Halo 3: "The graphics could use some work"........

Microsoft gave a sneak peak at its "Halo 3" game on Friday, presumably the final chapter of the fast-paced shooter trilogy that the software giant is banking on to help it fend off competition from Sony and Nintendo

Gamers at the invitation-only preview gave mixed reviews.

"The graphics can use some work ... They're not much different than the previous Halo," said Nicholas Puleo, editor of gaming news Web site Evilavatar.com.

[drtysouf21]

Wonder how it will turn out. Haven't really heard any negative things about it.

[gta_cb]

i personally think that the graphics are great, and yet some people are forgetting (not #1) that with Bungie Gameplay then Graphics, they need to make sure the game is working properly, see what the consumer likes etc, so as we have about half a YEAR left! til its release i really dont think that these are going to be the final graphics! SERIOUSLY! how could they when its always been Gameplay then Graphics?...

[Drew]

How did this get approved? Have you even seen some of the screens?

http://www.bungie.net/image...

Graphics could use some work my ass.

[MoonDust]

The game looks amazing, every preview i've read has good news.

[Magus8D]

pshya right. The game already looks way better than Halo2 and still needs much final polishing. The additional animations make the game feel smoother and everything is much more crisp. Bungie has already mentioned they wanted the Halo-esque feel and that means the game probably wont look like gears of war or unreal. But it will look great none the less. I agree it doesn't look spectacular, but it does compared to Halo 2. But i think we shouldn't make any judgement until the final version is out.

[candystop]

Sorry I hit disagree on accident!

[PS3 Owns All]

The graphics are'nt enough for ME to say ''wow'' I know because I am an artist and a gamer and I specialize in visuals. I say H3 is looking like Halo 2 on HD with HDR and blurred effects of the bullets etc.

[nix]

so you're the one who blindly clicks on "disagree" without reading the comments properly... looks like this time around you realised that he wasn't actually complaining... so you decided to come out clean!!! q:

[candystop]

Actually i agreed with him but said that to tick off the guy that keeps on pressing disagree! Trust me If I disagree I will let you know why!

[snoop_dizzle]

we shall see how it turns out. We could speculate one way or another all night, and i don't feel like doing that.

[progx]

I thought it looked great..

[eLiNeS_NIGGER]

halo 3 looks like a low end pc game and we all know it, Yes it will be a great game to play (i will play it) but i think the graphics do need some work, BTW im no sony fanboy...........

[BIadestarX]

"a low end pc game and we all know it,"??? I mean.. One thing is need some extra work on the graphic department... but low end PC? Sounds like a fanboy comment to me... I think you have too many bubbles.. what do you think guys.. do you agree?

[23478ueyur_938223]

the part you quoted is definitely a dumb comment, but the rest of his post was ok.

Halo 3 looks pretty good, and will look better when it's released. The main candy here is the gameplay though, IMO.

[Saint Sony]

Low end PC.. that is a bit low and lame to say. Either that or you're pretty much blind. Halo3 looks really good, perfectly clean gfx for the fast phased multiplayer enjoyment and great upgrade from the earlier parts.

Anyone who says it looks like Halo 2 has not seen Halo 2(shader wise). And if you did not notice yet, IT IS HALO! It has story that continues. Are you guys expecting that they design all the things from scratch for every Halo game? Just for your info, it is a final part of the trilogy, halo world is part of the game story.

Do you want Indiana Jones to change skin color in every Indiana Jones movie?

[nix]

looks like more people disagreed with you.... and hey! i don't like your face bladestar and i think you have way too many bubbles so i'm gonna give you a -VE.

[Premonition]

This news will not go well.

[Marriot VP]

I'll be honest, the first alpha footage made me worried but this new stuff is impressive and looks like a lot of fun. Sure it's not leaping beyond the competition graphically but it's still up to par graphically.

[The BS Police]

Watch the vid.

