A good end to the trilogy

User Rating: 9.5 | Halo 3 X360
The Halo series has a special place in my heart, since it was the original Halo on my roommate's Xbox that convinced me to get my own Xbox and Halo. Basically, Halo is the reason I got back into gaming after seven or so years of not gaming. The first Halo was awesome. It more or less did everything right when it came to a single player campaign. Halo 2 was a disappointment to me in that regard. I did not like playing as the Arbiter, the story was convoluted, and it did not have any sort of "real" ending. Halo 3 corrected all that was wrong about Halo 2 and brought the series back to its roots. I don't want to talk much about the graphics. They're good. They're better than the other Halo games (obviously), and the game runs smoothly. As for gameplay, Halo 3 did a nice job of combining what I liked about Halo and Halo 2. I could still dual wield, but it wasn't always something that I preferred doing, because the non-dual wield weapons had decent punch to them. Probably my favorite new gameplay mechanic was the fact that I could reload either gun while dual wielding without having to reload both at the same time. BIG improvement. The thing I am most pleased about concerning Halo 3 is the story. If you have read any of my other reviews, you know that having a good story is extremely important to me. While Halo 3's story wasn't the most deep or intriguing, it WAS a story, and it was followable. What Halo games have always done well is use the game itself and pre-rendered pieces to smoothly tell one story. Halo 3 is no exception. The story was constantly being updated as you play through radio communications and comments from soldiers, but for bigger plot developments cut scenes would come and do the job. At times, I was actually wishing that there was MORE to the cut scenes because they were so immersive. I also enjoyed how the story in Halo 3 mixed the story of Master Chief and the Arbiter on a small scale, while at the same time making you feel like you are a part of a much larger conflict (i.e. all of the big battles with the marines against the Scarabs, etc.). I won't give the ending away, but I can say that I was both pleased and disappointed with the ending. I wrapped the series up nicely and was very exciting. In fact, the end of the game was extremely reminiscent of Halo 1 (a great way to wrap up the trilogy). As for the disappointment, I can't really say anything for fear of telling spoilers. All in all, Halo 3 is a great single player game. I can't speak for the multiplayer. I don't have XBL, so for me, all that stuff with Forge is a waste, but regardless Halo 3 is a game that all 360 owners need to play through for the sheer enjoyment of playing through an extremely well made game.