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Xbox 360 : Halo 3 Reviews

Gas Gauge: 95
Gas Gauge 95
Below are user reviews of Halo 3 and on the right are links to professionally written reviews. The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Halo 3. Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column. Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.

Summary of Review Scores
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ReviewsScore
Game Spot 95
Game FAQs
GamesRadar 100
CVG 97
IGN 95
GameSpy 100
GameZone 97
Game Revolution 85
1UP 95






User Reviews (1 - 11 of 398)

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Halo 3

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 20
Date: May 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The wait is over details are finally in. This Halo will surly be the best of them all. Hopefully Bungie will add more weapons, and a longer game. As for multiplayer they should allow it so you can play co-op online with other people around the world. The way they have now you can only play slayer and objective games online. Also they should incorporate AI in multiplayer. The covenant & flood should be able to be in the game, mabey even allowing them to be playable. If Bungie is reading this make sure you have these things in here and this will be the best selling game in history.
*Note* This may not be the end of master chief this is just the end of the halo trilogy.
DragonriderCold

Sooon

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 17
Date: July 02, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I give this game 5* for fun because all of bungie games have been fun.
This should be better then the last Halo (halo & halo 2). Bungie has not disappointed me yet. They improve the game play every time with each new game. Bungie is one of the for fathers to help bring the x-box in the line of sight of gamers everywhere. So this game is guaranteed to be awesome if you like: first person shooter with a story that all of your friends can play on-line as well, then this game is for you!!!

"Is it Soup yet?"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 35
Date: June 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

...There was an old commercial for dried soup ingredients that you'd add to some boiling water & then you'd have to wait & wait. A little kid would ask her mom the famous question, "Is it soup yet?" I will go on record here as one of those who ultimately prefer the original "Halo" over "Halo 2". I just feel the first one is better fun to play. Yes there are a bunch of fine improvements in "Halo 2", but I like the first best. & I am pretty tired of "Halo 2" online. "Far Cry" is much better on Xbox Live... I'm still looking forward to "Halo 2" nonetheless. I am rating this non-existant, highly anticipated game at 2 extremes, 1 & 5, because it's no fun to play a game that doesn't exist yet, but I will probably enjoy it if it ever does come out.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LIKE TOTUALLY 1 MILLION BAGILLION STARS!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 34
Date: March 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

LIKE OMG, ALL I DO I IS PLAY HALO, I MEEN LIKE TOTUALLY YU ARE A NUB IF YOU DONT! LIKE I TOTUALYYY HATE N00BS THEY TAKE UP MY PLAYING AREA AND SLOTS IN A GAME!! PWNING THE N00BS IS ALSO FUN TAKEING ADVANTAGE OF TEHEM!! LIKE GET IT! OKAY! LIKE ITS SO LIKE TOUALLY FRICKEN ASOME!! OWNED!!!

A Simple Solution

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: March 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to like it. I mean all of the hours of pure joy I've had and meeting new friends that I've had for years now... Pfft! Meaningless! I'm sorry that you can't stand something I adore. I really didn't realize that by playing the game, someone I've never met or talked to would despise me for it.

Opinions are like... You know. But there is a very simple solution to your dilemma. If you don't like it... Don't play it.

Halo has LIVED upto the HYPE! 1080P IS JUST CRAZY

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 45 / 71
Date: September 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Since people are not reading the BOTTOM, I said Credit goes to X3F For this REVIEW, Just wanted to give people a review asap.

It's not often that we here at X3F get a chance to review a high profile title like Halo 3 before it hits store shelves, and it's an opportunity I'm not taking lightly. I've spent the last 48 hours (give or take a few hours for the requisite food and sleep) embedded deep within Halo 3, doing my best to categorize the experience as I went along. In this endeavor I have more or less failed. That's not to say I didn't enjoy what I played, because I absolutely did. It's just that with as many features as there are in Halo 3, there's so much stuff to test that 48 hours really isn't enough time to glean enough information and condense it into a review. Still, review it we must. Read on for a (hopefully) defining glimpse into Microsoft's great green hope.

