"Wake me... when you need me."
If you had to ask, I *am* a Halo fan. I read all the novels that have been released, played every game which my share of multiplayer kills, and even love Marty's soundtracks (excluding Halo 2 Vol 1). After waiting a good three years for it, I greeted Halo 3 with a 7 hour co-op campaign on Legendary with my friends. This is basically my impressions of the story and Halo 3 in general, with sprinklings of multiplayer.
Simply put, as the new TV series Bionic Woman is "good, not great", I feel right placing Halo 3 at "Great, not fantastic". I didn't get my hopes up too high (as I already did that with the second Halo, resulting in myself being rather let down) and mostly got what I expected.
I didn't understand the story until my second playthrough (in my defense, my friend had the rear speakers of his home theatre system turned up loud, so I mostly heard the music, so I kept pointing out to my friends "Hey, that's the 'Enough Dead Heroes' theme from the first soundtrack" or "Hey, that's a variation of the Road to Voi theme from Vol. 2!" (character dialogue and weapon sounds were all in the front speakers). Anyway, the story makes more sense if you know a bit of backstory from the novels, but it's easy to understand as it is.
Sadly, the ending was not as "epic" as I (and many others) wished it to be. What with the "Second Battle of New Mombasa" setup they showed off. Even so, we were all into the final warthog run. It was like watching an intense sport. My friend leapt up once and gave a half-yell (like an audiences' reaction when a puck almost slides into the net) when the rear wheels of our warthog skidded over the side but the 'hog kept moving.
Some of the battles were pretty heated, which is a good thing. I don't know why, but I don't get "into" games so much like I used to. Some people lean with their controllers when they're attempting a tricky maneuvre with a vehicle, others "spasm" when they squeeze off shots (when my cousin and I were engaged in a one on one sniper duel in CoD 4, for example. I swear he tries to break his controller every time I appear). The brutes are a good addition to the enemies (much tougher than elites, because come on... elites are damn cool when they're on our side) and while the ending battle(s) could have been better, there were great fights throughout the game.
As for the story ending, I loved it. The sunset with Lord Hood, saying a few words. All while Marty's score is heard in the background. Arbiter orders his crew to take them home, and 117 is scratched into the thing, showing humanity's appreciation for all the Chief had done.
Now, for gripes, I don't have very many with the story or the game. Of course, spoiler warning here... The deaths of two characters in the game are redundant. Maybe I don't have an issue with them dying, but instead the way they died. First, Miranda Keyes. She was an all right character. Not enough development in both games for us to care, so all I thought was: "Ah, too bad." I think she only managed to take out one brute the entire sequence, so that was a little let down as well. If she had to go out, I would have preferred her in the commander's chair of a war vessel as she *is* Navy.
Second, Johnson's death is just... ugh. He has a hell of a lot of history, you have to admit. And the way he was killed was just awful. Shot in the back by a lightbulb. It just felt really thrown-in for the sake of making Halo 3 the dark ending of the trilogy. If he absolutely had to die, I honestly would have thought if Miranda pulled the trigger right then and there, it would be perfectly acceptable (of course, the masses would hate it)... sacrificing Johnson for the greater good. When I was watching it play out for the first time, I was even seeing the pistol go off and Johnson falling over. If not that death, then a more suitable "going out with a bang" like his attitude always seems. Unless the writers really like Joss Whedon (which is probably true) and want us to feel really awful.
The problem is, out of the games, Johnson has the most personality out of the lot. It's a shame that he's dead. I am actually attempting to write something sci-fi and I always like writing a character who is likable, fights as hard as the main protagonist, and when or if the hero is killed, this character shows up at his memorial at the end then walks away sadly. I think it would be fitting if the Master Chief really does get killed, moreso than Johnson's death. It feels wrong to kill of someone like the sergeant. It would be like killing off the entire crew of Serenity (seeing as how they're all pretty developed, or as far as they could get) Joss can afford to lose one or two. We won't like it, but what are you gonna do, right?
As for multiplayer, I can only give it so much praise you've heard before. It may be what you've played before, the formula might be tired now... but that doesn't mean it's not fun. It's still great, and it's still fun. I'm still on the boat which believes Combat Evolved is the best Halo game out there, but Halo 3 improves on Halo 2's spray and pray gameplay. Coupled with the care and attention Bungie always puts into what makes Halo the giant it is today.
I don't know if this is me, but the weapons feel less powerful and unsatisfying to use in Halo 3. They're not bad, by any means, but they felt better in the previous Halo titles. Getting a kill with something like a battle rifle just feels soft, unlike Halo 2 or Halo: CE. Not enough bark or kick in the weapons.
Also, this is what I personally love about Halo: it's not that it has local split-screen, or that it has system link... it's that it has split-screen-system-link. With so many games coming out now which have entirely scrapped the content of split-screen for online mode only or one-player-per-console system link, Halo 3 is definitely more practical than any other game out there (save for Call of Duty 3. Props to Treyarch for doing this, points to Infinity Ward for at least adding local for theirs).
So if you like Halo, what are you waiting for? Play this game. If you're not really into it, make someone else buy the game and play it at their place. Halo 3 probably won't get you hooked on the trilogy if you already made up your mind, but if you're looking for a good online game (with features Mr. Gerstmann has already talked about), don't miss Halo 3.
(If you wish to discuss anything I said here (or cut me down to size) for this or any of my other reviews, feel free to send me a PM. I'm open to friendly conversation.)