with all the money they are throwing at this game, if the graphics don't improve significantly for the single player campaign it will be quite a disappointment. but i have faith that they will...what else could they be spending their time on? multiplayer and single player campaigns appear to be similar to the previous games, so all this time is to make excellent graphics...right?

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They can keep it like this imo. Leave the incredible graphics to the campaign but multiplayer is purely all performance and gameplay for me. I wont complain if they want to improve a little though.

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NO HAZLOWS IZ GENERIC reddope.blogspot.com

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#3 - I'm with you, man. The campaign is good, but the multiplayer is boring and lackluster. The UT series (on the PC, anyhow) has a MUCH better multiplayer component. Play Halo 3 for the campaign, play UT for the superior multiplaer.

As for Halo 3 looking like a PS2 game, I disagree. I think it looks bad, but not THAT bad. I think it looks like a 1st generation 360, along the lines of Perfect Dark Zero.

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The graphics in the beta definitely haven't "wowed" me, but I don't have a problem with them at all. I think they look fine, and if they are to get better, then that's great too.

The sound in the beta is another story. It definitely did "wow" me. Hearing guns firing from across the map with my 5.1 setup was amazing and all the guns just sound a lot better this time around.

I guess some gamers are all about the graphics, but I'm not one of them. I would much rather prefer gameplay over graphics any day...which btw I think is top notch in Halo...and obviously millions of other people do as well.

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to all you stupy poo-heads
this thing is a beta
its a freakin download
its not perfect
thought i am perplexed
why would bungie put in all this extra crap that makes the download so damn big
really why?
poonany

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I agree with you John Smith, The graphics of the multiplayer mode and the campaign mode are different for reason of bandwidth. But Christopher really. I respect your opinions that it does not look like your cup of tea in the aesthetics but comparing it to a ps2 game is absolutely over reacting. Gears does look better than it but I place halo 3 as 3rd on my list of the best games on 360 (4th of all time)

1st Mass Effect 2nd Gears 3rd Halo 3

I think you need to play through it a bit more because the way the game is composed and just the sky of valhala amaze me. Give me a picture of beauty that matches this on ps2 and I will believe you. But rendering the atmosphere while playing 16 player over live is just unreal (no pun intended).

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Where the gaming industry and hardware is at these days, I think there is just no excuse for sub-optimal graphics whether it be single player or multi-player content in a game. I want the best of both worlds.

I do enjoy the game play from the multi-player, but my stomach cringes at the non-existent Anti-Aliasing and lack luster textures. They are nothing like what must be a rendered image of MP game play at the top of this post. What I see there in that shot is what I expect in the game. That's not what I'm seeing during game play. Seriously folks, please do not settle for what you've seen already ... it just doesn't cut it. Bump it up Bungie and let's see it in the current beta and get a feel for how it affects game play. The single player is a one time experience ... it's the multi-player that we'll keep coming back to again and again. Let's not sacrifice here!

I hate to throw in the GOW comparison, but there is no differentiation in graphics between single player and multi-player and it does look next gen, there is no question. Epic will take that up a notch too with the release of Unreal Tournament 3. Yes UT 3 will look even better than GOW.

I can't say all this without throwing in a few compliments either. For starters the sound effects and audio in Hale Beta 3 are great, and I think overlooked on comments by the peanut gallery so far. Also, GOW just can't touch matchmaking abilities, etc. of Halo 3 Beta either ... and it probably never will.

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I think everything looks great for a Beta. I expect about another 40% improvement over graphics by the time the retail copy hits, but nothing dramatic. I'd like bigger explosions, for one thing..:)

Bungie is doing a great job and the Beta looks amazing! If it's any indication, I'll finally PWN in H3..I didn't do too well in H2 multiplayer.

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Of course they say graphics are going improve, regardless of whether or not they actually will. Honesty and marketing do not go hand-in-hand.

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Come on guys, I love Halo just as much as the next guy. You can even call me a Halo fanboy.

But this game is supposed to be the THE title for the Xbox 360. Think of the first time you saw Halo running on your 6 year old Xbox. You were "amazed"!
If the 360 is 10 times more powerful than the original Xbox, I should be 10 times more impressed. There should not be one complaint about the graphics. What I see is Halo 2.5 that could run on the original Xbox, just checkout "Riddick" or the textures in "Splinter Cell Chaos Theory" if you don't think so.
I was expecting H3 graphics to look like the Spartan and the Halo stage in Dead or Alive 4! Don't give me the "its beta" argument, the shipped game won't look THAT much better.

