Halo 3 materials and control scheme, oh my!

by Dustin Burg { Feb 17th 2007 at 7:00AM }

We're finally getting to a point where we get actual juicy details on Halo 3 from Bungie's Weekly Updates. This week's deep fried nuggets of information include the revealing of the first promotional material for Halo 3 (see above). According to Bungie, this marketing goodness is the first in a series that will be coming out throughout the year, similar to Halo 2's campaign with the whole orange background thing. Also note that it does read "Fall 2007" ... nice. Frankie also mentions that progress is being made on the campaign front, that the Halo 3 beta will not begin next week upon Crackdown's release, and that Bungie.net is getting an overhaul. He also posted the current default controller layout for Halo 3, dissecting each and every button and what each is used for. Though, Frankie makes it very clear that things could change and that the mysterious "X" button could be moved too. We're interested in how talking in multiplayer will work and currently there is a scheme using the d-pad, but he also mentions that it is in the extremely early stages of how the function will work. Please Bungie, make it so we don't have to push a button to talk, we can deal with loud people with our A-hole button. Go ahead and make the jump to get your weekly dose of Halo 3 knowledge.

Tags: beta, bungie, bungie weekly update, bungie.net, BungieWeeklyUpdate, halo, halo 3, halo 3 beta, Halo3, Halo3Beta, microsoft game studios, MicrosoftGameStudios

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

JadedJoker @ Feb 17th 2007 11:29AM

Multiplayer Control Scheme as of 3:43pm Today (subject to change).

Left and right sticks: Movement and look. Just like H2.

Click left and right sticks: Crouch and zoom – just like H2, although there is a “toggle crouch” option, so that you can stay crouched until you click the stick again.

A: Jump

B: Melee attack. Note: B may also be used to activate a subtle, but nifty context-sensitive feature.

Y: Switch to next weapon.

X: Activate mysterious new feature which on the cool scale falls somewhere between “crouch” and “activate Fantanas on speed dial.”

LT: Toss grenade.

RT: Shoot weapon.

LB: Cycle grenade type (you have at least three types of grenade now, so they must be cycled rather than switched).

RB: Pick up weapon/activate stuff/reload/use turrets and so on.

Note: If you hold LB while standing over a dual wieldable weapon, you’ll pick it up in your left hand – a huge improvement over the “Y” button in Halo 2. This doesn’t affect grenade cycling, because you can still tap LB to cycle grenades, but you can’t toss ‘em while dual wielding anyway. So it’s moot. After about ten minutes of play, it feels incredibly natural, with the lone downside that you have trouble adjusting when you go back to Halo 2. But more vitally, LB reloads the weapon in your left hand, individually when you’re dual-wielding.

BACK: Calls up the Multiplayer “player menu” – where you can mute jerks, see gamer data and so on. The back button is useful, but tough to press in really hectic action, since it’s so close to the Guide button.

START: Pause menu (which is translucent so you can adjust controls without losing track of what’s on screen) and one or two other significant goodies we haven’t revealed yet. From here you can also end or quit a game, naturally.

D-PAD: Used for sweet circular fighting game moves. No wait, my bad - it is currently used to activate team chat, but that’s very provisional. This is being given a lot of care and attention and is tied to other matters, such as your default settings and how team chat and proximity voice work. You’d be amazed how much testing and thought goes into this stuff.

And again, we stress. This stuff is not final. It could all change at any time. But that's a pretty good bunch of stuff to expect in the Beta.

aazzauk @ Feb 17th 2007 11:52AM

i reckon the X button makes you run like the new trailer - he throws a shield grenade and crounches, then he runs like a fucker. This would be awesome in halo.

zourskittles @ Feb 17th 2007 11:59AM

@2
people keep saying this but bungie says the X button is revolutionary for a game so how does running make it awesome, unless they have a really good gameplay for this to help alot in.

We'll see...

Triforceowner @ Feb 17th 2007 7:22PM

The D-Pad should cycle like the LB.

Mikeawesome @ Feb 17th 2007 12:21PM

I hope they keep the "push to talk" scheme. I love that because I find myself talking to too many people in my house/apartment when I'm playing and it gets annoying in Gears to explain that I'm not talking to you.

At the very least it should be an option.

Tim @ Feb 17th 2007 12:31PM

Mikeawesome- There's a mute button for that, right on the mic, you asshole.

Lovable_Guy @ Feb 17th 2007 1:08PM

whoa, no need to call him an a$$hole. but yeah, just mute it on the controller.

MMShizX2 @ Feb 17th 2007 1:09PM

HEY TIM!!!

go F##K yourself, not everyone has a mute button...dickwad

Spenser @ Feb 17th 2007 1:12PM

lol, it bugs the heck outta me when people leave their mic on, not as much as people who sing or shout tho!

cant wait for that a-hole button

mike @ Feb 17th 2007 2:00PM

i recently tried to play halo 2 and its almost unplayable pushing a button to talk. Its just not needed. If they keep the same scheme for halo 3, I will be remaining in private chat 100% of the time (the best solution would be an in gam party chat feature like perfect dark zero had).

Ryan @ Feb 17th 2007 2:51PM

It's just common courtesy to mute/unplug your mic when you're talking to your family/roomates.

Ryan @ Feb 17th 2007 2:54PM

It's just common courtesy to mute/unplug yourself when you're talking to family/roommates.

King724 @ Feb 17th 2007 5:40PM

they should definitely switch the LB button and B button. I wanna be able to melee without taking my thumbs off the joysticks!

Mike @ Feb 18th 2007 1:35PM

Personally, I'm not even that excited about Halo 3. I mean great, its just more of the same stuff that I've seen before. Ride around in some vehicles, hit people in the back of the head when they're not looking, and get sniped by some jerk immediately when I respawn. There's just not that much more that can "Wow" me with this franchise. Gears of War has got me hooked now. That game offers a great new experience that I haven't seen before. I'm not even that impressed with the Halo 3 screenshots and videos I have seen so far. I think the 3rd installment is really more of a "cashing in" end to the series. I think a lot of people like Halo just b/c so many people play it. Its the whole hype that goes along with playing the almighty Halo that has everyone so excited. Just sitting around with your friends and bonding I guess. Kind of like how a lot of people get together to watch the superbowl. 3/4 of those people aren't there b/c they wanna see the game. They are there for the commercials and socializing. I personally wanna watch the game, and I don't think Halo 3 can offer me anything drastically different from what I've already seen. All you bleeding hearts can disagree with me, thats fine. I dont hate Halo, I'm just getting sick of it. It just gets boring after a while.