Sextus' first review: Halo 3 - A little late, on the chopping block

SextusMaximus

Nightingale Assassin
May 20, 2009
3,508
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[HEADING=2]Halo 3[/HEADING]
IMMA CHARGIN' MAH LAZOR
Welcome to my review of Halo 3, where I will be detailing the Campaign and Multiplayer segments of the game. (By the way, this is my first review, so constructive criticism would be appreciated).
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Campaign:
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In campaign mode, you start off as Master Chief, a government super soldier (post-human) and part of the UNSC's (United Nations Space Command) "Spartan project". A series of experimental... well, experiments - to physically and mentally upgrade children from a young age in order for them to fight in a war against the Covenant, an army of Aliens formed from Grunts - the weaker aliens, Jackals - the deceiving snipers and 'ninjas' of the pact, and Brutes - Huge, bear like monsters who often lead packs of grunts, or in some cases, other Brutes. The covenant are led by worm creatures, or "prophets" and in Halo 3, you are up against the Prophet of Truth - who plans to activate a series of "Halo rings" which have the power to destroy entire planets. So the concept of saving the earth is used a lot as a storyline, the point is that it's played out really well and to a fine touch in Halo, where you are always pushing and moving forward.
Okay, now I've fed you the back-story, I will discuss the actual game play of the game... the controls work like a charm, the movement is swift, and due to fantastic world sculpting and geometry of the surrounding areas, you are not glitching about, unlike many other first person games.
There isn't a huge amount of variety as weapons go, but easily enough for what you need, ranging from a pistol, to a full-on assault rifle, and the designs go from outrageous (for instance the "needler" pictured below) to incredibly sleek (for instance the smooth "beam rifle" or covenant sniper).
Needle a helping hand?
There is a large selection of vehicles as well, the warthog is a large buggy - type vehicle with a turret attached to the back, there are people carriers, mini-warthogs, "ghosts" (a small, one person land-ship with plasma cannons attached to the front) and various flying machines such as the "Hornet".
You'll have a "ghost"... of a time!
The campaign will at one time, will either be epic, or incredibly fun; At one point, there is a tremendously large air-battle which my friend joined in with (Oh yeah, there's co-op) in which I kept jumping ships and kicking the covenant ship-riders into the ocean below, until all ships were destroyed and I could land safely on the ground. It's frankly, one of my best experiences with ANY game, due to the fun and sleekness of how it was pulled off.
Another point of, not only the campaign - but the entire game - is the visuals; from explosions, to the surrounding world, to the Master Chief's armour - are brilliant. Oh! And this is one of the few games where the terrain is smooth and NOT BUMPY!
If you get this game, I can guarantee straight up - you WILL enjoy the campaign... if not anything else.
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Multiplayer:
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The multiplayer is a well functioning system of consistently good and varied maps with a wide selection of game types - from the regulars such as Capture the Flag and "plant the bomb" type game modes (Team Deathmatch, or "slayer" - obviously). With a few irregular game types like Infection mode, or Grifball (a Bomb variant where everyone has giant hammers and plasma swords) and the multiplayer is WELL BALANCED. You don't unlock anything except for armour (which is for aesthetic use ONLY) and this ensures that everyone is on level playing grounds and no-one has an upper hand in any of the matches.
If only football were this kick-arse...
Now, onto my only (probably) complaint (sorry guys, I really do like this game...); Yes, there are a whole tonne of 7 year olds who play the game, and it can get very annoying when you're trying to formulate a battle strategy with your friends and there is one guy consistently rattling away the latest Lady Gaga or Nickelback tune into the microphone. The solution? The mute button... it's impossible to complain about an annoying part of a game if it's easily and thoroughly blocked, and this is also a flaw of people - and not of the game itself.
To end this on a light note, I would like to talk about two new options from Halo 2. They are: Forge and Theatre. Theatre is pretty self explanatory; you can watch replays of your past matches. I think it's fantastic, as whenever there is a "one-time" thing where you say - laser three people in a row, and haven't got a camera recording it - you can just go to theatre mode and check it out.
Lastly there is forge, where you can spawn objects and build your own maps - all I can say is that it works really well, and can be a lot of fun with friends.

Overall, In my opinion - this is a fantastic, fun and truly epic game (we're only talking Bungie epic, not BioWare epic - good lord, no). The multiplayer is well balanced, but can sometimes be annoying due to the idiotic world outside the window, but there are easy ways to counter that.

Should you get this game? Yes - it's a fantastic and enjoyable experience that can be even better when playing with friends.
 

Tdc2182

New member
May 21, 2009
3,623
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It sounds as though you have been working on that since it came out, which is a good thing.

The only critizism is that the game is about three years old. just a little late, but otherwise, good job
 

SextusMaximus

Nightingale Assassin
May 20, 2009
3,508
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Sober Thal said:
I agree that Halo is by far my favourite FPS, what I wrote wasn't clear enough... Instead of variety, I meant amount of weapons, not the diversity so while it doesn't have AS MANY weapons as a game like Borderlands, I definetly think they are far more diverse.
 

SextusMaximus

Nightingale Assassin
May 20, 2009
3,508
0
0
Sober Thal said:
Yeah, sorry I posted before reading the entire thing.... I made edits, and I guess since I agree w/ you, I will say I like your review. I am now ready to hear everyone bash Halo, but like I said in the beginning, these are only my opinions, I wouldn't dare say these are facts for all gamers.
That's the cool thing about reviewing, you can voice your opinions about a game despite other's views.
 

MiracleOfSound

Fight like a Krogan
Jan 3, 2009
17,776
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The biggest flaw in Halo 3 for me was the backtracking.

Fantastic game and great fun, but playing through an area once is enough, thanks.

Still, at least it wasn't as bad as the fucking Library...
 

FactualSquirrel

New member
Dec 10, 2009
2,316
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Well, it was a good review, and I quite agree with most of your points.

The only thing I can suggest is perhaps making it slightlylonger, it wasn't ridiculously short, but a lot of it seemed to be rushed, and, while you managed to outline your points, you didn't always explain them fully.

Overall, good review, and I wanna see more.
 

MasterMongoose0

New member
Nov 3, 2009
195
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I loved Halo 3. Its story was average (compared to the rest of the series, the novels were great though). I've played through that game's single player/co-op at least 7 times now, which is the most I've played through any 360 game (probably tied with the original Gears of War).

I've done literally everything in Halo. I want to get the second game again, run through the story. Halo 2 had the best online multiplayer for any console shooter, even by today's standards. It had the best maps, modes, and the community was so integrated because there was virtually no competition. You just popped online and EVERYBODY was playing Halo 2. Always*
*unless you were a Tom Clancy fan, or Star Wars Battlefront fan.