preview of Halo 3

Love, Bungie’ reads the message on the screen as your first look at Halo 3 loads. It can never be argued that Bungie hasn’t been good to its fans. If anything, the success of Halo 2’s multiplayer is testament to the care the studio takes of its audience.

With the public multiplayer beta of Halo 3, Bungie once again gave something back: more than a demo, it’s a chance for fans to take part in the development process, a big thank you for the success of the series.

But the gifts don’t end there, as jumping in for the first time you were immediately reminded of how Bungie operates, of how incredibly user-friendly everything is. Halo 2’s matchmaking system should have revolutionised the way online gaming is handled on consoles

Visually, Halo 3 has a lot to prove, with the success of Epic’s Gears Of War raising the expectations and Bungie itself stoking the fires each week in studio updates via its website. Halo 3 doesn’t disappoint. The rich, colourful environments debuted in the multiplayer beta have a bright clarity, creating an unusually consistent game-world in which everything looks like it belongs.

Realism has never been a goal that Halo has chased, but that’s never prevented the series from creating vibrant, believable worlds and that stands true a third time around. The HDR lighting which floods every map as you tear around them on bright sunny days may be the first thing you notice over Halo 2, but it’s Halo 3’s use of environmental detail (greenery, water, snow) and, most importantly, scale, that makes a lasting impression.

The three maps on offer were cleverly chosen specifically to demonstrate the most popular Halo game-types: Highground, a dusty run-down military compound similar in structure both visually and tactically to Halo 2’s Zanzibar, for team-based games; Valhalla, a huge grassy canyon reminiscent of Halo’s Blood Gulch and playing a similar role in objective-based play; and finally Snowbound, a smaller, bowl-like ice map for one-on-one deathmatches.

All three are considerably larger than anything seen in the previous games, causing players to rely heavily on Bungie’s new additions to gameplay with regards to long-distance travelling, namely the Mongoose ATV, rescued from the cutting-room floor of Halo 2, and the highly entertaining Man Cannon (something like Unreal Tournament‘s jump pad). While each offers a serious tactical advantage, both have clearly been tuned for fun, spicing matches with dashes of slapstick and daredevilry.

But when compared to the previous games, Halo 3 is little odd. It would be difficult to pick any real standout advances here on the surface, similar in scale to, say, the addition of dual wielding in Halo 2, yet subtle refinements in the series’ multiplayer offerings abound. Listening to criticisms of fans and combined with lessons learned from releasing Halo 2 under pressure (and in near-immediate need of a serious update) has proven worthwhile.

Some hated Halo 2 for its reliance on dual wielding. Others loved it for that very reason. Some will only ever touch Halo, offended by the sequel and its changes, while others swear the sequel was where the series began. It’s clear Bungie has taken all of this on board, balancing every single aspect of the game from weapon rates of fire to map design, and enforcing an enjoyable game the 500th time you boot up. It’s paid off, too, as despite the wide range of weapons not one feels as though it entirely supplants the rest.

Never in Halo 3 will you feel as though you’re ill equipped for the task at hand, or that you can’t eliminate your opponent with the weapon already equipped.On the subject of equipment, arguably Bungie’s big twist this time around is the addition of tactical deployables mapped to the X button. Similar in frequency of use to the Overshield or Active Camo, these one-shot power-ups offer a last-chance escape in overbearing situations. The Bubble Shield puts up an energy wall through which bullets won’t pass. The Power Drainer removes the shields of all in the vicinity as well as disabling vehicles, the Grav Lift is a portable jump pad for a speedy exit, and the Tripmine enables stealthy vehicular destruction.

Slotting into the flow and feel of Halo immediately, and with weapon balancing as close to perfect as this, your deployable kit can mean the difference between winning and losing. It adds yet more choice to a game that fundamentally relies on decision making rather then execution – the opportunity, not the outcome – for its thrills and spills. With a September release approaching fast, it’s clear Bungie is feeling confident. It’s already learned all it needed to for Halo, and is now concentrating on incorporating absolutely everything it can to enable it to excel. Three games in, and Halo is still as much a labour of love today as it was when the series launched, and that care and dedication is reflected back from its fans. Love, Bungie indeed.