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You say goodbye. I say Halo... 3.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 03, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Wow. Is this the most hyped game ever, or what? The tv commercials featuring live actors, and a VERY detailed model were exceptionally well done. The Halo Mountain Dew was interesting to say the least, and the Legendary Edition was pretty cool in its own right. However, I am not sure that the game lived up to the promise of the hype. WARNING: There may be spoilers below, so consider yourself warned...

Story:
Nothing new here. While the Halo franchise has a great premise, it has always been somewhat lacking in how it tells the story. The premise draws heavily from many other sci-fi classics (Aliens, Enemy Mine, etc.), but it somehow manages to make it feel somewhat unique in how these elements are combined. At its core this is a story about an advanced group of alien races that have combined to form The Covenant. The Covenant is led by prophets that have declared humanity offensive to their god's and order them to be wiped out. The basis of the first two games was to protect humanity, but it was all important to insure that The Covenant never found the coordinates of Earth, humanity's last stronghold. This is all told during in-game cutscenes that take place between you (Master Chief) being dropped in to fight the Covenant forces.

If this is all the story included it would be decent, but clichéd and forgettable. However, Bungie is smarter than that. They threw in a wild card element known as The Flood. The Flood is another parasitic alien race that acts with a hive-like mentality, attacking characters of both the humans and the Covenant and transforming them into Flood creatures as well. These creatures are controlled by a central intelligence known as the Gravemind. The Flood adds another dynamic to the game, but I will get into that below in gameplay...

The basis of Halo 3 is "Finish the fight." Master Chief teams up with the rogue Covenant Elites to take down the Prophet of Truth, rescure Cortana from the clutches of the Gravemind, and to save the universe in general.

Graphics:
The graphics in the game are definitely better than Halo 2, and most other games out there. There has been much ado from the gaming community about whether or not the graphics in Halo 3 are good or not. They are good. I would even go so far as to say they are very good. They are not the best on the system. That honor would go to Call Of Duty 4 or Bioshock. However, they are very good. They are especially brilliant in the area of lighting and textures. It is amazing to see how well rendered the lighting effects are, all the way down to little light sources on the Spartan (i.e. Master Chief) armor that may go unnoticed by many. The textures are extremely detailed and hold up under the tightest of closeups. In some ways this is unfortunate as the details are easily overlooked, since many of them are small and/or subtle.

The character models in H3 are relatively detailed and animated well. However, the environments leave something to be desired. They feel very generic and bland for the most part. The outdoors areas tend to be very wide open without a lot detail. I suspect this is due to the game including so many vehicles, as it allows for easier navigation of the many modes of transport that can be used.

Sound:
Halo 3 shines in its sound design. From the music that cues at just the right moment to the individual clink of shell casing hitting the ground, every sound is dead on. The directional sound is amazing if you are using a surround sound system. You can truly tell where your enemies are firing from based on the sound separation on a 5.1 or higher system. The amazing sound design is easily seen when evaluating gameplay using the Theater (detailed below).

Gameplay:
Solid is the best way to describe the gameplay in Halo 3. The controls are tight and configurable. Bungie took the weaknesses of Halo 2 and fixed them. The in-game missions are fun, and the maps are fun to play. The multiplayer experience is signature Halo. If you liked Halo 2's multiplayer you will like this. If you didn't, then don't expect to be converted.

As with most fps's the story and missions are very linear. Halo 3 does not allow for much straying from the defined path. However, the multitude of vehicles and weapons at your disposal make up for this. Everything controls incredibly well.

The AI in Halo 3 is impressive... if you play it at the right level. If you play on the normal or easy difficulties you may notice that the enemies are bumbling idiots. However, if you play at the upper levels it won't take long to see that the enemies are using flanking maneuvers, climbing rocks/crates to get a higher vantage point to shoot from, barking orders to one another, accurately tossing grenades, etc. The AI of the humans and your Elite counterpart are not quite so impressive, though.

H3 allows for up to four players to play together cooperatively within the single player campaign. While doing so you can activate the "metagame" in which the computer will keep score for each individual allowing for the cooperative experience to be competitive as well.

The multiplayer is fairly tight as well. There are a multitude of gametypes, and many, many options for you to use to customize multiplayer games with your friends. The multiplayer maps are mostly well designed, but, much like the campaign, some areas come across as generic and uninspired.

The biggest "innovation" in the gameplay is the addition of "equipment." This comes in the form of a Bubble Shield (a circular force field that protects from all projectile weapons), Radar Jammer (creates multiple false hits on the radar), Flare (blinds all within proximity), Energy Generator (refills shields within proximity), Energy Drain (drains shields within proximity), and the Grav Lift (basically a portable jump pad). Other than this the multiplayer game plays almost exactly like the other Halo games.

