Halo has come along way for Microsoft and their Xbox platform, what with the original Halo: Combat Evolved being the launch title for the original Xbox, and of course Halo 2 being insanely successful and causing millions of folk many a sleepless night in those oh so joyful and sometimes infuriating multiplayer marathon sessions.
The Demon is here, oh that’s right – The Master Chief is back to claim his throne, and claim it he does – you won’t be moving his tin-can arse out of that chair for quite some time. Not much has changed from its predecessor, other than of course the next generation spit and shine on the visuals. Although, playing it safe may have been a wise choice for Bungie, as fans loved Halo 2 the way it played. Aside from the bump in the visuals and a few controller tweaks, this is still and distinctively plays like a Halo game – which is a very, very good thing.

While I may not follow the Halo plot so vigorously in all of its available mediums, I am however a big fanboy of Combat Evolved’s campaign and multiplayer components. As I have read and heard elsewhere, I’m not the only one who wasn’t totally impressed with the campaign of Halo 2, but what Halo 2 did do right, was multiplayer. I refuse to believe that Halo 2 could have been any better in regards to multiplayer (apart from those scum-bags that like to cheat); it kept me playing strong for over 2 1/2 years since its original release in November of 2004.
The big question now then for Halo fans, is does Halo 3 deliver on its own hype? Well, I certainly think it does. It offers an enjoyable campaign which can also be played with up to 4 players co-operatively over system link, split screen and Xbox Live. While the campaign is on the short end of the spectrum; logging between 6-8 hours of gameplay depending on the gamer and difficulty you start with. It is by no means boring and will continue to retain its fun factor for many play sessions. Even more so if you are able to take advantage of the co-operative options at your disposal and push through those harder difficulties, only this time bring a couple of buddies along for the ride.

Gameplay:

If you’ve played a Halo videogame, then you’ll pick up and understand Halo 3 very quickly. The game plays so much alike to its predecessor, the only things you need to get used to are a few controller tweaks for the Xbox 360 pad. Anyone who participated in the Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta and has played Halo previously, then you will know what I’m talking about. The controls though are certainly worth the change and seem even more simplified and natural for the Xbox 360 controller.
There are some occasional noticeable ‘glitchy’ A.I. moments in the campaign, but I’m not going to go on a bashing parade now as for the most part the UNSC Marines do their part to assist, especially when it comes to teaming up in vehicles. This is however something that was also true about the previous games. The enemy A.I looks like a slight advancement on the previous games where grunts will run away in fear as the same hierarchy system is used. However it does seem like the enemies (especially those Brutes) have some pretty neat tricks up their sleeves – especially when you delve into the Herioc or Legendary difficulties. It’s actually quite neat to see enemies hide and try and sneak behind you and if you spend too long simply hidden behind a large crate then they will attempt to flush you out with grenades or send scouts to your location.

Halo 3 features several new weapons, but the only one that is worth shouting about is the Brute Hammer. This basically works in a similar sense to the Sword as it is a melee weapon. It is however much more powerful and can destroy or move large objects in its way. What is more it’s the only weapon that is able to return incoming projectiles and so be prepared for some baseball type fun games in the multiplayer especially. I’m sure with the Forge creative gamers can make something special using the Hammer.

The meat that makes Halo so popular and has turned it into this massive success story, for me is its online multiplayer component. While I’m extremely happy now with the campaign and believe it’s leaps and bounds above Halo 2, even more so with the addition of co-op. All I’m left really concerned about is the multiplayer, this is what kept me going for years in regard to Halo 2 and from what I’ve played I certainly expect that Halo 3 will have the same effect.
Halo 3 has several new additions, all of which effect the way the game plays. As seen in the Multiplayer Beta, equipment now plays a role in your progression as well as in some instances, your survival. Those Bubble Shields and Mines all come in handy for your own survival, whether it be protecting yourself from further harm or planting a mine to masterfully take down vehicles full of enemies, or in my case, friendlies – accidentally, of course.

