Bungie in a difficult position

The Halo Beta has taken Xbox Live by storm as we all knew it would. But Free Radical's Dave Doak believes there's now an enormous amount of pressure on Bungie to deliver the goods with Halo 3.

CVG recently caught up with Dave Doak during a Haze presentation at the Ubidays event in Paris. Doak was mainly there to show off his multiplatform FPS Haze but he gives a great interview and was only too happy to comment on the competition.

Doak's played the beta, and admits he's a bit rubbish at it, but sees it putting Bungie in a difficult position as far as the fans' expectations go. "From looking at forums and the feedback they're in a difficult position with the Beta. Well, they're in a great position because it's going to sell. But they're in a difficult position because they're now doing the third one. Some people liked the first one and some people liked the second one. Both sets of people now want the third one to be what they want."

When asked if he sees the Xbox 360 version of Haze getting lost into noise surrounding Halo 3, Doak replied, "Clearly on 360 you're going up against the juggernought that is Halo. It's wise to not be standing in the middle of the road when it comes towards you because there's nothing bigger on Xbox. In many ways Halo 3 has already won that battle before it's even really started."

[JHFKDFNFGJKFHDKF]

Dave Doak believes alot of things.

[SuperSaiyan4]

I didnt expect a developer of another game to say such good things like that. He is very right indeed.

I was reading and thought 'Ah any moment he is gonna knock the visuals and say HAZE is far better' etc but he didnt.

I have to give kudos to this guy, very well said.

But then I am sure since HAZE will be coming to the 360 eventually he does not want to upset the huge Xbox 360 fanbase with negative comments of Xboxs' top game HALO 3.

[Skizelli]

If only more people had respect for one another. Then we wouldn't be having these petty fanboy wars.

[CyberSentinel]

There's room in my wallet for both games. Just make Haze the best it can be, and I will pre-order it.

[mboojigga]

It is simple really. This respective developer is fully aware that this is a Beta unlike a lot of new sites and everyday people who don't get that this is a Beta. Not suprising by his comments at all. What are you going to say to somthing about a Beta other then how it is shaping up. He is working on a FPS so he is obviously a fan of the genre.

[Saint Sony]

He is totally right, Halo 3 has to offer the goodies people are waiting for. I am personally happy with the multiplayer and if campaign is any better, good. Halo3 is next gen game, but not quite there yet if we talk about gfx. Gameplay on the other hand (based on beta) is right there where next gen enjoyment should be. We will see if they can offer us more than "just" great game play. Gameplay is the most important thing to me, but I hope they have not forgot the next gen looks either.

[FCOLitsjustagame]

My respect is earned and although I already thought Haze was going to rock I now have even higher hopes for it if they have classy people working on it. Its similar to how my hopes for EA has dropped based upon stupid comments from some of them. They still make some good games but I am always looking at them with a more critical eye. If they feel the need to bash others then their stuff must have flaws. THIS guy is obviously confident in his own product and thus does not need to trash someone elses.

[The BS Police]

There is alot of pressure on Bungie now, and I agree with him on the whole Halo 1 and Halo 2 fanbase camps because I see it on Bungie.net all the time.

Kudos to him for not bashing Halo 3 and making some good comments.

[BIadestarX]

Honesly, I don't think Halo3 will meet expections... not because is not going to be a great game, but because people are expecting too much from it. When it comes to halo, people don't expect a AAA title. They expect the game to serve everyone's demands and preferences... the problem with that is that some of them conflict with eachother. What I like may not be what you like... so sometimes one person need to be let down for the other to be happy. I hear some people complaining about the maps... and I hear other that love the maps... how can you make both happy? I think there is no way to win 100%... someone needs to be let down. This goes with every game.

[JHFKDFNFGJKFHDKF]

Its already meeting expectations, form a mere beta!

[MySwordIsHeavenly]

Bladestar...you did a good thing just there.

It's called honesty!

Chacron...where are you? What do you mean "meeting expectations"???

