The Halo 3 beta is finally up for Crackdown owners. We feel that elaboration is not necessary.
Let's do this! Impressions liveblog after the jump.
7:50, after Match 1: 16 kills, which I do not think is terrible for having never played a Halo game prior to this moment in my life.
The first few minutes were spent figuring out what the buttons do. Apparently two of them shoot things. I saw one extra gun in the snow but died before I could figure out if it was any good. Wondering why "Pocahontas" theme running through head but then noticed other player named "Colorwind." Jerk.
Okay, I'm no good on my own. Time for a team match.
8:01, after Match 2. Team Slayer, aka how to "win" without "knowing what you're doing." Still don't know how to ride vehicles but I made a number of impressive "saves" by shooting people who were trying to ruin Team Red's unity. Can't have that. Talking to your team is a bit weird, because you have to press Up on the D-pad to send a transmission even if you're right next to them. At least it means you don't have to hear the random grunts and curses and aaaarghs whenever a usually silent player bites it.
8:28, after Match 3. I was just involved in what I imagine was a really interesting bit of strategy. I was the VIP, and thus the enemy's prime target. So I holed up in our base with a chain gun to hold them off. I was watching the door I figured they'd come through, but then right above me there was a grenade explosion on the glass ceiling. I looked up to see what it was, and that turned my attention away from the door. At that precise moment they came in and killed me.
Coincidence, or tactical genius? You decide.
We lost. VIP mode is pretty interesting though. You only get points if you kill one randomly selected person on each team, but unlike, say, the VIP mode in Rainbow Six Vegas the VIP is a fully powered warrior. So he'll most likely be out there shooting it up at times. Often I found two VIPs going at it mano a mano.
9:12, after Matches 4 and 5. Playing Halo 3 is significantly better when you're on a team with someone you know. But then, of course you realize that already. Just had a few rounds of Bomb and Capture the Flag with Mike from NWR and learned a lot about myself. Such as, I am no good at this. In the first two seconds of our match Mike had found a portable jumpy device that let us leap into the other team's base! I didn't even know such a thing existed. We failed to capture any flags and were pitiful at keeping our own guarded.
From a pure technical and polish standpoint, it's not hard to admire Halo 3. Everything from the little "fweep" when you start a new voice transmission to the voice that gives you important updates (such as "your flag is gone again, idiot") is perfectly polished. As well it should be at this stage. Oh, they say it's a "beta", but it's a public beta for their 1 million most rabid customers. This had to deliver a perfectly packaged experience and it does.
That said, I'm sure I'll keep playing just for the novelty value, but for now I'm done. Initial impressions, courtesy Mike who's actually played Halo 2, is that they've taken it and refined it. There's no major changes to the way it plays, there's just more of it now. Well, hey: whatever floats your guys' boat. Back to waiting for Ouendan, for me.
