Halo 3 Beta Prodded, Madness Insues

The uber-fans at the 7th Columnist have been rummaging through the Halo 3 Beta code since it's release and have come up with a few interesting assets hidden within. The most interesting of the revelations include various named armour pieces like "spartan_helmet_mp_cobra" and "elite_rightshoulder_mp_predator". This leads us to believe that the multiplayer portion (mp) of the game will have customizable avatars, build your own spartan, lego-style. Parts are listed for both Spartan and Elite models. The Spartan models include; default ninja, cobra, intruder, and regulator. Elites can choose from default, pedator, or raptor.

Going back and looking at the Beta's interface I'm going to have to agree with these conclusions. If you look in several places, such as service records and post-game stats you find shots of the winning player's Spartan. In the service record section it's completely hollow, not included in the beta. If you think about it this makes no sense why they would show the MVP's character, since everyone looks the same, and why would they bother showing a full body model in the service records just for colours?

The ability to customise your character would be a great addition to the game and would offer Microsoft an excellent opportunity for "premium" downloadable content in the future. Name one fanboy that wouldn't throw in five bucks for a few extra models. But besides the profit element it could be a great way to enhance gameplay. Combined with the new Spartan Tag feature where the game gives you a 3 digit alphanumeric code instead of your name it could lend very nicely to better battlefield character recognition and could build a better Halo community.

In addition to the custom models the 7th Columnist also uncovered achievment lists, new weapons including a "fuel rod cannon", "flamethrower", and "excavator". Lastly, they have reason to believe the final code will include the much requested 4-player online co-op, a feature Bungie has been begged for since Halo 1. I will be a happy camper if all the things listed in the Beta code make it in, and I will be pleasantly surprised to find even more in the final copy when it releases September 25th this year.