Courtesy of the latest Bungie update we have some reasoning for the price increase on the Legendary edition, and also find out some details on vehicular AI within the game.
Retailer had thus far been taking pre orders on the Legendary edition for $99.99, however a press release issued by Microsoft last week confirmed that it will in fact cost $129.99.
Microsoft put out a press release this morning, and finally revealed the awesome new packaging for the Legendary Edition of Halo 3, along with the red-faced admission that it’s going to be $30 more expensive than the estimated retail price used by retailers for pre-orders. Much as they telegraphed the fact that this price and content could be subject to change, it’s fair to say that these things usually don’t change. So apologies for that, but I think hardcore collectors (at whom the Legendary Edition is squarely aimed) will be pleased with the end result. The thing is truly lovely in real life, from the finish of the helmet itself, to the operation of the box and its sleeve. It reeks of quality and attention to detail (as it should at that price) and for fans, it’s probably worth every penny.
Regarding the vehicluar AI, remember how in Halo 2 it can be hard to get your AI controlled gunner to shoot where you want them to? Well no more according to Frankie, who says your computer controlled counterparts should be alot smarter now.
Max, our AI guy, is working on making vehicles more sweet and awesome. And they’re already sweet and awesome to begin with. But wait, vehicles don’t have AI! They’re vehicles. Well no, they don’t, but their drivers do. I mentioned this a while ago, that it seemed to me that while driving a Hog, for example, your AI driver seemed to be doing a better job of targeting. Well now it’s even better than that.
The AI improves the predictive targeting of an AI gunner, so that now, he’s going to shoot where he thinks you’re looking, with a frightening degree of accuracy. Balancing that in Campaign would have been problematic in Halo: CE or Halo 2, since it would have been too powerful a weapon, but in Halo 3, there is simply so much going on, and so many targets to focus on, that improving it is actually necessary to stop the game being too hard.
It works especially well in letting you steer the vehicle and the camera to tempt the gunner into targeting an individual. So if a brute is giving you a really hard time, lobbing Brute Grenades, for example, you can easily cause the gunner to pick that guy as your next target with simple steering and looking. And it doesn’t matter if he’s in the center of a group of five or six Grunts. If you’re aiming correctly, the AI gunner will know the difference and concentrate on the Brute, not because it’s a Brute, but because you’ve chosen him as the target.
Other vehicle behaviors have been vastly improved too. When you drove quickly up to Marines in Halo 2, they used to scatter and dive out of the way – which is cool, but not too convenient when your intent is to cruise up to them and tempt them into a vehicle. Now they’re far smarter about knowing where you’re aiming and how fast you’re going, and will only dive at the last second if they sense real danger to their livelihood. They’re also way faster and more logical about getting in and out of vehicles. It’s almost as if they know there’s a war going on….
Read the full Bungie update here.
