Halo 2 vs. Halo 3 Comparison

Video comparison of Halo 2 and Halo 3.

[power of Green]

Its amazing how powerful next-gen consoles are WoW! the Alpha built of Halo 3 puts Halo 2 to shame. Can't wait!.

[zantetsuken]

i'm not seeing a difference.

[ben hates you]

thats what happens when your a fanboy

[dantesparda]

It doesnt look bad, but nothing as good as i would have figured (even if it is in alpha state). I mean i will wait and see how the finished product looks, and also how the single player looks. But thus far, not that impressive. It just looks like a res'ed up, colored up version of part 2.

[dantesparda]

You know, you talk alot of sh!t right!? who cares how many awards its got, if you dont like it, then you dont like it. And no amount of awards will change that for somebody. I like Halo, i really liked the 1st one, and i also liked the second one (though not as much). And i just dont think that this game is looking that impressive at this point. PERIOD! (i mean it doesnt look horrible, but just not as impressive as i would have thought). That doesnt make me a 360 hater (i own one for christ sake!) it just means, im not impressed. Just cuz you dont like something, doesnt mean you're a hater of it. And another thing you need to consider is that Halo is big within the Xbox world, but its not that big a deal to you if you are outside that world. And you know if you take the Xbox and 360's sales is like only 35 million worldwide at best. And thats not that big in comparison to the world of PS2, Gameboy, Nintendo or the PC world. But no, to you 360 fanboys, the whole world is just Xbox. And i've owned the Xbox and thought it was the best and own the 360 and do think its better than the PS3 thus far and like Halo. Im still saving judgement for when it done. but thus far, i am just not that impressed. And you fanboys need to stop being so defensive and then turning offensive in order to protect/defend your beloved 360 (fvcking sweating bastards!). You people do realize that its just videogames, right? Why would grown adults be fighting and defending video game systems so ferverntly? Only little kids do that, and if that offends you, then Im sorry, but its the truth. Do you see adults fighting about video games?

@ItsDunC

You're absolutely right, there are alot of adults who do this too, and are very immature for their age.

@Power of Green
"Envy"? envious of what? i got the 360 so i can get it if i want it, but i am not sold yet, so i aint got nothing to worry about nd actually my second post wasnt directed at you, back rather at somebody else further down, but i fvcked up and ended up posting it here instead

[ItsDubC]

Well-said dantesparda, I think fanboyism is generally a teen phenomena. I do know a few adult fanboys, but these adults generally act pretty immature for their age. Just my personal experience.

[power of Green]

You guys got all that from that simple post!? and you're trying to teach me about Fanboyism. lol

Sounds like Fanboy envy to say the least. I can't be happy the game looks far more detailed already!? with out being attacked with envyuos malice and Fanboy fanatic hate. WoW have a nice day!.

[zantetsuken]

Only fanboys throw out that word, douchebag.

[Rockstar]

I see a difference.

Halo 2 looks better.

[DJ]

The rock-solid framerate, the intense physics, the shear amount of things going on at once. Halo 3 Alpha is an unprecedented leap in gaming pleasure. *smirk*

Halo 3's alpha version sucks balls. We get it. God of War didn't look all that hot once it reached alpha status either. This was obviously just a ploy to put down the 360. Any sort of comparison is BS until we get retail copies of both Halo games side-by-side.

[InMyOpinion]

That's what I think about most games. It don't matter what they look like on screens etc until you see the retail version with your own eyes.

[power of Green]

I wouldn't be suprized if you were the one who posted this vid because you wanted to make a point. You don't see a difference get your eyes checked or watch the vid-doc on a HDTV LCD.

What ever *smirk* although you're right about the comparisons of 5th and 6th generation titles one being in Alpha. Enviroments have plenty of time to improve but to say the back grounds and the little paint Halo 3 does have; looks like Halo 2 is moronic at best.

DJ no need to *Smirk* Matter of fact those are some of the things Bungie said that will most stand out when players fire up Halo 3 the sheer amount of charectors on screen etc. lol Check the site out, nice of you to bring that up.

http://media.xbox360.ign.co... Heres a blurry shot of Halo 3 or is it Halo 2? J/K and even though i seen the vid-doc on a LCD its still just a low quality vid of Halo3 Alpha posted on XBL as most doc vids are compared to the final disc quality.

