Since the release for Halo:CE back in
2001, the Halo franchise has exploded, single handedly leading
Microsoft into the big market gaming business. Now, with Halo 3, the
series closing chapter and final part of a Epic trilogy, people all
over are frothing at the mouth to get a hold on a copy of the game.
Gameplay wise, Halo 3 still delivers the fast paced FPS shoot-em up
that we have all come to know and love. But, Bungie has decided to
throw the addition of a few new things into the old formula. Most
notably, equipment. Equipment is just a really cool feature that Bungie
has mapped to the "X" button, which allows you to deploy different
types of equipment onto the battlefield. Some examples would be the
infamous Bubble shield, Energy Drainer, Auto Turret, Radar Jammer,
Flare, and many more. All in all Bungie has not strayed too far from
original "Halo" gameplay...which is definitely a good thing. Now
technically speaking, Halo 3 is not exactly a wonder.
I am sure many of
you people of heard the huge amount of complaining from the community
about graphics...don't listen to them! They are all quick to compare it
with "Gears of War", but lets get this straight...does Gears of War
have vehicles driving around, dozens of enemies fighting, ships flying
around in the air blowing up AND a giant Scarab's stomping around all
on screen at the same time? Why no, it does not. For what Halo 3 does
and pulls off, it's graphics are astounding. Not to mention the games
lighting effects...quite honestly the best out of any game I have
played to date.
Audio is also top notch, providing good sound effects and voice acting
all around. Cutscenes also look very good...the only one graphical
complain that I have is the Anti-Aliasing...Bungie could have done a
better job, but as it stands, it is certainly tolerable. Over all, the
game is very pretty to look at.
Multiplayer is much different from Halo 2. While the core gameplay
remains very much the same, there are so many new features it takes a
while to get used too. First there is theatre mode and the "Save
Replay" feature that allows you to watch recored in game footage of
either the campaign or a multiplayer match. Next would be the "Forge"
mode which allows you to edit and move objects in any of the eleven
maps in the game. Then, there is the File Share that allows you to
share your gametypes, custome maps, screenshots, OR gameplay footage to
anyone who opens it up an looks at it. It is also automatically
transfered to Bungie.net for the entire Halo community to see for
themselves. Very, very cool. And finally, possibly what most people
have been looking forward to, the campaign mode. After finishing Halo 2
and witnessing the worst cliffhanger in video game history, people
were...angry, to say the least. But in Halo 3 all the loose ends are
tied, and the story is AWESOME, Epic, and extremely entertaining. The
Cutscenes are probably one the best parts of Halo 3's campaign, they are the
best out of any previous Halo game. They move the story forward
flawlessly and can be watched over and over again.
Playing alone on
Heroic will take you about 10-12 hours to beat the game, on Legendary
it will probably take you 16-18 hours, considering that you can beat it
at all. While playing Co-Op it obviously takes less time, probably
between 6-8 hours.
Overall, Halo 3 is easily one of the best games that I have played in a
very long time. Barely any noticeable flaws in the game design,
programming, or map design. Everything is very well thought out and has
been executed to near perfection. And for $60.00? With the vast amount
of entertainment that this game features it is easily worth $80.00 for
the game alone.
Now what are YOU waiting for...FINISH THE FIGHT!