To me the most disappointing about this game is the failure to meet the promise of the single player campaign. In the months leading up to the games release Bungie released a series of commercials and webisodes that mention a great battle in which Master Chief defeats the Covenant and save mankind. It is very unfortunate that in the game this battle never takes place. In many of the pre-release weekly updates on Bungie's site there are mentions of great battles with dozens of enemies on screen at once, etc. Again, this never happened. To me there was never a true "battlefield" experience (to see an example of what I mean by "battlefield" experience play through Call of Duty 4). In the end you don't even battle Gravemind (the character that is ultimately the most reviled and made into the biggest "Bad Guy.") This combined with other story elements that are left dangling leave the victory at the end of the game feeling a bit hollow. Considering this is supposed to be the end of the series (or at least this trilogy/storyline) there are a lot of plot points left unresolved and dangling. These story shortcomings are unfortunate given that there is such a rich world and backstory involved. The first Halo novel is fantastic. It is a shame this game could not live up to that.

Innovations:
Unfortunately there is not much innovation in the gameplay of Halo itself. However, there is much to be desired outside of this. The biggest gameplay innovation has been the reassigning of some of the buttons on the controllers. The biggest change has been to the "X" button. Bungie made a huge deal about how awesome the X button was to be in Halo 3, but in the end all it does is deploy "Equipment" (see Gameplay).

The biggest innovations in this package are:
1. Theater: The theater is a feature of the game that saves the game code from recently played games. This allows the player to go back and rewatch their most recent games... from any angle, any players point of view (in co-op or multiplayer). You can detach the camera and zoom around the map while the game plays below, or in multiplayer matches you can attach the camera to that guy that kept sniping you to see where he was hiding. You can also pause and zoom around a firefight matrix-style, or create movie clips of in-game action. You can then upload those movies and screenshots to your Bungie.net account (free) and share them with the world. This is where you can stop to truly appreciate the hi-res textures and lighting effects. Your friends can then access these files and download them to their Xbox. You can also send these files to anyone as video smack talk, if you are so inclined. The best thing about this is that the files are made up of game code, so they take up little disk space, since they are not rendered movies.
2. Forge: Honestly I have not played with this feature very much, but I do find it intriguing. It has been coined as a map editor, and I guess that is what it is... loosely. It is not a map editor in the traditional sense that you can edit the terrain, textures, etc. of a map. However, you can take a pre-built map and add attributes that are not defaults. You can place spawn points, weapons, vehicles, crates, explosive barrels, and even a giant soccer ball in a map. This allows for user created variations on maps, and even user created gametypes. These maps can then be uploaded to your Bungie.net account for others to download.
3. The a-hole button: This is one of the most simple, yet most appreciated innovations to me. While Halo is fun, and multiplayer can be great, it is often marred by the multitude of foul-mouthed, immature, reveling in their anonymity, punks. Surprisingly Bungie recognized that much of their player base fell into this category, and made it incredibly simple to mute these people. In game all you need to do is hit the "back" button to bring up the player list, highlight the offending player, and hit the "X" button. From that time on that person is muted (to you) until you unmute them. Note to parents: If your kids play Halo, I encourage you to listen in on their games from the next room, etc. to see if their behavior acceptable to you.

Final Thoughts:
Overall this is a very enjoyable game for both the single and multiplayer experiences. For both of these there is not much new other than the enhanced graphics and lighting. However, the Theater is one of the coolest game features in recent memory, and can result in many lost hours as you look for the perfect screenshot or game clip. While the single player campaign is marred by questionable story elements, and falling short of its potential, it is still enjoyable and better than a majority of fps's on the market. The multiplayer is lots of fun, but it is marred by the lack of maturity of a high percentage of its playerbase. It is a shame that Call of Duty 4 came out so close to Halo 3, as it quickly stole some of Halo's thunder. My opinion is that the multiplayer and single player experience of CoD4 is superior to that of Halo 3, but H3 does not deserve to be ignored or overlooked, as it is a very strong game in its own right. Also, Halo 3 is the only game where you can have an experience like what you have with the Theater. I sometimes spend more time in there than I do in the game itself...

Classic Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

the cds in the case came loose, but it really was little to no sctratches, the game was defintely playable and has been since ive gotten it, and in fact when you put the discs in the holders inside the case they hold strong, so i dont even know how they came loose in the first place, well worth saving the 10 bucks.

Great Game for 07-08

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Halo 3 was a great game.Graphics.Gameplay.Multiplayer, it has it all.

Being a fan of halo since the beginning I have to say that like halo 2, halo 3 was way overhyped. I wasnt the first one to purchase it nor the person waiting in a long line, but I am a person who got it recently and beat the game in 2 days on the heroic difficulty.

I really want to reconsider what everyone has always said about halo 3 which is "the graphics are the same as halo 2," this in no form is true just, a plain lie that people use to degrade the game. The graphics were spectacular! You can see the texture up close and the real time lighting from a distance, it's just an amazing experiance to see visually.

Gameplay however, there wasnt much transition between halo 1 and 2, as you repetively shoot at a.i. who perform the same task over and over again. This is typical of a fps, but for me I was expecting more as this was supposed to be the end of the halo series.