[gta_cb]

yeh they even said its going to look like that in the game! (when he walks thru the dust into view etc
but like people say (this is to all the people judging it and saying its not good) please wait til its out until you start bashing it, oh and if you do you will prob think you have won (with having no reply) as we will all be playing it while your on here lol

[gta_cb]

infact that vid you put up (which available on xboxLIVE Marketplace) the last guys last sentence actually says "this is what halo 3s going to look like" and its obvious that hes refering to the TV announcement where he is walking thru the dust/desert and walks the the side of the cliff, and another person said somehting like its in game graphics or its using the game engine to run it or something, so with Bungie saying this, shouldnt we wait till its out untill fanboys and people that are expecting graphics to be amazing, start to bash it, oh and rememberits a BETA for god sake! not suppose to be end game graphics

[elliot_]

hehe...a cgi movie? no thanks...

[23478ueyur_938223]

Pretty good if you ask me, and I think they will work on it regardless.

Gameplay is arguably more important and it's near-perfect already.

I think the article deals with a lot more than just graphics, so I don't see why this post has the graphics quote only in it. Probably just to grab attention, no?

[carlman23]

Honestly, Halo 3 looks great. However, if you look at a game like Resistance: Fall of Man, the graphics aren't amazing, but the game runs so smoothly that it more than makes up for it. There's more to games than graphics, and if Halo 3 is a low end PC game, than high-end PCs must be out of anyone's price range.

[Elginer]

is the dude in that video said, this is the game this is the engine this is what HALO 3 is gonna look like. Show me the money Bungie!

[Blade Runner]

Yeah its sweet as S$#t. I down loaded it in like 8 mins. I was a little worried at first. From what I read at the office people were waiting quite a while to down load the game. That was at 11am. I didnt get home till 6pm est. I sat down with my redeem code and thought ok I come back in like 2hrs and play H3. As soon as i hit the dl buttom 15sec went by and it said 2%. I was like "sweet" maybe I will be playing before the wife brings home pizza. All of a sudden bam! Halo 3. The game looks GREAT!!!!!!I am really glad it didnt look like GEARS it has the halo look but it like Halo 2 on crack. I want to talk more but I am off to play till I pass out.

[RioGrande]

Halo fanboys saying they don’t care about graphics but game play :)

[carlman23]

Umm, given that I've never actually played more than 25 mins of Halo (and never Halo 2) I wouldn't call myself a fanboy. I'm just calling them like I see them.

[Skizelli]

What's there to be confused about? Halo's never been about graphics. The graphics take a backseat to the gameplay. That's where the game has always shined. As a fan, I think Halo 3 looks great so far. All the non-fans can say what they want. They don't have to play it.

[RioGrande]

Typical fanboy jumping to conclusions I preorder my copy 2 months ago. The reason I was surprised about people saying it’s not about graphics is because they diss other games/consoles on that same argument, halo fans are well known for this. I also agree with you it looks great :)

[Cyrus365]

I think one of the smartest movies Bungie made was giving master chief a helmet and suit. It's much easier to render, work and make the game look high end having master chief in a helmet, and body suit, over giving him a human face, and having to work on the details of his face, plus animations of his face in certain insistence. Where as game for example Killzone 2, if the facial animation isn't realistic enough, it'll be open to criticism.

Smart move, and 1 less thing to worry about when polishing the game.

[power of Green]

WoW i still can't fathom why people are so threatend by this game trying to prove some point with eairly Beta builds of "Multi player". lol

[MoonDust]

Typical reaction. They can flame it all they want, we all know the final product will look amazing and it will break the old records like nothing.

[God of Gaming]

Just got done playing the beta.... umm no, visuals are just fine!

[progx]

The helghast in killzone wear helmets to, so I guess guerilla is taking shortcuts also right?

[Cyrus365]

I agree, however people are more attached to the character you play, so if the animation is off, whether it's facial, or something else, your not gonna be as immersed as you would been.

[WilliamRLBaker]

Let alone the fact its obvious to tell the graphics are beyond what halo 2 was, more dense enviorments, better textures, better more accurate explosions...ect

The weapon models look better, the character models look better, any one can see this.