From what I've seen...all my 360-loving friends are backing down from arguements now because there's nothing left to stand on. The Halo 3 BETA is basically Halo 2 with semi-better graphics. Yeah, they've added some stuff...but there's nothing unique about the game...

I'm enjoying the Warhawk BETA a LOT more than Halo 3.

I don't know ANYBODY who thinks Halo 3 is the next coming anymore. Once you see it in action, all those dreams you had of it destroying the PS3 will be crushed...

Dave Doak is right though. There's nothing you can do about how well Halo 3 will sell. You make a mediocre shooter for the console...and it's the biggest thing EVER. If you keep making the same series, no matter how many better FPS's are out there, people will buy them.

Haze will probably be the better game because Free Radical has made better shooters in the past. I actually respect them for innovating...

[rusgreim]

I'm going to post this point AGAIN, and maybe it'll stick for you simpletons. IT DOESN'T MATTER!

If the games blows, it won't matter. If the graphics are not as good as Gears or RfoM, it doesn't matter. The game will sell itself.

All you PS3 fanfags with 1 bubble need to get the hint, the game will sell regardless of its quality because its Halo. Its the same reason you are foaming at the mouth over FFXIII even though you know nothing of the game.

Its a done deal, 360 and Halo 3 will own Holiday 2007.

[shotty]

MySwordIsHeavenly, halo is halo. If you wany something else then why not try out gears of war, lost planet, cod 3, rainbow six, graw 2. The fundamentals of halo is always the same, the balance is what makes the game so great, if you think bungie is going to change the core gameplay (grenade, melee, vehicles) then your mistaken. Halo 3 is already a much bigger jump from halo 2 then halo 2 was from halo 1. The addition of equipment, third person view, saved films, more weapons, more vehicles, more game types and all this from only the beta.

I personally am happy with the visual level bungie got with halo 3 beta, if you are an avid player of halo 2 the differences are night and day.

[Skizelli]

It's Halo. Contrary to popular belief, not all of us care about graphics more than gameplay. That's where Halo has always shined. For the vets, like me, who got their start on Halo 1, one can say that sometimes less is more. Not only was the campaign immersing, but the multiplayer was a blast over system link, and the arsenal just -worked-. That's probably why most vets want Halo 3 to be more like 1, because it was so basic, yet not. But you also have fans that got their start on 2 and actually like the hideous gameplay mechanics such as the dual-wielding and the god awful Energy Sword. Regardless of which Halo fans want 3 to be like, it seems to be doing just fine at pleasing both. Why?

1) The gameplay strays from dual-wielding.
2) No more lock-on on the RL.
3) The Energy Sword now has a limited battery.
4) The Pistol returns.
5) If you've seen anything on the number of options you'll be able to configure for custom games, it makes Perfect Dark (N64) look pathetic.

Where people get off on saying the graphics are a slight upgrade from Halo 2 is beyond me, but they're pretty much blind. It's leaps and bounds better than Halo 2, stays true to Halo's artistic style, and we're only dealing with the beta. That's probably what confuses the critics.

[The BS Police]

The Halo 1 Pistol is not returning, the enw pistol is called the M6G while the original Pistol is called the M6D.

The new pistol has an 8 round clip and it does not have a scope.

[Bloodmask]

I don't understand your mentality. You seem to imply that graphics are most important, and obviously you are a fanboy bc of the 1 bubble. Do I need to remind you that the PS2 had the weakest graphics card of all the last gen systems, as well as the slowest processor. I'm sure that you had one though. How could you live with that decision after seeing the graphics in Ninja Gaiden, Itigaki even said he would never port it to PS2 because he would have to reduce the quality drasticly. That is why you see it on PS3? Now the roles are completely reversed. The 360 has more games(like PS2} had last gen. The bigger install base...etc....etc. Please explain..........Oh yeah you can't...No bubbles

[Skizelli]

Ah, good to know. 4 out of 5 ain't bad, though. :\

[InMyOpinion]

Wait til you see what the final product looks and plays like. People are so quick to judge.

