|
Grenade, Melee and Dual Wielding
What is probably the most significant pair of changes may seem minor. Both grenades and melee attacks have gotten a boost
in damage and effectiveness that permeates every
aspect of multiplayer battles. Since both grenades and melee attacks are now stronger, and since you can only use them
with a single weapon, dual wielding in Halo 3 is much less effective than it was in Halo 2. This is an important fact to remember
when choosing your weapons.
More on Melee Damage
Here's something to consider: In Halo 3, two melee strikes with any weapon will kill an opponent with full shields (provided
the opponent does not have an overshield). Generally, most weapons deal the same amount of melee damage, though some, like
the Brute Shot, deal more damage but still require two hits to kill an opponent outright. A fully charged Plasma Pistol shot
followed by any melee attack will now kill an opponent (not the case in previous Halo games) and a single melee attack from
a stolen flag will also drop an opponent dead. A number of weapons, including the Battle Rifle and the Magnum pistol, can
kill an opponent with one headshot after landing a melee attack.
Sniper
Halo 3's Sniper Rifle is not as good as Halo 2's. That's a good thing in our opinion, but nevermind our view because it
directly affects your play no matter how you feel about it. Halo 2's Sniper Rifle had some serious auto-correction that made
headshots relatively easy to get with a technique dubbed "sweep sniping." This is not the case in Halo 3, and consequently
getting head shots with the Sniper Rifle is more difficult. Talented shooters can still get instant kills, but keep in mind
that most people you play are not that talented. Against these less talented folks (like, uh, us) you can usually be pretty
aggressive with a non-sniping weapon and overwhelm a would-be sniper.
Vehicle Balancing
We think the vehicles in Halo 2 were a bit too strong, and it looks like Bungie agrees. There are some balancing changes
with the vehicles that generally make them less effective against on-foot soldiers. One major balancing tweak now lets a charged
Plasma Pistol shot temporarily stall a vehicle's engine. Peg a Warthog, Banshee, or even a Scorpion tank with a charged shot
and the vehicle's engine will stop working for about five seconds (a successful hijack will instantly kill the drivers of
most vehicles following a Plasma Pistol-induced stall).
Otherwise, vehicles seem generally more resilient, as it takes way more to actually destroy a vehicle. Ghosts no longer
have a weak spot on their side. Gunfire is almost useless against most vehicles. The balance here is that it seems as though
drivers and passengers of vehicles get no protection against guns like they did in Halo 2, as long as you're shooting exposed
bits.
Moral of the story: When fighting vehicles, shoot for the drivers and passengers, not the vehicle. The only case in which
you're better off attacking the vehicle directly is if you've got a Rocket Launcher, Missile Pod, or grenades (sticky grenades
destroy most vehicles instantly).
Rocket Launcher
Halo 2's Rocket Launcher had a lock-on feature that made taking out vehicles a brainless task—just point, pull
trigger, and the rocket would tenaciously track a moving vehicle target. Halo 3's Rocket Launcher does not have this lock-on
feature, so you'll have to show a bit of skill if you want to bring down a vehicle with the Rocket Launcher. Again, we think
this is a positive change to the multiplayer balancing, but again our opinion doesn't matter because even if you don't like
the change, it's real and you'll have to man up...
...Unless You Have the Missile Pod
Our swooning over the weakened Rocket Launcher is a bit short lived, though, because Halo 3's Missile Pod has tracking
abilities versus vehicles. The Missile Pod's shots aren't as powerful as the Rocket Launcher, but it can fire off shots in
quick succession and bring down vehicles pretty quickly (it locks on instantly, too, which is better than even Halo 2's rocket
launcher). Thankfully, a carrier of the Missile Pod is burdened with the weight of the weapon and moves slowly.
Shotgun Range
The Shotgun in Halo 2 was always a bit finnicky in our experience, with uneven damage that varied by shot and a really
short range that made one-hit kills a bit of a rarity. But this is another example of "no longer the case," as Halo
3's Shotgun packs a serious punch. In fact, the Shotgun is now one of our absolute most favorite weapons, especially if you
can stick to corners and tight areas for fighting.
|
