HALO 3 - A MUST BUY!

HALO 3 - A MUST BUY!

Halo 3- Quick Facts

Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Shooter
Players: 1-16 (online)
Available: 25th September
Rating: MA 15+

Halo 3 was overrated. While offering an incredible multiplayer experience, it isn’t the most incredible game ever made. It’s not even the best game on the 360, but the multiplayer portion makes everything worthwhile. Microsoft made a lot of money with this game and series due to great PR and marketing. However, the gameplay is similar to Halo 1 and 2, so for all you fans, there is not much explanation to be done here.

PROS
* Original/Lifelike visual graphic/design feel - no more cut and paste level designs like halo 2 and 1
* Creative and inventive AI system that offers a real challenge throughout the game
* Multiplayer is very competitive and is the main part of the game. You can play online or locally lan. This is very addictive

CONS
* Inconsistent visuals
* Poor storyline and dialogue
* The same as Halo 1 and 2, no improvements, just mainly better graphics!

Suggestion to purchase?

Yes, for multiplayer gameplay, you will not leave the house!

Collector's Edition is the right Choice for Rabid Fans

Check out our week of Halo Features and
Read the full review on our blog at: http://blog.graduategames.com

Halo 3 has its flaws, but delivers on so much more than the average game. Let's answer the major questions up front. Does Halo 3 live up to the hype? Yes. Does Halo 3 wrap up the Story of Master Chief? Yes. Is multiplayer better than Halo 2? Yes. Is Halo 3 a totally revolutionary and unique experience? Nope. Halo 3 is still Halo, both in look and style. It's a natural evolution of what was built in Halo 1 and 2. It adds plenty of new wrinkles, but the fan faithful will be instantly more familiar and skilled than newbies. Halo 3 is undoubtedly one of the biggest games ever and rightfully so since it's probably the best game of the year and will continue to be played and enjoyed for years to come.

Gameplay: 10/10
Pros: The same great gameplay we had from the first two Halos continues with great new additions such as independent reload, equipment, 2 new grenades, video recordings, the forge, 4 player co-op, shield doors, and more. Controls are great once you transition from X to RB for reloading and the AI is as smart and dynamic as ever. The trilogy definitely wraps up with a bang (literally) and while the ride itself is superb, the ending leaves a somewhat bitter aftertaste.
Cons: You rarely have enough grenades in both Campaign and Multiplayer. Shotty Snipes should not be in Team Slayer playlist. Campaign ending seems a little forced. Campaign is Gears of War Short.

Graphics: 10/10
Pros: One thing that cannot be emphasized enough about Halo is that the animation is absolutely phenomenal. Nothing beats being able to visually see that an enemy is mere shots away from death, or wielding a sword, plus there's the great addition of also being able to see an opponents holstered weapon on their back/side/etc. This all adds to the depth of Halo multi player and is also an example of the subtleties of Halo 3's graphics. The game has been polished with fine tooth comb. The HDR lighting is the best I've seen in a game, there's subtle motion blur when you whizz up an elevator, and the levels are gargantuan when compared to other great looking multi player games. Halo 3's graphics are a technical achievement. This becomes immediately apparent when you first watch a game film and zoom in/rotate/rewind a colossal explosion or snipe to the head. Breathtaking.
Cons: Screenshots don't do the game justice, but in pure screenshot comparison, Halo 3 lacks that WOW factor.

Sound/Music: 10/10
Pros: Amazing Orchestral Soundtrack that is both familiar and perfectly captures the essence and theme of the game. Great Voice actors are all back and the AI voices during campaign are as funny as ever. "Tank beats Everything!" is one of my favorites. Proximity Voice is back and the sound effects are all spot on. However, Halo 3 again surpasses other games in its attention to detail. If you don't believe me, stand near the water behind the base on Valhalla and listen to the serene moving water for yourself. When I heard it, I was shocked they took the time to put such a thing in. Fantastic!
Cons: Absolutely None

Check out our week of Halo features and
Read the full review on our blog at: http://blog.graduategames.com

Simply stunning.

Halo 3 lives up to every bit of its ever-expanding reputation. However, a few small disappointments chip away at the game’s shot at perfection.

Every enemy type from the first two Halo games returns here smarter than ever, especially on Legendary difficulty. Since Elites are now your friends (the Arbiter and two generic Elites fill out a four-player co-op team), you won’t be fighting this classic enemy. Brutes do take on some Elite traits, like cloaking and their own answer to the Plasma Sword – a Gravity Hammer. However, an advanced form of a certain enemy group near the end proves to be the most challenging adversary.

Almost all of the old weapons are back (assault rifle ftw!) in addition to more new guns than ever. I especially like the detachable turrets, even if they do slow you down a little. A new power-up slot spices up the traditional melee, guns, and grenades mix. The Mongoose and Chopper complement previous Halo vehicles well, but the best addition is a powerful UNSC answer to the Banshee.

