The Halo 3 LIVE multi-player Beta was made by Bungie approximately four months before the release of the final game so Halo fans across the world can get a taste of the game and share their thoughts.
The only way to get the beta now is to have an Xbox 360, a hard drive, an Xbox Live (XBL) Gold subscription and a working account along with a copy of the game 'Crackdown' which will let you download it in the downloads section of the main menu.
The beta consists of three new Halo 3 maps:
-Highground, an A-Symmetrical map which is mainly offense versus defense.
-Snowbound, a snowy map which has two bases as usual and one Ghost.
-Valhalla, a large grassy map with two team bases. Four Mongooses, two Warthogs and two Banshees. (Banshees only on BTB Team Slayer on Valhalla).
Along with some new weapons:
-Brute Spiker (Duel Wieldable similar to the SMG yet more deadly)
-Spartan Laser (Five shots total, three second charge, instant death)
-Spike Grenade (Can stick on any imaginable surface)
-Portable turret (You can now take stationary turrets. Extremely deadly at close range yet slows player movement.)
-Improved Needler (Very deadly, cannot duel wield)
-Improved Plasma rifle (More deadly, more accurate, more pretty, one of the best weapons when duel wielded.)
-Improved Brute Shot (Hold six grenades, point blank range shot + melee = death)
-Improved Assault Rifle (More accurate, more deadly, only 32 rounds per clip)
-Improved SMG (More deadly, sounds better too)
-Modified Battle Rifle (Hardly any changes)
-Modified Plasma Grenade (More pretty)
-Modified Rocket Launcher (Cannot lock on)
-Modified Shotgun (Only six shots)
-Modified Human sniper rifle (Slower rate of fire)
-Modified Covenant sniper rifle (More pretty)
-Modified Plasma Pistol (Overcharge blast stops any vehicle, drains shields and drains pistol's power. Less accurate.)
And something new called equipment:
-Bubble Shield (Deploys a 'Bubble' around yourself and anyone within it's radius. Anyone and vehicles can move in and out of the bubble, but it halts grenades and gunfire from leaving or entering.)
-Portable Grav Lift (Deploys a grav lift to 'lift' people over walls.)
-Trip Mine (Deploys a mine. Stepping or driving over it results in your death.)
-Power Drainer (Deploys a rolling ball which drains shields in it radius and will eventually kill you if you stay in it's effect radius for too long.
Note: You can only carry one piece of equipment at a time.
The Halo 3 Beta also introduced two new gametypes-
-VIP, Each team has a VIP who is given an overshield. Killing the opposing team's VIP will give your team one point. Ten points declares the winner.
-Team Shotty Snipers, similar to team rockets, 25 kills total yet the starting weapons and the only weapons on the map are a shotgun and a sniper rifle.
And a new vehicle-
-The Mongoose. An ATV with no support weapons. It is the fastest vehicle over all the vehicles on ground and one person can ride on the back while holding a weapon or a flag.
Vehicles overall are much more difficult to destroy using gun fire and grenades. To insure an instant kill, trip mines, Spartan Lasers and Rocket Launchers get the job done well.
This beta also introduced-
-Modified Active Camouflage. (It now looks like a glowing orb.)
-Overshield is only given to the VIP on the VIP gametype.
If you look hard enough, you can find all the information you need at [url]www.bungie.net'>Link www.bungie.net
Please let me know if anything needs to be added, modified or corrected.
The Beta is OVER!!
Wait for the game's final release come September 25th 2007.
[Edited by darkish_raven, 6/23/2007 10:38:24 AM]