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Posted on: Nov 06, 2007

Halo 3

WORDS BY: Francesca Reyes

This is it. The reason why you spent money to upgrade to an HDTV and plunk cold, hard cash on an Xbox 360. The moment we find out whether Cortana lives or dies, and whether we get to finish the fight as Master Chief or (god forbid) some other character. A lot’s riding on this moment – not only for Microsoft and Bungie, but also for millions of gamers who’ve pinned countless hopes and paychecks on this very release.

And Halo 3’s clearly got a lot of ’splaining to do. Even with Halo 2’s marvelous light-year leap in multiplayer, we still didn’t get jazz-handed enough to not notice the major anti-ending. Will Halo 3 make the same mistake or deliver an all-around experience befitting the end of a major trilogy? Will the multiplayer raise the level for other games like its last chapter did? That’s what we’re here to find out. And so, with our rears firmly planted in our seats for the mother of all marathon gaming sessions, we flicked on our 360s for answers.

THE BIG BANG

Let’s get down to business: Halo 3 is about stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Big, small, mysterious, epic, outrageous – Halo 3 is like that bottomless basket of yummy, warm, buttered bread you get at a strip-mall chain restaurant. It gives, then keeps on giving until you realize you might never be able to play another game ever again if you want to experience everything it has to offer.

Wanna test your mettle with Campaign? Do it. You’ll find that the enemies are Ph.D.-smart, the vistas loom with bigger-than-life battles for humanity, and the variety of weapons and vehicles spans the spectrum from whimsical (The Brute Mauler shotgun-style firearm? Cool-looking, but pretty meh…) to downright indispensable (Plasma Rifles? Yes, please!). And after you’ve battled your way through the sci-fi melodrama and finished the fight, Campaign beckons you back for more punishment in the form of online co-op — can you and your friends beat Legendary? The game lures you with higher difficulty settings and new ways to conquer old enemies, and then traps you with its often-silly but brutal meta-game involving collectible skulls.

When you’re tired of that? That bottomless breadbasket also comes with infinite drink refills. There’s the gargantuan joy of multiplayer with its countless numbers of different game types, sub-game variations, and subtle map strategies. If that gets boring (pssht…like that’ll happen), then Forge gives you the chance to tweak levels and ways to play beyond what you expect. It’s almost as if Bungie has concocted some sinister plot to never let you leave the dinner table. Settling in isn’t a polite suggestion – Halo 3 orders you to.

THIS IS HOW THE WORLD BEGINS…

We’ll put your anxious, Arbiter-riddled mind at ease right now: From the minute you first load up the starting cinematic in the single-player campaign, you are Master Chief and you remain in his green helmet until the ending credits roll. Good, great – forum meltdown averted. But even wearing the big guy’s recharging-shield suit won’t save you from the ultimate beatdown that those hundreds of very well-armed, very intelligent Brutes (and company) are about to hand you throughout Halo 3’s 10- to 18-hour Heroic-difficulty-level campaign trail. Bungie has increased the lack of peace, so to speak – the pacing of every stage is constant, as if Halo 2 just went on an energy-drink binge. You are humanity’s last hope, and you’re about to pay for that privilege with gun shells, sweat, and (in the case of the grueling and arduous penultimate level) tears.

But this is what also makes Halo 3 an incredible rush in Campaign. From the hide-and-seek guerrilla warfare that blazes through lush green jungles (as seen in most of the beginning stages of the game) to wide-open, vehicle land-battle-happy deserts (“The Ark”) to the inner corridors and warehouses infested by all manner of Covenant critters (“Crow’s Nest” and a few others), you’re always pinned down and you’re always fighting to survive even the most seemingly small skirmish with the enemy.

There’s nothing small or insignificant when it comes to battle. You’ll always be fighting – from the minute you take control after the opening cinematic to the minute you crash-land into the ending, every portion is crammed with indispensable white-knuckled “moments,” both epic and exhilarating.

COMMENTS:

I would give it a 0.0 because it sucked.