[Hayabusa 117]

It's quite true about Bungie having to appease Halo and Halo 2 fans at the same time with halo 3. It's mostly their own fault for departing so much from Halo CE in the first place, when allot of stuff was already perfect.

In that respect, Halo 3 has already disappointed me, simply because it takes after Halo 2 too much. I remember Bungie saying that they didn't want Halo 2 to be Halo 1.5. So, I would have expected them to have a similar stance on Halo 3, but unfortunately for me, it's just too much like halo 2. I wouldn't call it Halo 2.5, just that it has similarities with Halo 2 which I think it shouldn't have.

But considering the vast majority of people (I know) prefer Halo CE, I don't see what the problem is.

I'm still waiting for Halo 1.5.

[FeralPhoenix]

It's what we've all been saying....Halo3 is huge, even dev's realize what that means in terms of trying to sale a game of the same genre anywhere close to Halo's launch.....thus, save Haze for a few months until the smoke clears. He just confirmed what we all thought anyway. -It's not rocket science. -Wow, Bungie's created a monster, I don't care what you think about Halo personally but the Halo brand has some serious status within the industry= RESPECT. -lol, The Train is Coming, everybody knows what to do.

[Odion]

Now I've played both games but i don't know what the giant difference between the two games are, i liked how Halo 2 seem to get bigger.

COuld you give me your thoughts on the big difference.

[THAMMER1]

It has the stability of Halo 1 and the pace of Halo 2. PERFECT Now Haze is a New IP and I love it so far it is like a baby Crysis. I will be buying both games. Ya dig. I suggest you do the same.

[VirusE]

Wow, he seems like a real cool guy. You rarely run into honesty of that level in this industry. I know n4g is full of halo haters but people need to realize that from a business persective halo is the king of the hill. That doesnt mean its the greatest game ever it just means it sells like it is. It deserves respect on this merit and its nice to see another publisher who may not like it giving it this respect.

[PS360PCROCKS]

'I personally am happy with the visual level bungie got with halo 3 beta, if you are an avid player of halo 2 the differences are night and day' Thank you Thank you Thank you. You got a bubble for that. Anyone who has played Halo 2 realizes the difference. I ME k this is my opinion I THINK the game looks fantastic. I love the way it looks right now...Forza underwhelmed me, Halo didn't. I didn't start playing Halo 2 til THREE WEEKS ago and I noticed the difference between the game IMMEDIATELY. It's not a shiny upgraded Halo 2, it's truly not. The game is massive and it's also beautiful...'it looks like an upgraded Halo2' DUH Halo 2 looked like a upgraded HALO 1. Their is a distinct art style in Halo people that don't play it alot don't realize...Halo 3 is that and anyone who knows Halo 2 should realize this. I have never been wowed by any of the Halo games graphics, one is not going to turn this on and say 'wow' it just wont happen. But it's wow in it's own way in its own art style. Halo is gameplay and Halo 3 plays fantastic 5 months from release

[IBLEEDBLU]

buddy do u read what u type.

who cares if it sales millions - i buy a game for its gameplay and fun factor - not because i know every sheep is gonna go buy it so i have to buy it.

it could sell a billion copies - that doesnt make it a good game.

HALO3 isnt bring nothing new...its that simple...they were to scared to change the feel and try something intresting - instead they played it save - hey ppl like halo1 & 2 so lets not change to much. and ive said this b4 that is their down fall.

halo3 will sale to only the ppl that have a 360 - i dont seeing it drawing more ppl to go get a 360 because its a must have title

[PS360PCROCKS]

Read the update I just posted below 'Halo 3 encounters are more fun, more challenging, more varied and more enjoyable than those in Halo or Halo 2. The interplay and strategies created among the various Covenant foes is just thrilling' stop spewing things you THINK your opinion doesn't matter especially if it's a game YOU WONT BUY

[PhinneousD]

are u talking outta your as$hole again blu? lol yo so crazy gurrrl!

