Halo 2 and Halo 3 comparison video

Idiot 1: "Hey, let's make a graphics comparison video and then show it in a low res flash movie."
Idiot 2: "Sounds Great!"

There's no doubt about it. Halo 3 looks great! The only graphics issue I see are jaggies, and that's either because they are running at a low resolution, or not using AA.

Anyone who thinks Halo 3's graphics are not the best they could be is ignorant and should be in school instead of posting 'Halo 3 sux0rz' on the internet.

BTW, how can you kiddies compare Halo3 to GoW? It's like comparing Battlefield 1942 to Doom3. Do you not see the level size difference between Halo3 and GoW?

The Halo3 textures are great, the weapon effects are great, the lighting and models are great. If you don't like it, then for the love of god, stop playing it and stop bitching about it.

All you people expecting that all these people saying they were underwhelmed are just bashing it because they don't own the console or making up stories are idiots. I've played it, was underwhelmed and so was a lot of people I've talked to who had the chance to play it.

Honestly.. the ground looks like crap, people said it would be fixed, characters just look polished up a bit(yes it does look better) and looking at this low quality clip here, I couldn't tell sometimes when it switched from halo 2 to halo 3. When I play it on my hd set.. I can tell the difference.. but it's not good enough to even brag about. Look at the jump in graphics in the rainbow six series. This lame halo jump makes me want to cry.

And a well known thing is there are a lot of enthusiastic fanboys of HALO out there that they'll show up everywhere trying to defend it.

If you enjoyed the first two halos and don't mind paying again for something you've kind of seen before, you won't be disappointed.

MUCH better lighting, color range, dynamic range, contrast, animation, weapons models, incredible water effects, physics, texture detail...

And that is in the BETA of the multiplayer part of the game where a substantial portion of the resources go toward maintaining a rock steady frame rate and great game play among all the players. If you think these three levels are the best you will see int he real game you are nuts. And if you think these are final graphics, you are nuts.

Finally, for the part of the game I really care about -- the single-player campaign (I can't tell you how boring I find playing round after round of the same games on the same maps), I have absolutely no doubt I will be completely blown away. Bungie has yet to disappoint me and I don't think they are going to start now.

I played the beta for the first time last night and was very impressed. Being a "first impression is the best impression" kind of guy, I can say with a bit of confidence that this game will live up to the hype.

I was playing on a hitachi 42" plasma about 5 feet away from the screen. The lighting effects are clearly a vast improvement over halo 2. Do not judge the game's graphics based on a crappy flash video. Wait until you see it yourself on a plasma or lcd HD TV and then become a critic. I watched that video while I was downloading the beta last night and though "meh" myself...

but after firing it up and playing it in HD... I had the feeling that every Halo fanboy out there will be more than satisfied with the visual quality of this game.

Personally I was more impressed with: 1. The new button layout and how it changed the game play. 2. the overall speed seemed to be increased (slightly. I have no facts supporting this, it just felt a smoother and quicker in general.) 3. the quality of the sound.

More specifically on #3 - The echoing of the sniper rifle was just incredible.

I don't get why anyone would compare it to GoW as well. GoW is one of the best looking games ever.. so I don't see a reason to compare it. No one expected this to be the best ever looking. I guess it comes down to the gameplay and it feels a lot like halo 2 with weapon upgrades and I quit halo 2 a long time ago.. so that is not that convincing. Maybe if it has a great story mode and a lot of challenging battles I might buy it.. but my friends lost interest in the older games as well.. so multiplayer isn't what I'm looking forward to the most.

I think the over enthusiastic halo fanboys need to calm down. You say it looks great, but you take into consideration what other people don't. The art style is an excuse, it only looks polished and it could of looked a lot better. And some people maybe are not that crazy about the art style. Simple as that.

The characters walk like stiff planks of wood, the ground looks like a steamy pile of shit, it feels a bit blocky in certain areas and it feels like you are playing almost the exact same game but with upgrade graphics, weapons and certain animations.

Yes I know it's a beta, but for the short upcoming release date, I'm not too enthusiastic at the moment. Even if they clean up some things.. I'm doubtful that it be living to the true potential it has, but microsoft needs to sell consoles so they are throwing this one out too fast. Definitely.

Well honestly guys the game will look good and it will sound good.I haventseen a game that looks better than gears(I mean thats released).Gears looks better than any game before it period.ANY PS3 GAME ETC.IT LOOKS BETTER THAN UT2007 AS OF NOW AND, IT LOOKS BETTER THAN EVERY PS3 GAME!

