flames_of

User Score
9.5

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 10

Halo 3 is the supposed finale to the Halo trilogy, though; the franchise is unlikely to be written off anytime soon. You play as Master Chief, short for Master Chief Petty Officer. You are one of the legendary SPARTAN-II super soldiers. At the age of six, Master Chief, due to his excellent genes was kidnapped for the said program. You are enhanced far beyond any other human and are humanity’s last, and best hope of survival. You have an energy shield equipped super suit that magnifies your already immense capabilities further. This energy shield is your health bar, a regenerating health system that makes sense. Once your shields are done, death is only a squeeze or two away. The superior Covenant, a collection of various races, is rapidly wiping out colony planets slowly working their way to earth. They are united by their false religion based off a “great journey,” they hope to embark upon by firing the Halo rings. The rings are actually designed by a long disappeared race known as the Forerunner, Gods to the Covenant, for the purpose of eliminating surrounding sentient life in order to deprive the parasitic Flood of hosts. Finish the Fight.


                              Time to die, ugly.

            Campaign is broken up into missions that vary in locales and objectives. Shooting stuff until it is dead, however, will make up the backbone of the game. Vehicles are involved in missions from time-to-time, taking down the massive and devastating Scarab tanks can be an exhilarating task. Playing through the entirety of it will not take to long. Times vary based off skill, if you rush through, and difficulty level. Scoring will add to replay, along with various skulls that you may happen upon. These can be activated afterwards for various effects, ranging from comedic to further increasing the level of challenge.

            The multiplayer is where it is at, much content is present. There is matchmaking, split into categories: ranked, in which skill levels are tracked and party sizes are limited to team sizes; social, where skill is not tracked, more laid back and party size is limited to the max players in the game type overall; hardcore, where the “pros” go for the MLG playlist and other more “non-noob” goodness is at; double exp, generally every weekend there is a special playlist in which you can acquire twice the exp and try more unique game types like Grifball. Updates and tweaks are frequently done by Bungie to improve matchmaking. Party system allows for groups of people to play with each other easily and is well-implemented. Categories have their own playlists. Examples include doubles, objective based, and straightforward slayer. Each has variants to offer difference, such as matches where you spawn with only energy swords. Online is generally smooth and slowdowns are not to frequent nor game-breaking.


                       Yay! Color and vehicles!

            Customization for personal games exists and is in-depth. Many tweaks exist to adjust a game type in many variants with a broad range of differences. Starting weapons, to shields traits, to player traits, to game characteristics can all be adjusted. Forge mode allows for you to take an existing map and adjust it for fresh gameplay. Theatre mode allows you to watch from many angles past missions and matches; along with take snapshots and record clips.

            The game is one of a balanced type as you generally start with the same weapons and maps by default give fair chance to gain other weapons. Various powerups and equipment also can be used. Game types range from slayer to capture the flag, to bomb-based assault to VIP. All have variants such as one-sided flag and one sided territories versus land-grab variant of territories. Support from Bungie includes new map packs, playlist changes and integration with the site. Allowing quick access to your profile and examine others. A file sharing system allows for you to upload your works to be freely downloading by people. Film clips, screenshots, map variants, and changed game types all can be shared.


                             Mmmm... Chaos... I love it!


            It is a game that is robust and filled to the brim with content and is worth purchasing. Though, if multiplayer may not be your thing, you may not agree. I found this to be a very fun game; the game is not of an overly serious note. More than two colors exist, quite enjoyable for the eyes. Graphics are excellent; cut-scenes are good while character-models are kind of lackluster. Music is top-notch with several excellent scores. I would recommend this to, pretty much anyone. Easy to get into, it is a game that is rather, “casual.” Nothing is wrong with the term, simply means it is not too challenging and is easy to jump into compared with other titles.