First and foremost on any Halo fan's mind is the campaign. Even fans admit that Halo 2's campaign didn't quite get the attention it deserved. Even beyond the cliffhanger ending and the divisive inclusion of the Arbiter as a playable character -- which, for the record, I loved -- the campaign just didn't seem quite finished. So, Halo 3 has a lot to answer for. I won't spoil the story, but Halo 3 picks up exactly where Halo 2 left off: Cortana (the Master Chief's AI) is missing, the Prophet of Truth is leading an attack on earth, and the Master Chief is rocketing towards the planet on an ancient Forerunner ship. Again, we had to rush through it a bit to get it finished, but by the time the game draws to a close, all loose ends have been tied and questions answered. Old friends and enemies are reunited, alliances formed and broken, and plots are twisted. It's the stuff you'd expect in the closing chapter of a trilogy, with a few special tidbits thrown in for dedicated fans. Also, for those that are interested, locating the secret terminals throughout the game fleshes out the story of the Forerunners and the first firing of the Halo rings. The terminals are optional though, so if you're more interested in blasting baddies, feel free.

But how does it play, you ask? I plowed through the campaign on Heroic (with a few snippets of 4-player co-op on Legendary), and I can assuredly tell you that enemy AI is much improved, and sometimes a little scary. Brutes, ape-like monstrosities introduced in Halo 2, are definitely not the bullet sponges they used to be. This time around they are smart, mean, and, appropriately enough, brutal. One of their most fascinating behaviors is how they use equipment to their advantage. More than once, I found myself launching ordinance towards a pack of Brutes only to see one of them deploy a bubble shield before my shot had landed, rendering it useless. Oh, and watch out for Brutes with gravity hammers. They tend to carry equipment that makes them invulnerable for a few seconds. An invulnerable Brute with a gravity hammer is the stuff of nightmares.

Don't think that the Brutes are the star of the show though, every enemy, in one way or another, can be pretty terrifying. You see, not only are enemies smart, but they use sound tactical thinking. So, if you clear out a pack of Brutes and Grunts, don't celebrate right away, because there's a very good chance you're about to be sniped by a Jackal that you overlooked. Hell, even a pair of Jackals with carbines can be a pain, especially if you thought it would be a good idea to pack a short-range arsenal. And yes, believe it or not, even Grunts can put you away if you're not careful. Oh, and remember what I said about Brutes and nightmares? There is one Grunt behavior that's worse. I'll leave you to discover what exactly the behavior is, but rest assured you'll know it when you see it.

And then there's the Flood, the body-snatching enemy that's threatening to devour all life in the galaxy, Covenant and human alike. Now, I'm not saying one thing about the Flood. Nothing. You play. You find out. I'll just say this ain't your Granddaddy's Flood and leave it at that.

Honestly, my biggest complaint about the campaign is that it's over too quickly. It's not like the game has a bad ending, far from it, but I wanted more. Don't misunderstand, the game isn't too short, I just didn't want it to end.

Fortunately, the campaign is far from the end. This time around Bungie has included plenty of incentive to go back through the campaign multiple times. Of course there is online co-op, but there are also skulls to be found, campaign scoring achievements to be earned, as well as finding terminals you may have missed. Campaign, to put it simply, has been done right. Now, let's look at everything else.

Unfortunately, online matchmaking wasn't activated at the time of this review, but I did get to mess around with some local multiplayer. Those who participated in the beta have a good idea of what to expect. More or less, Halo 3's multiplayer is a refinement of the multiplayer in Halo 2. Certain things have been tweaked, most notably the re-invention of the assault rifle. Given a decent starting weapon, multiplayer is no longer about a mad dash for a better weapon the second you spawn. Sure, there are great weapons to find, but the assault rifle is a competent weapon in most situations. Another addition is the ability to edit all kinds of traits in the game. Traits can be given to all players or the team / player in the lead. How you use this is up to you. Want to boost everyone's shields, increase running speed, reduce gravity, and give everyone a gravity hammer and a Spartan laser? Go for it (it's pretty fun, actually). Multiplayer is now (literally) what you make of it, and it's a blast.

Now, if you really want to control how a game plays out, there's the Forge. Succinctly, Forge is some of the stupidest fun you can have with a game. At least, that's what it is at first. Forge allows players to create map variants by placing, deleting, and editing objects. These objects include simple things like scenery, weapons, and vehicles, but you can also edit more complex things like spawn points and CTF capture points. Inevitably though, your first instinct will be to find a flat surface, pile it with fusion coils, and launch a Mongoose to the moon. Follow that instinct. Follow it hard. You won't be disappointed. In fact, why not cue up the film of my first attempt right now? No, really, you can click here, find the movie titled "Boomtastic-X3F", click "Download to Halo 3", and once you pop Halo 3 into your 360, it will begin downloading automatically.