As far as the comment about religion, well lets just say that with the diverse life on this planet it takes less of a brain to believe that we came from slime on rocks imo.Or that we came from monkeys.thats why life today isnt valued at all.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND THIS! Just because people have amped out throughout history using religion as grounds to kill many for their own purposes(MONEY etc)doesnt mean that religion isnt true or that its for the weak.When peoplespeak of the crusades etc.Remember that it was all about money!That was the driving force!We are in Iraq today for cntrol and money!Or resources etc.Bush states that hes a Christian, but that doesnt mean that he is.I am sure some of your parents stated that santa was real, but that doesnt mean that its true!

Truth of the matter is this.To know that God doesnt exist one would have to have the knowledge to know that God doesnt exist to prove it.But no human can rival the intelligence of God.What is electricity?

How big is the universe, and dont state infinite as it does have a size, everything has a size, we just cant see nor compehend it.Funny thing is that all of the so called intelligent people neglect all the truth of the scriptures, such as all the prophecies that have came to past, like alexander, the destroying of the temple in jerusalem, and Yeshua stating that not even a single stone would be left of that temple standing upon another.And when you see the temple mount today you dont see any stones remaining from that temple.And theres plenty more.Remember this mankind is extremely evil on its own.We lie steal an plunder regularl.Africa has been laid to waste and blood shed is continuing by nations that state they are behind world peace, yet the sell guns to the militia in certain parts of africa, and it has nothing to do with religion.Slave in the hundreds of millions were brought to the americas only to be mistreated and killed brutally by so called professing christians that obviously have never read thy shalt not commit murder, or adultery etc.And these are the founding fathers that are revered until this day!And yes they commited adultery.But they were corrupt as well.Live and learn before you make dogmatic statements like there is no God.Especially when you dont know enough about history. or whats considered pagan!Christianity is not what the catholics teach.The term christian was used before the catholic church came to be according to the bible.That term christian was coined in antioch.

The bread and wine are not the literal body of christ as taught by the catholics.I would think common sense would tell anyone that.Its funny how a bunch of 17 year olds have the meaning to life without stepping a foot outside of their parents doorsteps.

Thread killed.

Okay... I despise Halo. I think it's Multiplayer is pointless run-n-gun bullshit. I prefer tactical FPS games where you have to actually use cover, and you don't bounce all over the place. That craps just not fun...

My point though is that Halo 3 obviously looks better than Halo 2. There is better bump mapping, better lighting, better textures, better effects, etc. If you can't see that goto gametrailers and get the HD version. I guess people were expecting real-life from a console that can't provide that. Maybe next generation folks, not this time around. Go buy a PC in 6-7 months if you want better graphics.

The halo fans are gonna love this game. The haters are gonna hate it. Halo 3 obviously looks better. Bungies squeezing some good stuff out of the MP portion of the game so far for Beta. I can't wait to see what optimizations they can make to improve it even more.

Even a halo hater can appreciate decent graphics.

Played it for 9 hours yesterday. 'Nuff said.

I have to agree with the "meh" with Halo 3 graphically... they may have some great balance, but I still think UT is superior. Just my 2c.

Why do the Xbots/Halowhores conveniently downplay graphics when they're at the disadvantage? Not long ago they were touting the Xbox's graphical superiority as a main talking point.

And this is coming from a 360 owner. Mass Effect looks a lot better than Halo 3, and it's pretty massive. Mass' gameplay will probably be deeper too ("oh no you can't compare them b/c they are different genres1!!1" - please, that argument is a cop-out. One will be shallow, one will not. Simple as that). They'll both be $60. ONe will be worth the money, and the other's replayability and "worth" will be based on a bunch of retards talking shit to one another on Live. I'll be getting Mass Effect. Halo 3? I'll give it a chance, although I've already played Halo 1 & 2 extensively enough to be thoroughly disappointed.
It just looks like a tweaked Halo 2. I'm aware that gameplay balance has been tightened for Halo 3, but seeing the type of imbiciles that play on Xbox Live who whine about my consistently fragging them leads me to believe that *most* Halo freaks are simply not too socially aware or intelligent. The Halo fanboy comments on this thread certainly don't serve to alleviate my perception.

Oh and it's already been said, but people don't seem to get it: if the game's in Beta, what you're seeing is pretty much what you're going to get when the game goes gold. Deal with it.

People expecting Halo 3 to look as good as Gears of War will be disappointed, but fear not, like Shoe has said, the single player campaign does look better. Bungie has 4 months to make this game as solid as possible, and if in the end we get an incredible game with visuals that are better, but not "incredible", then I'll be happy.

