solid multiplayer, but somehow lacking

User Rating: 8.5 | Halo 3 X360
By I-AM-THE-G-MAN | Review Date:
Halo 3 is the 3rd instalment in the x-box (and windows) only franchise started in 2001 with the original halo which was a launch title released to drag the public to buy the newly released console, the x-box. It was undeniably a hit, becoming a best-seller fast (as did the console) and staying in the top 10 chart a whole year later making this franchise one of gaming's strongest, the tradition was continued through with halo 2 with its revolutionary multiplayer and halo only became a stronger brand and expectations were piled high for this third instalment. It's There we meet halo 3's first big downfall- it massive fan base and with that- the massive expectations, having so many opinions on a single product is always going to come with mixed results and opinions but the games own ego could be to blame for this with 10mil spent on advertising alone- more than some game's budget full stop. to the content of the game- We'll start with the gameplay, it is strong smooth and easily accessible to the point where it is almost unparraled, the control options are more than generous, allowing a variety of modes that will suit EVERY player imaginable, with control settings from the consoles of the 90's you are assured that you can play the game with ease, and comfort, if making a multiplayer match a "quake III" style frag-fest is your style(through means of the control scheme), that option is available to you- a very rare comfort in this generation of games. The single player campaign is good, completing the series with an arguably reserved and unfulfilling ending- and another fault emerges, the story of the past halo's had been compelling and entertaining to at least most fans while this instalment-perhaps trying to not break any hearts has gone completely reserved as most high-budget games are doing these days. Don't let this ruin your fun as you finish the fight as there is plenty to entertain you here as well as disappoint, the campaign is lengthy and is set out in a unique style, accompanied by great graphics and lighting effects, but soon the feeling that this is just another generic shooter creeps in, as basically you only fight 6 different types of enemy- all of them dipping in to halo's rather shallow pit of weapons and picking out the worst. While the enemy AI is bearable- you're allies is unexplainably not- and in parts where you wish to make use of the warthog's turret, you are simply not allowed as you'll find the AI runs into rocks and other obstacles and it gets to a point where you wonder if the game has programmed it to deliberately run into things- or maybe it is the poor system on which halo relies on (to drive)- it is simply annoying whenever you see that there is a vehicle to drive (apart from aircraft in which the system works fine for),as I would much rather the use of a single button or perhaps a trigger to accelerate, a single analogue stick to steer and find and an alternate button to fire- perhaps a fault in halo's near-perfect control scheme. I also would not have minded a few more vehicles in the mix. Overall- vehicles in halo were a bit of a failure. The weapons in halo are of a quality that you would expect to find in any decent next-gen game, but in this case it is a matter of quantity rather than quality- with 'borderlands' on the horizon with a reported 500,000 guns, and although there are a few new features in regard to halo's weapons, halo's 16 or so decent ones simply don't cut it. Another fault is how ineffective they felt, an example being that only weapon worth wielding during the sections of the game where you opposed the flood is the energy sword which is melee only, this is bad form and you're left feeling rather underpowered- especially after playing call of duty 4 (a game that is often compared to halo 3) were it takes just 1 shot to the head and 2 in the torso to defeat and enemy- granted that a positive in halo is that enemies don't spawn lowering frustration some. Some other positives to the game are that the frame-rate is always steady at 60 fps and difficulty system has been perfectly laid out unlike other games of this generation (namely gears of war). No, the only reason that you'll buy halo 3 is for the multiplayer, the co-operative play is satisfying and perhaps the best ever created with a creative "arcade-style" point system adding to the fun and making play competitive and addictive (also, this is an aspect that cod4 lacks). And the matchmaking games are equally addictive (and also heavily customizable), the games popularity guarantees that there are always plentiful amounts of players to face over the game's 16 beautiful maps. The different type's of matches also adds to the game's multiplayer merit. there is also a map editor of which bungie calls 'forge', while not bieng a complete map editor in he respect of bieng able to change a level's geographical and physical attributes, you can have some serious fun playing around and is definately a positive attribute to the game. and finally, there is a unique game movie function that records all of your gameplay and lets you take screenshots from any angle you please. i found this to be innovative and is quite fun just to stuff about with, also, this function lets you identify negative aspects in your own gameplay letting you correct them as you often cannot asess yourself while playing, definately something that developers of future games of it's sort should look into including in thiers. Overall a solid shooter that perhaps fell short of being the game that represented the 360 as intended (and as the first halo did for the original Xbox) but a game well worth checking out if you can get past its flaws. 8.5/10

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