New Interview with Frankie

[Wondermonkey]

I won't post the whole thing here, but here are some interesting questions/answers:

XCN: Will Halo 3 feature an online Coop Mode?

Frank O'Connor: There are quite a few things that didn't make it into Halo 2 so we get asked if they'll be in Halo 3. If they didn't make it into Halo 2 there's a very good reason for that. Things like the Mongoose have made it into Halo 3, but we haven't made any announcements about a coop mode yet.

XCN: Are you influenced by other games like Gears of War, would you consider implementing some things like the Gears of War cover system in Halo 3?

Frank O'Connor: We're always asked about the influence of other games on Halo and recently the 'other game' often seems to be Gears of War. Will the cover system influence Halo? The honest answer is no. The gameplay for Halo 3 was decided long before Gears of War even shipped. If we put the cover system in Halo it would ruin the game because it's not about cover. It's about big encounters and open spaces and vehicles and so on. Gears of War is about cover. Sticking something like that onto our game wouldn't be a good idea. Anyway, there is a cover system in Halo - it's called ducking behind objects and using the environment to shield you from harm. But we won't be putting a cover button in, and it's certainly not the X button that we're often asked about.

XCN: Can we expect some "back to the halo roots" game play in halo 3, or is it more like an advanced halo 2 gameplay?

Frank O'Connor: If I had to summarise the gameplay in Halo 3 - and remember this is a personal statement and not the official line - I'd have to say that fans of Halo 2 will be incredibly excited about how the multiplayer experience has evolved. We're keeping everything you love like the matchmaking, but we're also adding a ton of stuff. I think there are some things that will really surprise people and - I'll regret saying this - but I think everyone will like what we're adding. There's certainly nothing anyone could get upset about. Things like weapon balance, gameplay types, matchmaking features etcetera are all improved, so I think the multiplayer aspect should be a giant upgrade for everyone. There will be a few weapon balancing things that people will complain about initially, but that's usually just a learning process.

The Campaign game is probably the most dramatically different aspect. I'm not going to say much more, but I will say that I'm constantly amazed by some of the encounters I'm having in the Campaign game. I'll fire up a build, play 15 minutes and then just turn around to the guys and say "wow!". One of the best thing about the first Halo was telling the stories about

read the whole thing here.

[ZoomZoom71]

Thanks for the find! Always a good read.

[Epyon MX]

XCN: Are there any plans to include an all time stats page to count lifetime kills, headshots, sticks, splatters etc across Halo 2 and Halo 3? How will Bungie.net change?

Frank O'Connor: Halo 2 stats and Halo 3 stats are not going to talk to each other but we are going to give users more tools to record statistics and Achievements. Bungie.net will remain a great place to go and track your statistics and we'll be giving you more information on how the game will reward your progress soon, so stay tuned to Bungie.net for that.

XCN: Will we see any Xbox Live Arcade games from Bungie in the future?

Frank O'Connor: We're very busy on Halo 3 and finding the bandwidth to do something as seemingly simple as creating maps for Halo 2 is very difficult for us, so being able to work on a whole new game is even trickier. That said, Arcade games are loved by so many people and certainly people here at Bungie, so it wouldn't be out of the question to see us working on an Arcade game sometime down the road. But anytime soon? Don't count on it. You know what we're working on and it takes lots of time, but an Arcade game is definitely something the studio is interested in. Maybe it could be a side project like Geometry Wars or maybe it would be something more involved. We'll see.

XCN: Do you have any plans to develop any more games outside of the Halo franchise in the near future?

Frank O'Connor: If the question is whether bungie will work on anything else other than Halo then the answer is yes, of course. We're working on Halo 3 right now and we're going to concentrate on making it the best Halo game yet, but there's a huge bunch of creative people here with so many ideas. If you're new to the Bungie community you might just associate us with Halo but we've made a ton of old PC and Mac games like Marathon. We'll continue to work on other games in the future.

Seeing Marathon on XBL would kick all the butt! (I have it on my Mac, but playing on XBL would rule).

And more Bungie.net tools and stat tracking? Can I get an 'amen?'