Speaking of part three's, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption looks better than parts 1 and 2, and better than at last year's E3.

plain and simple, i have played tons of halo 2, and i have played the beta, and the beta is halo 2.5


you can't tout the 360 as being next-gen and call this your system seller, cause this is not next-gen.

As an owner of the 3 consols. Iv played this beta. Its the worst, realy! the graphics are really just the worst,really. i mean the game sucks just like 360s suck. makes me want to go back and just play my ps3.

to be honest, i smashed my 360 with hammer. it was going to red ring anyway. no games on 360 are good. ill stick with mario, ty.

Hm, the graphics are a little better. I was expecting more, but whatever. I don't care about graphics anyway. Too bad I missed on the religion argument in this thread though. Shucks.

Alright here's the deal. I played it for about 2 hours yesterday and just like alot of people I was not impressed AT ALL. I do understand it is a beta and it still has plenty of time to get finished but inevitably this is going to be compared to Gears which is the new standard in video games (graphics, sound, gameplay, etc.) I have to admit that Halo 2 was THE best looking game on the regular XBOX (sorry Doom 3, you tried and failed) and it is natural for us to expect this game to introduce a new standard. I for one play Halo for the campaign mode and not multiplayer so that is what I am most looking forward to. But I do agree with the majority of those who at least attempt to have an objective viewpoint, there is absolutely nothing that "wows" about the beta. I sincerely hope that in the end this game blows everything else away. But it is going to be difficult for this game to beat Gears in the graphics department and it has nothing to do with the Unreal Engine itself but rather, the art direction. Gears has a dirty, grimy look to it that totally adds to the immersion and realism of the game. Halo's graphics are too "clean". Throw some dirty textures, explosions, blood (lots of it, otherwise there is no satisfaction in getting a kill), etc. I think Gears did it completely right by adding the violence and gore. If you're going to be shooting people, then it is expected for them to bleed and be dismembered. I'm sorry, but Halo needs to get with the program in that deparment. I would love to see some heads pop in Halo 3. Otherwise there will be no fun in getting kills other than collecting points.

It's retarded. It's Halo 2 with a few special effects slapped on, some new weapons, vehicles, and maps.

Shows over, moving on, DONE.

I am very eager, however, to get the retail version when it's out. I'm sure it's going to be far more impressive than this.

yea i def. agree with edge of blade, i def dont see ps3's selling very good in the future, evey time i walk into a store there are always ps3's stacked in cases as many as they can cram in there. while the xbox 360s are still selling might good and to add to that, the xbox 360 elite that just came out... lets see, a 120 gb hard drive, better HD cables and much more, its all out better than the origional 360 and ps3's have no reason to be $600 i mean what is so speacial about blu ray anywyas.. whoop de freaking doo.. i have had both systems side by side and couldt tell much between gameplay of both systems and watching dvd's... not all that spectacular to me.. and besides Yes the graphics on halo 3 arent stunning, but in a fantasy game like that, i dont think they look for things like spectacular graphics like other games, theres not much to improve from halo 2 anyways except the scenery and some of the minor details on things that dont even matter, and guess what, halo 3 fixed all those graphical issues and it looks much better to me than halo 2... i have played the BETA for 2 days now and i am ADDICTED to it. i dont really care much for graphics just as long as it has a great story mode then i am fine but once again, there is defenetely a difference in the graphics between both games... U dont know until u see play it for yourself u dumbass ps3 fanboys who are getting screwed over by sony

I really don't get why there's so much bashing to the Halo 3 Beta. "It looks too video-gameish."? What the hell is it supposed to look like? I'd rather it look different from real life, and stylized in its own right so that I can make sense of things easier. One thing you can definitely tell by the bright armor and the shininess is that it's different. I can discern my enemy a lot easier in that respect. If Bungie had gone out of their way to make things have little to no difference in color or anything it'd be bland. They'd stick to the surroundings, and Halo would be unplayable.

And to those who are like "It doesn't play any different," why the fuck should it? It's Halo. You know what you signed up for. The gametypes and balance have been improved significantly, and I really think that the equipment is a good and worthy upgrade.

It's not about being ground breaking, or looking the best. It's about being the best overall experience, and Halo does that for me. The gameplay is unparred, and the graphics are really all I need. I purchased Gears of War. I played it for 2 months, and then it just got to the point where it was just bland. Every match was the same. Weapon variation sucked, and it was shoot first or die first. I left Gears and it's graphical paradise that you make it out to be, and I went back to the fun of Halo 2.

Now if you don't mind, I'll be returning to Valhalla/Snowbound/High Ground, right now.