There are a few moments throughout the campaign, where you may stumble across a Brute or something which is giving a UNSC Marine more trouble than he deserves. You can watch these Marines perish in front of you or you can take down the beast and assist a comrade and have him continue with the other UNSC Marines in assisting you in your mission objectives. While this may not be anything major, it is however an interesting touch as it gives more sense of character to the Brutes and the way in which they behave. While this may sound new to some Halo players and it certainly is an intriguing feature. It is however a feature which the rival platform, the PlayStation 3, and their launch title, Resistance: Fall of Man, has also used.

Forge is a completely new feature to the Halo franchise, the premise of this is that it allows you to load up and play on any map in real-time and sub sequentially edit it in anyway you see fit. This can range from vehicles, weapons and character spawning locations as well as changing the locations of other objects. Your mind can really run rampant within Forge and I expect we’ll see some competitive and rather bizarre user forgeries in the near future.
There is also another new feature to Halo 3, and while we have seen things such as this within Forza Motorsport 2 and other racing games. I’m talking about Saved Films - this basically acts as a replay of an entire multiplayer match or campaign level. While many of you have had a brief play with this in the Halo 3 Beta, it is much more robust in the final game. You can have a third person view of your character, or even detach the camera and move around freely whilst all the action continues. You are able to pause, fast forward and more importantly, take a screenshot. You can store up to 50 screenshots and upload them to Bungie.net via Xbox Live; from here you can access them on your computer in insane high-resolution goodness. The main annoying thing about Saved Films is the inability to rewind, you can skip backwards several seconds in a multiplayer video, but for some reason you cannot do this through the campaign. Regardless of this minute flaw with the newly added Saved Films feature, it remains to be quite possibly the most intriguing and awesome feature of the game.

Graphics:

There really are some incredible and awe-inspiring effects here. Seeing Phantoms and Banshees intrude the skies above, all the while you’re in the middle of combat with some ferocious and unrelenting enemy. Even the water effects in Halo 3 are impressive and potentially even rival that of the recently released BioShock game.
If you’re playing Halo 3 in HD and depending on what connection you use, you may notice that jagged edges are noticeable. This issue aside, everything else is rock solid in regards to framerate and this is impressive as during the campaign things can get rather hectic but that framerate holds in there and remains consistent throughout.
There is something I have noticed while playing multiplayer and that is again the impressive looking water effects and the way that they actually push light objects back to shore. The Last Resort map (formally known as Zanzibar) is a good example of this, take a Mongoose or Warthog out as deep as you can go into the water and then completely destroy it, and watch with glee as the tires and other parts float slowly back to shore. The single most impressive visual flair to Halo 3 has to be the draw distance, the sense of scale is somewhat mind-numbingly beautiful, I can’t really think how else to describe it. In some cases it’s not just a flat background, as you have what appears to be some battles still continuing high in the sky above as well as vehicles patrolling by and some nice smoke effects in the far distance of some destroyed locals.

Sound:

The game’s music is something truly special, as can be said with the previous games. The voices of Sgt. Johnson as well as other familiar characters such as Cortana and Amanda Keyes return to continue their role in Halo 3. These voices often guide you when you go astray in the campaign mode. The Grunts as always sound comical with their high pitched squeaky voices. The Brutes on the other hand don’t chatter too much, they just like to dish out the punishment as well as the occasional grunt and groan and issuing commands to their lower ranks.

Longevity:

Multiplayer and up to 4-player co-op is obviously going to add considerable replay value for many gamers. I expect Halo 3 will be the new “go to” game. It should be the game that everyone sits in the lobby with their friends to chat, whilst they discuss what they want to play… ultimately they just end up playing more Halo 3. The campaign whilst a tad short for my tastes does offer the added challenge of Heroic and Legendary to test your mettle and of course there are the Gold Skulls to hunt down after you have beaten the game once before. Collecting skulls allows you to modify aspects of the game for added challenge and so means that on your own or in co-op there’s always going to be a good reason to finish the fight one more time!

Overall:

The campaign surpasses that of its predecessor and adds online co-op into the mix, finally. Several new weapons and vehicles will keep things interesting for a short time, I however foresee myself spending more time with the Saved Films feature, and recording clips and taking photos than I will be actually play the game proper.
This is Halo, and then some. More weapons, more vehicles and some very exciting game modes which I expect and hope that future titles incorporate too. Has Bungie delivered on the hype? I most certainly think so.