[PS360PCROCKS]

I just wanted to post this from a weekly update like 2 months ago from Bungie...everyone who doesn't like Halo wants to talk graphics. everyone who is a fan wants to talk gameplay...well this right here especially the last paragraph will explain the depth, and sheer size of what their doing with this game. Which should hopefully make you realize that it's why it wont look like Gears Of War.

A Flock of Seagulls

There are two aspects to this story, one literal, one metaphorical. I’ll start with the latter. Genius programmer Damian Isla is working on “flocking behavior” for distant battles. There are certain parts of the game where large scale air battles are going on in the distance, and the most convincing way to do that is to use real craft having real battles. Now, these particular ones are for show rather than interaction, but they should look convincing. Damian’s been tweaking the behavior of all these craft – I won’t name ‘em, but you can probably guess what various kinds are going at it – so that they have visually convincing fights.

That might sound like a cheat, but it’s not. When you’re in aerial combat, regular AI will be used against you, but that doesn’t necessarily look exciting from that kind of distance, so flocking behavior is used. The craft you’re seeing are real – and if they shoot each other, they explode – as a matter of fact, if you had a rocket launcher and got lucky from that distance (think miles), you’d be participating in the battle. And the battles look amazing. It’s all about immersion.

But on a more literal scale, one of our contract 3D artists is working on birds. So far I’ve seen seagulls and what appears to be some kind of coc8atoo. Both kinds flock, wheel and fly in very large numbers. Who knows what those numbers will grow or dwindle to in the final cut, but right now the demo was about 50 seagulls wheeling and cawing above a cliff top, and looking remarkably like Discovery channel footage of an otherwise boring scene.

Perhaps more importantly, the seagulls and coc8atoos can (at the moment anyway) be shot. They will then fall, individually out of the sky and you can go take a look at how detailed they are. Believe me, we’re not wasting any processor cycles on this stuff, so if it causes a hit, out it goes, but hopefully they’ll be there. There are at least two keen hunters on staff who want to go grousing in Halo 3.

In combat, the scale is just as large, but the AI is different since it’s tuned for fun and challenge rather than grand spectacle. No point in a glorious sequence of barrel rolls if they serve no gameplay purpose.

And gameplay is there. Seriously. The designers would scoff at that opinion given how much polish time they have left on these encounters, but already, gameplay has reached new heights. And I don’t mean Halo 3 – I mean for the entire series. This part is going to sound like hyperbolae, so I’ll reinforce the fact that this is merely my opinion:

Halo 3 encounters are more fun, more challenging, more varied and more enjoyable than those in Halo or Halo 2. The interplay and strategies created among the various Covenant foes is just thrilling. One weird thing that I just can’t get used to (in a good way, I mean) is the fact that you have to plan for multiple encounters in one location. You can see a group in the distance, and head down to fight them. You could toss a grenade to get the party started – but here’s a hint. Between you and them and the tumble of rocks and scree between you, I happen to know that a Phantom is going to drop off four Grunts and a Brute Chieftain. The Phantom itself is going to start laying down fire on you, so my suggestion is to bide your time, wait for the first Phantom, and take care of that before irritating those guys way down the hill.

The AI on the opponents is more interesting too. Even a lone Grunt can be a nasty challenge. Actually, a lone Grunt is sometimes a cornered Grunt now. You’ve been warned.

And I’ve heard more than one Bungie staffer say the same thing at the urinal (that’s where we talk, and yes, we call it the water cooler). You’ll see them come in, laughing and peeing, peeing and laughing, as they recall a particularly brilliant gameplay moment.

Now wash your hands.

The contract 3D artists are working on the little detail touches that are going to make spaces feel real and lived in. That could be anything from an electronic wall panel (complete with a smashed and damaged state) to a shiny military latrine. It’s fun to watch the look of concentration on an artist’s face as he puts the finishing touches to a gleaming, stainless steel toilet.

But speaking of Damian, he and a couple of other folks have been slaving away on a cool Easter Egg. Most of you will never see it, but if you do, you’ll maybe think back to this, and say, ooh, that musta been the thing Damian made.