[FirstknighT]

Once again Halo was never about graphics...even tho I'm impressed how better it looks since the alpha video...Halo is about gameplay and as you can see from the videos...they added alot of new ideas. Halo is the best FPS in terms of gameplay...PERIOD!

[PhinneousD]

if halo has more contrast between the light and shadows, people wouldn't be even talking about this. the reason gears of wars look so good was the high contrast range in the lighting. halo looks fine and if they were to release it NOW it wouldn't bother me one bit. to be honest, it'll probably be graphically superior than anything on the 360. i'm glad they kept halo3 soo colorful. isn't that the art style? love me some gears but it lacks color and that was epics art style. the appeal of halo since it was a launch title was it's vibrancy of color and midrange shadows. you'd lose the bright vibrant colors with high contrast lighting.
it's just a different flavor of eye candy, why would you want all the games to look alike. be more open minded is my suggestion.
check out the water and the textures. bungie did an amazing job again.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

I think Sony and Sony fans are beginning to get worried so their doing everything they can to get attention off Halo 3. This beta performs better than most of the crap PS3 has, look at F.E.A.R., Splinter Cell DA, Call of Duty 3 and Tony Hawk. What must realy piss Sony fans off is this still has many months of development left.

[bootsielon]

But all you moronic Xbox 360 fanboys had to disagree because it's your favorite game you've never played (or you've overrated), and your favorite console. Flame away, morons...

[dalectrics]

I got a F&F invite and have been playing it for a couple of hours now - and yes, the graphics are good. They will need polishing - but we knew this anyway.

The important thing is that this game is hella fun, the Assault Rifle is such a good addition - only downsides are that 2 player doesn't go widescreen but boxes up to a 4:3 ratio, and i wish they had put some more maps in the Beta, but beggars and testers can't be choosers ay?

Anyway - back to playing it!

[progx]

Damn bootsielon, are you really that f-in retarded? People who had an xbox and DIDN'T play halo were in a tiny ass minority.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

They seem to come out like C0ckroaches everytime any thing Halo pops up but thats ok turn a light on (Halo 3 light) and watch them scatter and hide this fall.

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

i just thought of something.
does Halo 3 look as good as the CG trailer. NO.
why does everyone jump on Killzones back.
when they haven`t seen a thing for it.
all i know is Xboxers always talk about sony games not looking as good as the teaser/target trailers.
Sorry, but this doesn`t either.
But why would anybody bring up that point?
I don`t know.

@bonsai (below)
i agree.
i think it`ll be a great game too.(not my type but still...)

@BS police.
Thanks for the post.
but personally i still don`t think it looks as good as the vid you just posted.
don`t get me wrong i don`t think KZ will look like the trailer either.
me whole point is people need to stop taking Target/teasers to seriously.

and i know it`s in realtime.
but do you really expect it to look like that.
cause if you do. you WILL be disappointed (graphically).

[Bonsai1214]

people have selective vision...

that screenshot in no way resembles the CG trailer/teaser thing they released of master chief jumping off the cliff... but they don't jump on it

i have no doubt it'll be a great game though.

[The BS Police]

This one is in realtime.

[MoonDust]

E3 trailer wasn't CGI. The TV one was, Bungie announced it.

[Bill Gates]

"The graphics can use some work".....

This is the exact same thing some of us that are not brainwashed by $M have been saying all along. The game is not leaps over the current Halo 2. Allot of fans of the series are setting themselves up for a disappointment in the graphics department, and to those people I say.....see you in Killzone 2 suckazzzzz!!!

[Shadow Flare]

im not flamming but every video ive seen for Halo 3, the gameplay looks so incredibly similar to Halo 2, i might as well been watching Halo 2 Vista videos. The animation's the same on masterchief. Can anyone tell me some major differences in gameplay...i'd genuinely like to know. All i can see is a new quad bike, that railgun sort of thing and the shell grenade. Other then that, gameplay looks exactly the same. And sorry but at the moment, the graphics really dont look much better.

[nicodemus]

"The animation's the same on masterchief."
As with most of the visuals, those are some of the last things Bungie adds to the game. For Halo 2, they were throwing in new animations all throughout the month before release. So we can probably expect an upgrade in visuals over the next 6 months.