I can't believe Sony fans are so desperate they're starting to attack games by comparing them to 5th generation titles.

[Cutnell]

Did you not see that all DJ said was that comparison was worthless until they were both retail builds of the games. He even went so far as to say, "This was obviously just a ploy to put down the 360." I know DJ is being sarcastic through most of his comment, but good god, he didn't say anything that was that offensive. Except for maybe the fact that God of War also looked crappy in alpha build...

I must say I was very unimpressed. The sheer numbers of enemies on screen, physics, etc were just not there enough to impress me, as this is HALO 3!!....Supposedly God's gift to all of us XBOX owners. I am hoping this game will live up to all the hype and more because that's the only way I will retire my copy of halo 2. At this point, I'm unimpressed. I mean seriously, R:FOM has had the sheer numbers on screen, decent physics and detail, decent weapons, etc for a while now. If the game were released in this state, I would buy a PS3.....

[NextGen24Gamer]

The alpha version of Halo 3 blows away the final version of Halo 2. Bungie always puts out a product that is clearly better than whats on the market....Halo blew everything out the box graphically and tech wise...all the awards speak for themselves....and Halo 2 did the same thing when it launched.....And from the looks of the alpha halo 3 on my HD tv via xbox live download.....Halo 3 will once again set the bar.....But with exteme and ultimate success comes extreme far and few "haters" who can't stand all the Mid 9 to 10 reviews for both Halo 1 and 2....They can't stand how gamers have played millions of hours online for Halo 2 for years.....they can't stand all the awards it swept....they can't stand how incredible it sold....14 million between Halo 1 and 2. The Halo franchise is Huge and "haters" will always bash it based on extreme jealousy and an obvious hate for Microsoft. I love my Sony lab top, My ps3 blu ray player, my sony cam corder, ect.....I also love my windows vista and my xbox 360. Is that ok DJ? ha ha ha ha ha...is there some rule against enjoying everything I spend my money on? Is there some secret fanboy rule that prevents you from enjoying more than ONE companies products? Is it ok that I like my 360 for Games and media center, and HD dvd.....and I enjoy my ps3 for my extensive blu ray collection? Is that ok DJ?

[Dukester101]

looks very good, very detailed, and very action packed. i cant wait to get my hands on this "next-gen" version of Halo. although i dont like the idea of the X button feature (bubble shield mainly), as it doesnt seem halo-esque to me, and nothing near revolutionary...

all the gameplay looks great, and like an action packed, non-stop piece of film... i really cant wait

[THAMMER1]

The VidDoc on live has me pumped. I feel so sarry for the Halo Haters. LOL

[hamburgerhill]

There is a world of difference in visuals even in this Alpha build! I do however believe that the visuals are going to enhance considerably come launch once they add effects like weather and other's!

[Havince]

then think about when its GOLD

Man

[gsquad]

Really dose it matter. Halo 3 will sell like “hot cakes” either way. People just want to see how the fight ends anyways. To tell you the truth I don’t that Halo 3 will be that much better that Halo 2 graphically at all. Here are my reasons.

1. Halo is a multi million dollar franchise. Because of this they will not want, or even have the liberty, to re-vamp the graphics. If they gave H3 a graphical remake and it didn’t hit the make of H2 or it’s fans expectations. Most people will criticize the final installment of the Halo franchise. And the risk is just not worth it for a game that means so much to the MS and X360 name brand.

2. Bungie has already stated that people will be amazed by the number of “stuff going on” in the screen at one time. This leads me to believe that, a more intense feeling of urgency and danger from all angles is the focus of the design team.

3. Bungie has also already stated that they wanted to change some fundamental game play elements that they felt they had “missed the mark on” in Halo2. Like bringing back of the assault rifle adding trip mines and bubble shields.

All in all, I think that the game will NOT disappoint!!!!!!! If you are a fan for the franchise, which I am, you will like the finale of Halo. But I am not expecting “Gears of War” type of graphics, maybe I am wrong, I hope so, but only time will tell.