I got Halo: Combat Evolved a few years ago for my PC and it is nothing like Halo 3. I have been playing Halo 3 for a few months for my 360 and it is an awesome game!!

Well.... a 10? Really, I was very dissapointed in this one. First off, I thought the story would run a little smoother. In fact, after I first beat the game, I forgot what just happened.. so I beat the next day and got it. I was thinking it would also be more intense, aside from destorying Scarabs (Favorite parts) all that you did was drive some vehicle, blow up enemies, and flood(Which I thought was improved), then get out of it, shoot up Brutes, and continue through the story line. Multiplayer, it's alright.. I was excited, for the first month. Then it all died. So, my score, at the minimal, 8, and at the max 9. Sorry Halo 3, but I am looking forward to Halo Wars.

How do you not give Halo an 11 when GTA 4 deserves an 8?

amazing game still is awsome no matter what even if cod 4 is almost perfect and has graphics that you can compare

Bungie has come a long way from Halo 1 to now with Halo 3. I think it was the right thing to do giving halo 3 a 10.GtA isnt as great as it seems it can get boring after a while.

Wait kind of a dumb question because Microsoft owns Bungie and of course they want to give there game 10/10.

How do you give halo3 10 and gta4 9.5?

To Axe Argonian

WTH DO YOU MEAN? HALO 3 AND COD 4 ARE ZE BEST GAMES ON 360, BESIDES BIOSHOCK, GEARS AND GTAIV

I love HALO

In my opinion i think halo 3 is the best game on earth but yes there are flaws like any other game. 98% of me was buying halo 3 for the campaign to Finish The Fight to save the human race from the Covenant and wipe out the infectious disease The Flood and reunite Chief with the lost Cortana. With people constantly compering Halo 3 to Call of Duty 4 what is a mainly online game i don't think this is a fair comparison because sure Halo 3 has online and loads of fans still play it but thats not the point if we look at it like that COD4 campaign is exactly the same as the rest follow a strict predetermined path with not much of a story jumping between different characters and not giving enough time to build a connection with players unlike in halo were youve been with 117 for 3 games now with more or less the same characters.

While Halo 3 was indeed a good game, it is no way a 10. The game itself was quite short and multiplayer gets old very quickly, as there are only a handful of maps available (despite how Bungie led us to believe that there were going to be so many maps to choose from). The best part of this long-awaited conclusion to the saga is the 4-player, on-line co-op mode: very cool. The graphics themselves were absolutely beautiful. But one needs to ask thereself a very important question that many have never even bothered to think about: if this were not part of the Halo series, would it have even received this type of praise? My response: absolutely not. Halo 3 is over-rated: fun, but over-rated none the less.

Ok will someone answer the question of whether or not theres gonna be a Halo 4...? I mean i think we finished the fight with the cov. but what about the Forerunners..? What about the creators of the Flood? And WTH kinda ending was that...MAster chief just floating towards some strange planet.... Is it just me or did they set that up pretty good for a halo 4...?

One of my top 10 games...around #3 for me.
#1 is The legend of Zelda Ocarina of time!! sick game...

Both this and CoD4 are over-rated.

I love this game
My GOTY of 2007



halo single player is better than cod ... halo multiplayer is crap ... it boggles my mind that it's so popular ... i can't even FATHOM grasping an IDEA anywhere NEAR an understanding of why so many people play it online ...

remember: millions of people can't all be RIGHT either ... halo mp is garbage ...

i'd have given it a 5 ... since half the game is crumby MP ...

any one who says cod 4 is better than halo 3 there is somthing wrong with them atleast halo 3 has a longer story than cod 4 ( i beat cod 4 in one day ) halo 3 is way better and always will be (also spartan 117 does not die he goes into the freez chamber) (watch after the credits are done)

any one who says cod 4 is better than halo 3 there is somthing wrong with them atleast halo 3 has a longer story than cod 4 ( i beat cod 4 in one day ) halo 3 is way better and always will be

ah crap! just wen i get halo3 call of duty 4 comes out and turns out to be better...will i ever keep up with the next gen??

