Halo fans that have been waiting patiently – mostly – for word of when the game would go into all out multiplayer beta don’t have to wait any longer. The word has come down from on high.

Bungie has stated that multiplayer beta will open for Halo 3 via Xbox Live May 16 at 5 a.m. PDT and run through June 6.

The beta will be open to those who have picked up special copies of Crackdown and those who won a spot during regional promotions. Gamers with beta access only need to log onto the Xbox Live Gold account and download the title to play the beta.
Fence sitters can still get in on the action, Frankie says.

“You can still enter the Beta by picking up a specially marked copy of Crackdown, which would ordinarily be a chore, but thankfully Crackdown is an awesome action game which might ironically distract you from the Beta I’m pimping here. Bungie is also giving out a few Friends and Family spots to valued community members, but those are few and far between, so it’s safer to assume you’re not getting in that way.”

While beta will be open to only a select few, it is still good news that shows progress is happening with the title. The highly anticipated game is expected to come out later this year.

Master Chief fans will be waiting.

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Labels: bungie, halo, halo 3, microsoft, multiplayer beta

Halo 3 is moving into full gear with a release expected later this year, but that doesn’t mean Bungie’s giving up on giving Halo 2 fans a little love.

The company has announced the creation of two new maps – the last two they’ll do for the old game. Tombstone and Desolation are remakes of the old Halo 1 Hang ‘Em High and Derelict maps and they’re expected to come out later this month.

The folks at Bungie are calling this a “last salute to Halo 2 multiplayer as we move toward Halo 3 in the fall.”

“Lots of folks are asking us in direct terms, ‘why make maps for Halo 2, when Halo 3 is just around the corner?’ Well, because we love Halo 2 and we love our fans. They’ve continued to play Halo 2 solidly for three years, in vast numbers, and we owe them it.”

Of course they won’t be giving it away at no charge, but they are making the new maps available for both the Xbox 360 and the old Xbox.

“It was originally scheduled to be a 360 only game, but it just wasn’t going to work out. Number one, there are a lot of Xbox players out there who can’t afford a 360, or are waiting for a birthday or holiday gift – so they wouldn’t be able to play.

Worse still, we’d have to split the matchmaking playlists differently and that wouldn’t have been fair either. So in the interests of fairness and an easy life, it’s on Xbox and Xbox 360.”

The maps will come in at a cheap $4 and will be available April 17.

For more details, visit Bungie’s official site.

While it’s great to see Bungie give Halo 2 a little more love before it’s pushed aside for Halo 3, it’s my guess fans would be more excited about brand new maps rather than remakes, but maybe that’s just me.

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Labels: bungie, halo, halo 2, halo 3, halo maps, xbox 360

Mass Effect for the Xbox 360 doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but it’s sure looking like a winner if screenshots and trailers can be believed.

BioWare released several new shots during the GDC and this game is just looking spectacular. Offering play for one person, Mass Effect is a space age RPG that look like it blends the fantastic storyline of games like Oblivion with the fast-action shooting of Halo.

The game has players taking on the role of Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy. It is their mission to take an elite recon squad across a galaxy to stop an enemy before it’s too late.

“To stop this enemy, you must act without remorse, without hesitation, and outside the limits of the law," instructs the game's official site. "Your only imperative is to preserve the safety of civilized life in the galaxy - at any cost. You must become the tip of the spear of humanity, for you alone know the full extent of what is at stake if you should fail.”

It sounds like Mass Effect has some very good customization features on both the main character and the RPG involved. The screen shots, as I’ve said, look amazing. If the substance matches, this could be a hard game to beat.

There’s no set date on a release, but it looks like BioWare is planning to turn it loose before the end of the year.

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Labels: bioware, halo, mass effect, rpg, xbox 360