I am expecting better AI, more balanced weapons, better matchmaking, more death match modes, more death match levels, better co-op play (i.e. have more than one Spartan in cut scenes), online co-op play, better cheat detection, and fix the game glitches before the game comes out!!!!!!! (Gears of War)

All things that I think Bungie will do. They are a good company with some very smart people. I hope that I haven’t put my faith in the wrong developer on this one.

“Jump in” and “Welcom3 Chang3”

[THAMMER1]

Halo 1 was good. Halo 2 was better. Halo 3 will be better than that. What burns people up about Halo is the fact that is sales Xbox's. Yu know that. Some people are in this thread just to hate. Halo is the "IT" game this decade. The hype is all justified too. Then the true haters knwo this will sell a nice chunk of 360's too. So yeah it is just Halo but that is like jaying "YEAH #23 is just Michael JORDAN. LOL

[Circa24]

Graphics didn't really impress me that much. I mean, they're better, but nothing surprising. It'll obviously look better.

What did impress me was the solid framerate with close-to-camera explosions, number of people at one screen, etc etc.

Something semi-important to remember - Is this all system link or what?

[Rockstar]

The only thing i care about is if it's system linkable.

Halo 2 is a blast with 10 buddies and i'd like to carry that over to halo 3.

[kewlkat007]

if a game doesn't look better than "Gears of War" gamers won't be impressed at all. We will see plenty of games fall in that category.(no biggie) If you don't think Halo 3 "Alpha" looks better than Halo 2 then t I don't know. Video is kind of dark, anyhow it's just a video we can wait when the game is out.

While the game is not yet polished, it will still be fun, thats what Halo is all about. (I'm not expecting the best graphics eva), I know some gamers are. We all know Gears set the Bar high. When you see new games come you'll always go back to that game somehow.

[Arkham]

You probably won't see better graphics than Gears in an FPS anytime soon. Cutting down the number of on-screen characters and sticking to a kind-of-on-the-rails type of third-person mode was how they could afford the rich details. A go-anywhere, dozens-of-enemies FPS would eat too much power. Gears is a wonderful balancing act.

Granted, if anyone can match the wonder of Gear it should be Bungie, especially with all the extra development time. I would love to see it surpass Gears, and hopefully the extra time will make it so.

[Imknow1]

There will be a game that will visually better than Gears of War, it's called Gears of War 2 :D

[LiamFly]

The Halo 3 video footage is waaaaaaay too dark. I can't see a thing. Way darker than the actual footage Bungie released. Poorly made video.

[FirstknighT]

Halo 3 will break all records! That's all I have to say.

[Arkham]

Guaranteed to be the biggest seller to date on the 360. I wonder how Unreal will compare to it in terms of sales.

[calderra]

1- This video is poorly made.
2- This is final Halo 2 versus alpha version Halo 3.
3- Bungie is well-known for having their titles come together at the last minute. What became Halo was mostly built in its last 3 months, and Halo 2 was almost completely rewritten in its last 6months. It's like the Forza team- things just happen at the last moment.
4- Yes, there's a massive difference between the two even with Halo 3 at just the alpha stage. Can't wait to see the beta.

[ben hates you]

look at the richness of the colors in halo 3 anyone see the plasma grenade

[zonetrooper5]

Guys, can you remember back to E3'06 when Bungie showed the realtime trailer of Halo 3 with all the great effects and it looks completed. Halo 3 will look like that or maybe even better. Frankie has also stated that the graphics in the Beta will be better and many things will change from the alpha to the beta and to the release this year in Fall.

[LSDARBY]

You keep saying its the alpha build but it still shouldnt be looking like halo 2

[nebpredude84]

what are u stupid.....like they are gonna show the beta build off just yet.....trust me when we see the final build its gonna rock ur momma's socks off... and if u dont like.....TOO BAD!

[kornbeaner]

till actual gameplay from a Retail version arrives, but the first trailer did more to hype me up on a game I have very little interest in.

AT this point I would love to see a Halo movie in CG over another game.

[techie]

I agree with you all. It's alpha and so it's not finished. Still looks better anyway.

But imagine if Killzone alpha was released! You'd see all the fanboys rush in then wouldnt you and criticise the sh*t out of it.

[fenderputty]

Fanboys were ripping the tech demo apart.

Anyways ... this game is gonna rock. It's the conclusion to a story. It's in ALPHA stage. I'm sure it will impress.

