

Public perception is the single most important thing to anyone in the entertainment industry.

[DirtyChimp]

Epic(Gears of War) has nothing to worry about. that video completely killed all possible hype that was built up for the game.

[bean19]

The graphics looked shit-hot to me - It looks like the next-gen step from the original Halo; I'm not sure what you guys are expecting. . . but then the freaking awesome Halo theme always kind of makes me hot, so I don't know how objective I am being.

[Mandafarian]

Man, people are hard to please :rolleyes:

[Khash]

Why did they even make this video? If the game isn't going to look like that than what's the point of showing it?

[Zeal]

Why did they even make this video? If the game isn't going to look like that than what's the point of showing it?
Thank you.

[Mandafarian]

Why did they even make this video? If the game isn't going to look like that than what's the point of showing it?

I guess they're trying to put it out there that the Brutes will be your main enemy? And that they may actually be a challenge this time? Perhaps they're just going to keep putting random Halo things up to keep the hype alive or something. (because it's dead :rolleyes: )

I don't know. I don't see a point in showing it. They should have included more gameplay footage and then I could see why.

[Spectre-7]

Why did they even make this video? If the game isn't going to look like that than what's the point of showing it?

For the entertainment of addict fans who're hungry for any piece of information during the dev cycle. Or perhaps to raise controversy on forums like this one about whether Halo 3 is going to be crap. Or maybe just to have a little fun.

When did gaming stop being about entertainment?

[Uniqueusername]

I can't help but feel that Halo 3 is late to the party.

They have had plenty of time to work on it, and a solid next gen Halo game with a halfway decent plot would have been all that was needed to sell millions.. if they could have gotten to market earlier.
But now (after GoW) expectations are much higher. And each delay raises the bar further.
We have not really seen much that indicates the reason for the delays, so I can understand why some of the fans are getting a little worried.

[ElectricMonk]

Well I highly doubt that the game is going to be radically better looking upon release.

The characters look fine but the levels are just too low poly. They really do look about the same as halo2 other than the textures.

perhaps bungie isn't the shit after all. I mean halo 1 was good. But halo 2 was just OK. Perhaps halo 3 will continue that trend.

[menage]

I was rather unimpressed. Looked Ok, but nowhere near Bioshock cool. The brutes looked rather lame with there stupid toy guns.

[Zanzibar]

Urgh. Guys, it fits in with the TV commercial. The ad showed MC jumping down into a group of Brutes. Upon seeing that, I was initially disappointed, because I sure as hell didn't want to fight an entire game against the Halo 2 Brutes because they were boring as hell to fight. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Fighting against the Elites and the Grunts were the high-points of H1 and H2. Take away the Elite behaviors and the game wouldn't be anywhere near as entertaining.

So, they wanted to show how the Brutes would inherit the role of the Elites. The Elites had different ranks; so will the Brutes.

[The Iron Weasel]

I can't help but feel that Halo 3 is late to the party.

They have had plenty of time to work on it, and a solid next gen Halo game with a halfway decent plot would have been all that was needed to sell millions.. if they could have gotten to market earlier.
But now (after GoW) expectations are much higher. And each delay raises the bar further.
We have not really seen much that indicates the reason for the delays, so I can understand why some of the fans are getting a little worried.
Um, when did they delay Halo 3....they just told a date at e3.

[Zanzibar]

Something from Bungie's weekly update:

We were not so naïve as to think that it wouldn’t cause a calamity on the interwebs, since after all, the tubes that supply the interwebs are lubricated by rage. So common complaints we saw were that the graphics didn’t look finished. The graphics that we said were unfinished. But we saw that coming, it’s one of the things we have to absorb in order to provide you guys with interesting stuff to look at. And that’s the point. We’re showing the game in development, like an X-Ray of a baby bird.

Right now, it’s going to look at times like a fluid-encased, bug eyed reptile. But when it’s born, in 2007, don’t sweat it, it will have grown into a shimmering peacock, tail fanned and feathers gleaming.

You’ll have to take our word for it. There’s no spin, or damage control and we’re absolutely unapologetic. Halo 3 is in development and when we’re ready to show you polished graphics, we’ll do that in our own good time. But we’re still going to continue to bring you peeks behind the curtain.


The other main concern voiced was about who you will and won’t fight against in Halo 3. We wanted to debut the Brutes, because they are going to be a ferociously important adversary in Halo 3, and more importantly, their behavior, their abilities and their differing roles are going to make them easily the equal of Elites, in terms of how they operate on the battlefield. So we’re paving the way. But they aren’t going to be fighting you alone. We won’t give too much away, but believe us, the Brutes and Brute packs will have plenty of allies.

As far as gameplay is concerned, you can make up your own mind early next year, when we give you the chance to play the Multiplayer beta. It won’t contain all of the cool new features from the game, but it will be a nice taste of what to expect. There will be more news about that in the very near future. Anyway, we’ve enjoyed spending another year with you guys – so enjoy the break and share the season’s warmth with your friends and family. Peace (and goodwill)!

[Zechs01]

wow nice i just hope that the story is better in halo 3 then it was in halo 2