Review

Halo 3

This game needs no introduction. It’s set multiple records not only in the Video Game industry but in the Entertainment industry as well. The franchise that single-handedly made Microsoft’s Xbox console a household name, Halo 3 has landed upon us and the gaming world has been set a blaze ever since.

This is it, humanities last stand. The Covenant has decimated Earth, turning a once beautiful planet into a barren wasteland in search of an ancient artifact. Master Chief is about to make one final push to tip the scales of this intergalactic war in favor of the humans once and for all, and this time he isn’t alone. Furious at the Prophet of Truth for his betrayal of the Elite race in favor of the Brutes, The Elites (led by The Arbiter) have sided with the humans. This union alone really gives you a true sense of just how dire and urgent times have become. Now The Master Chief, along with the humans, and Elites are fighting against the Covenant in order to restore peace and temperament throughout the galaxy.

Despite its Space Opera story line and cinematic splendor, Halo 3 is after all a first person shooter. As with any other 360 shooter, both analog sticks are used for movement and face buttons (X,Y,A,B) are used for deploying gadgets, switching weapons, jumping, and melee. L trigger fires your primary weapon, while R trigger throws grenades. Thankfully, dual wielding is back so the R trigger also shoots your second gun if one is equipped. The right bumper reloads your primary weapon while the left bumper selects your grenade type or reloads your second weapon if you are dual wielding. Controls for the Halo franchise have always been basic, and very comfortable. This is an impressive feat, considering that with newer iterations, something is added to the control scheme and despite the numerous enhancements Bungie manages to keep a very solid and intuitive control scheme.

Halo 3 brings a lot to the table as far as enhancements over its predecessors. New weapons, vehicles, game modes (for on and offline play) bring not only a ton of replay value, but shows just how much effort went into developing Master Chiefs last hurrah. Now before I delve into the numerous enhancements, I’ll further explain exactly what’s taking place in Halo’s campaign mode. It basically picks up where Halo 2 left off. At the start of it all we find Master Chief, unconscious in a jungle found by Sgt. Johnson and other marines. Upon being awakened he gets a briefing from Sgt. Johnson on what events have taken place while he was “resting.” After some quirky dialog we are treated to one of the sickest moments in video gaming history. The Arbiter who was there the whole time witnessing Master Chief awaken, deactivates his cloaking device and upon seeing him, Master Chief dashes towards him, takes another soldiers side arm, and holds it up against the Arbiters throat. If this moment doesn’t convey the amount of hatred Master Chief and The Arbiter harbor for each other then nothing will, and if none of you reading this feel any amount of tension then I suggest you find another game. After Sgt. Johnson interrupts the heated reunion and informs M. C. that the Elite race is sided with the humans, we began the campaign. Most of the missions involve infiltrating Covenant bases, deactivating shields and different rescue missions make up the bulk of Halo 3’s single player game. All though these mission types have been done to death, but it’s doing them in the Halo universe that makes it different. After playing in the Halo world for years, you actually take personal interest in the fate of the characters, and hope for the best when it comes to their well being. As the story unfolds a lot of key events take place that I will keep hush-hush, but rest assured you will want to see this one through to the VERY (hint-hint) end.

Now to start addressing every gamer’s REAL concerns. What’s new this time around? Well simply put…EVERYTHING. Every weapon from the previous games returns, either new and improved or slightly worse than before. The Needler is no longer dual wieldable, but it regains a deadliness long missing since the first Halo, and while we are on topic of new and improved weapons the pistol makes a triumphant return (somewhat.) For starters, it’s no longer dual wieldable has a smaller clip, and sadly sans the 2x scope it once had. The infamous rocket launcher remains intact and unfortunately is missing the auto lock on feature that made it a godsend against adversaries driving vehicles and manning stationary turrets. Thankfully, Bungie listened to fans and gave the Sword an energy meter, during multiplayer games, so no more spamming the Sword…..THANK GOD!!!!!

