The Halo 3 Control Scheme

Courtesy of the latest Bungie Weekly Update we can show you the full control scheme, diagram included, for Halo 3. Mind you it is subject to change, but should give you an idea.

Last week’s Humpday Challenge brought with it another challenge. Quickly getting used to Halo 2 controls after months of playing Halo 3. I thought I would take a moment or two today to run you through the Beta control scheme (it will certainly change or improve between now and launch, after all) and so below, you’ll see a diagram of the current default scheme. Don’t worry, the Beta will include all the standard setups that you’re used to. And this diagram does not include some of the functions available from the Start and Back buttons, since they require a quick dig-down into the interface.


Now, the single hardest thing to get used to, by far, is using RB to board vehicles, open doors and so on. It also reloads depleted weapons. That may sound like a lot of functions, but it isn’t really, since it’s contextual – you won’t reload instead of opening a gate, for example. Once you get used to RB – everything else is a breeze and pretty intuitive. Independent reloading of weapons is a blessing when you’re dual-wielding. It means you can fire one, while reloading the other.

The X-button is second nature. You’ll know when you’re carrying equipment – it’ll appear in your HUD, and all you do to use it is press X. On that note, I saw another meme pop up, and not an unreasonable one at that: You might be able to drop a shield on a vehicle and then drive around shielded. Well, nope. Cool as that might look, it would probably make a vehicle way too powerful. You should try playing around with what you can and can’t do with shields (and whatever else you find) in the Beta. It’s a blast.

One other advantage to the X-Button/RB switcheroo is that a thing that happened to me last week will be avoided – accidental ejection for betrayal. Everyone heads for an Oddball with X held down, tossing grenades at the bad guys, so when an accidental betrayal happens, everyone is mashing “X to eject” the entire time.