GOW impressed me, GOW multiplayer is a blast. I played Halo 2 muliplayer for quite sometime and enjoyed it. If I want great "gameplay", I'll keep playing Halo 2. I was just expecting something a little more "innovative" than Halo 2.5.

Come on fanboys, it pains you to admit it and you don't want to, but Halo 3 beta is a joke.

Flame on!

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it looks good to me but i have HD and component cables so it prolly looks the same to anyone who doesn't.

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I love Halo,but i'm too damn busy Playing Gears of War to care about Halo 3's graphics...as long as the full version is fun,i'm sold.

The Beta is cool though,same as all the other Halo's...run slow,jump,throw nade,shoot.One new twist,after all that...get Spartan Lasered,such a stupid weapon.

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Way too busy enjoying it. I mean it's a beta for crying out loud. Be glad they let us play what they did.

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I have been playing the beta non-stop since its release. It's freaking awesome. I have a 46" 1080p aquos with HDMI and the graphics look amazing, plus the surround sound is awesome. On highground, if you listen carefully you can hear a jet-sounding craft that streaks through the sky, and flies buzzing around your head. Sometimes it takes a longer look at the textures to really see them, but when you do they look great, and intricate. After much hands on with the beta, I can assure you that the campaign will blow your mind (except the halo-haters, who will never be satisfied, with anything).

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I'm playing in HD and I don't think the graphics look that good. It's certainly better than Halo 2, but they're no better than something like CoD2. And the sound isn't that great either...I'd take CoD2 over the beta in the sound department.

It plays great, and that's what ultimately matters, but the flagship game for the system should look at least as good as GoW, which will be almost a year old by the time H3 is released.

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I will probably offend some. But if Halo 3 looked like GoW I would kill everyone at Bungie.

The Beta looks great in HD and very similar to RB6 Vegas, which looks really great in Single and more than acceptable online.

GoW looks sharp, but all the grey and brown became boring, the game was fun, but if it was uglier and longer I would have liked it even more.

The Halo art style has always been camp in a good way with all the shiny pink and purple.
If someone had said to me I am making an FPS were everything is purple I would have laughed, but somehow it actually works, even the Master Chief (Halo and Halo 2) with his shiny green and orange visor is odd, but works.

It just wouldn't be Halo if it was Photo-realistic and everyone would need Fibre-Optic 20+ mb broadband and that isn't realistic.

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@28

There is a big difference between Singleplayer and Multiplayer graphics in Gears of War, you not being able to see that helps me also understand why you don't appreciate Halo 3's graphics. Halo 3 multiplayer beta already has amazing lighting, some of the best water and water effects, and some of the larger scale multiplayer maps, and this is just a delta build of the multiplayer aspect. The final build will be improved drastically, with full antialiasing, improved water, improved textures, and even improved models, and we haven't even seen a video of single player yet and people are still bitching!

Wait until September 25th before you call this a ps2 game. Go look at screenshots/vids of GoW in its alpha build.....it looks TERRIBLE! The last few months of development is the time when the developer concentrates on polishing and making the game smooth, so have a little faith, or just don't buy the game!

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I think too many of the people playin the Beta are forgetting this is BETA, and that it'll be over in June, and the reward for all their kicking and screaming will be having to wait until September to get their hands on the rest of the game. This Beta, to my understanding, was about the multiplayer functionality, matchmaking ability, and getting people working together in the games. I don't know how, but Bungie's managed to filter out the casual fans of Halo (i.e. the damn 8 year olds screaming F-bombs in your ears or through your TV) and the Beta's really been solid about gameplay. A few people get their hands on it and complain about the graphical quality? Reality check: this is a Beta, this is by no means the final game.

I think it's terribly disrespectful to the people putting the time and effort into building this game to brush it off by saying 'graphics aren't up to par.' Patients children, patients.

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Iplayed the beta twice, which is more than i will play multiplayer when i buy the game.... halo multiplayer sux PERIOD. and the graphix are'nt any better (i play in HD too), this will be forgiveable only if you play 24+ in versus, and say 4 to 8 player co-op campaign, with squads of enemies, not just a handfull, otherwise it should be on par with GOW, no excuses. It's too late in the game to be pulling a SONY!!!!

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