We’ve been blessed with the privilege of witnessing a Bungie employee play through a section of Halo 3’s campaign mode. Though those secretive and withholding folks at the company have kept back any kind of cut-scene from us meaning we jump in at around a third of the way through the first level of the campaign.
The demonstration begins with a very brief tunnel journey, winding through to reveal a clearing that’s considerably more open than the rocky beginnings of the map. The unveiled terrain is woody and scatterings of trees and plants hold a distinct air of very deliberate placing (certainly a positive amongst the backdrop of the gaming world: all too often desecrated with inept and lethargic level design). A burning sun shines brightly amongst the flora, casting shimmers of light on the ground in hazy diagonal rays. It isn’t all grace and splendor though, as covertly placed amongst the woodlands are a plethora of Covenant soldiers in dense population.
Fortunately, at our entry point at least, it’s snooze time for much of the opposition; a collection of unsuspecting baddies are catching forty winks while all’s quiet, and they’re just asking for a quick pummel in the back. One hit kills an unsuspecting grunt it seems, and a it is a rather satisfying-looking hit. Not too much further on and the Chief’s noticed by a massive abundance of alien scum (just trying to get in the mood).
Luckily he’s placed significantly higher up than most and a concentrated bit of snipe action with the familiar Carbine rifle sees him reduce the count of attackers greatly. A wander through the flora, a few ducks, dodges and shots later and it’s through a small stream to reveal even more enemies. The terrain is highly contoured, with a multitude of levels able to be used to gain serious advantage on enemies.
The mood amongst the marines is largely optimistic, and our AI companions shout with all the vigor and determination of an overexcited football team at a final, all the while flaunting that distinctly Halo gung-ho demeanor.
Our man’s progress continues through the woods, battling enemies with a range of both human and Covenant gear. At one point a Jackal throws a Bubble Shield and in another moment we see one hurl a plasma grenade. We’re told that it’s possible, and highly likely throughout that enemies can, and will use the same equipment we can.
Indeed, it seems the already more than competent AI seen in previous Halo installments has had a bit of a polish. Brutes, Grunts and Jackals all dart intelligently behind the moss-covered rocks in order to avoid fire and the Jackal snipers fire well-placed shots at a steady rate.
Eventually, after many a savage gunfight and the delivery of more troops by a phantom, we see the Master Chief exit the woodland, power-walking no doubt, towards a beastly Covenant base. A quick and brutal cut-scene (using, as is always the case with Halo, the in-game engine) shows a marine suffering a severe pounding in the hands of a Brute Chieftain.
Our hero has thankfully found himself placed on significantly higher ground than much of the enemy base here giving him some advantage at least. Unfortunately for him the place is rife with Covenant forces but this is the Master Chief so it’s all good. At this moment the enemy possessed no knowledge of the team approaching so it was possible for our demonstrator to take a couple of pops at an unsuspecting bad guy before the whole base went into alert.
Unfortunately though, that was it for our preview of the campaign proper, and Bungie man promptly exited to the menu. At least Bungie had a little more to show us though, promptly taking us to the lobby. Despite said lobby, this wasn’t to be a multiplayer demonstration, it’s just the devs have opted to make lobbies the system of choice for accessing much of the game. They were making their way to the Saved Films feature previously shown off in the multiplayer beta.
Frank O’Connor, the man behind the Bungie Weekly Updates the more fervent fans amongst you will have been following, explained some of the feature’s finer points. Each Saved Film will take up a meager 6MB as they won’t be a movie file and instead a set of instructions for the game engine to follow. This, along with having the advantage of creating quick upload times, allows for a much greater degree of control once the action’s been recorded.
Saved Films will be possible to view at various levels of resolution, along with being perfect for the creation of Machinima movies, something obviously tied quite closely to the Halo franchise.
Our Bungie man demonstrated the Sandtrap map with a whip around using the camera, zooming out from the first person of a player housed in a large-scale paused battle. The resulting virtual diorama showed off a collection of rolling dunes, sandstone arches and towers in amongst an expansive desert scene. As well as the ability to save movies you’ll also be able to upload screenshots to Bungie’s severs and view them at a later date from their site.
Not long now till September 25th (or September 26th for European readers) when you’ll have chance to have a look-see for yourselves.