"Can anyone tell me some major differences in gameplay...looks exactly the same. "
The gameplay is why people love Halo. If you're looking for a drastic change, you'll probably be disappointed... As for new features, I'd expect Halo 3 to have 4 player online coop, in addition to whatever new weapons, grenades, equipment, vehicles, powerups, custimization, and online components that won't be seen in the beta. I think there's plenty of good new stuff to look forward to (as long as you're at least somewhat open to liking it)

[RioGrande]

Halo 2 PC with DX10 looks real cloes to Halo 3 with DX9c

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

Looks like crap.....and I agree....They could use a lot of work. But personally I think its just halos art style.In the end all that matters is gameplay and thats wat makes the game.Halo still will be great Im getting it

[nicodemus]

Looks fine here:

http://media.xbox360.ign.co...

And it's only gonna get better.

[nicodemus]

sorry

[MoonDust]

Imagine when they put the graphx and polish, 8).

[MoonDust]

sowwy

[THAMMER1]

You Sony fan boys are out of control. This article is not bashing Halo 3, only you guys are. Halo 3 Beta looks fine.

You PS3 fans are showing your thongs again. It must SUCK to be the fan boys for the PS3 right now. You guys are acting like bitter @ss ex wives.

[DreamTension]

The multi-player wont be as detailed as the single-player.

[Lacarious]

The graphics for H3 have been known for some time now to be weak.

[SF49er408]

Look at Ghost Recon, Rainbow six the single player looked way better then the multiplayer. HALO 3 SINGLE PLAYER WILL LOOK BETTER THEN GEARS. THIS IS MICROSOFTS AAA TITLE. NO WAY THEY WILL RELEASE IT WITH DECENT GRAPHICS IN SINGLE PLAYER. MULTI WILL LOOK SICK BUT IT WONT EVEN COMPARE TO THE TEXTURES IN THE SINGLE PLAYER.

[The BS Police]

That would mean all videogames released so far suck, and all games that will be released in the future will suck becuase graphics get better every year, therefor all games suck.

[Vip3r]

With all the hype that this game gets it looks rather unimpressive.

[LoveHateTragedy]

First I heard "You shouldn't go hard on it for graphics. It's simply an alpha version." And then it was "Of course Halo 3 doesn't look good, it barely hit Beta status." And the most widespread case of denial I've seen is "Forget about the perfect scores that Halo 1 and 2 received in the Graphics Category. The series is about gameplay, not graphics."

I think a lot of people are finding it hard to believe that the Xbox 360 just isn't that powerful, and are thus coming up with excuses for its technological shortcomings. We've already seen the Alpha footage for Lair and Heavenly Sword, and those games look gorgeous enough to ship next week. Once they hit Beta status they're obviously going to look even better in motion.

On the other hand I keep seeing denial for 360 titles like Forza, Project Gotham, Mass Effect, and Halo in that a lot of fans not only refuse to admit the technological shortcomings of those titles, but attack others who brings these facts to light.

[xg-ei8ht]

Better looking then gears of war, lmfao. You must be smoking crack from your a$$.

360 does not have the power to make better looking games then gow.

I'm afraid theres nothing left in the locker.

I don't even own a ps3 or 360, i own a highend pc.

What gets me is, you even compare xbox360 to ps3.

I do know a few things.

All of the ports,fear.cod3,etc used 20% of ps3.

PS3 Is without doubt a shader monster, with a streamlined monster processor.

[The BS Police]

It is realtime with the ingame engine.

Those who say this is CGI don't know what they are talking about.

[The BS Police]

Bungie has stated time and time again that this trailer is not showing what Halo 3 will look like, this trailer as outsourced with in game assests to digital domain just to create a short CGI TV commercial.

[LoveHateTragedy]

The animation and visual quality of that video was awesome; it's obvious why Michael Bay purchased that company.

[ACE]

y the name change ?.

u r so sad .

u sony fanatic

[LoveHateTragedy]

I am a bit confused as to why you're calling me a Sony Fanatic, especially since I own both a PS2 and an Xbox. Would you care to explain yourself, Ace?

