Halo 3 Beta - nine unanswered questions

Why do we always end up in a 'Shotty Snipers' match?
We're hitting 'veto' but no-one else cares. It's another Shotty Snipers match and we don't want it. Consensus opinion is that sniping is for wusses who hide in corners and pull their triggers quietly by themselves. And in the tight confines of the maps on offer, using a sniper rifle for such close-combat gameplay is just plain awkward. We want a proper gunfight, thanks.

Why doesn't it register hits when it should?
The target reticule turns red sometimes to indicate you'll hit your enemy. But why isn't it? We're firing shots into a player's body and skull and it's not even registering. And now they've killed us. Either it's some kind of weapon balancing thing or it's just plain broken. Either way, it's annoying as hell.

Why do only two players understand the rules of the game?
Strange one this - it seems quite a few players on the Beta servers have no idea what kind of match they're in. Take 'Oddball' as the prime example. The idea is to locate the ball (actually a skull), kill whoever's holding it, then hold it yourself for as long as you can. You can't shoot, but you can melee attack with it. Simple, right? Apparently not. The ball lies forgotten as everyone shoots each other and wonders why the score isn't going up.

Why does every bubble shield contain a dead player?
We would bet money that when you happen across an activated bubble shield, you'll find a player's corpse inside it more often than not. It's a bitlame that you can't shoot out from inside, with the result that you're now a sitting duck. How could such a promising idea work so badly in practise? Players run straight for you, knowing you can't fire until they're inside, then knock you senseless with the butt of their rifle. Which brings us on to our next question...

CATEGORIES
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

Latest in Halo
Halo 3
Halo 3 streamers claim a world record by beating the game's near-impossible LASO challenge in only 4 hours without dying once
halo
Microsoft said "'Nah'" to the Halo x Doom crossover pitched for Amazon's Secret Level, but I'm crossing my fingers for Season 2
Last Spartan Standing
With Concord in the rearview, Halo Infinite dev is glad it's still kicking "in a climate where games can be shut down with little notice"
Master Chief holds a beaming energy sword in our first look at Project Foundry
Almost 100GB of classic Halo content has leaked online, including the 1999 demo from when the legendary FPS was in third person
Halo Wars promo image showing top-down RTS combat
Master Chief's absence from Halo Wars wasn't Bungie's fault, it was a move to make players "care about everybody else" in the RTS
Halo 2
The Halo 2 Arbiter mission that Bungie scrapped 21 years ago has been officially restored as a playable Master Chief Collection mod
Latest in News
Ultima Online
As Ultima Online approaches its 28th birthday, former creative lead reveals what it takes for an MMO to last for decades, and why they sometimes fail: "Content does not last forever"
Link and Epona
A Zelda movie is finally happening, but Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto used to adamantly oppose the idea even "if Steven Spielberg himself" wanted to do it
Robert Downey Jr announces his Doctor Doom casting at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
"He is so dialed in": Robert Downey Jr. is coming up with backstory and costume ideas for Doctor Doom ahead of Avengers: Doomsday
Stardew Valley
With another "thank you," Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone brings an update arc to a close with "the Switch patch to fix the last Switch patch"
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle
Over 80 countries and 42 days: the first Demon Slayer Infinity Castle movie's remarkable staggered release plans have been revealed – including a US date
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds' story is as divisive as expected: some players hate the "relentless on rails handholding," others love the build-up to "the best scene in Monster Hunter history"