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Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
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The epic saga continues with Halo 3, the hugely anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax. Halo 3 represents the third chapter in the Halo trilogyan international award-winning action series that grew into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.5 million units worldwide, logging more than 650 million hours of multiplayer action on Xbox Live, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel, an upcoming film adaptation, and more
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2/5 |
Finally finished the fight - one year on
(September 19, 2008) |
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Well I finally finished the fight - nearly a year on from when I got Halo3. The reason it took so long was simple - after loving Halo on the first xbox, being totally let down by Halo 2 after watching the E3 'trailer' and exepecting it to actually represent what might be in the game, I found Halo 3 to continue the slide down the slippery path. In short, the gameplay was long and repetitive, and when the Flood arrived back on the scene along with the assosiated level that involves fighting your way through to the end, then turning around to fight back out I nearly gave up.
After a year enjoying other 360 titles, I finally decided to get the remaining gamer points and finish the game, so I could either consign it to the shelf to gather dust, or sell/hand it on. It didn't get any better on the last levels, but I finally can say I've finished it, and I didn't enjoy the experience. |
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3/5 |
the most overrated game of all time
(September 14, 2008) |
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I'd rather watch my toaster warm up than the war in halo 3!
This game is okay, there is no doubt about it, i own both a ps3 and an xbox so i'm not being biased by saying this game is nothing more than mediocre, average. There is nothing special about it. Games like metal gear solid 4, call of duty 4, bioshock, mass effect, gosh even resident evil 4 (which for me is the best videogame of all time)are miles better. I really have been scratching my head over why anyone would give this game a 5 - okay to be fair, the main character master chief is pretty cool, the music in the background kicks in at the perfect time, every time(especially the intro theme when the game is loading), the enemy AI is very good (i laughed when one of the small creatures after a gun fight said 'you killed my friend!' and then ran off screaming when he realised it was just me versus him), in other words the package is very pretty but there's little inside, and what is inside is not quality.
The weapons in halo 3 i have the biggest problem with. Admittedly they have a cool line-up (especially the sword and hammer weapon-thingy) but the game never realy encourages you to hold on to a weapon and enjoy the power of it, you are constantly lookin for ammo - it kinda reminds me of the scene in the first matrix movie with neo and trinity entering the huge building with loads of guns - when they empty the clip of a gun and then throw it away - this is extremely cool in the matrix, in the movies, but in video games, i don't think so! |
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2/5 |
What happened here then
(September 08, 2008) |
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I bought this game on release day and could'nt wait to play it. I was utterly shocked and stunned at what I was seeing. The graphics in my opinion are below standard (in comparison with games like GOW and even Bioshock), the gameplay was sub standard and the story shallow. Please take this advice, there is better out there, I wanted this to be great but its not. |
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2/5 |
Disappointing
(September 01, 2008) |
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I'm going to make this brief, because I have a feeling I will be re-treading the same ground and bringing up the same issues that many reviewers before me have already highlighted.
The original Halo was 'Combat Evolved' but this feels more like an inbred throwback. As far as I am concerned, Halo 3 isn't just a bad Halo game, it is a bad game full stop.
Where do we start? It's too short. Much too short. The plot really suffers for this as well; in fact the plot has been steadily unravelling since the original Halo. The ending is marginally better than Halo 2, but that isn't exactly high praise. The levels are far too linear, with none of the wide expanses of the first Halo, or the urban environments of Halo 2. And for a lot of the game, the Arbiter tags along. No real reason is given as to why he accompanies you; perhaps he is bored. This is a shame, as the switch from the Master Chief to the Arbiter was one of the highlights of Halo 2.
There's too much reliance on vehicles; you spend a good quarter of the game driving about with infinite ammo. The set pieces are contrived once you know they are coming. The audio on the voices, particularly the Elites, is dreadful - you can barely hear what is being said and as a result, you are missing out on huge chunks of the flimsy plot. The weapons sound like pea-shooters.
The enemy A.I has been dumbed down since the first game, and the ally A.I is unacceptable. Really unacceptable. I used to just wait until they had massacred themselves through blind stupidity and take their guns to replenish my ammo. That was their sole use to me. Enemies no longer react to being shot; they no longer grab body parts that have been hit and stumble back. They just charge at you as if the bullets are made of paper mache.
I'm not being brief at all, am I..?
The flashback sequences are deeply irritating. There is a ridiculous boss battle towards the end that has clearly been crowbarred in. It is as if Bungie were going down a checklist of character loose ends and suddenly thought "Damn! We forgot about him!" So you have a boss battle, in which you are tossed the most powerful weapon in the game and it is over in seconds.
And then there is the infamous level called 'Cortana'. Now, I like a challenge as much as the next gamer. I used to love being flanked by hordes of intelligent Elites in the first game. I accepted death with a wry smile knowing that occasionally I had been overpowered or outwitted by a computer game engine. The level where you have to rescue Cortana was not fun. It was deeply frustrating, to the point where I almost didn't bother completing it. I almost got rid of it before I had finished it. That bad.
To be honest, the only thing that got me through the game was a desire to see the trilogy out until the end. I mean, Halo 3 is very pretty. The music is stirring and perfectly matched to the settings. And, despite Bungie's best attempts, there are still moments where the Halo magic peeps through, like sunlight viewed through a dirty window pane.
It just feels rushed. Bungie had all the time and money in the world, but on the evidence of the end product, it feels as though they made it in a fortnight for shillings and sixpence. It almost seems like a game that Bungie didn't want to make. Perhaps, under pressure from Microsoft, they were frogmarched into the office and forced at gunpoint to produce it. It is the only explanation for such a nosedive in form.
So, to sum up, Halo 3 is bad. It isn't so bad as to be unplayable. It just doesn't hold up against its' previous installmments. I've bought it, completed it, and now I'm going to sell it. And I'm going to carry on playing the first Halo, and remember when the series was the definitive FPS. |
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4/5 |
You need Xbox Live to really get your money's worth.
(August 26, 2008) |
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When you buy Halo 3 I seriously recommend having a subscription to Xbox Live set up or in the process of being set up. I promise you that you will become bored of story mode very quickly after fanatically completing it on Normal, Heroic, Legendary and Metagame for the gamerscore (if you are a gamerscore whore such as myself). Halo 3 story mode is no different from any other Halo. It is just as mediocre as Halo 2's campaign in my opinion.
The addition of cool new features like Forge and Theatre mode offer players huge oppertunities to play the game they want and that's no just me kissing up to Bungie. You could spend hours altering maps, adding your own touch to the pre-programmed maps as well as the downloadable content or taking cool screenshots and video clips from both story and online gameplay, allowing you to look back at past games and (if you are very enthusiastic about your style) analyse your games and where you keep making mistakes. Halo 3 is also provided with excellent online backup from Bungie.net allowing players to view their character on the site as well as their online stats such as percentages of weapon usage, medal chests displaying the number of medals earned online and Heatmaps showing players where their kills are made and where they die the most in games online.
Online gaming is what really makes Halo 3 one of the best games ever though. Although there are plenty of other games with online capablities Halo has a certain feel about it that just sets it apart from other games in the genre. Maybe it is the huge variety of playlists (new ones added for weekend events), the chance to play Social matches in which players are allowed to have upto 3 guests all playing through one Xbox online or the huge appeal to many to earn the rank of General in Ranked playlists I do not know but one thing I do know is that without Xbox Live I would have gotten rid of Halo 3 months ago. |
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