Halo 3 is, in a word, excellent. Bungie's efforts are clear as every
element of this game shines. The campaign is excellent, the multiplayer
maps are excellent, the weapons are excellent, you get the idea. It is
hard to criticize, but there are some elements that keep Halo 3 from
being perfect, but it mostly from the community of players and not from
the game itself.
The campaign mode is compelling. Despite some
people's complaints it is actually quite long. On solo the difficulty
scales really well. One of the greatest things about Halo 3 campaign is
that in addition to solo it can be played co-op with up to 4 players
(two on one console and the others online). With the extra people even
legendary might seems a little easy, but that's fine because there is
still more to do. There are secret skulls that can be collected in the
campaign and turned on the make the game harder. In addition scoring
can be turned on to turn the campaign in to a competitive cooperative
multiplayer. Its fun and is worth experiencing more than once.
The
multiplayer on Halo 3 is also exceptional. The map designs and the
weapons are all so well balanced. The ranking system on the game is
compelling and does a great job of matching you up with your skill
level. In addition to ranked matches there are social matches that can
be played without regard to player skill or rank. There are plenty of
modes to be played and if the matchmaking playlist aren't enough, there
are always custom games where you can set the options to whatever you
prefer and play against friends.
In addition to the standard
campaign and multiplayer there are forge modes and a theater mode. In
forge you can modify the stages to you hearts content. You can't change
the maps but you can modify everything about them including weapons and
spawn points and any other object in the level. Also Forge can be done
with more than one person, allowing for collaboration and speeding up
any efforts (or you can just kill each other). Theater mode is a great
addition because it allows you record those stellar moments when you
kill an entire opposing team of pull of some ridiculous show. It also
allows for picture taking, which if you search has almost become a form
of art in itself.
With all the things that can be done in Halo
3, and the fact that it can all be done locally or online with your
friends, and the fact that it is all of such high quality, it is really
hard to not recommend Halo 3. If the game has any problem it is that
you'll often get annoying 13 year old who ruing your online match, but
that isn't any different that any other online game with a large
following. Halo 3 is about as close to perfect as a shooter can get. If
you have a Xbox 360 you owe it to yourself to pick up this game.
