I posted this in the user reviews for halo3. Im curious what other people think. let me know.

Well let me start by saying that this is the second review I've written. Apparently the first review i wrote, which contained no foul language or anything remotely offensive, was taken down. Apparently i was just giving Halo 3 a negative review to get a rise out of people. That is not why i'm writing this review. I seriously want to express to people exactly what this game is like, and why it is not worth a fraction of the price its being sold at. Another thing before we kick this review into gear. Apparently a lot of my fellow reviewers feel that those of us who didn't love Halo 3 are saying so on purpose because we are "fanboys", who favor another console. Obviously, rating this game lower than average is not part of an insidious plot to undermine the 360 and brainwash Halo fans. I love my 360. I also however, do not enjoy sub-par games. And here we go. The following is my thoughts on Halo 3. Bit by bit:

The Story;
Good stories are commonly based on a simple plan. The story arch. To be successful, a story requires a concrete beginning, middle, and end. Things need to change, and the audience has to see the reason for those things changing. Halo 3's story was pretty erratic. There was no character development. No emotional moments. Nothing thought provoking in the least. there wasn't even a recognizable flow to what was happening. I thought for a little while that they had a good angle going with master chief''s relationship with Cortana. That had potential to be an interesting plot device. But it didn't pan out. Literally nothing happened. You just rescue her, and thats it. Its done. Oh, and that panoramic display I've seen in every halo add, you know, the one with earths final battle. Where the Chieftan holds Master Chief above the crowd and you see the grenade in his hand? None of that was implemented in the game. None of it. The whole "Believe" campaign gave me the impression that master chief was going to make some kind of dramatic sacrifice, but apparently the the marketing division of microsoft can write better stories than the professional writing staff at bungie. Suffice to stay that the story did nothing to pull me in, or intrigue me. And believe me, i was ready. I booted up this game with arms wide open.

Gameplay;
Alright, maybe my dislike of this aspect of the game is based on a few things that i assumed. I thought that given the recent rise in popularity of new shooters, some new mechanics would work their way into the last halo game. Some new elements like cover, squad tactics, new melee options, or in the very least, not having to drop a weapon to hit someone with the weapon you didnt drop. Sadly none of these showed up. I had also assumed, being that this game is supposed to be new and revolutioonary, that at least something about the gameplay would change. It didnt. Its the exact same as before. Now some people ive mentioned this to have said things like "but its halo? what did you expect?". Well remember the first halo game? the gameplay was pretty darn original. I hadn't seen anything quite like it before. It was a cool shooter with a new twist. But halo 3 is a new shooter with an old twist. It feels like playing a game lost somewhere in time; stunning visuals, but the same gameplay i saw in 2001. Wierd. And not good.

Graphics:
The graphics in this game are pretty impressive. But unfortunately the story and gameplay don't make me care enough about the game to want to play it. Is there any way i could just buy a version with screenshots and the music track?

Music:
Absolutely excellent. I think if i enjoyed playing this game for more than the 2 minutes i spend punching a tank (how does that kill a tank anyway?) it was due to the amazing musical score. Holy crap, it was amazing. Maybe all the money payed to the writers of Halo should be re-routed to the musical composers.

In Short:
Uninteresting gameplay and a dumb story make this game a total train wreck. However, the train wreck is beautifully rendered, so you can experience each agonizing moment in exquisite detail. Also, its got great music. But please, for your own sake, save your money.