Halo 3’s multiplayer has really outdone itself this time. Countless modes and variants always keep the 11 maps fresh. In addition to standard modes like capture the flag, deathmatch, and king of the hill, several new creative modes abound – an especially cool one makes 25 percent of players “zombies” with plasma swords who must “infect” the remaining players.

The Forge is basically “modding lite” and makes the already expansive multiplayer even more unlimited. At any time during these unranked matches players can turn into a Monitor and add, move, or remove any object in the game. This can be a collaborative creation process, or you can have just one person with editing capabilities serve as a multiplayer DM of sorts. Think of what can happen during a heated battle when the editor decides to drop a Scorpion tank right in the middle of the fray.
Four-player co-op is fun as hell. Playing on Legendary is definitely a must, but even this extreme single-player challenge is severely watered down when you introduce other players. There’s also an unlockable campaign scoring system based on kills, headshots, and difficulty setting that can be enacted in single player and co-op. Online leaderboards provide a great incentive to come back to the campaign again and again like never before.

I also really dug the new Theater feature. It basically auto saves your last 25 campaign levels or multiplayer matches and allows you to watch them from any player perspective or from a floating camera, edit clips, take screens, and send them through Xbox Live. After playing around with this you’ll want it in every game.

However, Halo 3 does have a few small problems that are primarily located in the campaign. First off, full on boss battles are noticeably absent. Sure, you’ll fight a few massive enemies, but none of them really feel like a true boss. And the last major fight is more like a quick interactive cutscene than a knock-down, drag-out fight. This is especially disappointing because there is one obvious candidate Bungie could have used and didn’t. Also, there is plenty of trudging back and forth through the same environments in addition to the whole “Okay, we deactivated this tower. Now let’s take care of the next one with the exact same layout.” There are a few other nitpicky issues I have, but these are all relatively minor when you look at the big picture.

Overall, Bungie has crafted another masterpiece that serves as a fitting end

Finish the Fight... And enjoy it!

HALO 3 Review
>>> Gameplay: SP:(9.75/10) / MP:(10/10)

>Singleplayer: 9.75/10
Enemies are smart, numerous and fierce. For players brand new to First Person Shooters, easy difficulty will enable them to quickly get acquainted with the game, while Normal, Heroic and Legendary provide varying levels of challenge for more experienced players. Taking down certain enemies is something like a more complicated version of rock, paper, scissors, as most are resistant to certain armaments and weak to others, providing a wonderful wealth of variety throughout. The only complaint I can hope to level at this section of the game is that most of its truly large scale battles are vehicle heavy, rather than infantry engagements.

>Multiplayer: 10/10
With the massive variety of maps and gametypes in HALO 3's Multiplayer, it's no wonder that an average of more than 300,000 gamers are online, facing off against and alongside each other on its virtual battlegrounds. Players are provided with both ranked and social matches, each including team and free for all playlists.

>>> Controls: 10/10
Halo 3's controls are as smooth as butter. Though slightly different from most FPS control schemes, the position of each control, be it reloading or jumping, rapidly becomes second nature to most people.

>>> Sound: 10/10
HALO 3's masterful sound library was assembled largely under the watchful eye of Martin O'donnel. Dialogue lines are delivered in a convincing manner, many of which are intentionally humorous. Sound effects allow you to pick up on subtle cues, for instance, a seasoned player can tell the difference between each weapon being reloaded, purely by its sound. The game's soundtrack is also fantastic, setting the perfect mood at nearly every point.

>>> Story: 10/10
HALO 3 has one of the most creative and intricate plot-lines of almost any game I've ever seen or played. Obviously, the story will be far more meaningful to those who have played the first two games, but raw recruits to the series can still pick up on the goings on.

>>> Additional aspect: Forge: 10/10
While some have leveled the complaint that the forge isn't a map maker, it should be understood that it was never intended to be. Bungie designed the forge as a map editor. However, with a little creativity and the help of some rather fortuitous glitches, many people have been able to turn the forge into an actual map maker, check out the HALO 3 community, 'Forgehub' to see a few examples.

>>>Additional aspect: Theater: 9.5/10
Pretty much the only problem I can think of with HALO 3's Theater feature is that you cannot rewind saved films of campaign missions. Every multiplayer and forge film can be rewound, however, and players can save clips of events funny, spectacular or mundane. Players even pause the film and fly their camera around to take screen shots.

>>>Graphics: 9.75/10
(unless the graphics of a game are either superlatively terrible or unspeakably fantastic, I do not average this score into the overall total)
Halo 3's visual component is subtly stylized. Environments, weapons, vehicles, and characters are all fantastic to look at, with a few human faces and even fewer textures being below the game's overall visual character.

>>>Overall: 10/10
Bungie's latest masterwork is triumph among games. From its gorgeous visuals to its fluid gameplay, HALO 3 provides an excellent, adaptive challenge at every turn. Don't miss one of the finest experiences in gaming.