Now, back to campaign for a moment. I was playing a level, let’s call it a quarter of the way into the game. I exit through a very large doorway, emerging from an indoor space, to a large (medium, based on the scale of other H3 locations) outdoor space. I will go ahead right now and admit it’s part of the level that some journalists caught a sneak, and very early peek at during the Alpha event many months back.

I thought it would be as good a place as any to describe the content of an average H3 Encounter. To do this, I made the Chief invincible, detached the camera and flew around counting stuff. Now, remember, this is live, so these guys were all fighting each other, lobbing mortars and dying, so I may be missing a few (Jackals for sure, since they were pinging me pretty good from somewhere), and I definitely saw a Phantom deliver two more ghosts while I was counting, and I literally stopped counting when, after a couple of Marines had been killed – a door on the far side of the location slid open, and revealed a whole passel of jerks. I figure the list below will pretty much give you the idea. Remember that, if you had a sniper rifle or rocket launcher, you could have destroyed any or all of the following in that one, single location. And I am deliberately leaving out a couple of items here, because they haven’t been revealed yet.

Encounter Recipe:

* Scary Post Apocalyptic Environment: 1
* Phantoms: 3
* Grunts: 14
* Marines: 6
* Brutes: 8
* Jackals: 3
* Wraiths: 3
* Ghosts: 6
* Mongoose: 1
* Warthogs: 1
* New version of old favorite: 1
* Chief: 1
* Giant Bad Guy in distance: 1
* Frightening and Inexplicable Maelstrom: 1
* Ancient Forerunner Artifact: 1

That is 43 guys, 1 chief and 2 vehicles plus anything else in the environment. Do you really now believe this game was ever going to look like Gears Of War with 43 guys on screen...

[Hanseo]

SMBB will outsell Halo 3

[dominusbellum]

tell me you are joking if you aren't then you must be moderately insane where supersmash bros is a good game it doesn't have nearly the fanbase that halo has tell me how many preorders there are for super than tell me how many preorders there are for halo 3 . . . . .

[DrunKao]

I loved SMBM on the Gamecube. That game was so fricken awesome. It makes me wish I owned a Wii or am at least able to get one by the time SMBB and Super Mario Galaxy come out.

SMBB is going to own so hard and it should sell a lot, but I don't think anything this year will be able to touch Halo 3. People really don't understand how well Halo 2 sold when you take into account the Xbox's userbase. Halo 2 had the highest earning first day release in the history of the entertainment industry. It was outsold eventually by San Andreas, but that's because the PS2's userbase was so much larger. Believe me, if the Xbox had PS2 numbers then Halo would probably be one of the best selling games of all time. Now the Xbox 360 has the largest userbase of all the next gen consoles, so I don't really think there's a chance for any game to outsell Halo 3 this year. Maybe a Wii game will outsell it in the long run, but not in the short term.

[Odion]

1. Ibleedblue, you call us sheeps yet your ass is firmly seated on the PS wagon, way to go, sit with the past winner, tool.

Hanseo, SMBB will sell at most 2 million copies.

[Hanseo]

odion SSBB will Outsell halo 3 why beacause it will sell in japan unlike halo3

[THAMMER1]

There are already more Halo 3 pre orders than PS3's globally bottom line. Oh but you probably think that means nothing. Oh well not every one was given the talent of using their brain.

[LoveHateTragedy]

that are catching general consumers' attention on the 360. I know Bioshock, Mass Effect, and Too Human are supposed to be epic, but Halo's been stealing all the press. I guess it's the same effect we saw with Lost Planet and Gears of War. High sales, but mainly due to the fact there's not much else to buy? Besides, Halo 2 has the best FPS multiplayer action to date (I should know, I'm playing right now).

[Odion]

Halo 3 doesn't need Japan to sell well, it sold 9.8 million copies last time without Japan. SSBB has never outsold a Halo game or any other major franshise.

See Nintendo may sell the most hardware, but when was the last time you saw a Wii game in the top 20 of any chart? DS games sell like hotcakes but not Wii games.

