Weapons

As with any first person shooter, the weapons either make or break the game. In the Halo universe, players get a nice mix of human and covenant weapons that really have an individual role in different situations. The question of whether one weapon is better than the other is usually the discussion seen between many fans on Halo message boards all over the internet.

In Halo 3, there’s a good amount of new entries into the weapons list as well as the old favorites returning with either the same functionality as their Halo 2 counterparts or with some changes. Bungie’s focus in making the game as balanced as it can be became very clear when the beta was released. People were able to see that each weapon had a counter and that everyone started off on a level playing field. The following are some of the weapons that many will remember.

Plasma Pistol

The Plasma Pistol changed a little since Halo 2. As many who’ve played the game, remember its charge could not only deplete someone’s shield, but it could home in on the target almost without fail. Well, in Halo 3, while it still kills your shield, it won’t follow you as easily. Also, as many people who liked the Battle Rifle/Plasma Pistol combo will undoubtedly hate it; if the charge is held for too long the gun starts losing its charge.

Magnum

Although this pistol may look like the one from the first Halo, don't get your hopes up. The magnum now shoots slower than the Halo 2 version, yet its shots do more damage. There's also no zoom, so fans of the first pistol will just have to dust off their old copies of Combat Evolved to get their fix.

Needler

For many fans of Halo, the Needler has always been the most useless weapon in the game. The fact that you had to pump someone with almost an entire “clip” of this to get any real effect, coupled with the fact that the projectiles were slow to reach the target. This made this gun about as useful as a butter knife in a gunfight. All of that is about to change in Halo 3.

In Halo 2, the Needler was one of the few dual-wieldable weapons in the game. In Halo 3, however, the Needler can’t be dual-wielded. The reason behind this is because the gun has received a massive overhaul in damage and rate of fire. It only took a matter of time in the beta before there were people gunning down opponents with the Needler without any real problem.

Assault Rifle

To many gamers, no weapon in the beta made as big of an impression as the Assault Rifle has. Coming back from the recesses of the first Halo, the Assault Rifle is the standard starting weapon. Good for mid to close range combat, this gun’s ability to spit out as many bullets as it does can spell doom for anyone on the business end of it.

Battle Rifle

As mentioned previously, there's a new starting weapon. After looking at the Battle Rifle in Halo 2, Bungie removed the auto-aim from the gun. It’s still pretty lethal but as they say, “close only matters for hand-grenades and horseshoes”.

Sniper Rifle

The Sniper Rifle hasn’t changed a whole lot. Its aim assist has been reduced like the Battle Rifle and the rate of fire was lowered as well. On top of those changes, the Sniper Rifle also has a wicked recoil, so any chance of just randomly firing at someone in hopes of hitting them won't actually work anymore. With the amount of recoil this gun has, the player has to re-adjust their shot, putting the emphasis more on aiming than firing with reckless abandon.

Energy Sword

Arguably one of the most controversial weapons in Halo, the Energy Sword makes its return to Halo 3. Players got to use this one in the beta after a workaround was found to be able to create custom games. Many people’s complaint on Halo 2 was the Energy Sword’s ability to lock-on to enemies. Bungie has addressed the issue by making it a little harder to lock-on to anyone. There's also a slight delay in switching from one weapon to the sword to stop players from switching so fast that they can achieve a lock-on before the sword even shows up on the game. This also gives the sword wielder somewhat of an advantage against his/her attacker. After all, Bungie's focus of multiplayer is on balance.

To address the issue of people “whoring” the Energy Sword, Bungie’s also made the sword have a charge, much like it did in single player. The Sword is still a devastating weapon, but with these changes, it gives the vocal minority a little less to complain about.

Rocket Launcher

With the removal of its lock-on feature, the Rocket Launcher hasn’t changed much at all.

Along with the old standbys, there are a couple of new entries to the battlefield worth checking out. These new weapons are sure to become new favorites just as the older ones have.

Brute Spiker

The Brutes have a new weapon to call their own. The Brute Spiker shoots sharp projectiles at anyone in its path. It has a very high rate of fire and when dual-wielded, it can be devastating. Much like the Brute Shot, the Spiker has blades in the back for any close encounters in the game.

Spartan Laser

When first images of this new heavy weapon first saw the light of day, many fans felt that it looked a little too powerful. The thoughts became more vocal after the release of a Microsoft employee’s video of the internal beta and his destructive use of the Laser, yet when the public beta came out, players got to use this first hand. The Spartan Laser definitely needs some time getting used to. There is no lock-on feature and it’s not a rapid-fire kind of weapon. In order to get the full effect, the player needs to charge up the shot before firing. If the player attempts to fire too early, nothing happens. If you hit a vehicle with this, however, you’ll see that it will reduce a Warthog into a flying tin can, which is a testament to what it will do to another player.

Turret/Missile Pod

In Halo 3, the player now has the option to remove a Turret or Missile Pod off of their mounts and take them with you to unleash onto the world. When the player does this, the camera switches to third person mode, which is a first in the Halo series, and fires. The size of either weapon makes movement very slow for the person wielding it.

The difference between the Turret and the Missile Pod is that the Missile Pod fires, well, missiles. The Missile Pod also has the ability to lock-on to vehicles.

Spike Grenade

The only new addition to the grenades is that the Spike Grenade adds to the depth of gameplay. This new grenade can be described as a mix of both plasma grenade and frag grenade. The Spike Grenade sticks to any surface, excluding water, and explodes in a cone shape out from the surface. Stick this grenade above someone’s head and the grenade will explode in a downward fashion. Got someone chasing you? Throw one on the wall to the right and the blast, if timed right, will explode from right to left right into your opponent’s side.