"Halo 3" is the final installment in the much-lauded "Halo" trilogy, and the first of the games to be developed for a next-generation console.
Available only on Xbox 360 for now, "Halo 3" takes advantage of the new platform's advanced graphics processing to look significantly better than any previous game in the series (though Microsoft will almost certainly release the game on Windows Vista in the future, as they've done with "Halo" and "Halo 2"). And, just like "Halo" and "Halo 2," there are aliens to fight - lots of aliens - and the same aliens, over and over.
First, the upgrades: "Halo 3" supports up to four friends playing through the story in co-operative play. This is twice as many players as were allowed for the story mode in the first two games and provides an amazing play experience - though the difficulty must be cranked up for four decently skilled players to have a challenge.
There are more weapons than ever before, more vehicles than ever before, more types of grenades, and new systems in the form of deployable equipment.
The new weapons are thoroughly enjoyable. The Spartan Laser, a shotgun pistol, the Gravity Hammer, a Sentinel Beam Gun: These are all new ways to enthusiastically lay waste to the covenant and flood hordes. The new grenade types are interesting, but don't end up adding much to game-play. At the cost of being able to carry only half the number of conventional grenades that "Halo 2" allowed, the new grenades are not even worth having.
The new vehicles are probably the best addition to the game. While the Halo-verse previously had a very limited vehicle selection, "Halo 3"'s new covenant vehicles very nicely round out the selections. With a single-wheeled "chopper," a new hovercraft/APC and a new tank, the additional vehicles prove to be the largest content addition to game-play in the new iteration of the game.
However, "Halo 3" is not the masterpiece its ardent supporters were predicting. While without doubt a very solid game, it fails in a couple noteworthy ways.
First of all, while supposedly supporting four-player co-op, it requires players to play the game through again in single-player mode in order to get the "true" ending of the game. For people whose reason for purchase was to play through the story with their friends, this proves to be a real bait-and-switch.
Secondly, when compared to the visuals of other next-generation titles, "Halo 3" is decidedly left in the dust. While the game certainly looks vastly improved over its last-generation predecessors, when compared to the graphics of "Bioshock" or "Gears of War," "Halo 3" just doesn't deliver as much as it needs to at this point in the 360's lifecycle.
This is especially surprising, as Microsoft Game Studios owns the developer, Bungie. It is perhaps to be expected, for the "Halo 3" engine is based on the previous Halos' engines and not Epic's Unreal Engine 3, as "Gears of War" and "Bioshock" are.
Multiplayer is, of course, the dominant social mode for campus Halo fans and Master Chief aspirants, and when it comes to multiplayer, "Halo 3" definitely delivers the goods.
"Halo 3" multiplayer is one of the best console-based multiplayer FPS experiences available today. The game has a number of advanced features which are standard fare in PC gaming, but heretofore unseen in console gaming.
For starters, it has a map editor for multiplayer matches, known as "Forge" mode. In this mode, players can dynamically change the object placements on multiplayer maps, then jump in as a player to play-test their changes with just a push of a button. Multiple people can work on a map at the same time, allowing complex customizations to be performed quickly and easily by coordinating editors. In addition, the Bungie team redid several of the most popular maps from previous Halo games in the new engine and has added many new maps on top of those.
The "party" system of online matchmaking provides a seamless and easy way for players to get together and team up with friends or against opponents of their choice. Finally, players can record videos of their game-play from inside the game and upload them to a video server. As a whole, the multiplayer experience is thoroughly polished and well put together.
Overall, the game is quite solid. While it would have been nice to deal with more than just Covenant and Flood, "Halo 3" stuck with the formula that made the first two games reasons to buy an Xbox and improved upon its foundation in graphics and multiplayer experience. It earns nine points out of 10, with the one point missing for real innovation.
