Overview

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Review

Release Date: 09.25.2007
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Bungie Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Reviewed by Andrew Thornton on 10.21.2007

Review Rating: 9/10

User Rating: 8.5/10

When Microsoft first announced the Xbox 360 on MTV, many gamers watched the show hoping to get a first look at Halo 3. It was illogical of course -- Halo 2 had only been out for a year. But gamers hoped anyway. After all, Microsoft would never launch their next system without a killer app. Right? Well, Microsoft was brave enough to do so. Perfect Dark and Project Gotham Racing are popular series, there's no doubt about that, but Halo is something all its own. How could gamers predict that it would take nearly two years after the launch of the new Xbox to get its main franchise represented? How could gamers know that Halo wouldn't even be the system's first system-selling shooter? They couldn't have, but that's how things played out. Nearly two years after the launch of the Xbox 360, Bungie and Microsoft have finally delivered the third and final installment in the Halo series. Finally gamers get to finish the fight. Halo 3 could never have lived totally up to expectations, of course not; gamers expected the second coming of Jesus. But they didn't miss by that much.

I'll start off by saying that I'm not reviewing the packaging of Halo 3. The game was released in three packages, Standard, Limited and Legendary. They range in price from 60 to 130 dollars. The two more expensive versions come with various extra features, ranging from documentaries on the making of the game all the way up to a life size (though it won't fit on your head) version of the Master Chief's helmet (in the Legendary package). These extras are cool and I've seen some of them, but having mainly dealt with the standard edition, I'm not going to get into that.

Halo 3 is as good a multi-player shooter as you can find on the Xbox 360. It doesn't play all that different from Halo 2, but there are plenty of new weapons, new vehicles, and new levels. Still, very few of the multi-player additions really add a lot to the game. A few of them are very nice, though. Four player co-op works like a charm. The weapon balancing is much better. The pistol is about half way between the original's over-powered pistol and the useless one in Halo 2. It's useful, but many players will still miss its zoom. The assault rifle is back from the first game, but its ammo load has been lowered a bit and it's been balanced. Also, the needler can no longer be dual-wielded, but it's more powerful than before. As I mentioned before, there are also a number of new weapons, such as the spartan laser, which is very cool. There are even two new types of grenades to use.

Looking at the main parts of the game, Bungie hasn't reinvented the wheel. There was no need -- the game already played great. Most of the problems people had with Halo 2 had nothing to do with the core gameplay. They had more to do with other aspects of the game such as story. The main new additions here come in the form of new modes. Primarily, the Forge. The Forge is one of the coolest gameplay modes I've ever seen in a game. It's sort of a level maker, except you don't totally design levels as you can in a big percentage of PC shooters today. Instead, you can recreate the levels to your specifications. Move spawn points, move flag points, close areas off, move almost any item around. It allows for nearly infinite replayability.

The other major addition to Halo 3 is that the game saves full videos of your last 25 games. This allows you to watch your matches and see what exactly happened in parts of matches where you might be clueless. Or you can just use it to rewatch parts of games where you and your team rocked, save clips, pictures, even share them with other gamers online if you want. This feature is absolutely killer. The other day my brother threw a plasma grenade at an attacker, but it missed and fell down a level past the guy he was shooting. He killed the guy shooting at him before suddenly seeing double kill pop up. It took him a minute to get back to where he'd thrown the grenade, and he had no idea what happened. Watching it back later, he found that he'd actually saved one of his teammates who was about to die by sticking another opponent a level below. The theater gives you a whole new level of ability to prepare and learn from your mistakes, much like an athlete watching old game films to prepare for an upcoming game.

Halo 3 is not perfect, though. The graphics for one aren't as good as one would have hoped. Which isn't to say they're not good -- they're great -- but they aren't ground breaking, as one would think a new Halo game would strive to be. In fact, they don't even match those of Gears of War, released almost a year earlier. They're top 10 on the system, but gamers expect a lot out of Bungie and some may be disappointed to see that the game looks very, very good rather than great. The audio, however, is as good as ever and does wonders for the game. Plus, in-game dialogue may even be better than in the past. The grunts have always been hilarious, but never have they been as funny as they are here. A few Red vs. Blue references make things even better for fans.