[BIGBAER]

Balance, balnce, balance... strategy---lots of strategy. Raection time? You better be quick---damned quick. And---you better have a plan; a plan of attack, a plan of defense and a plan of escape. You'll need them all.

Relentless conflict.

Absolute immersion.

A sense of ever-present danger.

That's Halo.

No other game does 'Halo' better than Halo.

4-million presales and counting.

[SDS Overfiend]

Add back Halo 1 key gameplay elements with Halo 2 Key gameplay elements then All new Gameplay elemnents from 3 and You have the perfect game. Wait ain't Halo 3 doing this? LOL!

Sept 25 b1tches its coming!

[Douglasp]

It's art direction and type of gameplay may not be for everyone. But it is for me. Halo is not about graphics when the first halo came out I had seen way better things on PC's at the time. But something about halo, the style of gameplay with a o.k storyline just clicked on the spot. Maybe it was the music style. For back in the day it was the first time I actually said dammmm that music must of been expensive to create. The music in Halo 2 is even better. Who ever that guy that composes the music for halo I give him alot of props. He applys the perfect combination of music and character to the scene without ever having go over the top. To me thats one big thing that I like in Halo and I am waiting for Sept 25 like many others.

[gta_cb]

"When asked if he sees the Xbox 360 version of Haze getting lost into noise surrounding Halo 3, Doak replied, "Clearly on 360 you're going up against the juggernought that is Halo. It's wise to not be standing in the middle of the road when it comes towards you because there's nothing bigger on Xbox. In many ways Halo 3 has already won that battle before it's even really started."

well i admire his honesty

[FirstknighT]

Just like the horrible Killzone...Haze is just trying to get more publicity for its game by attacking the Halo series. As you can see from this site, it is working.

[SRuN4]

when did Guerilla ever bash Halo? last time i checked it was some tard in the gaming media that dubbed it "the halo killer" and everyone else picked it up and ran with it..

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

There are fans of both games that real hardcore and don't like the other.

[pshizle]

its really fun and does have a good mix of halo1 and halo2 but i just cant stand the graphix......when it comes down to the enviroments they just not detailed...but after playing this game for 20 min you will soon forget about it all and have fun

there is no learning curve in this game

[THELANDSOFSAND]

pink spartans rule.

[SDS Overfiend]

You Said: i just cant stand the graphix......when it comes down to the enviroments they just not detailed...

now to counter this you said: i have played the halo3 beta <--- Being the key word. Its Just that my friend.

You said: there is no learning curve in this game.

You ever seen what nasty Halo player does in Gears?
Well see whose good in Halo 3 come Sept.

I'll put it like this. I Play against a lot of people in gears i though was tough because they had about 10 kills, 8 downs and lead the team in short time or whateva only to realize that most of the kills was stolen or lucky due to bullet lag. Then when you get to see them more ofter they sh1tty and you wish you never added them to your friendslist.

[sonarus]

I was all excited for halo 3 till i saw the beta frankly am not impressed. I have no doubt that it will be improved upon but i doubt its gonna be all that great. Call me crazy but i got my eyes on Haze now

[Bloodmask]

All I everwanted from Halo 1 or 2 was for the needler to be effective. It was always used as just a digrace kill by melee. Can anyone tell me who is in the beta if the needler actually tracks better now....also is the noob combo just as bad.....Thx

[SnakeDiesinMGS4]

The needler is much deadlier. Almost tooo deadly. It doesn't duel wield either. And the combo has been toned down a bit. The charged up plasma leaks energy the more you hold it and it doesn't track you as acurate as in Halo 2. You actually have to aim the charged up plasma.

[WilliamRLBaker]

that you sucked at using it, I've gotten quite a few kills with it, its not ment for open spaces unless the enemy is stupid, its ment for tight enclosed spaces where they cant dodge it.

Double that sucker up on the smaller maps and in hall ways and most no one can beat you. and you have the fact it bounces around corners so start shooting as you round the corner and you'll get first shot off every time.