Not really seeing what is making thia Halo-3 so super. A slight graphic overhaul, and flashier boom stuffs, with an assorted array of further confusion weaponry, Halo 3 isn't as impressive as I had hoped. I was expecting something much more "OOH-AHH"-ish. Sorry for those that my lack of enthusiasm, but I was hoping for more in the third title.

I don't understand why everyone is worried. Try this. Go to youtube and watch videos of the Halo 2 Beta. It looks like crap. worse than halo one. So if there is the same improvement in graphics from here to release, Halo 3 might look better than Gears. Also keep in mind that we are watching what will be High Definition gameplay in low resolution internet sites...

P.S. If it has quad-op, I'll get it. but only if quad-op.

Firstly, you are all fools.

The beta for Halo 3 IS IN FACT Halo 2 Graphics. They are slightly enhanced, but not by much. The final product will make gears look like childsplay.

Just wait, I told you so.

I don't know about all of you guys. But I feel that Halo 3 has more of, "Halo," feeling than number 2. I guess it could be because the auto-aim is down, or something along the lines of that. I just think it feels like it should, unlike Halo 2 which feeled...different.
Just my feelings.

Some of the little details in the graphics are better, but other than that they are the same. Now onto my real reason for posting.

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO OBSESSED WITH HALO? It sucks compared to just about any shooter that has/is come/coming out last/this year/ for pc! And why is everyone so caught up with the way the graphics look??? Oh, I can drool at this game that looks great but I can't really do anything that I couldn't do in the original rainbow six, which came out almost 10 years ago, WTF.

And to all you people who are going to say, "well how else can they improve it?" Here are a few ideas that I wish someone would use. Some developers have actually been smart enough to dare to be original. FFS if bungee wasn't so worried about maintaining its cash cow maybe it would make a decent game.

Does anyone remember Tribes?? You remember the jetpacks and the land skies that made the ground have 0 friction so you could slide really fast when you landed (thats how you solve clunky running)? Remember the grapling hooks that let you swing from ceilings? Where did they all go? All the developers copy eachother's games but no one copied this one. WHY. If your going to rip something off then at least be original about it.

Does anyone remember PerfectDark64? Remember the laptop gun? The one that you could use manualy and then turn it into an automated sentry to watch your back for you? And the Farsight gun that shot a heat seeking projectile that chased the nearest enemy through the halls and around corners even to the other side of the map?

In the original half-life you could play dead. 'nuff said.

And has anyone noticed that Halo is pacticly the only FPS out there that does not let you shoot people out of vehiles? It's funny when you line up that perfect headshot on that guy in the warthog way over there, you shoot, the vehicles shield flickers, and you remember why you hate halo.

Also, there is not a single original multiplayer mode in halo.

Now for my ideas. Why not make a weapon that doesn't just deal damage to the enemy? Why not make a weapon that pulls the water up out of the lake next to you, and floods part of the map, slowing everyones movement.

Why not have a demolitions expert as a character class that can take out bridges, towers, trees, he could even stick C4 to your face.

It just goes on and on. If I can think of good ideas, original and used, then there is no reason why bungee can't make an amazing game. They are seriously just not trying.

Jebus Crust is a true sony fanboy.

If the PS3 is so great, why are most games that are on both the Ps3 and 360 BETTER looking on the 360?

Sure sony is PROMISING lots of things...but until they deliver, I won't believe it.

How quickly people forget...
Watch this to refresh your memory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRVAVdF8HLc



Stop falling for sony BS campaign...will you?

and besides the ps3 y would sony make their PSP(handheld) $250 its not worth it, its a damn handheld. not that great of graphics and holy shit oh my freaking god u can get on the internet, that is absolutely spectacular.. umm NO its called a computer, there are computers pretty much anywere u go now. i would rather spend 250 on a wii than go out and buy a handheld because i like the wii much better than i like any Sony consoles... the wii and 360 are fun when u know u can enjoy a fun game console when u know u bought it at a resonable price. not no 600 bullshit

ALL THE PS3 FANS CAN DO IS ATTACK HALO3. they have to , they all know it will sell 360's! end of story they feel afraid. they should, halo 3 has 4 million pre-orders at eb/gamestop alone. not including the other major retailers walmart, best buy etc.. it will sell live gold accounts and as well. keep hoping for a ps3 price cut so you can get more people to buy your over priced movie player. halo 3 will have the staying power that Halo2 had it will be staple for along time.what really does the ps3 have that can compete? halo franchise, like it or not is the be all and do all of online console fps's everything is compared to it nothing has come close to it. bottom line halo sells xbox's it well sell them in record numbers and MS doesn't need to cut prices to do it. as for the graphics check the bungie site, you'll be able to read that the graphics will be more polished for the final release.
BTW, liar is already being trashed as a clucky hard to play pile of crap.