And that brings us to saved films. Basically, every game of Halo 3 you play, be it campaign, multiplayer, or Forge, is automatically saved as a film. Once you wrap up a game, simply head into the theater lobby and load it up. The game caches your recent sessions, but you'll have to manually save them if you want them permanently. During a saved film, players have complete control over the camera, allowing them to frame the best view of the action. If you see a particularly cool piece of action, you can record it as a smaller clip. Also, players can take static screenshots of the action on screen. In fact, every screenshot in this review was taken in game using the saved film feature.

And that, as briefly as I can put it, is Halo 3. Honestly, as long as this review is, it's really not long enough. Regardless of how players receive the story's conclusion, the amount of content contained in the Halo 3 package is just staggering. With campaign co-op, multiplayer, Forge, and saved films, the game offers plenty of bang for your gaming buck. Many will claim that it's not as pretty as Gears of War, and arguably they'd be right, but it was never meant to be.

I never intended to write a review filled with nothing but praise for Halo 3, but it's just damned hard to criticize. Sure, there are things I could point out that are disappointing. The graphics aren't perfect. You can't save clips in campaign. The story will be confusing to newcomers. Yeah, I can pick nits all day if I wanted to, and doubtless many Halo detractors will do just that, but the game is good. The conflicts are huge, the levels are vast, and the gameplay is solid. Not only that, but the extras ensure that players will still be playing Halo 3 for a long time to come. Love it or hate it, Halo is back on top, and it's probably there to stay.

credit goes to x3f, but I have played it in 1080P, WOW

One of the best FPS' to ever see the light of day

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 49 / 98
Date: September 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

To call Halo 3 eagerly anticipated is saying it quite lightly. Thanks to Bungie, the game has been more than worth the wait, and the end result is undoubtedly the best first person shooter to hit the Xbox 360 yet, and maybe ever. Picking up after the cliffhanger ending of Halo 2, Master Chief is in pursuit of the Covenant, who is hell bent and heading to Earth. You'll be happy to know first and foremost that Halo 3 improves on everything that has been seen in the previous two installments of the series, from the game's epic story to the overall gameplay mechanics. The story provides enough closure and answers many of the questions raised in Halo 2, and nicely ties things up while leaving enough room open if there ever are any more installments in the series. As for the gameplay, which is the reason enough to pick the game up even of the story were a disappointment, is everything you could hope for and more so besides. The single player campaign is lengthy enough to satisfy jaded gamers angry at the incredibly short length of Halo 2, but what even makes it more enjoyable is the four-player co-op mode, which can even be taken over Xbox Live. And yes, speaking of Xbox Live, the multiplayer options is where the real meat and potatoes of Halo 3 is to be had, but you already knew that. Besides the standard deathmatch modes, there are some new options, most notably Infection, which involves zombies trying to convert you. New map modes and options really let the player let loose with creativity as well, and result in an incredible amount of replay value that an FPS hasn't seen in quite some time. There are new weapons, brilliant graphics, solid voice acting, and the game isn't hard at all for new gamers to the series to pick up either. Yes, Halo 3 is finally here, and it's quite simply the best FPS to hit the Xbox 360 yet. Whether or not you'll prefer it over Gears of War is another story entirely, but needless to say, there is plenty here to keep you occupied for quite some time.

A Must-Own - But Not Perfection

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 56 / 74
Date: September 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Halo 3 was, in a way, doomed before it was released. No matter how well it did, people are going to judge its "wow factor" against how amazing the original Halo felt to play back when it first came out. Now that we are used to the weapons, races, environments and plotline, nothing is as cool as it was that first time. It's the same issue that plagues any series, be it Dune, the Matrix, Star Wars, etc.

Halo 3 does get a boost in that it is released for the 360, so you get an automatic upgrade in abilities there. We're playing on a high end HD TV, and yes, it looks really nice. The backgrounds look like a painting in motion, with swirling clouds and dancing dust storms. From the light glinting off the metal surfaces to the detailed shadows in the rocks, it can be really gorgeous. Is every detail as beautiful as every detail in, say Gears of War? Maybe not. Different developers focus on different items. There are always trade-offs for speed and visual appeal reasons. For a Halo world, I think they did a good job.

The sound and dialogue are really great. I like the background music, and I find much of the dialogue hilarious. There are some conversations that have me laughing out loud. This is a good game to play with your surround sound stereo system hooked up, and of course the subwoofers.

