Every gaming system needs a dashing poster boy. Nintendo has a dungaree sporting plumber, Sega a speed obsessed hedgehog and Sony a latex clad Tomb Raider. As for Bill Gates' mob, well, they've always relied on the brute force of one Master Chief.
The first two titles on the original Xbox were grade A stormers. The original kicked the story off with a satisfying bang and featured one of the most superb ending sequences gaming has ever been seen. Gone With the Wind has nothing on this beauty.
The second split the audience with its surprisingly ambiguous ending and lengthy sections where you didn’t even play as the Master Chief. It was a bit like giving you a new Sonic game and forcing you to play a chunk as boring old Tails.
It did, however, pack in a storming online multiplayer mode that we’ve all been enjoying to this very day. And as Halo 3 is the last in the trilogy, the hope has been that it'll combine the two to leave us with something special. Oh, and that it doesn't come with a daft helmet along the lines of the Legendary Edition.
They say:
Eurogamer: “Halo 3 is quite simply this - the best game yet in one of the best FPS franchises of the era.”
Gamespot: “Halo 3 is a positively amazing package that offers extreme satisfaction across all of its different parts.”
IGN: “There will be plenty of aspects for fans to nitpick, but it's hard to argue against Halo 3 as the most complete game available on any console.”
We say:
Uncross those fingers and stop those prayers – Halo 3 is a true masterpiece. It’s packing the whole kit and caboodle and there’s no doubt that this is by far the best game of the year so far.
Picking up the story from the end of Halo 2 with Master Chief’s determined leap back to Earth, Halo 3 has more than enough for single player fans. The Covenant (the bad guys) are on their way to our planet and it’s up to Master Chief and co to fend them off. This time the focus is purely on the Chief himself with the Arbitar of the last game playing a mere supporting role.
There’s little difference in terms of simple play between this and the previous superb Halo titles. That's a criticism you can level against most games, but when you’ve stumbled across perfection, why go trying to fiddle around too much?
Duel wielding certain weaponry returns, as does the shield that the Chef wears that recharges seconds after you’ve taken a few shots. Halo fans will be right at home.
A few differences have appeared though. New weaponry pops up during the main campaign and there’s a few gems – the gravity hammer is among our favourites. Hit someone over the head with this beby and they won’t be standing up in a hurry.
This latest Halo feels more like a hectic sci-fi action flick than ever before. The voice acting is superbly done and every cut scene has something important to say. You won’t be clicking through these in a hurry.
Not that you’ll playing Halo 3 for the gripping storyline of course. It's all about the action. Most will drop into Normal mode, but we recommend you turn the difficulty level up to Heroic for a real test of your gaming skills.
You’ll want to do it all again as soon as you’ve finished, so well done Bungie on the addition of online co-op modes. Now up to four of you can team up and play through the entire campaign from the comfort of your own living room.
The single player mode is one thing, but the online multiplayer stuff is where the real meat is. Anyone who tried out the beta test will know what to expect and fans of Halo 2 will be in absolute gaming heaven with more options that you could shake a rifle at.
There are all the death match options you could ever wish for, plus loads of team based blast 'em up action to sink your teeth into. New to Halo 3 is the replay mode which allows you to edit clips of your recent online excursions and show them off to your mates. Expect some absolute corkers to start appearing around the web straight away.
If there’s one tiny little minus point to be levelled against Halo 3, it’s that it doesn’t feel that big a jump up from Halo 2 in terms of graphics. It’s obviously better than the Xbox title with stunning lighting effects and loads more enemies on screen, but just not the next gen leap we’d hoped for.
Safe to say, we’re encouraging you to grab a copy as soon as possible. The last in the Halo trilogy it might be, but it’s certainly the best. Who's for a fourth episode?
Like this? Try these:
Halo 2 – Xbox, PC
Bioshock – Xbox 360, PC
Call of Duty 3 – Xbox 360, PS2
FORMAT REVIEWED
Xbox 360
OTHER FORMATS
None
POSTED...
Thu 27 Sep 2007 at 8:36am