Newer weapons include the Brute Spikers, Spartan Laser, Mauler, Missile Pod, and Flamethrower. The brute spikers are essentially the Brutes version of the SMG’s, the key exception being that while the SMG’s are ballistic in terms of ammo (meaning as soon as you squeeze the trigger the “invisible” bullets hit the target) the Spikers and any other Covenant weapon (i.e. plasma pistol, and rifle) the visible plasma shots must hit the target. So movement can severely mess with your accuracy. The Mauler is also dual wieldable (though one alone is very deadly) and is the Brute equivalent of the shotgun, sporting a smaller clip than the shotgun and slightly less powerful. Next up is the mighty Missile Pod that holds eight missiles, with no option to replenish ammo. Toting this mammoth around not only slows you down, it also prevents you from jumping the usual height and distance, but the real purpose of this support weapon is its auto-lock on feature that homes in on vehicles and stationary turrets. Speaking of Turrets, the Covenant have their own version of the Turret gun that shoots plasma bullets at a ridiculously high rate of fire; and you also have the option of detaching either version of the turret  to tote around as your own personal weapon, but be advised much like the Missile Pod your mobility is severely hampered so wield at your own risk. Lastly we have the Spartan Laser, the ultimate anti-tank weapon. Needing a charge that takes 3 seconds to build up, it fires a devastating shot that obliterates any and all vehicles in its beam of destruction. It’s also very handy for embarrassing opposing troops, by nailing them with it . There are also two new grenade types for your fragging pleasure, the Spike Grenade which can stick to enemies, and the Fire Grenade that incinerates enemies on contact.

Also, I mentioned the inclusion of additional equipment that can be deployed by pressing X. These new items definitely bail you out even in the most unsavory situations. They are the Bubble Shield, Trip Mine, Power Drainer (deactivates shields) Shield Regenerator, Radar Jammer, Deployable Shield, and the Portable Grav-lift. You can only carry one piece of equipment at a time, but you can swap out if you choose to pick up a different piece. Also new this time around are a few vehicles that definitely bring something for every Halo buff’s taste. Along with the previous vehicles (Scorpion tank, Warthog, Banshee, Wraith, Ghost) we now get to control the Mongoose, Hornet, Brute Chopper, and Elephant. The Mongoose is your typical light weight four wheeled ATV, excellent for two person transport when trying to quickly traverse any distance. Since it has no armor and weaponry is supplied by the crew, I would highly recommend very short outings (unless of course your partner is heavily armored. Next up is the Hornet, which is the Marines answer to the Covenant’s Banshee ship. This light weight fighter craft holds one Spartan (or Elite) on each wing, and room for one pilot. Weaponry includes machine guns, and missiles minus the homing feature, so you must be very precise when firing. This vehicle also features no quick maneuvering abilities or thrusters unlike the Banshee, so your pretty much a sitting duck; shoot early and often my friends. Now it wouldn’t be fair unless the Brutes have their own means of mobile combat, which brings us to the Brute Chopper. Restricted to land combat this very fast vehicle easily out paces the Ghost in fire power, but lacks slightly in the speed and agility department despite having thrusters for boost. Last and far from least is the mighty Elephant, and the name in this case does speak for itself. This massive mobile base houses to gun turrets on both sides, and is completely indestructible. Although you cannot use this base in the campaign, it is featured in multiplayer games and only used in the Sandtrap map for CTF (capture the flag) and VIP games.

Everything about this game seems very polished and well balanced. A huge gripe I had with Halo 2 was the amount of glitches and balancing issues that plagued that game. The sword with its unlimited energy charge, grenade jumping, and the BXR glitch all ruined Halo 2’s multiplayer for the main stream casual audience. Finally, Bungie gets it right. Adding a lot of cool new weapons, and fixing older ones to give you one of the most balanced FPS’s to come along in a good while.

Graphically speaking, Halo 3 features very sharp textures and lighting. The final build of this game features graphics far better than the Beta (which wasn’t a slouch either.) Though graphics engine isn’t a power house, it coupled with an impressive lighting engine gives you a gaming atmosphere unrivaled by most next gen offerings. Character models wear slick and shiny armor; weapons feature a sweet metallic finish and reflect light either from the environment or its own gun fire. Environment’s are excellently rendered and span miles (in video game scale of course) ranging from covenant space ships, caves, forerunner installations, and desert and snow landscapes. I promise you will be hard pressed to find nicer scenery in another game, and I’m glad to report that the famous Havok physics engine returns better than ever. Explosions send bodies and vehicles flying in a very realistic fashion. Sometimes you could swear the team behind the engine did motion capture sequences with each other flying and falling all over the place; it looks that good.

Intergalactic war fare ensues. Yea I think that just about covers it. No matter what’s going on (whether it’s campaign or over X Box live) explosions, gun fire and vehicular combat will give your ears an auditory assault regardless of the audio set up you have. For now (hopefully not much longer) I’m using an old 2.1 surround sound set up and even that manages to shake the walls of my house. Each weapon also has its own distinct sound when fire, and let me tell you that dual Brute Spikers and SMG’s (sub machine guns) sound the deadliest out of Halo’s entire lethal arsenal. Halo is known for having an orchestrated soundtrack, that seemed uncommon in the first Halo, but has become something of a hallmark of the series and Bungie took no shortcuts in this department for the third game. Throughout the campaign you will be treated to a symphony of mayhem as you battle Covenant forces, outrun the Flood and trek across barren wasteland.