I hated the ending of Halo 2. I dislike it when a story finishes with a "and now wait a few years to find out what happened." They can at least have you feel like you achieved something, and ended a chapter. For that reason alone it's good to have Halo 3 here to wrap everything up.

Unfortunately, with all the time they spent in development, this third outing is a bit predictable. I really enjoyed the multi character play in Halo 2. I thought that was a great touch. They completely removed it for Halo 3, setting you back into a Master Chief only mode. To be honest, I really thought we'd get THREE races this time around, and get to play as the Flood too. Why reduce ourselves to just one?

Also, while there are a lot of "missions", some of them are maybe 5 minutes long. That's a bit on the short side. I realize you can go back and replay on harder and harder levels to challenge yourself - but they could have put more depth into the basic story line.

Now, all of those things being said, the key to any game in modern times is its multiplayer ability. No matter what single player game you play, it's pretty much a limited time game. Multiplayer is completely unlimited - and you're not stuck with the formulas built into the AI brains. Halo 3 is definitely the best multiplayer experience of the three games - the most balanced, the most fun, the best graphics. You could literally play this for years and not get bored of it.

So to summarize - if you don't have XBox Live, you could rent this game for a week, get through it and have a lot of fun. You'll be able to see how the story ends, get your Halo fix in and be happy. But if you do have XBox Live, you'll want to own this. Between replaying the base game on harder levels to improve your skills, and playing multi-player in a variety of maps and set-ups, you'll be happy for a long, long while.

There are many games we write a walkthrough for that we have to push ourselves to get through, but when we did our walkthrough for Halo 3, we really did have fun :) So that's always a good sign!

Review for Non-Gamers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: September 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm not a gamer, just a regular 30something who wants an easy way to take out my frustrations. This review is probably most helpful to middle aged men like me, not hardcore gamers.

I have tried many other games but Halo is the only one that doesn't tax me too much with choices and complicated controller requirements. I give the Halo franchise 5 stars because it is so simple, one mission, kill everything in sight. You don't need to investigate, open your pouch, choose between a million weapons, read maps, or think for even a second. It's the only game I've found which I can stand for more than 5 minutes and which is completely uncomplicated. And you can skip the story and all that nonsense by just hitting the main button.

As compared to other Halos: I'm not crazy about the weaponry. The needlers run out of ammo and the other guns don't do much. You also need to press a button to reload some weapons, it seems, whereas before they would reload if you walked over the same kind of weapon. THere are 3 kinds of grenades, which is unnecessary and just harder to switch between. You can also only carry 2 of each instead of 4. Since the new grenades stick like the plasmas, they don't add much and just add another layer of choice and button-pushing. Too complicated. Also, the little bonus things like flares and landmines are gimmicky and add too much comlpication. Again, advanced gamers probably love it, but I'm too old to learn all this new stuff. Just give me a gun and some grenades.

In previous games you'd come across more types of things to do, like a lot of sniper rifles so you could sit on a hilltop picking off aliens or use other strategy. In this game you don't find a lot of useful weapons, so there's a lot more direct hand to hand, on the ground type combat. I've also found that it's easier to kill things and easier in general to solve the levels. Also, it uses the "follow me" arrow and the voice gives you suggestions if you seem to be missing the point, which I like, since in previous Halos I've spent hours wandering around wondering what I'm supposed to be doing. No such problems here. They've sufficiently dumbed it down.

I've had a few graphic glitches in this one, which has never happened before. I've also gotten stuck and unable to get out of things twice. THe sound and graphics are great, of course. I've never paid any attention to the story, unless it required me to, so I can't comment on that. Kusdos to Bungie for making it easy to skip over.

Overall, this is the same experience as the others, though it seems easier than Halo2. As little thought as that required, this one requires less. I've not had to think at all about weapon choice, strategy, or anything, Just pull the trigger and kill! I wish there were more FPS games like this -- fast-paced, completely intuitive hand controls, easy storyline, simple mission, and FUN.

All around greatness

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: September 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The original HALO is what caused me to trade in my Sony for an XBOX, HALO was that good. HALO 2 on the other hand was traded in on the same day it was released, the graphics were simply old and no good. However, I played HALO 3 yesterday for 3 hours on co-op, and the game is truly great. Are there better graphics in other games, yes, but overall they improved the graphics on this game to keep me happy. The action as always is intense and so far the game has not let me down. I'll be finished with the story by this evening, but this game is a keeper.


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