Review: Halo 3 - 25/03/2008 by Michael
First Person Shooter
The final installment in the Halo trilogy and fans were expecting a lot. After the painful ending of Halo 2, a spectacular finale was due. And Halo 3 delivered. It felt like instead of breaking too much new ground as Halo 2 did with its new engine, Halo 3 was just about all the good things Halo already had. Some of the levels felt like throwbacks or tributes to levels from the previous games with the layout and design repeated, but far from being repetitive, it actiually drums up some nostalgia for past battles. In terms of weapons and vehicles, it is mostly the same with just some minor but effective tweaks. And multiplayer is just a continuation of the huge success of Halo 2 on xbox live.
So what does every final chapter need, basically closure. Halo 3 gives us the conclusion we were waiting for, but doesn't spell it all out in easy terms. Throughout the campaign you can find terminals with fragmented information left by the forerunners and slowly piece together the major events that led to the rings firing the first time and the story behind The Ark or Earth. Sounds dull but for those who have invested vast hours of their lives into Halo, is surprisingly important. The Finale itself was reward enough for me to have invested all those hours. When the chief gets back into his stasis bed just like at the very beginning of the original game, I felt a little weepy and nostalgic, as it reminded me of all the good times I had had with the chief. Yes I am uber lame, but so are many of you.
So what is different? Well in terms of weapons, the Brute weapons come into play more with the spiker and mauler, good close range weapons, the assault rifle makes a comeback, joy, and the spartan laser appears with a slighty delayed bang. Add the spike grenade, like a new sticky grenade and the incendiary grenade and the choices of gameplay widen even further. But thats not all. Now mounted weapons can be wrenched from their mountings and carried round in a third person view. The machine gun turret, flame thrower and plasma cannon can all be carried about giving super firepower but limited mobility.
And vehicles, well the mongoose is one of the funniest vehicles ever, especially with a marine holding a rocket launcher clinging to the back firing wildly at the sky. The first battle against the scarab will have a special place in my gaming memory forever. And speaking of the Scarab, its new role in the epic outdoor battles with its own AI, as opposed to in Halo 2, is awesome. The only complaint was that you couldn't jack it like you could do to every other vehicle. The other vehicles to note were the wraith, a unsc fighter plane and the brute vehicles, the prowler and the chopper. The chopper being the most interesting as it drives somewhat like an actual chopper and has big guns.
Another new introduction in Halo 3 is the use of equipment. This adds a new angle to gameplay, as in hot situations you have more choices than just stand and deliver or head for the hills. The Bubble shield cannot be fired through, but invites enemies to biff you, the power drain drops shields or stops vehicles and the regenerator recharges shields instantly making you nearly invulnerable for a time. These a just a few of the items now in play.
Now in terms of multiplayer it is one of the slickest around. With such a vast army of players around the world it enables excellent matchmaking potential. There is nothing more frustrating than signing in to play some online action only to find that the game is completely owned by freaks with no lives. Halo 3 avoids this with its effective matchmaking ensuring that everyone gets what they want whether that is a casual game or hardcore stategy where everyone brings a bedpan.
Halo 3 is thankfully what we all wanted, and thank God for that as if it was not there would have been an army of angry Master Chiefs who would have risen up from their basements and destroyed those responsible. Or maybe just posted some nasty things on Bungie.net. Either way. Anyhow this disaster was averted and the world is saved again thanks to the greatness of the master chief and the Halo loving public.