[omansteveo]

The truth is here

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Moostache]

I've seen this parody song before, but it still makes me smile...funny stuff...classic. I'll give the guy this much, my wife thought it was funny too and she could give a damn less about ANY consoles...

[overrated]

Halo is so overrated, Doom 3 and unreal tournament are much better than halo.

[techie]

Shut up you p*nis brain!

[omansteveo]

Um no they are not.

[Auron]

seriously thats your opinion. anyways how is this a comparison?! why cant these tards wait for the Halo3 Beta to make a comparison?

[MoonDust]

When he is right, he is right on the money! LOL.

[techie]

Thank you moon dust.

I'm sure some people just like to have a little battle every now and again. The Halo war (Halo will bury the ps3) is quite amusing if you see it for what it is. A fun little battle (sad)

[Schmitty07]

The color in Alpha of H3 seem much richer than Halo 2. I think that the visuals in Halo 3 definently need improvement, but I think it looks pretty good for a alpha. I'm waiting too see for myself in the beta to make a decision

[Marriot VP]

I didn't notice anyone saying this but what you guys fail to realize is that the worse the Halo 3 alpha looks like the more phenomenal the Halo 3 final version will look when that starts showing more ingame trailers. Do you think bungie would want to give you as much graphical power now, or wait and blow you away. The environment and weather effects still have a lot of work and I look forward to seeing more trailors.

The truth is that their not going to ship this game until casual viewers can identify this as next gen.

[Drew]

This is a horrible comparison. Let's try comparing HD with SD footage, hm? Then we'll see how it turns out.

[omansteveo]

The levels are alot more detailed i watched this like 20 times then tried playing halo 2 and i noticed the differences

[collinwshaw]

I am not impressed in the least bit. I can think of tons of games that looked better in that stage. Gears, Resistance, UT3, Mass Effect, GTA4, Halo looks like crap, and I think that people need to step back and re-evaluate the series. It is just like Zelda, Zelda sucks, but the name makes it so the game will sell. I played Halo 2 for the first time, after I played Gears, and I thought that Halo 2 was a piece of Crap

[artman]

improved lighting and texture mapping... let see the final release...
the alpha is not really that impressive... they are still running like "counter strike" style...(floating)

[nicodemus]

With a slight edge to Halo 3, but VERY slight in my opinion.

But that's not the point!!! The point of the video is to show off GAMEPLAY, not graphics. The graphics shown here are from the same build they showed in the "Et Tu Brute" vidoc, which was FOUR months ago, and even then, the footage was already several months old!!! So in reality, this footage is representative merely of where the devs were about 7-9 months ago.

For people criticizing the footage---If you would've read the Bungie Weekly Updates for the past couple of months (put out every friday afternoon/evening) than you'd know the amount of polish that's missing from the alpha version. Frankie has said the Beta build will give a much better indication of what to expect in the final product, though even it will be lacking.

There is plenty of time to polish before fall, and like many 360 games under development, Halo 3 is getting the gameplay perfected first, then the graphics. And frankly, I prefer that dev policy. I think it makes the best sense for great games.

Bungie's goal is to match/exceed the Announcement Trailer from E3 06, so as a pleasant reminder, here's what *hopefully* the retail version will look like (This is an awesome screenshot by the way. An oldie, but a goodie. Check it out!)---

[Arkham]

Agreed, it's all about the gameplay at this stage. It's too early at this point to judge it based on graphics. (Fortunately, because it's not that impressive just yet.) The final product should be mighty fine. There's no way they'd tilt their visual hand just yet.

[castdreams]

Seriously, what resolution is that? 120 X 140? Show some actual resoution images and the difference will really show up.

[MoonDust]

Bungie said the video was ment to show features, the real game is going to be a lot higher quality and graphics. We already seen the E3 video, that is what the game will look like, what they are aiming for. But it really doesn't matter, we will see in a couple of months months.

[Icryo]

Lets clear things up. In no way is an early alpha build any representation of a game's final graphical strength or gameplay features. Halo 3 is now entering beta and will still be no where near halo 3 final build. Sheesh people!