The multiplayer is great, you engage with people (mostly 13 year olds who have no clue what they are doing) in a conversation, as well as play the high definition maps available. I do wish they added more maps as there are only 4 or 5 at the moment. Bungie has released the "heroic map pack" but this costs an additional 10$ to download, which doesnt make me happy :(. However rumor has it that these maps will be available coming spring for free.

Overall im glad to own halo 3 as well as the behind the scenes which takes you through bungies warehouse and into voice acting, animation, storyboarding, just a bunch of great stuff that shows how the game was made.
I wish it could have been a little better but thats what we get from a greedy company like microsoft. Ill be awaiting halo 4 and hope for good things to come. Thanks Bungie.

awesome freaking game, suitable end to the trilogy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Exquisite graphics, tight controls, lengthy and compelling story, decent AI, classic halo weapons, awesome new and old vehicles, great enemies, shweet.... Maybe not the best game ever made, but it could easily be considered a contender for the title. Buy it, if you haven't already.

If you are a halo fan, you will like this game. The plot may not be what you expect, but its artfulness and honesty cannot be denied. Heroes don't always come home unscathed, unfortunately, but that is what makes them heroes in the first place.

My only gripe is that the limited edition has scratched disks, but Microsoft was quick to correct this problem. Just go to www.xbox.com if you need info on disk replacement.

Limited Edition Rocks!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Excellent game, the online multiplayer is awesome. The Limited Edition looks veeeery nice and the bonus DVD and race booklet are very nice.

Amazing Game, Awful Case

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game itself is amazing. Not only does it finish up the series with a huge bang, but it provides some incredible fun in the process. The graphics on the game are not the best on the 360, and may become outdated, but for now they're great.

The single player campaign is relatively short. Quite a bit shorted than Halo 2 and Halo 1. The multiplayer is a BLAST! Much more fun the 2's MP.

Overall, an incredible game to be sure. While maybe not the greatest in the series, it definitely stands out.

The only con with this game is the case of the Limited Edition. Not only is the case itself badly designed, but it scratches both discs. Around the inner ring of my game disc were several scratches. So definitely stay away from this edition.

I would definitely recommend this game to any FPS or Halo fan. However, I would not recommend buying this particular edition. Get either the regular or legendary.

great fun and well worth the so called hype

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: October 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

i highly recommend getting this game, the graphics are pretty cool, the flood are crazy and the weapons are fun. get this game and get some achievement points and have fun while doing it. multiplayer is tons of fun too! i got both the halo controllers to go with the system and game, i really got into this game and you will too!

Halo 3 Years

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Halo 3, practically a gamer's messiah. Halo has been one the most important video game franchises since 2001. Yes, we know that. and now after all of those late night frenzies in Halo and 2, the finale is upon us...

Obviously expectations were high. The Xbox 360 riding on this thing, and the whole marketing campaign and all. Anyways, when it all cam down to it, after taking my disc out of the collector's edition case (Middle edition), I put it in, and it worked. Phew. Then we get to the menue. it's slim and organized. Campaign, multiplayer, map editor, filmaker, that's it. So I start campaign...

The cutscenes weren't that good, but they weren't that bad. and we see the same Halo we've played for years, and it's well... Raher cartoonish! The graphics are good, don't get me wrong, but they just have an airless artificiality about them. And it feels like your playing a port of Halo 2, rather than a Halo game, it just is "okay." That's really the only way I can describe it. The new weapons and vehicles are fun, but the level design it both campaign and multiplayer let me down. The campaign has poor level design, with linear small areas, and the controls are changed, as is the HUD, making the expereince a little more difficult. And the multiplaer levels, are just better looking, less maneuverable counterparts of Halo 2 ones, minus a few. so there are many obvious things that bring it down.

And for all their efforts, the story is presented as well as Halo 1 (but better than 2).

Still, it is a game that can give you many little bits of fun. Xbox Live will let us enjoy it for years.

Overall, Halo 3 is good, for the most part a superb version of halo 2 (+ more) that just turns out to be a bit of a letdwon. For once I can't support a Halo title for game of The year.

Too short, and scratched

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: October 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Limited Editions are the ones that have scratched disks, largely due to the bad design of the little middle holder doodad (whatever it's called). The disks basically didn't snap on, and rubbed against it and became scratched. Mine arrived scratched, but the game played without a problem.

The bigger problem is that the game is way too short. I'm not a fast gamer, and most games people refer to as "rentals" are way too long for me to finish during the rental timeframe. This game was only about 8 hrs long (compared to about 20 for most "rentals"). If I had known that I would have rented it, and I'm regretting spending the amount of money I did for what should have been part of Halo 2.

If you play multi-player, you may get your money's worth, as there are a lot of people playing which should make for a good experience. However, there are probably other games that will be just as fun, and that don't cost this much that you could get instead.

The metalic box scrath the Disk

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This special edition its a shame for Halo 3. If you order this item, you probably will return it, cause the game will arrive with a lot of scratches.. I recomend the game but the regular set. PS. I wrote this review after recive two special edition of Halo 3, and YES the result was the same. I just send it back. Save your time, In fact Xbox its calling back the special edition. BUT THE GAME IS GREAT!!!!!!!

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