Halo is one of those games that has taken on a life of its own. From its origins on the original Xbox as the system's killer app to the questionable follow-up that further refined the multiplayer experience the popularity of the series cannot be overlooked. Think what you will of Halo 3 and its predecessors, this release is arguably the gaming event of the year. Microsoft has spent an obscene amount of money to make sure that everyone knows when Halo 3 comes out and to convince people that it's the best game of all time.
View the Halo 3 slide show (20 images)
I'll give credit where credit is due; all the marketing and majesty starts to work on you. The choral voice music, the dramatic commercials, it's all designed to make the game feel important. And it does. It feels like this is something very important to gaming. Let's look past all the hype and look at Halo 3 for what it is; an excellent science fiction first-person shooter with an epic story, a robust multiplayer experience, and a great deal of value-added content.
People love Halo for different reasons but the sweeping sci-fi story is one of the biggest draws. Halo 3's tag line is "Finish the fight," and you'll do just that. This game completes the ambitious story started by Halo and complicated by Halo 2. When last we saw the Master Chief he was stowed away on board the Forerunner vessel heading for Earth. Halo 3 picks up right where we left off. It's kind of slow to start and feels small and a little too familiar during the first few hours but once the game opens up and hits its stride things get better.
Don't expect any kind of catch-up montage or summary of the story thus far. Halo 3 expects you to be intricately familiar with the events, names, places, and spaceships of the previous games. That's not a problem for longtime fans of the series but if you're looking to get onboard with Halo now you might consider some supplemental reading. It's possible to have fun and just blaze through Halo 3 shooting the bad guys like an arcade game and ignoring the story completely, but there's a rich mythology out there that will make the game more enjoyable if you take the time to discover it.
The Halo series may be the first game to take a huge story and space it out over three games without the feeling that the later chapters were tacked on. At the violently abrupt end of Halo 2 there was no question there would be a Halo 3. Most game stories are content to remain self-contained while also leaving loose threads to be picked up in possible sequels. Halo: Combat Evolved was certainly an example of that but Halo 2 exposed us to a much larger story where all sentient life in the known universe was at risk. Halo 3 keeps the stakes high but streamlines the story into something more akin to the first game.
The Covenant Brutes make up the bulk of the infantry.
Huge, sweeping stories are not particularly new to gaming but this kind of scope is usually reserved for the role-playing genre. To see a shooter tackle something like this is impressive but to see it executed as a mild success is nothing short of a miracle. The Halo storytelling definitely has its shortcomings but if you don't mind the homework there is a terrific narrative buried in there. Whether you find the ending of Halo 3 satisfying has all to do with how much you are invested in the story - just make sure you watch through all the credits for the epilogue.
Enough about the story, how does it actually play? It's Halo and plays like Halo always has. The formula is practically perfected at this point which puts the developers in a bit of a quandary. Should they evolve the gameplay by adding new features and risk damaging the balance or leave it the way it is and risk complaints of the game being too much like its predecessor? Halo 3 opts for the latter but does bring a couple of new tricks to set it apart from Halo 2. The addition of usable equipment by both sides gives the combat a little bit more variety and the ability to rip a turret of its mount and walk around with it never gets old.
The equipment includes items like the bubble shield seen in the earliest Halo 3 teasers, destructive trips mines, blinding flares, deployable cover, and sentry turrets. They can't turn the tide of a battle but they give the player some new tactics to use and a slight advantage when used at the right time. The enemy also has access to this equipment and is not shy about using it. The enemy A.I. is clever enough to know which equipment best suits a situation and use it accordingly. They are definitely smarter than your average computer opponent and practiced in seeking cover, flanking, finding terrain advantages, and moving positions. The Covenant grunts still spend a great deal of time running away from you but the brutes and hunters pack a wallop.
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