It's Labor Day and I'm bored as Jesus on a Saturday Night, so I figure I'll blog about something I've been thinking for a while. Halo 3 really brings out the hate in people for a lot of reasons. It's a Microsoft exclusive, people think it's over-rated, and sometimes when everyone loves something it's fun to hate it (hey, that's why I hate kids!)

Me, I love Halo, BUT! Let me tell you why I think it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Some reasons I've never seen mentioned.

1. No new 'powers.'

Okay Halo 1, Master Chief just kind of walked around. But in Halo 2 - wow! He could ride in vehicles! He could steal a ghost! He could dual wield weapons! Awesome! Big and noticeable changes! Halo 3 comes around and.... what? I can't dual-wield needlers now? Whaaaa? I thought they'd give him a run function or kick melee, or something that would be a step up in cool, but I feel they just aimed to match Halo 2, not exceed it.

2. Unexplicible weapons downgrades.

I already mentioned the needlers thing. But now my rocket launcher doesn't auto lock. Why? Did the Spartans have a budget cut? I don't understand. Yeah 3's got more weapons, but you figure Bungie would know not to take away what's already been given. People are STILL bitzin' about the magnum downgrade from the first Halo.

3. Graphics.

This has been mentioned before along with various references to Halo 2.5, etc. But the graphical difference between Halo 1 and 2 were huge on the same system, and people were expecting that kind of leap times 10 because it was on a much more powerful platform. Halo 3 does a zillion times more behind the scenes than Halo 2, but again I felt the designers were out to equal Halo 2, not top it.

4. Musical disappointment.

After they ratcheted up the soundtrack in Halo 2 with the rockin' Steve-Vai Mjolnir Mix, Halo 3's music was a bit of a downer.

5. Ending

Halo 2's bad ending was defended as a cliff hanger. Now I just finished the fight and there's another cliff hanger? No, please, I just want to go home.

Halo 3 brought enough to the table to deserve all the 9's and 10's it got, these are just things that annoyed be personally.