Halo 2, was the undisputed X Box live champion and poster boy for the popular online console service since its release. Heck, even X Box 360 owners continued to play this game for nearly 2 years until an upstart franchise dethroned the title from H2. Now, at the 3 year mark, Halo 3 has officially reclaimed the crown as best X Box Live game period. This time around in addition to new multiplayer maps, we also get a new ranking system, as well as a bunch of little extras. In H2 you received a number skill from 1-50 and a symbol that denoted the number skill you had attained. This go round you have two ways to climb up the Halo ranks. This new system incorporates not only a skill number, as well as the addition of experience points, but an actual rank similar to that of the military. Some of the new ranks are as follows. You start out as an apprentice, and work your way up to Private, Gunnery Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Colonial, Brigadier, along with a few other ranks. Officer positions can be attained by either playing ranked or unranked matches. The Highest Skill numbers go from 1-50 which applies solely for ranked match ups, Rumble Pit, Team Slayer, Team Tactical, Double Team etc., and if your highest skill is a 20 in Team Slayer, it does not transfer to any of the other match types so you have to get your skill level up for each individual game type. Skill Points are solely received for winning ranked matches, and be warned; if you lose matches your Skill Point total decreases, so always play to win. In addition to highest skill achieved, you also receive experience points, which serve no other use aside from ranking purposes. Experience points are gained every time you play a match whether it’s ranked, unranked, or custom match. For each match you receive 1 point provided you perform well. So let’s give you an example of how this all works. Say Player A doesn’t play any ranked matches and accumulates 300 total exp. points, he will then be awarded the rank of a Gunnery Sergeant. Now lets say Player B plays nothing but Ranked matches and has not only 70 exp. points, a Highest Skill of 10. With that point accumulation he will achieve the rank of a Lieutenant taking him less than half the time it would take Player A;  so although you have a choice when it comes to how you make your way up through the ranks, playing Ranked matches yield much faster results and gives you a little more incentive.

There are 11 total maps (so far) to get you going, 2 of which are remakes of old favorites. Valhalla, is a remake of Blood Gulch and Last Resort, which pays tribute to the popular map Zanzibar. The rest of the maps are Highground, Epitaph, Construct, Snowbound, Guardian, Isolation, Narrows, The Pit, and Sand Trap. Guardian is the only close combat map, meaning no vehicles could be placed and actually used/driven. As for the other maps, most of them are symmetrical and hide tons of secrets, sniper hiding locations, and multiple vehicle possibilities. The maps as usual fall under one of many categories; Covenant establishment (Narrows, Epitaph, Isolation, Guardian) outside base combat (Snowbound, Highground,) Forerunner installations (Construct) and Marine installations (The Pit) to guarantee there is something to cater to every ones preference.

Another feature which is sure to be borrowed by other developers is the ability to save game footage. Everything from campaign missions, to online battles can be saved and viewed time and time again. You can also edit the film so you could keep that one-shot double kill with the sniper rifle, and take out all the footage of you getting fragged (who would want to watch you die anyway.) To clarify you must be connected to X Box Live in order for this feature to work, considering the “films” are stored on servers. You also have the option of sending your saved triumphs (or embarrassments) to your friends via XBL, a nice and well received addition.

One of the more unusual additions to Halo 3 is the inclusion of the game mode Forge. So that we are all clear Forge is a map EDITOR and not a map creator, but don’t let that discourage you just yet. A map editor does sound rather disappointing, that is until you see everything in motion. While you can’t edit map geography, increase max player size over sixteen, or any other over the top edits, you can however take out or add vehicles, weapons, explosive crates, and any other obstacles to provide cover during intense fire fights. This mode even allows you to remove/add spawn points, set parameters such as spawn time for weapons and vehicles, spawn locations for the defending or attacking team, and a ton of other nice options that you will have to play and see for yourself the possibilities are that stunning. Everything you add comes with a price tag though, and you have a set budget that you can’t go over in order to keep things fair and frankly balanced. Vehicles cost the most while weapons and everything in between are much less. You can even switch freely from edit mode and player mode allowing you to test everything in real time before you decide to save, and you can even have other players join in over Live to edit along with you.

Overall Bungie has really, truly, definitely out done themselves this go round. Hats off to Bungi, as they are one of few development houses, that never become complacent with each new game in their franchise. Care and effort went into making this phenomenal game and it shows.