Here’s my second-by-second analysis of the trailer Halo 3 announcement trailer. There are already other analyses out there - I hope you enjoy reading mine. I’ve tried to pick out the things that most impress me, the things that I think are indicative of the game we’ll eventually get, and the things that worry me (if any).
Remember that this trailer is running on Xbox 360 hardware - this is not prerendered. We can therefore judge the quality and know that we are somewhat approximating the final build. Enjoy!
0:00
The Halo 3 trailer was designed for the E3 conference - the audience wasn’t supposed to know it was Halo-related until the MC walked out of the cloud, and Cortana’s face was finally revealed. That’s partially the reason we have this long, slow intro - it builds tension.
A piano chord sounds at the beginning - two notes, an octave apart. With no notes in the middle (the third or fifth, especially), the notes sound lonely and final - fitting for the apocalyptic terrain that is slowly revealed. The screen begins white, and the overexposure fades out as blowing dust appears.
0:15
The white has faded away revealing a dusty, damaged area. The camera begins pulling back. It’s here that we first have cause to get excited - look at those clouds! Wispy cirrus on the left, and puffy cumulo nimbus on the left and right. Lofty stratus streaks the middle high in the sky. These clouds look better than even Oblivion’s clouds. We don’t see them moving, or changing at this time - this may or may not need to happen, but it does add realism. Should they be moving, though, especially compared to what we’re about to see in the sky? Moving clouds is not particularly difficult - they can be simple moving textures on the sky dome. Changing clouds - now that’s hard!
We see trees, though they are too far away to really examine - are they billboarded, or actual 3D objects, for example?
The most exciting thing, I think, that this image has to offer is the debris on the ground. I’ve always thought that a realism issue in today’s games is the amount of stuff lying around. If you step outside, there are rocks, shrubs, sticks - the ground is busy with stuff. In a typical Halo shot, the ground has only a texture - take a look at this shot.
At this point, you can see debris that includes wreckage - presumably from a battle - rocks, and the aforementioned dust. One negative point - the rock on the right that is partially let is very angular. So is the small clump at left center. Rocks you see in the world typically are round, such as the rock at far left.
I don’t know what the cable-like structures at the back are. I’ve heard that they could be a skyhook, but it looks more like a bridge to me. Maybe it’s multiple skyhooks? Look at the ring on the left. It has cables running to both ends, as if both have to be held down - a skyhook with two ways up? In any event, these rings were not just debris effects added at the end to make the scene look more “destroyed” - they are part of the complete storyboard. Perhaps this means that they are more important than just dressing - a battleground or level?
EDIT - Bungie has said that this is indeed a skyhook.
The dust gobs that are blowing past are simple textures - they don’t look like volumetric clouds; fairly easy to do, and adequate. Volumetric dust clouds are what you and I think of by a “cloud” - they have volume, and look different from different angles. Real clouds are fairly computationally expensive, though, and can be simulated well with flat, partially-opaque, moving dust textures. One thing that can be done to improve the dust clouds is to have the texture be a “moving” texture, so that it looks like the dust is in fact volumetric - this does not appear to be “moving” textures, either. Bungie has said that these kinds of environmental effects are part of the standard engine.
Finally, the “Warning - Grunts” sign is well documented. It’s nice to be fans of a company who are putting easter eggs into everything they do. 
0:20
A thick dust cloud begins to blow past the very center of the screen, obscuring the road.
0:22
A figure appears carry something over its shoulder, though it is too far away to tell anything about it, other than the fact that it’s probably human. Plants begin to come in from the lower left. The plants sway nicely, but they are stiff like steel rods, and have no shadows. Oh well - at least they move!
0:26
A ruined structure begins to come in from the left.
0:28
A second piano strike, and static begins to fill screen.
0:32
A blue, fuzzy image overlays the screen, and says, “I have defied gods and demons”. You can clearly hear Gravemind pronounce the word “demons”.
0:50
The figure walking towards the screen, which has gotten closer and close, appears in armor for a split second, before the blue fuzziness returns, and the blue fuzz says, “I am your shield, I am your sword.” By the end of the text, the blue fuzz is clearly Cortana
0:58
The figure coming through the smoke, through the broken structure is revealed as the master Chief. A music swell begins, and ends lightly, corresponding to the Chief removing the Assault Rifle he’s holding over his shoulder and placing the stock in his left hand.
Here is a shot of this AR. It looks slighly different than the original:
Here’s a shot of the old AR, for comparison purposes:
Some differences: The new AR is a higher resolution model, which accounts for some changes. The ammo counter area, though, is at a new angle to the stock. There are some new rivets along the upper area. The barrel is slightly longer, and has a bit of a crown to the end. There is a small plate of some kind on the right side, on the upper piece, above the pistol grip. Who knows what the changes are - full auto/triple shot, for starters? A scope?
