Ever since Halo made its apparition on the first Xbox 360 console, it has been making waves in the gaming industry and solidified Bungie’s position as a leading game developer. Halo was probably the most innovative first person shooter to hit the shelves since Golden Eye. But is Halo 3 worthy of the first 4 letters of its name?

Well the first thing players will notice when playing the game is that the side plot with the Arbiter and his Elites has been neglected to put more emphasis on Master Chief. This means that you’ll only be able to play as Master Chief in the single-player campaign mode. While keeping players locked in as Master Chief is a good decision for Bungie, some people will miss the extra element the Arbiter brought to Halo 2’s storyline.

A major improvement to this version of Halo is the diversified environments. The levels in Halo 3 lend to spectacular pacing that weaves from close-quarters, intense battles with Chief and a few soldiers, to more epic arenas. Even if battles scenes sometimes look like they could need a couple more Marines, the chaos that reigns on the battle field still makes you feel like you’re part of a battalion.

I had a small problem with the level of difficulty though. While the normal mode is way too easy for skilled Halo players, the “heroic” and “legendary” levels have been made much more difficult, mainly to display the new and heightened AI engine that is used for the enemy combatants. So if you’ve played Halo before, you should go directly to the higher levels because you might get bored playing at the normal difficulty level.

While the enemy’s AI is pretty good, the same can’t be said about your partners. Sometimes, they will only work as buffers between you and the enemies. Even the Arbiter, the supposed equal of master Chief, is completely useless as a partner on many occasions.

Now let’s talk about the multi-player mode. You can choose between 11 arenas and more will probably be added over time as downloadable add-ons. This is the series' strongest collection of maps to date. Some arenas are open, such as the desert-themed Sandtrap, and some are a combination of open upper levels and more confined subterranean areas, like Snowbound and Isolation. Cool weapons were added such as the Spartan Laser, that can literally cut Warthogs in half and the Gravity Hammer that can spring your enemy 30 feet in the air.

One of the coolest features that were added to Halo 3’s multi-player mode is The Forge. The Forge is an object layout editor that allows the player to rearrange elements of the battlefield without changing the basic geometry of the arena. It allows you to change weapon locations, power ups, spawn points and objectives. The Forge is a great tool that will keep your arenas fresh for years to come.

 Other cool features such as the replay option, that automatically saves your combats as you fight them and the incredible score and sound effects help make Halo 3 a must buy for any first person shooter fan. So if “shoot’em ups” are your cup of tea, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of Halo 3 for Xbox360, you won’t be disappointed…

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Last update: 16-04-2008 21:54