[ARVO]

Hit bungie.net check out the screenshots, definitely an improvement over part 2 which seemed very rushed to me, even the weapon balancing needed alot more time. Its definitely on my pre-order list, but I have games for all 3 systems on that list. Am I drooling over it, ehh, not really, will it be an experience? For sure.

Fanboys, please stop the flame wars. 1st Class Titles for all systems need to be experienced to call yourself a gamer!

[OldSchoolGamer]

Bubbles for you. Who can argue that this game will be loads of fun online and off! Its one of those games like Mass Effect, Lair, or Zelda that need to be tried at least once. Enjoy all, see you in the beta.

[Kuest]

Up. I'm ready.

[Wargasm]

it looked alright. I am still very excited about its release though, because the game looks releasable as is and...

bungie still has until November to polish it up!!!!!

[DirtySyko]

I think the only reason people are truly complaining is because after the beautiful visuals of Gears of War surfaced, a lot of people had it in their mind that all games following would follow suit. Halo 3 won't look as good as Gears, but to say it looks the same as Halo 2 really proves that some of you don't have a keen eye. As avid gamers, I thought the majority would be able to see the noticable differences in Halo 3, but apparently I was wrong. The textures, be it ground or vehicle, have increased ten fold. Have some of you stopped playing Halo 2? Do you remember a map called Coagulation. When you looked off in the distance rocky areas and the ground lost a lot visually. In everyone of the Halo 3 videos I've seen, anytime you see a vast scope of the far distance, the textures look very crisp and clear. When Master Chief launches from the man cannon just look at the ground. It's far superior to Halo 2.

The guns look a hell of a lot better, too. Minor details stand out and the colors have been enhanced. I don't know what else to say about the guns, but if you do a comparison of Halo 2 guns to Halo 3 and don't see a difference, you should get those eyes checked.

I think the main problem is, the Spartans themselves aren't a huge upgrade from Halo 2. And I'll agree. But, face it, the Spartan avatars don't look bad in Halo 2. They don't have jaggy edges and they have good textures. The only difference now with them is better lightning and more detailed textures, but what else can you do? It's obvious they spent more time making the environments feel and look better, because the characters were already polished.

Also keep in mind that the graphics have to have some downsizing due in part for online play. This is Halo, one of the most competitive FPS games that exists. It has joined the likes of Counter Strike, Quake, and Unreal Tournament in the pro gaming culture. It HAS to run at a smooth and constant framerate, and to do so, there has to be a limit on what the visuals can be. Another thing, nobody knows what single player will be like. Single player always looks ten times better. Look at GRAW 2. Both single player and multiplayer look amazing, but SP obviously takes it down visually.

[LoveHateTragedy]

in that the CPU doesn't have to process AI for a dozen or so enemies; their data is all fed through player input. Resistance, Halo 2, Halo 1, Burnout 3, and all other games I've played online look/perform identically in Single-player and Multiplayer. They have to, otherwise the devs would get spanked during reviews.

I think a lot of people are simply compensating their true feelings about Halo 3 with the idea that multiplayer is somehow supposed to perform and look worse compared to single-player, and that's simply not the case. It's important to remember that Bungie is using the exact same format as before, and that forces them to do heavy compression, as well as cut down the quality of a lot of assets.

This is a quote from an actual developer: "It's not that the 360 can't handle PS3-quality textures; they just plain won't fit on the disc." Bioware, Turn10, and several other devs have stated similar issues in trying to squeeze all of their content onto DVD. =/

[progx]

Im happy with what i've seen so far. Not all games multiplayer look as good as the single player. Call of duty 3 is a perfect example.

[Bhai]

Epecially when Halo-3 is a 'First-Party', 'Year-2', 'Crucial' and on the so-called 'GPU-edge having 360'...

Yuck !:
http://media.xbox360.ign.co...
http://media.xbox360.ign.co...

And to think I thought of a comparison between Killzone-2 and Halo-3 makes me go into a laughter-fit today HaaHaaHaa !!!