(and Bungie has many more special effects, weapons, and interactive objects waiting for us to discover in the game. Saving the best for last?)

Reading a news post by Wu got me thinking. What is happening to HALO? Is it changing into a game that is too big for our gaming preferences? Do you welcome these additions?

HALO 3 is going to allow the gamer to interact with the environment like never before. HALO 3 will feature deployable technology. We will be able to move and position gravity lifts around the map. We can use Bubble Shields to create temporary walls or roll them down a hill. Like our AI Marines are able to do in campaign, we can setup stationary turrets wherever we like. Game hosts will be able to tweak physical settings in the map like the force of gravity. We are getting new vehicles. The man cannon can catapult just about anything around the map. And there are plenty of new weapons like the Spiker Grenade, Land Mine, Spartan Laser, and a new Assault Rifle. And I also forgot about the stationary mortar cannons.

When we started playing HALO, it was about spawning with an Assault Rifle, bouncing across Blood Gulch, and trying to capture a flag. Later it became about 3-shot kills on Wizard, Hang ‘Em High, and Rat Race – a style that made HALO the most competitive console shooter.

With these new additions, can HALO remain the competitive platform that it has been for so long? Or will these new additions limit what a hardcore killer can do?

In HALO 2, we had to be aware of the Energy Sword, the “n00b Combo”, no client-side force effects (e.g., Warthogs didn’t bounce through the air after being grenaded) and Dual Wielding weapons. That drastically changed how the game was played. All of those new factors, specifically the “n00b combo” were big turnoffs for many THX’ers. To this day, most of us would rather play HALO 1 than HALO 2.

Now it seems that HALO 3 is pushing the envelope of interactive gameplay.

With all of these new interactive and game-changing objects, it seems to me that HALO 3 is becoming a slow Unreal Tournament. I can’t help but imagine this game is turning into a big team battle fest. I’ve said for a while that HALO 3 appears to be getting CoD3’d. Perhaps it is getting UT3’d?

Do you think that HALO 3 is getting too complex? Or does the new level of interactivity translate to “more fun”?

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