[Hayabusa 117]

Seriously, Halo 3's alpha build kicks the crap out of Halo 2 graphically. Still not the enourmous leap I would like, but for any one who's seen the PROPER vidoc and not this rubbish comparison video will know the difference. My only concern is the simular animation, but even the animation isn't complete yet.

The shots of Halo 2 in this video are good, but the Halo 3 ones are poor. Go and watch the vidoc for yourselves.

[Xi]

Halo 3 alpha vs halo 2

[jr killa]

this game is going to be cool I can't wait!, I'm not going to talk about the graphics because they're good and they will be soo much better once the final version of the game is out. So all you fanboys stop saying this game is not impressive, just wait until the game is completly done and then give you're opinion saying if the graphics suck or not.

[HOK]

yeah halo 3 is looking better then halo 2 but the thing is this is comparing last-gen game with next-gen game is way over the top.secondly this is the biggest title os xbox 360 so i was expecting it to be a little better then the gears of war and it also makes me think that gears of war is the limit of xbox 360

[PS360PCROCKS]

Dude if you think Gears is the limit of the 360 your really selling the 360 short. Do me a favor take your Ps2 or Xbox and play one of the first games, than play one of the latest games and look at the graphical differences, only than will you realize Gears will be nothing in a few years

[PS360PCROCKS]

AM I the only person that finds it completely idiotic to compare a finished retail version of a game to an Alpha version of a game? If this shows anything it's that the scenery from 2-3 isn't changing which is good because it's the same ol' Halo feel to it. The lengths people will go through to make something look bad, whoever made this video is a sad sad loser. But hey it looks better than killzone doesn't it?

[ItsDubC]

I'm not blown away about the graphics per se but what I am blown away by is the amount of action on screen at one time and the MUCH-improved character animation.

Keep in mind that alpha builds satisfy all software requirements and are therefore very close to completion. I would hate for those who expect the graphics to be twice as good to be disappointed if that's not the case when the game is finally released. I know that would be a severe blow to some ppls' egos on this site.

An alpha build of a particular piece of software is the first build delivered to testers. Graphic testing is no where near as demanding as logic testing so there is definitely room for graphic improvement between the alpha and the final. Just don't put yourself in a situation where everyone tells you, "I told you so."

[HOK]

your nick tells the story behind ur M$ love but im just saying that people expect this game to be one of the best ever built but comparing these videos im disapointed and i loved the gears of war its the best game till date but bro think of it like this way u love ur xbox 360 thats fine but dont u expect more out of halo 3

[PS360PCROCKS]

I play and have a PS3 next to my tv as well...Anyways I was just simply stating that what you see now from PS3 and 360 will be nothing in a few years. Also the reason I am giving this alpha build video alot of leniency is the fact that number one it is a Alpha video, secondly, Halo 1 and Halo 2 set benchmarks in terms of really good graphics. The biggest reason though is just that I read the update every week from Bungie and they talk about all the things their doing graphically and those are things not in this video. Grass, Water, Texture, etc...I am saving judgement for when it is released but I do believe this will have very good graphics. No matter how good Halo is, it wont skate by with sh*t graphics, so the answer is yes I do expect more, much more out of Halo 3. But I also remember knocking Forza before they started doing all the polishing and now I am in disbelief on how good that game looks.

[J@D]

Halo 3 happiness arrive *sarcasm mode*.

[moose21]

It's halo 3 in Alpha stage, morons. It isn't supposed to have great, polished graphics.

[Says you]

Considering there comparing the graphics and the game play the game play isnt going to be that much different if they changed it by making Halo 3 have destructable envirmonets but since Halo 3 isnt going to have that the only comparsion is that better graphics and better game play but not as better than Killzone 2.

[PS360PCROCKS]

"But not as better than Killzone 2" Ok first wow grammar, grammar, grammar, my god did you not get past 6th grade? Anyways I'll let your comment stand for now, I'm sure you'll be back anytime to show me the article about the "amazing Killzone 2 gameplay" Whats that you only have one bubble and you've already used it? Ah darn guess we'll have to stick your comment under garbage than.

[wasted]

Sorry i'm no fanboy, but this does not look next gen at all, it just looks like the same game with slighly better lighing. veryu disapointed so far. that multiplayer vid also looked like an xbox original game.

one word. BUNTY

[moose21]

^^^