onight Microsoft hosted an exclusive Halo 3 Multiplayer event in San Francisco, and Game Informer Online was one of the lucky few who got to attend, play a number of rounds of the beta, get shot in the face, and walk away with a Friends and Family beta code to join the battle before the Beta officially launches on Wednesday. While currently the beta program will have around 15,000 people playing prior to Wednesday’s official launch, there’s plenty of fierce competition already out there to make you feel like a newbie.

The Multiplayer beta is comprised of three maps: Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla. Gamers will not have the ability to create custom matches, so basically you choose which game mode you want to play, and then cycle through the different maps and are presented with a specific game type such as Rumble Pit, Slayer, Team Slayer, Capture the Flag, Territories, and VIP.  VIP is a new game type where each team has a VIP and teams can only score when they kill the opponent team’s VIP.

Bungie Community Lead Brian Jarrard gives tips for the battlefield

The first thing to note is the changes in the controls, which do take a few moments to get used to. The right and left bumper control picking up weapons with each hand (as well as reloading them), depending on whether or not you have a two handed weapon at your disposal. If you’ve only got one weapon, the left bumper cycles through your grenades, and the right bumper reloads. The right trigger shoots, left fires grenades, pressing in the right stick zooms, and pressing the left stick still crouches, and does that nifty little dance over corpses. The new X button functionality is what deploys what Bungie refers to as “equipment.”

Equipment adds another layer of strategy to the game with a number of different weapons and other useful devices. The new bubble shield is a lot of fun, and while you can’t shoot or get shot while you’re inside the bubble, having a rocket launcher or shotgun ready when it reopens can save you in a pinch. Need to get on top of a wall or a rooftop quickly? By deploying the new portable gravity lift you can utilize it as a temporary jump pad and get you and your teammates up to higher places that you wouldn’t be able to reach from a standard jump. The new missile pod is extremely effective against vehicles and locks on and will effectively take it out if landed. It’s a one shot, one use weapon so make sure your shot counts. Trip mines act as landmines and can take out a vehicle if driven over. Trip mines can also kill a person if they walk on top of it, but players will be able to hear a pulsating beep when nearby to warn them that there’s a trip mine in the vicinity. The power drainer is most likely my favorite new weapon which wipes out anyone’s shield that’s nearby when detonated. You’ll want to toss it with a running start to get it far enough away from you so your shield doesn’t get knocked out as well. There’s nothing like tossing a power drainer into a crowded enemy base and following it up with a grenade to wipe out the lot.

The head of a Master

Bungie has not only added quite a few weapons to the mix, but has tweaked a number of old favorites. It’s important to note that while you didn’t quite know what you were up against when you came into an encounter, you can now visually see what a player is carrying in their hand, as well as their secondary weapon which is prominently strapped to their back. The spartan laser gives players a chance against vehicles, however it has a primer time of 4-5 seconds and you can see it charging so you’ll have to plan accordingly. The brute spike rifle shoots nails that will tear someone to shreds within moments. New support weapons have also been added, and the one in the beta allows you to tear a machine gun turret off its hinges by pressing B, and then you can carry it around to mow down adversaries. The camera pulls back from first person to third person giving you a much wider area of view. Finally the new spike grenades are a riot, especially when you’re in tight quarters. These new lovelies stick to anything much like plasma grenades, but when they explode they shoot spikes that will ricochet off walls damaging the surroundings. Using them in an open area isn’t all that worthwhile, but in a hallway will slice and dice enemies.