its a good game imnot laming it i loved it but after playing it for like 2 months it got a bit repetitive and boring the campaign is the best in that game tho (4-player co-op =]) but yea COD4 has more replayability still i wonder the day i will get back into halo 3

Halo 3 isn't that great..i did liked it before cod4 came out but i rather not say much cause theres some players still play halo 3 and then end up playing cod4.Why do we have to pay for those maps?i mean really i would thought its free from xbox live..actually we had to buy points to buy maps.I think we should get those maps free cause we're paying xboxlive for their services..well back to my call of duty 4.Great game and better game play than Halo 3!!!

grate game grate ending... on legendary its even beter

amazing game, i got hooked then picked up cod 4 and now im hooked to that game, but this still is awsome no matter what even if cod 4 is almost perfect and has graphics that you can compare to crysis

in my opinion the game was pretty good but to tell the truth it was smart of bungie to leave halo because i think if they made another halo it would go downhill. i dont like the story all that much, and i was expecting better how everyone was talking about how insane it was going to be. the multiplayer was the only thing good but they make it a little bit to easy ur crosshair follows a little bit and i bet if u took a really good halo player they wouldnt do that great if u put them in a real fps game such as resistance and killzone or unreal tournement 3

yeah spartan 012 is right man. I'm not trying to be an asshole to you ace of spades (or whatever your name is) but if you watch the credits at the end of the game it will show you another movie scene where Master Chief goes into a "sleep" or "gas" chamber like the one he was in when the he first awoke in Halo 1. Here is a link for you tube to see the end. Not very good quality but it had the best sound i could find at the time. Turn up the sound a little and it will be fine. Here it is: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U5aX-yJrGio&feature=related

As a Halo 3, multi-player wreck shopper, I dont believe the series needs to go further with a Halo 4, but instead more more in a direction of upgrading Halo 3. Great Exsamples would be, New Map Packs, New Emblems, New Armor, New Achievments, Online Ranks. For increased joy in multi-player, add new tactics, a great one i came up with... Imgagine if someone threw a grenade at you (wether it be a sticky or not) imagine hitting the melle at the right time and bunting that grenade back at thier general direction, or even onto them. What if you could dual wield swords? If they do decide to make a Halo 4 it better be one for the books, I love this game, but the hype the brought about Halo 3 and how insane it was going be, made me real upset not hearing everyone talking about it after its release date.
This game is to big of a succes for them to just leave it alone and not come back to it. Im positive that there will but updates and new content if not a Halo4.

xace of spades wtf do u mean. he does not die from cancer he goes in the freeze (forget what it is called) chamber when cortana dropped the beacon

IAN halo 3 is a great game mainly because there is so much to do when you are playing with a party

Game boring no fun like halo 2. They sould of made it like halo 1, it would of been a lot better.

Everyone but "thelastspartan" are losers because this guy said that halo 3 is the best game ever made yet, no doubts about it. If you want to argue with me feel free.

The game was fun and all and i give it a 10/10, but there is somethings that were not what i expected. First, the campagin was WAY TOO SHORT and still it wasn't that hard on legendary. Second, the online hasn't change from Halo 2. IT is still fun and kick @$$, but it would be nice to see some change.

Whoever it is was that was saying all of the media stuff about the game and how good it sold in the first day. No one gives a shit about the media stuuf. They care about the actual gameplay. There are games that sell good for the first week b/c no one has an idea of the game but it is the next game in the series. They go out and buy it only to figure out that it is really dumb and they just wasted their money.

All in all though the game is good and i would advise you to buy it, but don't go in thinking that it is the best game ever. Another game that i found was really good and if not better than Halo 3 is COD 4, but it is a diffrent style of a game and it all depends on the person that is playing it. If you like shoot the F out of people, then go with Halo 3. If you like a game that is more of a tatical or more realistic game, then go with COD 4. Both of these games are awesome, but it is up to you to decide which one is better.

