Bungie explains short Halo 3 beta

It's Monday - do you know what that means? We can catch up on the now three-day old Bungie community update!

This weekend the Halo developer decided to slip on the iron gauntlet and defend the rather short length of the forthcoming multiplayer beta, which will sit on your Crackdown download menu for only three weeks.

"I've been asked a few times why the impending Beta is only three short weeks long," the update reads. "Well, obviously the number one reason is that the longer we're spending resources taking care of the Beta, the less time we're applying what we've learned from it to the final game."

The Bungie website man continues: "The reasons you're getting three maps is similar, but has as much to do with our normal production schedule as anything else. It's easier to think of why you're not getting the rest of the maps. They're not done yet."

"All are geometry complete, but they're being polished and tuned for graphics and gameplay 'til the last minute," he says, adding that the ones we'll be playing next month are the best balanced and most complete so far.

"But they will change slightly, maybe noticeably when the game finally ships in fall. So by all means, learn 'em well next month, but don't get used to anything you see in there. Objects may have shifted while in flight."

The multiplayer beta with its three playable maps goes live on May 16 - just weeks away, and as Bungie says: "statistically, three weeks is going to seem like a pretty long time when you look at the hours you log on the game." Let's hope so.

April 23, 2007