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Halo 3

10-Jan-2007 Beneath the radar with the biggest game on Earth...

Bungie want to keep Halo 3 vacuum-packed like gaming sausage. We don't. Which is why our resident expert Mike has set his network of globe-spanning Halo spies to work on finding out the latest story twists, gameplay additions and big multiplayer plans for 2007's grand finale. And with the Halo universe expanding by the second - current count: two games, four novels, one film, one graphic novel and, if you check out this month's Hot List, maybe even an animated series - it's becoming increasingly more difficult for Bungie to keep everything they have planned under wraps...

1. BUNGIE'S HALO 3 PHYSICS SYSTEM IS PAVING THE WAY FOR A BRAND NEW ELITE.
The Halo graphic novel comprises four separate stories, all relating to the Halo universe. In the first story 'The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor' we learn a little more about the Covenant and their introduction to the Flood, but - more importantly - we learn of a new kind of Elite in the form of the Supreme Commander. Looking far more intimidating than the Elite we've seen before, we're willing to bet this ass-kicker will make an appearance in Halo 3. Why? Because, looking back through the weekly updates Bungie have been posting over the course of the last few months we know they've been working on a new physics system, with cloth in mind. Who would be better suited to using these new fangled physics than, say, a purple robe-sporting Supreme Commander? No one, plainly.

2. YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DUAL-WIELD PLASMA SWORDS.
Another interesting titbit to be taken from the same story, and one that's bound to please fans of the series, is the dual-wielding of swords. In the beginning of the story we see old Half-Jaw from Halo 2, prior to his face mangling accident, sparring with another Elite - whilst dual-wielding plasma swords! The idea of swords had never been mentioned at all in the Halo universe before now but does seem a natural progression for gameplay. Imagine it: an angry Elite charging you with not one but two plasma swords. And we haven't even mentioned the fact that, in the story, one of the swords looks like it could turn into a shield, Jackal-style.

3. ADDITIONAL SPARTANS WILL BE PLAYABLE IN CO-OP AND MULTIPLAYER.

'Armor Testing', the second story in the graphic novel, gives us some pretty substantial clues as to where Halo 3 is likely to go too. In this tale we meet Maria-062, a SPARTAN in the same vein as John-117, testing out the MJOLNIR Mark VI armour before it's shipped out to the Chief. The interesting thing we learn here is that Maria has actually retired from the SPARTAN programme and now resides on Earth. This confirms that there are other SPARTANS out there and we reckon they'll most certainly end up making an appearance in Halo 3. In fact, if we were to go by Eric Nylund's Halo novels, we could actually make the fairly safe assumption that there are even as many as four remaining active SPARTANS on Earth - Linda 058, Fred 104, Will 043 and, of course, John 117 - each with a unique skill set of their own such as speed or close combat. Which naturally leads us to this: with unique skill sets, will the SPARTANS be playable in co-op, where each of them has a series of unique abilities given to them in order to tackle problems that one can't do without the other? And, as an extension of that, will SPARTANS also be available in multiplayer? If the single-player plot does, in fact, expand upon their back-story
we'd lay down a safe looking wager that the answer is a definite yes. Watch. Space.

4. AND ZANZIBAR WILL, IN FACT, BE PLAYABLE AS A MULTIPLAYER MAP. AGAIN.
Seven - see what we did there? - other facts that we didn't glean from the graphic novel, but which Bungie either hinted at, half-suggested or just came plain old straight out and told us. (When we broke into their offices. And held the programming team at gunpoint. Until they spoke to us.)

A familiar map will definitely be returning in a new guise, much in the same way Coagulation did in Halo 2. Going from the clues Bungie have given us ("The use of HDR lighting is incredible, with a vibrant, radiant sunset on a map location that will look familiar, but not identical to an old favourite"), we'd say it's a dead-set shoe-in that it's Zanzibar. Just watch. And see.
Some multiplayer and single-player levels are almost complete, and already being tested - the game is much further along the line than anyone thinks it is.
Dialogue tests for Marines, Elites, and Brutes are underway.
Banshees, Warthogs and Ghosts will return, and vehicle-jacking will include more options.
Organic animation is now apparent in levels, allowing for realistically swaying trees. Could this mean the emergence of jungle environments, such as those glimpsed in Halo single-player level 343 Guilty Spark, or, tantalisingly, in the rather ace Halo 2 multiplayer arena, Backwash?
The fan-made gametype Zombies will be a making an appearance as a new mode of play.
"I am working on the AI for something quite large," says Bungie's Max Dyckhoff. Could it be the infamous Drinol Beast, cut from the previous games? We're saying it could be. Oh, okay then: will be.

5. THERE WILL BE A SET OF BRAND NEW WEAPONS INCLUDING SILENCED SMGS AND A FLAMETHROWER.

At the moment, with regards to Halo 3's weapons, little has been confirmed. We do know that the Covenant Combine will be back this time round, as well as a variation on the Assault Rifle that can be seen in the announcement trailer. However, once again, the graphic novel appears to take things further. At the back, there are several pages making up a gallery of submitted art from various well-respected bods in the comic book industry, but it's the ones drawn by the Bungie artists themselves that are the most interesting. In particular, a vector-based image from Lorraine Mclees.

It shows the Master Chief, at the centre of a two-page spread, sitting atop an M19 rocket crate. Strewn in front of him in a concentric circle are all of the weapons from Halo and Halo 2. Behind him are two M12 LRVs (standard and Gauss), a Pelican, a squad of ODSTs, and a Longsword. So far, so predictable. But, look closer, and you can see a number of key things...

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