Halo 3

David Field | Oct 4, 2007 1:06 PM
Microsoft | http://www.halo3.com
Recommended
RRP: $99.95 (time of review)
Overall Rating: 
User Rating:  No user ratings.
It’s had the most successful launch in video game history. But what’s it like to play?
Halo 3 has broken sales records thanks to a monstrous marketing campaign and its adoring fanbase. The third installment puts its well earned reputation is on the line as the first Halo for Xbox 360, and developer Bungie has improved it significantly while never straying too far from the formula that makes the game fun.

It plays almost exactly the same as previous Halo outings. This is great and expected news, as the fun of Halo has always been delivered in sharp 30 second combat bursts which have defined the series. The fundamentals may not have changed, however an arsenal of new weapons have been added, as well as a slew of pickups such as a deployable shield or regenerator.

The story itself picks up some time after the end of Halo 2. It’s a survival and rescue story laden with intense combat, beautiful and sweeping maps and excellent sound effects and music. Although you have to backtrack through some maps occasionally, they are nowhere near as repetitive as its predecessors. The orchestral theme music is fantastic as always, and the verbal abuse that the AI forces hurl at each other during combat adds a deep sense of immersion, despite the Australian soldiers being voiced with stereotypical Steve Irwin charm. The AI is far ahead of what we have become used to seeing on consoles. Enemies will try to outmaneuver and flank you, and when combined with dialogue they really start to feel alive.

Although the visuals may be streaming out of the 360 in reasonably high definition, it nonetheless feels too much like Halo 2 on steroids; not the all singing, all dancing game of the year that it was hyped up to be. The artwork’s similarity to Halo 2 and lack of anti-aliasing contribute to this, but while playing you won’t notice or care as the beautiful HDR lighting and effects more than make up for this.

The single player campaign is a bit on the short side: we were able to bowl it over in two sittings on heroic difficulty. But Halo’s greatest strength is shown when you combine its accessible play style with its excellent online multiplayer capabilities with either Xbox Live, split screen or system link. Matchmaking on Xbox Live has been improved, while the new Forge gametype lets you edit the positions and properties of objects in maps. In addition to this, full replay functionality has been implemented which is already making for some fantastic viewing.

There is no question that Halo 3 is worth your time, and that it’s the best of the series. Its layout and levels are better than the original; the story (while still a little cheesy and a tad contrived) is better than Halo 2 and the multiplayer options should make for epic battles in the future as more combinations are thought up by the community.

If you have a 360, grab it now. It’s an absolute blast to play, but it’s not the Messiah.