Finish the fight. Believe. The ending to one of the most popular and hyped franchises in video game history. Sky-high expectations all around. If you are a Halo fan, you've already taken the plunge. Halo 3 could be the most hyped game ever made, which begs the question, can a single game possibly live up to the hype that this has generated? Thankfully, the answer is "mostly yes". Halo 3 continues the saga of Master Chief and his quest to save Earth. If you haven't played the first 2 games, you plot will be confusing, but it won't completely spoil your enjoyment of the single-player game. Which leads us to the campaign. From a fan perspective, Bungie went to great length's to make sure this aspect of the game was not a disappointment (see Halo 2). Although not much has changed, game-play wise, everything's been polished to a sparkling tee. The shooting, aiming, and flow of the game feels very fluid. The addition of a accessory slot adds some interesting variety to the mix. These items include shields, invincibility, cloaking, shield regenerators, portable turrets, and many more. Did I mention the enemies can use all these items as well? Needless to say, it adds to some truly entertaining battle scenarios in the campaign. There are new weapons and other surprises that add to the excitement and some truly cool moments, which I won't ruin for you here. The campaign is typically short, about 8-10 hours if you're an experienced Halo 3 player. But it is a wild ride, and the best single-player experience Halo has offered to date. For the first time since the original, once you beat the game, you will immediately want to play it again on a higher difficulty - always a good sign. Graphically, Halo 3 is better than you'd expect. Even if you've been playing the Xbox 360 for awhile, this games' visuals will still have you taking notice. The characters, vehicle models, and enemies are all remodeled and look incredbile. The enviroments look real solid, and a couple of the outdoor levels will take your breath away with their sparkling vistas, and breathtaking sunsets. The only complaint I have is the character faces. They look blocky and muddy. Very similar to Halo 2's. Especially in the cinematics. Which is surprising considering how great everything else looks. The audio is as good as ever, with a excellent musical score that kicks in at the right moments to get your adrenaline pumping. If you're a long-time Halo fan, some of the battle music will give you chills, gauranteed. The amount, and quality of the voicework is great. Your squad and enemies talk more than ever, and some of the dialogue will have you laughing out loud. What about multiplayer? This is easily the game's strongest suit. Quite frankly, the worst thing I can say about the mutiplayer is NOT newbie friendly, whatsoever. From the Xbox Live community (which is still full of homophobic 12-year old white supremacists), to the daunting number of gameplay options, I can see this portion of the game turning people off. It was clearly made for people who've logged 1000+ hours in Halo 2 online. But is it fun? Absolutely. The new maps and weapons are great, and the inclusion of Forge (a map editor that lets you make the rules for your multiplayer games, down to character speed, weapon/vehicle placement and more), gives this mode of the game literally infinite playabilty. I honestly think Bungie should have included a feature that would make newer people feel more comfortable. Perhaps a tutorial on the features and basics. The manual provides next to nothing on this subject. In closing, what Bungie has made is not genre-changing. Nor is it meant to be. But it has met, and possibly exceeded fan expectations of what a next-gen Halo should be. A game that is beautiful to look at, incredibly fun and addictive to play, and enough to do to keep anyone busy for months, if not longer. Shooter fans, rejoice.
Positives + Loads of fun multiplayer features + Wide variety of futuristic weapons + Graphics look great + Epic soundtrack + Variety of fun to drive vechiles Negatives - Without LIVE you won't get nearly as mu... Read Full Review
Not quite as good as it was hyped up to be, but a good waste of 60 bucks. It is definitely a good game, so all you people that are calling it perfect don't get mad, but based on all the hype and CONSTANT advertisements, ... Read Full Review
