Game: Halo 3

"Finish The Fight"

These words first blared into the eyes of gamers worldwide during the summer of 2006, and thus the buildup to arguably the most important video game of all time began. Followed by a yearlong, full throttle hype machine that trickled the smallest bits of information to send the fanbase into a frenzy, Halo 3 has now become one of the most commercially successful entertainment properties of all time, making more money in 24 hours than anything EVER...film, music album, ANYTHING, Halo 3's first day income dwarfs it in comparison. Sure, it has made a huge amount of money, but the important question remains; how is the actual game?

At the time I am writing this review, my views about Halo 3 have changed a bit, but I will be fair and review the game as though it is still fresh in my mind. I was, after all, foaming at the mouth for this game for over a year, and was left awestruck by it from its first cinematic to it's adrenaline rush of an end, and charged up all over again by its multiplayer matches. I'm one of those people who has even read the Halo BOOKS, so I tend to think I know more about every nook and cranny of the Halo universe than the average buyer of the game. In the end, though, as I have said, only one point matters; Did Halo 3 live up to its hype?

In a word, in a first experience, for a fan of the genre and the game series, the answer is an emphatic YES. Halo 3 is beautifully crafted and polished, filled with plenty of plot twists, weapon choices, and more enemies on screen at once than one can shake a grenade at. Let's get the more boring stuff past us first; you no longer play as the Arbiter (a character introduced in the 2nd installment of the trilogy, whom many had distaste for) and see the entire plotline unfold through the visor of the series' iconic hero, the Master Chief. The graphical detailing in the game, both aesthetic environments and brilliant character models, are very pleasing to the eye and never get boring. Trust me, if every hallway in a game looks EXACTLY the same, the game can get boring in a heartbeat, and Halo 3 ensures that this does not happen. All of the game's main characters are back from the second installment, and they all have their place in the sometimes confusing plot line. The single player game is somewhat short if you are an experienced fan of the genre (I beat it in one day with a break in the middle called "college classes") but has plenty of replay value, especially thanks to the ability to play with up to three friends online in the main story. This is a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and also helpful; the game is near impossible to beat in harder difficulties without the assistance of a friend. It will last you a while, and you'll find yourself wanting to go back to find the nice handful of secrets hidden within the game.

Now, to the reason that 95% of buyers actually GOT the game; it's multiplayer matches. Just as in Halo 2, Halo 3 uses a matchmaking system that sets one up with players of close skill, so matches are for the most part even and sure to be a blast. The addition of a few new weapons (primarily the Spartan Laser, a weapon that cuts anything it hits in half, and the Gravity Hammer, which when swung can stop a car in its tracks) make things interesting all over again, and the level design is, for the most part, very good. The option to use the Forge, a new level editing software included in the game, allows players to come up with their own unique game types limited only by the imagination, and is sure to lengthen the lifespan of this game by years. A few bothers from previous incarnations of the game, i.e. the ease of sniping and sword-hogs (the sword is a 1-hit-kill weapon) have been addressed and are now considerably less of a threat, making the playing field of the game much more even. Sure, it takes more skill to play Halo 3 than its prequels, but thats a good thing. Nothing bores like an overly repetitive, simple game. The level-up system has also been revamped; each game type has its own ranking out of 50, 50 being godlike, but there is also an overall skill level ranking via insignia shown next to every player's name that shows that while they may be only a skill level 3 in Team Slayer (team vs team killing match), overall they are actually a Brigadier General. This helps players know exactly where they belong and who they should be fighting.

The best feature of the game comes with the ability to re-watch previous matches in the game's Theater option. One can freely look about an entire match played a few days beforehand to take a snapshot of an amazing moment or even record something so incredible that their friends would never believe it if they had not seen it. Well, now they CAN see it. This also opens the doors to those who have wanted to create machimania from the Halo franchise to have a blast blowing each other up for the world to see. This feature has created some really interesting bits of eyecandy for the fanbase and is yet another reason for people to return to the game again and again.

My few initial problems came with one or two levels of the map that I believed were just poorly designed, though this may just be my taste as I know plenty of players of the game who love levels I hate, and hate levels I love. My other main problem comes with
the Theater option; it takes FOREVER to get to a single point in a long game, and the rewind function isnt so much as "rewind" as the games equivalent to a DVD's "jump back a chapter" function, and can get quite annoying. Other than these two bits, there is very little wrong with the game; everyone can find their weapon that they enjoy using, whether it be rockets or swords, lasers or hammers. Sure, the ending (WAIT AFTER THE CREDITS) is a little confusing, but just go play Marathon (a previous title by Bungie, Halo's daddys) to understand it.

Final Score (Initial): 9.3. This is about as good as multiplayer console shooters can get. Its well balanced, fun, has a climax in the single player mode the player wont soon forget, and will remain the top played XBox Live game for a long, long time.

...ok, thats my INITIAL review from the point of view of a fanatical mouthfoaming fanboy a-la September 25th, 2007. At the time, that was all true to me. Nowadays though, I can say that I haven't played Halo 3 online for a while. Why? Because it feels so much like Halo 2 did. One may think this is a good thing, and in a way it is; the game has a strict fanbase that easily made the transition from one game to another. However, after a while, I just stood back and thought "Isn't this just the same game Ive been playing since 2004, but a little shinier with a few new nuts and bolts?" Don't get me wrong, I had a BLAST while I was playing the game, but games have come out since then that just seem to....outdo Halo 3. Yes, i said it. For the casual gamer at heart, though, Halo 3 is the perfect mix of pick-up-and-play with a nice 50cc shot of adrenaline to fit the wide fanbase the game has. I'm sure I will return to the game sometime soon and become re-obsessed with it in one way or another, but if I were to review the game NOW, especially in light of the fact that a certain other series came out with it's latest game recently, I would give Halo 3 a slightly lower 8.9 out of 10. Still a stellar accomplishment of a game, but it has simply because too casual and everyday for me.