The question on the 'meh' graphics isn't whether it compares to Halo 2 (an older game that didn't compare favorably with other games at the time), but whether it compares with other modern high-graphics titles. I think the answer there is still a definite no.

The graphics are fairly mediocre, but since when did people play Halo for the graphics?

I can definately see the difference, and I consider it significant, and I don't see what people think is so "meh" about it. Gears of War definatetly has higher graphical qaulity and fiddelity, but that is of no real relevence here other than telling what Halo 3 is capable of.

You can tell the difference of Halo 3 and Halo 2. Halo 2 has very low resolution textures that are pretty muddy, and it is very good for it's time. In the rocket launcher screenshot, you can tell the difference easily. Halo 3s rocket launcher was very detailed and had actual polygons that were showing protrusions, rather than the pixil replacements that were supposed to similate it, albeit a rather crappy way. Also, said protrusion has a reflective quality rather than the simple shadowed texels that were supposed to be a crappy excuse for detail.

The game is overall brighter and more vibrant, while Halo 2 is very dark, spare for places where you are not outdoors. You can see more bloom and detail in the grenade explosions, and the ground lights up in reaction to gunfire.

Halo 3 can really be compared to Halo 2 Vista, which also looks marginally better than Halo 2, so I concider this a significant improvement. Maybe people are just not as observant as I am in pointing out all of the graphical differences I see, because people here seem to be saying "the bump maps are just deeper and the pixle resolution is higher", but I have pointed out several things that are a big difference.

One more thing to concider that helps to take Gears of War out of the picture, is that one reason why it looks so much better than Halo 3 is because it's characters and environments were designed with the intention of taking advantage of the 360. When an artist comes up with a "look" or "feel" of a game for a certain piece of hardware, they have to concider upon designing environments and characters what the hardware is capable of.

You might thing the Master Chief's Mark IV MJOLNIR battle armor was just designed the way it is because it looked cool, but there is a certain thing to game design that needs to strike the right balance of how to make a game look good, and operate well at the same time. That armor was designed to look cool, while staying in the limits of the hardware's poly, vertext, shader, and rendering capability, which at the time was for the Xbox. The reason the original Halo didn't take advantage of Xbox, was because it was originally intended for the PS2, which wasn't capable of what Xbox could do. But once Microsoft purchased Bungie, and the game sold significantly, they decided to make a sequel which looked a ton better for the Xbox which would take advantage of all of the hardware bells and whistles it had to offer.

Gears was originally intended for the 360, so the head room for art and environment design was dramatically increased, with at least (I think at least) 500 million poly's per frame, with a 512MB RAM graphics card to make it faster and more efficient. Epic designed the character and teh environment to take advantage of it, so why didn't Bungie for Halo 3?

That would be because of two things: The first is that it would need to change the art and direction dramatically. The second is that doing something that looks as good as Gears while sticking strictly to the original art style is difficult to do.

Never the less, Bungie has pointed out time and time again taht it has not recieved the final coat of graphical effects (and it already looks good to me personally). And the second is that EGM said that the brief screening of the single player looks spectacular (and if you've watched the "Et Tu Brute?" Vidoc, you've seen jsut how good it looks.

It is not a big deal, and people have to keep in mind, which the big wigs have said again and again, is that this is not the final version. Being a big fiddler with Engines and Renderers and whatnot, graphics are not a very big issue to deal with, it's the physics and processing, and the programming that makes the game run that are the biggest headache that they spend the most time on, hence why they are doing the damn beta in the first place, which you guys that are critisizing should realize. It's not to show off, it's to fix bugs.

I feel I've ranted long enough, but I am pretty sure I've made a point.

Most of you people are idiots. The multiplayer graphics have been increased significantly with bumpmapping, more detailed textures, and whatnot (things not in multiplayer halo2). Multiplayer halo3 beta looks more like single player halo2 (on the 1080 hdtv I'm playing on at least). And since graphics are always downgraded for the multiplayer experience in the halo games, then I'm pretty sure the singlplayer experience is going to look great. As for the person who said his girlfriend couldn't see a difference (#11 I believe), I question if she even plays games. If she does, I'd question her eyesight and, therefore, question the next time she's driving somewhere with someone in the passenger seat.

I'm a DS owner and I think it looks like Halo 2 for Vista, and MP Hunters control way better than this.