Last month, Tom Armitage wrote an excellent post about consensual play. The term denotes a subset of emergent gameplay1 which relies on both players agreeing to rules of conduct that are not enforced by the game itself.
Tom’s post was also my first exposure to Grifball, a sport-like player-created game mode in Halo 3. Robust mapmaking tools and heavy official support now make it a poor fit for the consensual model2, but Grifball remains interesting both as a case study for emergent gameplay and as a unique well-balanced game mode.
Grifball was invented by Rooster Teeth (a production team best known for their Halo machinima Red vs. Blue) and named after Grif (an orange Spartan character from the aforementioned series.) The game is a modified version of Halo‘s “Assault” mode, with the following custom rules:
- The map is set to a custom version of Foundry that has been edited into an empty square court with opposing goals.
- The players are all equipped with melee weapons (Gravity Hammer and Energy Sword) with infinite ammo. Grenades and equipment are disabled.
- Weapon damage is doubled and player health is set to 10%, so the Gravity Hammer’s concussive blast can sometimes kill in one hit.
- The player currently in possession of the bomb is granted 150% speed, overshield and bright orange armour.
- Players respawn at their goal after 3 seconds.
- The bomb timer is set to 1 second, so there is no chance to defuse it.
- Planting the bomb at the opposing team’s goal scores a point and ends the round. The team that’s ahead after five rounds wins the game.
It’s worth noting that none of these changes require external mods or hacking, but rather are easily accomplished using Halo 3‘s powerful map editing tool. If mapmaking isn’t your thing, you can grab the Rooster Teeth version off Bungie’s file sharing service or wait for the official playlist during double EXP weekends.
What’s fascinating about Grifball is how well it emulates a sport (or rather a sport game.) Like basketball or hockey, players must alternately think offensively and defensively as the bomb changes possession. Movement suddenly trumps aiming, as players must gauge distance for successful attacks and create openings to score. The best players are the ones who can move in tricky, unpredictable ways and psych out their opponents. In terms of skill and strategy, Grifball has much more in common with virtual rugby than it does a shooter.
Grifball is also surprisingly deep and well-balanced, especially for a game that was assembled on top of a rules calibrated for ranged fighting. For instance, the game’s three weapons create a rough circular hierarchy3 (shown in the diagram above.) Defensive players must therefore alternate between using the sword to chase down the bomb carrier and the hammer to take out their support. Experienced offensive players can also use the repulsion of the Gravity Hammer to propel a jumping bomb carrier over the heads of the defending players, a sort of “Hail Mary” play that can be very effective. There’s a deep rabbit hole of player vocabulary and strategy to explore, if you’re so inclined.
In his post, Tom Armitage proposed that consensual games like Grifball are so good because they have survived thousands of Xbox Live players playing and refining them. Grifball is now nearly two years old and is enjoyed by several divisions of competitive league play. If you’re one of the 8 million people who owns Halo 3, I strongly suggest giving this unique player-created game mode a shot.
1 “The creative use of a video game in ways unexpected by the game designer’s original intent.”
2 The rules are entirely enforced by the game, therefore there is no need for mutual consent.
3 Experienced players would probably argue that it’s a bit more complex than that (see this chart).