Halo 3's biggest area of disappointment is likely the single player. It's certainly good, probably better than Halo 2's in fact. For one thing, if you're playing alone, you'll be solely the Master Chief from start to finish this time, which many gamers will be happy with. But for my money, it's a bit disappointing that the second game spent so much time developing the Arbiter only to relegate him to complete back seat status this time around. I'd have been happier had he never been brought in as a main character in the first place, but if you're going to take half of Halo 2 to make him one, then make him one. Personal gripe aside, everything else just feels like more of the same for the most part. The enemies are smarter, there are new vehicles and weapons, and a few of the battles are on a more epic scale. But this is still Halo. Which on a level is great - after all, gamers wanted Halo. On the other hand, we've played Halo twice already and it feels like Bungie played it a bit too safe here. Despite some frustrating parts -- the library comes to mind -- many gamers still go back and play the first Halo's single player. After finishing Halo 3 on Legendary, I doubt many will spend much more time on it.

Halo 3 is an extremely polished game. Within itself, it really has no major flaws. It's probably the best of the series when you take the whole package into account. But Bungie has set a standard for themselves. At times, Halo 3 almost feels more like an expansion pack than a true sequel, and that's because Bungie played it safe. It's understandable -- there were a lot of expectations here. If Bungie had rolled the dice and not come through, gamers would have risen up en masse. But when you think about it, even with the additions Bungie did make for Halo 3, if they had flopped, they wouldn't have hurt the core game in any way. You'd have just ignored them and carried on. By not pushing themselves, Bungie has failed to live up to the benchmark they set for themselves with the first two Halo titles. Halo 3 is still a must own. In fact, if you don't have it, go get it now. I'll meet you online. But it should have and could have been more.

Second Opinion

Reviewed by Richard Brownell
Review Rating: 10

To give perspective on my opinion, my review of Halo came with a score of 9. Had I reviewed Halo 2, I would have given it an 8. While the first game thrived on an awesome single player (albeit hampered by lazy level designs in some cases) and addictive multiplayer, the second game's campaign mode just wasn't as fun. "More" doesn't always mean better. The weapon changes were not for the better, and the key improvement in multiplayer was to put it online. But thankfully Bungie did not bring Halo 3 further downward towards merely "good."

On the contrary, the campaign mode seems to be a mix of what worked in the first and second games. The weapon set has been rebalanced and expanded. The AI of the brutes makes them the perfect replacement for the elites. Vehicles seem to be everywhere, but yet never seem like they are stealing the show from the on-foot sections. But the campaign doesn't merely deliver on quality shooting; it has its fair share of truly epic moments. The double scarab battle that everybody has heard of by now is one of the most memorable moments I've experienced in an FPS. And the game doesn't just throw you into it with specific weapons or vehicles capable of taking it down. You get to choose what to use. Take it down with a flying vehicle, a tank, or even on foot (if you're crazy). Add in co-op to the equation, and not only does it become more fun, but the strategies for these epic moments are expanded drastically. The story isn't the best; that's fine. Neither are the stories of any of my FPSs. In games, you are the story, and the story of me as Master Chief is a truly memorable one.

The campaign mode on its own is great. If we're keeping score on a play-by-play basis, it could on its own bring the game to a 9. It doesn't really break the mold, and the graphics range from looking like they were masterfully painted on the screen in some places to others looking like I'm playing a first-gen Xbox game...with some bloom lighting. But the campaign mode is not alone. It comes with some of the best multiplayer in the Halo series and in most console FPSs. And that is enhanced by taking screenshots and video, the Forge, and if you bought the Limited or Legendary editions, tons of extras. In 10 years, when gamers are looking back at their 360 collections and press are doing retrospectives, Halo 3 will be remembered as one of the best games in the first two years of its life, perhaps its entire lifetime (I don't have future goggles). And that's not because it says "Halo" on the box; it's because it's fun as hell.

Box art

Media

10.27.2006 - LEVEL scans (10)