Halo 3 multiplay, replay info

The Halo 3 buzz has reached fever pitch recently, with the revelation of new weapons andvehiclesin a Swedish gaming magazine, thethree increasingly special editionsand now further information in the French Official Xbox Magazine.

Having generously forgiven France for the pre-launch leak of a pirated Halo 2, developer Bungie revealed three new multiplayer game modes to OXM: NinjaBall, Elimination and TankFlag.

NinjaBall will be a sport-style mod that's probably the closest we'll get to Speedball 2 online for the next few years, Elimination introduces permanent death - if you're killed, you're out for the match - and TankFlag alters Capture the Flag rules so only a chugging great tank can transport the flag from base to base.

We expect the majority of games will still be old-fashioned deathmatch, though, which hasn't been pumped up to ridiculous player numbers to compete with other next-gen titles. Bungie feels the 16-player maximum is just right, so that's where it's staying.

And for the benefit, or shame, of your fellow players Halo 3 will allow you to record gameplay footage (from both single- and multi-player games) without needing to fool around with capture cards and YouTube.

Withmany gamingmagazines' Halo 3 issues soon to hit the stands, you can be sure there'll be another wave of teasers in the next couple of weeks - we'll keep you posted.

November 6, 2006