The Halo 3 public beta will hit Xbox Live worldwide on May 16. Repeat: the Halo 3 public beta will Xbox Live worldwide on May 16.
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Actually, the news isn’t that big of a deal unless you have a copy of Crackdown, which included access to the beta, or completed the “Rule of Three” challenges during Bungie’s odd little play-lots-of-Halo-2-and-get-in-the-Halo-3-beta contest. After all, those were the only two ways to get access the public beta.
The beta will run one month, concluding at 11:59pm on June 16.
The Halo 3 beta will test the online multiplayer portions of the game alone. The maps it will let gamers test are Snowbound, High Ground and Valhalla, which represent a mixture of large- and medium-scale combat environments. Keep in mind, however, that since the beta will only test online multiplayer functions, gamers will only be able to participate if they have an Xbox Live Gold account.
In addition to the three maps, Halo 3’s new Mongoose vehicle will also be testable, as will multiple weapons: the new and improved Assault Rifle, the Brute Spiker, the Spartan Laser and the new Spike Grenades.
