Halo 3

Rating Mature Genre action Publisher Bungie/Microsoft External Links Official Halo 3 Website

Hype. We’ve all heard about it, we all know about, and for many it is the perfect word to describe the entire Halo series. Once upon a time, I was one of them. For me, Halo was a rather unremarkable XBOX game on what was clearly, back in 1999, a testament to the failure of Microsoft in designing any piece of electronic hardware. Of course, those opinions were not based on actual game play experience, but on what I had seen and read online and in the stores.

By sheer chance in 2003 I was introduced to the Machinima Series Red vs. Blue, and after several weeks of debate, I finally broke down and purchased a Halo Edition XBox, with a free copy of Halo inside. I thank Rooster Teeth, the creators of Red vs. Blue, for convincing me into playing one of the best stories it has been my privilege to experience on any game system. Halo 2 continued the story expertly, providing an entrancing experience that quickly had me reserving my copy of Halo 3, and picking up yet another video game system.

After months of anticipation, Halo 3 has finally been released for the XBox 360. Three versions of the game currently exist: a Standard Edition containing just the game, a Collectors Edition which comes with a bonus disc with The Making of Halo 3 and a few additional features, and the Limited (Legendary) Edition complete with a Bonus DVD and nearly live-size replica of the Spartan helmet. While the helmet is outstanding, and the bonus material fun and informative, you aren’t here to read about the extras, so let’s talk about what really matters.

Players will quickly discover that the Covenant and the dreaded Flood have plans for the Earth, and that they are the last, and only hope for victory. Halo 3 is an emotional rollercoaster of a legend, bringing players deeply into the lives of its characters as the story unfolds. Each of the main characters is highly developed and engaging, giving a sense of realism to their digital lives. Even NPC allies and enemies are given dozens of lines of dialogue, each designed to make the experience of playing unique for every run while enhancing the sense that you really are in the middle of the conflict. Much to my surprise, the cast of Red vs. Blue make a cameo appearance in the game, if you can find them, which seems a fitting tribute to Halo’s long standing fan base.

The first thing anyone ever notices of Halo is the opening score and Halo 3 is no exception, sporting a breathtaking musical score that will draw the player in from the very first note. Sound effects are spot on, providing every weapon, vehicle, character, and creature with a realistic voice and sound that will fill every corner of your gaming area. Returning to Halo 3 is the original cast from the previous two Halo games, ensuring that every character is easily recognized and remembered from the moment they appear, which is good because nobody else could ever play Cortana like Jen Taylor, and Bungie/Microsoft should remember that when they start making their plans for the movie.

Graphically, Halo 3 surpasses its predecessors, and most other platform games, with its environmental designs. Every location looks like you could walk through your monitor into a real world. From jungles to deserts, Bungie has expertly brought the realms of Halo 3 to life with a masterful use of textures, modeling, and processor power. Sadly, and this truly is my one complaint with the game, after so much work was done on the environment, vehicles, and weapons, it seems strange that the character designs would look as rough as they are. While I would like to believe that this was done with artistic license to portray the rough times that the characters are going through, it still comes off as just being a little shoddy on Bungie’s part.

Speaking of graphics, let’s talk about weapons. As usual, Halo offers a wide assortment of firing power for the player to decimate their enemies with. The Assault Rifle, a classic from the first Halo game, returns along with an assortment of new weapons such as the one-shot-kill-all Spartan Laser and the Covenant Mauler, which is a dual-wielded shotgun with blades attached for extra melee damage. Along with some new grenade types, Halo 3 showcases new equipment items, which can be deployed with the use of the X button. Only one piece of equipment can be carried at a time, and each has a variety of uses in game.

Some new vehicles make an appearance in Halo 3, such as the high speed ATV Mongoose and the personal helicopter Hornet. One of the deadlier vehicles is the Brute Chopper, a rather ugly and bulky parody of a motorcycle. While the Brute Chopper is a pain to drive and hard to maneuver, its weaponry can take out tanks and phantoms from across the map with nearly pinpoint accuracy. Some changes to the classic vehicles have been added, such as tanks requiring a gunner to fire the machine gun, and a new transport version of the Warthog that has no armaments, but can carry five soldiers and a driver.
With an active Xbox Live account, multiplayer can be accessed. Players can interact with up to sixteen other combatants in standard Slayer games or objective type games as Assault, Capture the Flag, and my all time favorite, Zombie! New to Halo 3 is the ability to play Campaign Mode online, with up to four players. Another new addition is Campaign Scoring, which allows players to track the progress of each team member through the Campaign. Each kill, destroyed vehicle, or discovered secret nets the player a certain amount of points, augmented by the Difficulty level of the game and the speed in which the level was completed. Die, and you lose points. Team Kills will net you an even greater loss in score.

Halo 3 also brings with it a new layer of customization above and beyond what was seen in Halo 2. Each player can choose to play a Spartan or Elite, with their own personal color scheme and team emblem. Additionally, players can unlock five different armor types for each character, which can be outfitted individually in five categories, allowing an even greater degree of uniqueness to your personal soldier. Armor not your thing? No problem. Each map in Matchmaking Mode can be edited by the players, allowing for a completely individualized take on any map, which can then be uploaded and shared to the entire Halo 3 community.

Not all the changes have been confined to the game itself. All aspects of the game, from Campaign to Matchmaking, are recorded with Halo 3’s special video recorder and saved to your XBox 360 hard drive. Players can replay the videos, pause, change camera angles, take snap shots, and upload videos to share with friends. Always claimed to have taking out an entire team single handily and scored the flag without support? Well now you can prove it! This will also be a great new tool for honest players to capture cheats and hacks in the act, a problem that continues to plague the Halo 2 online community.

Halo 3 has succeeded in not only bringing an amazing story to a close, but in providing its players with everything that was asked for and more. You may read this and think it’s just another hype piece, but the bottom line is that Halo 3 is not just a video game, it is an experience that any XBox owner should avail themselves of.

Believe.