The gameplay of Halo 3 largely builds upon the previous iterations of the franchise. It is a first-person shooter that, once again, follows the character Master Chief and his struggle against the Covenant and the Flood. The game's action takes place largely on foot, but there are vehicles available for the player to use at certain points in the game.
The balance of weapons and objects in the game has been adjusted to better adhere to what Multiplayer Designer Lars Bakken describes as the "Golden Triangle of Halo". These are "weapons, grenades, and melee"; all three of which are simultaneously available to a player at all times while on foot (unless they are dual wielding or using one of the new class of support weapons).
Most of the weapons available in previous installments of the series return with minor cosmetic and power alterations. For example, the Assault Rifle, which appeared in Halo: Combat Evolved but was absent from Halo 2 returned, redesigned to function as a more useful starter weapon. Halo 3 introduces a new-to-the-series class called "support weapons". These are a group of exceptionally large, powerful and cumbersome two-handed weapons that, when carried, change the view to a third-person perspective and cause the player to move more slowly. The two weapons available in this class during the Public Online Multiplayer Beta were the Machine Gun Turret and Missile Pod, although a Flamethrower also features in this class, as well as a new Covenant plasma weapon that can be torn from its turret. As a visual change to the weapons, when a player is carrying a second weapon in Halo 3, the secondary weapon will be stored on the character's back (for larger, two-handed weapons) or on a leg holster (for smaller, one-handed weapons). This makes it impossible to "hide" a powerful secondary weapon and surprise unsuspecting foes.
A new class of usable items in Halo 3 are known as Equipment. These items have various effects and functions, ranging from defensive effects (Bubble Shield and Regenerator), or objects which blind or confuse the enemy (Flare and Radar Jammer), to ones which can actually harm and kill (Power Drainer and Tripmine). Most of these are named by their function.
Halo 3, like its predecessors, also features a strong vehicular component. Vehicles, and their countermeasures (rockets, mines, etc.), are tightly integrated with Halo gameplay. Many of the series' vehicles are returning in the third installment. Vehicles cover a wide range of types, including light reconnaissance vehicles, large, heavily armored tanks, troop and vehicle transport craft, plus various atmospheric and spacecraft, though not all are usable by the player. Some vehicles appear in Campaign and custom games, but due to their power were removed from Multiplayer.
Campaign
The only officially broadcast campaign footage released has been at E3 2006, the "Et Tu, Brute?" Vidoc and again at E3 2007. There are several distinct types of environments that players will have to traverse in Halo 3; lush jungles, built up towns and sparse desert environments have all been seen.
AI behaviour of both enemies and allies in the campaign will be greatly enhanced in Halo 3. Marines' driving and gunning skills on the Warthog, Grunt flanking manoeuvres in battle, and Brute "pack mentality" have all been mentioned by Bungie as examples of using the Xbox 360 hardware for more than making the game look better. Enemy AI will also have new non-combat behaviours, to make them feel more "alive" and realistic.
Cooperative play
Master Chief alongside the Arbiter, N’tho ‘Sraom and Usze ‘Taham.Halo 3 features up to four player cooperative gameplay over Xbox Live or System Link and two player cooperative split-screen. Although previous games also supported split-screen co-op, system link and XBL variants of this game mode is a first for the series. Players playing split-screen can also join other players over system link and Xbox Live for a total of up to four players.
For plot reasons, instead of having each player be an identical Spartan like in previous Halo games, the first player will play as Master Chief, the second player the Arbiter and the other two players newly created Elites; N’tho ‘Sraom and Usze ‘Taham each with their own backstories. Each player has identical abilities although the starting weapon will be different depending on whether the player is Master Chief or an Elite. Master Chief will have the Assault Rifle, with the Battle Rifle being the secondary weapon, while the Elites will be equipped with Plasma Rifles and Carbines for every mission.
Campaign Scoring
Halo 3 features a "campaign scoring mode" (called the meta-game) in which a player is awarded a numerical score based on their performance while completing a level in the campaign. Points mostly come from defeating enemies, with extra points being awarded for stylish moves such as performing "headshots", or progressing through a level quickly. Finding and activating Skulls, a continuation of Halo 2's gameplay-altering items, allows a player to obtain even higher scores in the meta-game. As it records individual performance for each player, the meta-game also introduces a competitive aspect to cooperative play. If a player kills themselves, dies, or kills a cooperative team-mate however, they will lose points. Campaign play also unlocks even more armor permutations for use in multiplayer.
Players' gamerscore is awarded for successfully getting over a certain score in each level, and medals are awarded for specific accomplishments.
Multiplayer
Halo 3 multiplayer map "High Ground", from the online multiplayer beta.Up to four people can participate in multiplayer match on a single Xbox 360 in Halo 3 via a split screen layout. Up to sixteen may participate in a single match over a LAN or Xbox Live. A match may use either of these methods (LAN or split screen) or a combination of both. A public beta test of the multiplayer component of the game occurred between May 16, 2007 and June 10, 2007.[13]
Like most multiplayer Xbox 360 titles, Halo 3 will use a customized version of TrueSkill ranking system for its online matchmaking facilities. Halo 3's matchmaking system will be based on two different ranks, skill and experience (Rating Points or RP). Skill will simply be the TrueSkill rank of the player in a given playlist, and experience (RP) is a linear measure of experience (1 point for each win in the online playlists) overlaid by a Military rank; a player with a designation of a "General" will have played for a longer time than someone who is a "recruit." The addition of the experience ranking is intended to make the system more fair and to reflect the effect of experience on players' profiles. The RP system also has a mechanism built in to dissuade players from excessive quitting from matches, which became a problem for some players in Halo 2. When players quit from a match before it has finished, they will lose 2 RP. So players that regularly quit games, leaving their teammates stranded, may eventually end up having negative RP.
The UI (user interface) has been redesigned from Halo 2, making it easier to generate a custom game in Halo 3 multiplayer, which can now be saved and shared online with the File Sharing Features. Players will now be able to "advertise" their custom games via Xbox Live Public, making it easier to find a multiplayer match to a player's taste without having to link up with friends. To help players have an enjoyable time online, a new feature dubbed the "A-hole button" allows players to mute annoying players in the game quickly and easily from the in-game scoreboard view. Bungie employees have stated that gravity will be a new customizable option in Halo 3 custom games.
HALO 3 WALK THROUGH and FAQ
