Halo 3 is a case of much of the same, though it retains its core values with making subtle - yet effective - changes.
Once again you are placed in the role of Spartan 117, Master Chief. After your previous adventures – of Halo and Halo 2 –you have been brought back home: to Earth. With the Prophet of Regret spinning around in his hovering wheelchair-look-alike, and trying to activate the Halo rings, it is your task to track him and down and destroy whatever lies between you and the activation of the title-of-the-game's rings.
You are also presented with numerous allies – namely the Arbiter – though old favourites such as Sergeant Avery Johnson make returns for the third instalment in the Halo series. Admittedly the A.I. of Halo 3 isn't exactly something that overflows of intelligence. The Marines can barely drive around the simplest of turns, and when posed with any kind of half-challenging problem will simply leave you – the Master Chief – taking the Mantle of Earth (yes, Earth) once again. Likewise, non-vehicle combat isn't particularly helpful as Marines will simply pepper your enemies while becoming over enthusiastic about simply achieving the feat of actually staying alive.
But while playing through the campaign, players may want to take into consideration the difficulties (and their problems) that Halo 3 offers you. You have the option to choose through Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary and while the latter certainly lives up to it's the name the first two may leave you wanting more. For any half-decent and mildly-experienced player, the Easy and Normal version of Halo 3's campaign are certainly a bit simple. It seems that the Covenant A.I. certainly resembles its Human counterparts at these difficulties, though if players are daring enough to venture beyond then they will certainly be amused.
Heroic and Legendary will probably make you feel both, providing you with an experience that will test all of your capabilities (and running-away-to-recharge-shield moments) especially if you're playing alone. Enemies will often try to charge at you in groups, as-well as perform flank manoeuvres, and only variation and awareness will bring you through here (and a little something called my-hand-eye-coordination-is-better-than-yours, or skill). Enemies will also climb on top any structure they can find, though this itself is a weakness as you can simply spray them – with whatever weapon you have on hand - while they are helpless.
The levels in Halo 3 are much like its prequels: vast, imaginative and downright fun. Whether traversing through the waste of New Mombassa, or finding yourself upon an oh-so-familiar Halo ring, you'll never cease to be amused. You have almost endless possibilities on how to approach each section – with as much or little imagination as possible. Of course, there is a rough predefined route for you to take but it's what is in the level that makes up the route which is wonderful. There are platforms of all shapes and sizes, and passageways which may lead you to a hidden treasure every now and then, while keeping your concentration at an optimum.
The campaign also offers you to play these same levels in co-op, online and off, with up to three friends. The host will player as Master Chief, the second as the Arbiter, and the third and fourth as two complimentary Elites who happen to have a back-story of some sort. While this does offer variation and realism, the characters do not have any advantages over the other. However, the Chief will start out with a different weapon set than the Arbiter (and the two Elites) which can be useful as it provides variation when dealing with multiple enemies on the harder difficulties.
But where Halo 3 really comes into its own is with its multiplayer.
The whole point of Halo's online is to move through the various ranks, until you reach the rank of General. This is caused by two things: experience and skill. These are both increased through winnings games, and can be lost either be leaving or losing. Once you fill the requirements for each, you rank up.
Halo 3 also offers multiple gametypes (or Playlists, as they're called) which are both Ranked and Unranked. There are your typical Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes, while also offering bigger games such as Big Team Battle (which offers eight vs. eight teams). There are also variations of the classic TD modes, such as Team Swat, which incorporate twists such as a higher damage output but with lower resistance (namely in the head). Most of the gametypes are both available in both ranked and unranked (or Social) modes though some playlists are exclusive to each. What this means is that players gets a lot of variation with what they can play (plus the weekend events that Bungie hosts) which means a lot of fun all round. Players can also get up to parties of 8 together, and can all travel between each gametype seamlessly.
There is also another mode in Halo: Forge. This gives players the ability the go into any map, and customize it in any way they want to. Users have the freedom to make changes of any shape, or size, as the variety of objects on offer make so many possibilities available. There is also the option to block off existing areas of each map, while making new areas available. These can prove to be radical – whether good or bad – and can change the dynamics of the game completely.
Indeed, it is slightly complicated at first, but once players manage to familiarise themselves with the interface and get to grips with how the objects can be rotated and positioned it really is very simple. Items are categorised, which makes finding anything from a tank to a barrel of a wire to a traffic cone as a simple as few pushes of a button.
What Halo 3 does well is that is provides fun on every level. It provides you with a gripping storyline (albeit short) and at the same time lots of come-back-for-more value. The online modes that it offers are as equally fun, and especially lengthy, and keep players interested as they are always vying for something to achieve while each gamemode offers a slightly different challenge.
It's ultimately much of the same, though in this case that's good. Halo's formula isn't something that needs to be radically altered, and so the tweaks are those that provide good and wholesale changes.