Bungie says battle with Call of Duty 4 is a "ping pong match".
Halo 3's next round of DLC will include smaller slayer-based maps designed to give fans of the FPS what they've demanded.
Speaking in the latest podcast with Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Director of Programming, Larry Hyrb, aka Major Nelson, Bungie's Frank O'Connor also described the ongoing battle between Halo 3 and superb military FPS Call of Duty 4 for the number one game on Xbox LIVE as a "ping pong match" and said "I'm sure we'll overtake them and maybe they'll overtake us again".
AdvertisementEarlier in the month Bungie said a server host melee advantage fix would be available to download later this month. Now Halo 3 fans know what to expect from the upcoming Halo 3 DLC, which is expected in spring despite Frankie telling Major Nelson it will be coming out in "some unspecified time frame".
"Our next DLC pack is coming out in some unspecified time frame," he said. "What we're doing this time though is giving people smaller maps, that's not all of them, but we're definitely giving them the smaller slayer maps that they demanded.
"One of the things people think is missing from Halo 3's suite of maps is smaller deathmatch type maps for competitive play. We'll definitely deliver there I think. As well as the other bigger more exciting objective maps."
Frankie also revealed his feelings on the Call of Duty 4 vs Halo 3 battle at the top of Xbox LIVE. Last time we checked, CoD4 had beat Halo 3 again after Halo 3 had briefly regained top spot. Frankie said he was looking forward to "more Call of Duty maps" and praised developer Infinity Ward for "making good stuff".
When asked about the healthy battle with CoD4, Frankie replied: "I feel pretty good. The more people who are playing videogames on 360 the better the platform does, the better we do. It is a ping pong match right now. They've done some really cool stuff and people enjoy it. I'm sure we'll overtake them and maybe they'll overtake us again. There's nothing wrong with that."
On the differences between Halo 3 and CoD4, Frankie said: "I mean how different are they? They're both first-person-shooters to a lot of people. I know what the difference in pacing is but I think for people who haven't played both of them they probably seem pretty similar on the surface but I would encourage people to try both by all means and make that comparison themselves."
Despite his admiration for the near-future military FPS, Frankie admitted he hadn't had much time to play it: "I'm terrible at CoD4," he said. "I don't even have the red dot. I've got nothing. We have to play our game so much that there's just not that much time to play other people's stuff, which is a shame."
Are you happy with Bungie's decision to release smaller slayer maps in the next round of Halo 3 DLC? How do you think CoD4 shapes up against Halo 3? Let us know in the comments section below.
Brian wrote at 04:53 on 20 February 2008
Call of Duty all the way
Josh wrote at 09:52 on 20 February 2008
Halo 3 may be trailingin the stats but overall is a far superior game. The new maps are definately needed though and thanks to bugnie for sorting the melee attack glitch.
Tarryn wrote at 11:58 on 20 February 2008
CoD 4 and Halo 3 are two entirely different games. The only edge CoD 4 has over the other, however, is a much better community. The Halo 3 teabaggers do sort of ruin it a little for intelligent, mature adults.
Demo wrote at 12:56 on 20 February 2008
COD4 is better than Halo 3. I've got both games and I don't play Halo 3 anymore, is dead!. It is not clever not to play other people's games, especially if they are the competence. COD4 is deffinitly superior than Halo 3, the physics behind COD4 game are just perfect, for example, the characters don't fly stupidly when they are killed like in Halo 3. Looking forward for the new maps for COD4 :P! but not Halo 3, which is dead :P.
CAPTelmo wrote at 13:58 on 20 February 2008
@Demo - Rubbish! Sure COD is a great game but if you can't even appreciate the brilliance of Halo 3's MP then you don't deserve to offer an "informed" opinion cos all you're spouting is spin m8.
COD and Halo are both great games. Whilst COD is solid visceral and relentless with progression (of sorts) online Halo offers so much more variety. Halo gives you Forge and Theatre and you can have endless amounts of fun changing maps and games types and recording movies and pics with the tool Bungie has provided. I think they both rock and both dev teams rightly deserve the accolades that have been heaped on them. More games like this and the games industry wouldn't be struggling at all!