Halo 3 - Good, Bad and the Beta

We love...

...the eye-catching environment effects
We're seriously loving the way the water in Valhalla and the snow in Snowbound leaps up violently as bullets zip into it. It's especially good when you're being peppered with fire, and can really rattle your nerve when you're caught in a valley with this effect leaping up all around you.

...that guns float downstream
Hard to pick out among the whizzing bullets, speeding vehicles and bunny-hopping rivals, but if your lifeless body slumps into the waters of Valhalla's riverbed, your equipment will actually drift slowly away. We only noticed it when a rocket launcher literally washed into our lap. Magic.

...'goosing the mancannon
These fun gravity catapults are great for hurling you into battle - though you'll probably be speared before completing your graceful arc. Our favorite use for them, though, is to straddle a Mongoose, pick a long run-up and then speed into it. Extra points if you can roll or flip on the way down.

...explosive Warthogs
When a Warthog hurtles up a rock formation and right over your head, it's impressive. When a Warthog flies over you and detonates in mid-air, scattering shrapnel, motor parts, passengers and weapons in all directions in a burst of flame and smoke, it's amazing.

...seeing our own feet
Alright, so hardly back-of-box stuff. But there's something strangely... pleasing about looking down as the mancannon launches you across a level and seeing Master Chief's power-suited legs dangling away. It gives you a real sense of his existence in the world. And it made us chuckle.

May 18, 2007