Guys(who don't think halo 3 is the best game EVER!), why do you even argue? I mean, books are stronger than words. Last time I checked, Halo 3 holds the multimedia record(yes, including music and movies) for biggest profit made within 24 hrs. of its release. That is, halo 3 made $170 in just one day. As for rating, I give it a 10 out of 10. It is the best halo, with countless stuff to do and customize, and I think there will be a halo 4. If not, the soon to be released Halo movie will(hopefully) act as Halo 4 by filling in the final gaps(like, we know they exist, but wtf do forerunners look like, and wtf does Arbiter mean by "let's go home" when he speaks to The Fleet commander? Also, how can the covenant and the flood possibly have been defeated when there's still 3 more halos left-there were originally 6 before 2 were blown up and one was deactivated).

Halo3 shows just how much of a money machine the halo franchise is... Oh look! Bungie gave us the same old thing in campain! Oh look! the multi player is good yes, but wow, isnt that legendary ending a real cliffhanger? lol, there WILL be another halo, whether its halo as we know it is another question
bungie has said marathon and halo are closely linked, so maybe halo 4 will follow the marathon story, even though halo and marathon's stories are practically identical..

Or they could just make up another enemy, and said halo 4 is born

The game was pretty fun, but it had lots of flaws. For instance, it is very easy for people to get exp. by boosting, which is completley unfair to everybody else who actually earns their exp. Bungie didn't make the graphics spectacular. The faces could've been done better. The campaign has gotten better, and now it is actually fun for a change.Yet, they still haven't been able to fix the common glitches throughout the series. The double shot, double melee, and the out of the level glitches annoy me because unlike the cheaters, I like to play fair. Altogether, the game is good, but definitly NOT the best out there

jesseniziol (guy who posted comment below me) is absolutly, positivly , smack you right in the face wrong. Halo 3 is so far the greatest game ever made. In fact, I think that it so good it deserves something like a 15. 9.5...pff...loser

I didn't find Halo 3 as good as I thought it was hyped up to be. I don't think the graphics especially the characters besides Master Chief and the Arbiter are as good as they should be especially after playing COD4 and Gears of War. I would give it a 9.5 but not a 10. I'll admit there engine is nice but as another has commented the game play is the same run and gun method. I just don't honestly feel that it holds up to the next gen hype, graphics or gameplay wise. They did a great job but... for how much they put into it especially advertising I expected a much more. And the frame rate or refresh rate still makes me motion sick after an hour of play.

I meant forge*

This game was the s*** man im tellin u whoever owns and x box 360 and does not have it u better get up and get it. The multiplayer is great and fore is awesome
HALO 3 !!!!!!!!!
Rocks

This is by far the best game of the Halo series. Its stunning visuals, smooth gameplay and replayability definitely make it a solid contender against COD 4 for GOTY. Multiplayer is Halo 3's strongest asset making it, I think, the best online FPS out there. The only downfall, which is not Bungies fault, is the ignorant punks on XBL that should have their fingers broken. (SPOILER) In order to see the true ending you have to beat the final checkpoint on legendary. Beat the game and let the credits roll to see what will possibly be the beginning of great things to come. MARATHON?? XBL g-tag jdubb07

Sweet game. Well at least the ending was better than halo 2's!It was a good endng i think.

i like the game but its the old run and gun method all the time

This is a great game. I had been waiting since 05 to play. Heard so much awesome stuff about and the I play and I'm like, wow. All this hype and I felt like it was Halo 2 all over again. I mean I thought they'ed at least change more than "new weapons and maps" thats all. And the end (SPOILER ALERT) o my goodness. Radiation kills Master Cheif. Like wtc? Our hero dies from cancer? ( i know its not i'm just sayin) At least let him shop at dollar genral and some sucide bober blows the store up. That would have been better. It just pisses me off that a game with so much potential just didn't so hot (for me) as I was expecting for two years. Well at least it's safe to say that their won't be a Halo 4. Unless Master Cheif survives his cancer? Oh wait no he died, mabey he has a little cusin that will....do the same thing in every Halo.

I give this game "BS" for Brain Shatter

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