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Since the launch of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, a considerable portion of the testers are doubting Bungie's abilities to bring the series into the next generation, especially when compared to games such as Gears of War. But Bungie's Frank O'Connor recently stated in an interview with Next-Gen.biz that Halo 3 shouldn't necessarily be visually compared to other titles and other development studios, since they claim that their fiercest competitors are themselves.

"We think that the final aesthetic look of our game will be judged at launch in September and in part based on the more intense single player spaces," O'Connor said. "We're also focused on maintaining the Halo character and atmosphere in our visual design -- we're competing with ourselves, and not simply trying to match the aesthetic of other games."

Generally, O'Connor isn't worried about the finished product, since he knows that the multiplayer beta was fine-tuned for performance rather than style and presentation. Additionally, he claims to have spoken with gamers that have praised the game's visuals so far, but he also admits that there is a lot of work still to be done.

"We have a long time to polish and iterate on the largely complete game at this point," he claimed. "We'll be working on some big ticket items as well as making sure that the little details, like decorators and shaders, are all in place. Lighting and atmospherics are going to be big keystones in our look and feel, and those really haven't been shown except in multiplayer to this point."

O'Connor feels that Bungie is ready to deliver come September, simply on the merits of the development staff they've hired. He believes that it's through their efforts that Halo 3 can truly be a stellar next-gen title.

"It has been a challenge, hiring lots of people, managing dozens of them, making sure we have the best of the best and that we have space, equipment and resources to build next-gen content," he finally adds.

"Next-gen requires a lot of content. And a lot more people to build it."