A fitting end to a great trilogy.
The game wastes no time throwing you into combat. If you are a halo player, you will quickly notice that the Brutes now serve as the elites, because of the events of the end of halo 2. They are even more fun to fight then elites. They are tough, coordinate themselves and their grunts well, use tactics, and can beat the hell out of you if you get too close. They are not to be taken lightly. The grunts are roughly the same, with the only difference I noticed was their ability to become suicide bombers. I mentioned the enemy AI is good. The marines and the Arbiter, while not as good, is decent. They can help you a bit, but they end up getting killed rather quick (their only human). But I would expect the Arbiter to do more. He can kill quite a few, but he is supposedly Master Chiefs equal, but you pretty much have to all the work, even when he is present. The controls, like always, are top notch. Everything is responsive. While most of it is the same, there is one huge difference. X no longer controls reloading. They were moved to RB and LB. While sounding weird on paper, it works very well, and you will be used to it in no time, not to mention you can finally reload one at a time. The X button now serves to deploy equipment. They are hard to explain, but they are strategic weapons you can use to turn the battle in your favor. For example, the bubble shield. A favorite since the trailer it debuted in, you simply press the X button, and it throws down a large bubble shield. Bullets and explosions do not scathe you... however, enemies and vehicles can walk right through it. The equipment is very fun to use, with around 10 different kinds. The ai only really uses the healing, bubble shield, and blinding one. They are really fun to use online (more on that later). The game has a great selection of weapons, ranging from the new and old. It has made changes to to tons of weapons. The infamous needler, for example, is now a fan favorite. The assault rifle is back (though the pistol is not), and pretty much all the older guns return, like the smg, battle rifle, shotgun, sniper, plasma rifle, energy sword... along with new ones such as the spikers (a cool alternative to smg), the spartan laser the gravity hammer (a cool new melee weapon), and others. There are also two new grenades, the spike grenade, a grenade that sticks like the plasma, does more damage at a lower range, and a fire grenade, that ignites instantly.
Another option is turrets. Now, you can go to them, and rip them from the ground. From there, you have the option of walking around in 3rd person, albeit slowly, and pretty much getting free kills to anything unfortunate enough to cross your path. It is hard to beat someone with a turret up front, you would need to get him from behind, get in close, or team him to have a chance. Because of the small clip and slow speed, this brings another element of strategy in this action-oriented game.
The same I said about the weapons applies to the vehicles. There are the classics, such as the ghost and warthog, but some new ones as well. The mongooose, the hornet (UNSC answer to the banshee), and the chopper, one of the more bizzare vehicles. And of course, one of the highlights of the halo games: the music. It holds up in this game very well. The soundtrack is exhilarating. I will go as far to say the best in a video game. Often, it is completely epic. There is no way to describe it, all I can say is that I am getting the soundtrack for sure. Along with the music, the dialogue is extremely good. The UNSC marines almost feel alive, having something to say for your very actions, and tons of things to say. All of them are performed exceedingly well and sound believable. And of course, a great performance with the Master Chief, Arbiter, Johnson, and others.
For me personally, the campain was the sole reason I bought this game, and it was good enough to be sold alone. But I know the majority love it for it's multiplayer, and I enjoy it more than any other online game currently, other than perhaps unreal tournament and call of duty 4. Playing online is very easy. All that is required is you to pick what mode, be in ranked or unranked, and allow the game to do the rest. It is a remarkable system, finding players fast. Once it comes up with a game, you are allowed to veto the game and map, and if the majority vote to veto, it will reselect. This is a remarably simple yet amazingly brilliant concept. My only complaint with the matchmaking is that you do not have the option to have custom games. You can, but you have to have friends willing to play, and playing with them can get old, not to mention all mine are doing matchmaking. There are 9 maps, with many, many modes. The maps are some of the best of any halo game, with elements from previous ones, to new ones. Big maps like Sand Trap or Valhalla, and smaller maps like Snowbound narrows, all of them are fun. However, some maps are better for certain games. For example, Valhalla is good for big team battle, capture the flag, etc, while Snowbound is good for deathmatch and oddball. The multiplayer works just as it did in halo 2. There is virtually no slow down, and is just very fun, no matter what game or map. The games formula in a nutshell is guns, grenades, and melee. The default weapons are the assault rifle, and all-around weapon, with frag grenades. They have done a great job balancing, because every weapon is useful. As I said before, the new reload system changes the game. You can now reload them one at a time, so you have to plan on how frequently you want to reload, and which one. Your dead if your caught reloading them both.
The equipment is something new as well. I have already described them earlier, but the multiplayer is where they can be interestingly used... things like screwing up their radar, blinding them... it all adds a twist to the game, and people will be constantly finding new uses for them, and how to evade them. Some of the new weapons come in handy. The spartan laser is now the ultimate anti-vehicle weapon. The gravity hammer is a new melee weapon, capable of sending enemies and even rockets flying. They took out the rocket launcher lock one, making it require more skill. You can also use the turrets and effectively kill everything for awhile, unless you are caught from behind or run out of ammo... which ever comes first.
And of course, the enery sword is back. I'm sure everyone is aware of the "sword rush". While this is still in the game, it does not seem to be as powerful (still insanely powerful though), and there is a new twist. If two swords meet, instead of having a coin toss, the blades meet, and both are stunned for a few short seconds, while having part of your shields drained. It is possible to have drawn out sword fights, and it gives spectators the option to take advantage of your fight and kill you both. The communtity seems a bit better, but has a lot of immature people... and I don't just mean kids. Thankfully, there is a new A-HOLE button... meaning you can easily mute people. I have not felt the need to use it yet, but im sure it's a great addition. Still though, its the princible... this game seems to bring out the worst in people, though it can be funny about how pathetic their insults are. Outside of the games themselves, there is a ranking system. The one in halo 2, where the more ranked games you play, the more your number increases... and also a promotional system. The more wins you get, the more exp you get, leading to a promotion. Along with that, there are plenty of metals to earn, from easy ones like hitting someone, to really hard ones. And finally, you can customize your character, by unlocking armor through campain, skulls, online, achievements, and soon dlc. All in all, I will be playing this for awhile. There are two other game types worth mentioning: forge and theatre. Ill start with forge. Essentially, it's a very simple map editor. Nothing deep like in pc games. Basically, you play the game, and at any time you press a button and turn into a monitor. You fly around the map placing objects like weapons, vehicles, obstacles, exploding barrels, etc. While it can be used for editing maps, it's used for so much more. If you get creative, you can have lots of fun with it. Have lots of explosions, set up flying vehicles... etc. The only problem is that I wish you could take it online. You can, but only with your friends, and my friends are too obsorbed in slayer to play forge. Maybe they will fix this. Then there is theatre. I have had a lot of fun with this mode. Everytime you play a game, it saves it. All you have to do is go in and watch it. From there, you can use slow motion, zoom around, watch other players, etc. You can get better by watching your mistakes as well. You can also take pictures, and make clips. My only problems with this mode is the fast forwarding and rewinding. It fast forwars very slowly, so you have to wait awhile if your moment you want to watch is late in the game. And rewinding makes you rewind chapters, not second by second. Once you make clips or pictures, you can upload them to bungie.net. Downloading them your self is easy... all you do is go to bungie favorites, or someones profile, and download while you play. You can also reccomend them to your friends. I cannot say enough good things about Halo 3. It has problems, but nothing that detracts from the game. There are haters as well, who love to look for problems because they think they are hard core by doing so. If they could get over themselves, they could probably enjoy it. Not the best game ever, but as good as it could have been. One of the rare games that truly deserves a perfect score.