The Chief looks great - his armor moves in separate pieces. The chest carapace moves independantly from the lower torso piece. There is much better lighting - the light coming from screen right is accurately reflected by all sides facing that direction. In addition, there is bloom associated with the light. This shows that the HDR features of Halo 3 are in full gear! Yay! Bloom is one of the easier effects, though - lets hope Bungie is able to make use of the more complex parts of HDR.
1:02
If you look closely at the MC’s visor, you can see little flashes of blue light. I believe that these are lightning flashes being reflected from what the camera is about to turn towards. They are the right color and same frequency as the lightning that is occuring. These flashes are especially apparent at 1:12 through 1:14.
1:05
Cortana says, “I know you - your past, your future.”
1:10
Marty O’Donnell comes into his own - the piano finally moves, and we hear the Theme. That haunting, theme which sounds so light - so final - so expectant.
1:14
Banshees fly in from behind. Presumably they miss the chief because he’s hidden by the wreckage? Maybe they are on his side?
1:15
The music swells, and we see that the Chief is really at the edge of a cliff, and a Covenant cruiser is right on top of him. Six banshees fly past, and a Phantom. The theme repeats again.
1:20
We see a hurricane eye-like cloud structure over what looks like a giant crater. In the middle of the crater, a non-man-made hill rises gently, and the middle of the hole is dug out again.
1:23
Two more banshees fly past (one quite close), and the Halo battle music starts! We see two more Covanant cruisers in the crater (it must truly be a gigantic hole), and we can count upwards of ten more in the background. Lighting plays from the ground to the central hole of the crater.
1:24
We get a good look at the back of the Banshee that flies close by. Where is the pilot?
1:34
Lines of dust appear in the crater, and the hill splits open, like the petals of a flower. The central area also explodes with dust. The cruiser in the middle of the crater is blown back a bit.
1:38
We have a view of the cliff edge, and the Chief standing there.
1:43
Notice the shadow of the Master Chief? It is actually correct to his body - the sun is drawing his shadow as it actually should be. No round blobs, no fuzzy pixelated lines. Just sharp shadow! In fact, take a look at this picture:
The Chief’s shadow lifts up with his foot! It’s accurately being cast by the model geometry, and I’m very glad to see it. Even his gun is cast correctly. Now, look at the cracks in the ground behind him. They look good, and there’s even debris on the ground behind him. That’s what I like to see.
1:45
The Covenant cruisers ignite their engines, and fly back from the opening ground. We cut back to the crater, and see that the ground has continued to open - the center of the crater has descended, as well. The petals continue to rise. Energy collects around the rings inside the central hole
1:52
We cut to a closeup of the Chief - in his helmet, you can see the central structure and the cruisers.
1:59
The central hole “fires” into the sky, and the screen whites out.
2:04
Black - the music pauses, with strings hanging on the same tonic as in the start. Cortana says, “This is how the world ends.”
2:07
The theme lets go - trumpets blare, choirs enter, The Halo 3 symbol appears, we see Bungie’s logo, and the tag line, “Finish the Fight” and “2007″ appear.
If there was any doubt that this was the end of this story arc, this shows it - “Finish the Fight,” indeed. The FAQ again lists that the music at the end serves to possibly emphasize triumph, a finale.
I want to stress that Marty O’Donnell came up with a very stirring refrain for this trailer. I’ve been humming it for the last two days. Bum BA DUUUUUUUUUUMMM, bum ba duuuuuuuuuumm! It really sounds final. This is it. Bungie is done. I have to admit - I find it kind of sad. Even from this preview trailer - a year and half before the game comes out - it’s billed as the FINISH. So much finality was unexpectedly unwanted. I found myself waxing nostalgic even as I watched it - knowing that the fun I’d had with the series really was coming to and end.
So. We learn very little from this trailer. We learn:
- The Master Chief is back on earth. But we knew this from the end of Halo 2.
- Cortana is a little out of sorts, and seems to be somewhat adrift in time. This isn’t surprising, since she ended Halo 2 in the clutches of Gravemind.
- This is the end of this story arc. Unfortunately!
- The Covenant defeated the Earth defenses. We didn’t know if this would happen or not - at the beginning of Halo 2, the Covenant attack Earth, but arrive with a scout force, as opposed to a battle fleet. Cortana makes this clear. However, we can only assume that reinforcements must have been alerted!
How long was the Chief gone in Halo 2? A day? Two days? How long up to this trailer since he’s been back? Clearly he didn’t come directly to this crater, as the Covenant have uncontested air superiority, and appear to have wrecked things up quite a bit, and he’s carrying a weapon he didn’t have on his way there.
Do we get to participate in the defense of Earth, or only in the taking back of it? Do we go to another Halo? How can the fight be finished?
I liked the trailer, even though it doesn’t reveal a whole lot. The game is like a year and a half away, so it doesn’t surprise me that we don’t know much. Your thoughts, my friends?
…… but anyway, nice job on your analysis!