$180 million sold, half a million XBL users and now an online competitive league in Gamebattles. Since the announcement of the Halo 3 beta the hype over multiplayer has been building. Now, after two weeks Halo 3 can say it has delivered. New maps, and new gametypes swam? the game as the question of competition worthy will be put to the test. Gamebattles begins this week as the console community looks toward Halo with watching eyes. Dpad brings the first ever Halo 3 ladder to the limelight.

xTruly vs. Best in Back

In a back and forth set BIB defeating XT 5-4. BIB began the first game with a very close win on TS Narrows 50-45, setting the tone for the matches to come. XT bounced back with a command 3-1 win in Multiflag The Pit. Both teams began to look for an edge as XT too the second objective match, Guardian oddball, 2:50 to 1:80. Needing a win badly to avoid a 3-1 series defeat, BIB used their team to pull ahead in TS The Pit 50-35. The next two matches were Team King on Guardian and construct respectively. Up to that point BIB only had wins in TS matches. With the team together, they beat XT 2:30-1:80 and 250-200 to take the set.


Holy Reapers vs. Exclusive

Sunday brought another intense match as Holy Reapers dropped the series versus Exclusive. The teams traded games each winning one a piece in One Flag, High Grand, and TS Guardian. Exclusive pulled away with a dominant 50-35 victory over Holy Reapers. Another dominate victory then gave Exclusive a 3-1 series lead. Holy Reaper responded with dominant performances on Multiflag Narrows on The Pit. After trading games in Oddball and Team King the final match was settled on Team King Guardian leaving the set 5-4.



IPIMPDURMOM vs XLEGACYX

XLEGACYX dominated IPIMPDURMOM 9-0 showing their dominance in the Halo 3 ladder. The 23rd Rank team set the tone easily with their average 15+ TS counts and wins in every game. The scores are reflecting.


STD vs. Adrenline Rush
In another close match, STD edged out Adrenline Rush 5-4. The team traded Team Kings on Isolation and The Pit when Adrenline Rush took a 50-38 TS Last Resort next game to put them ahead. Entering the sixth game Adrenline Rush had a 4-1 series lead STD came back dominating the next three matches. They began with Team Slayer Construct victory 50-31 showing they had life still in them. Team oddball on Guardians was next and STD was clutch taking a 250-156 victory. The final two games were Multiflag on Narrows and The Pit as STD was playing like there was no tomorrow. STD used that mindset to win 3-1 and 3-0 defeating Adrenline Rush.

Conclusion

Halo 3 has a lot of potential competitively. Millions of people are picking it up and some of the new power-ups look just right. At this point, however, it is still very early to tell. The next several months will be a true test, as players will discover strategies and tricks for all stages. After that period the game can be good or bad. Pay attention to the matches as to see if skill will make a difference or will it be based on gimmicks. I predict a mixture. With players able to record demoes look for forge made game to be prominent in Gamebattles to assist in balancing ??? and spawns. Until these moments arrive, keep playing and stay tune to next week’s wrap-up.