The stunning end to the Halo trilogy.

Here it is: the third installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to Halo 2 (2004). Everyone still says this is one of the greatest ever made like the previous two games in the franchise and I do agree.

With awesome graphics that are extremely detailed for Xbox 360 standards, and a really stellar soundtrack, the story is still great, like previous games, with the characters still being likable, including The Arbiter (I still dislike him though), Master Chief, Sgt. Johnson (my two favorites once again) and Cortana. There are even many emotional moments, such as Johnson's death (I almost buried my face in my hands and burst into tears) after getting shot by 343 Guilty Spark, who betrays Chief again. At least I am glad I took care of him and bombed him. The funeral ending was also pretty great and emotional too.

There are more weapons and vehicles than its predecessors, with classics such as the Battle Rifle, to new weapons such as the Gravity Hammer. You can even still dual wield some weapons, just like in Halo 2. In addition you can detach turrets to get a tertiary weapon and move freely, and you can also pick up a flamethrower and missile launcher which are also tertiary weapons. Multiple power-ups are also available, such as energy shields and invisibility fields, and a new customizable power-up which causes different effects depending on the game type you are playing.

The enemies are really fun to fight and are varied, such the Brutes taking the role of the Elites, or the new Flood enemy known as the Pure Form, which can transform in combat. The most annoying enemy in the series, the Sniper Jackal, finally has a blue light indicator.

There are multiple difficulty levels in the campaign. The Legendary difficulty is also not as much of a nightmare as Halo 2 was. And, once again, every level includes some hidden Easter eggs, such as skulls, and for the first time secret terminals where you can get more information on the lore of the series. The final part of the last level is my favorite. It's extremely awesome and it's a callback to the Warthog Run from the first game.

Cortana, however, is widely considered as one of the worst levels in Halo's history, right up there with "The Library" and "Metropolis" (on Legendary). Not only is it easy to get lost, but the level drags on. The abundance of the "Gravemind/ Cortana" moments only slowed this further. Speaking of which, there are moments in the game where it decides to slow down and have Cortana talk to the player. While it's nice to have a reminder of the Chief's personal goal, literally killing the game's pace at moments is not the way to go about it.

The multiplayer mode includes many new multiplayer game modes such as Infection and VIP. This is also the first game in which the custom "Grifball" game type variant (a custom version of Assault with players spawning with Gravity Hammers and an Energy Sword) would be seen in the series, which would later become included as official game variants in later games in the series. You can play as either a Spartan and as a Elite in multiplayer, like it predecessor. It's also the first game in the series to have true customization for your armor's legs, shoulders, and arms, to stand out from other players. Eight types of new deployable equipment such as a Gravity Lift and Bubble Shield are available in multiplayer. Many of the multiplayer locations are based off of the locations in the campaign. The game also introduced the famous Recon Armor which is arguably the best piece of armor in the game for the online, and everyone wanted the armor to return in future games.

The new Forge mode allows for the editing of existing maps to create your own map variants. DLC map packs added two maps, Foundry and Sandbox designed to take advantage of this feature allowing free reign to create your own map using building blocks.