Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

Bungie had a big job on their hands this time around. With Halo 3, they had to tie up all the loose ends that they had left with Halo 2's open ending- something which infuriated a lot of Halo fans. They also had to make sure the game's quality was not lacking, since Halo 3 was going to be the Xbox 360's flagship title. Not to mention the fact that the Halo series, in general, is one of the most beloved series' in gaming history, and they wouldn't want to mess up the conclusion of such a franchise.

With so many expectations and demands to meet, I found it hard to believe Halo 3 would whet my appetite and quench my thirst for more Halo action after I was left- quite frustratingly, if I might say so- hanging by a thread three years before the launch of Halo 3.

What happened when I bought Halo 3 is a whole different matter, though.

Halo 3 opens up with a glorious cutscene, immediately captivating the player with its marvellous presentation style and beautiful graphics. An explosion, a crash landing, serious debates, tactics, and new allies- all of this, in the first five minutes of the game make the opening of Halo 3 the most exciting introductory sequence for any game. The beginning of the game, though, is but a taste of how good Halo 3 turns out to be as we progress through the game. Not only is Halo 3 the best in the series, it is also the best first person shooter I have come across this generation.

To anybody who may be unacquainted with Halo lore, if such a breed still exists, Halo, as a series, is about a conglomerate of a monstrous alien race known as the Covenant trying to wipe out the Human race, which, they feel, is the only thing that stands between them and the fulfilment of their religion- a religion that says a Great Journey awaits its faithful, and that this Journey can only be embarked upon by firing vast ring-like weapons scattered throughout the galaxy. These weapons are known as Halos.

In truth, these Halos are weapons that, if launched, will eradicate all sentient life in the galaxy. These are last-resort weapons against the true enemies of everything that draws breath, the enemies that the Covenant have awaken for the second time in a hundred thousand years.

These horrifying enemies are the Flood, a parasitic alien race that makes all those it kills its monstrous puppets that are nothing but killing machines, so that they can grown in numbers. If the Flood isn't eradicated, the entire galaxy will soon be infected by them, and chaos and dismay would be the ruling forces on all worlds.

Master Chief, the last SPARTAN soldier, soldiers that have been biologically modified so that they can be used for intense warfare, is the last hope the Human race has left. He must save the Earth, the last untainted Human planet, from the Covenant AND the Flood.

Halo 3 is not a typical game, to say the least. It has a story that is barely enough to carry the game off on its shoulders. Its presentation is great, but it is nothing that hasn't been seen in other games. It has a great soundtrack, but again, it is something which the game doesn't tend to focus on much. What matters the most in Halo 3, just like all other Halo games, is the gameplay- the purely awesome, addictive and compelling gameplay.

It's hard to point out what it is that makes Halo 3 so compelling and so addictive. Certainly, by now, Halo does nothing that other shooters on the market don't do, so that the game runs the risk of being yet another face in an ever increasing crowd. Although one could argue that Halo's controls are extraordinarily tight, they are nothing that other games like Modern Warfare haven't bettered already. There are those, then, who would point to Halo 3's refined and balanced online, and they would certainly have a point- Halo 3's online, to this day, has not been bested. However, there's more to Halo 3's gameplay than the online. Something which makes it possible for you to truly enjoy a romp through the game's single player modes- it is the way the game manages to totally immerse you within its world to the extent that you are Master Chief and where you genuinely respond to situations as Master Chief would.

Halo 3 is an immersive game. Whilst playing Halo 3, you will feel your heart pounding as you take cover behind fallen debris, waiting for the enemy gunfire to stop so that you may fire a few rounds yourselves, not even knowing whether the bullets found their mark. Something within Halo 3 makes you feel as of you really are the last man standing between the Flood and the Covenant and total destruction of all of humanity. As Master Chief, you feel a surge of power as you gun down the grunts, you feel your pulse racing as you take on a contagion of Brutes, you feel repulsed horror as you face the Flood and you feel perfectly valid concern over Humanity's fate.

Halo 3 has a knack of making you feel all too powerful and yet defenceless, all at the same time. As Master Chief, the cybernetic protagonist of the Halo franchise, you can endure relentless enemy gunfire, survive falls from great heights, and can even regenerate health at a moment's notice. However, you are allowed to carry only upto two weapons with you at a time. Choosing which weapon it is that you should carry with you on your person is an exercise in tactical foresight. You might stumble upon an all too powerful arm cannon, but at the same time, you must consider- the arm cannon is incapable of firing rapidly, and you'd be hard-pressed to find ammunition for it.

On the other hand, you have your Plasma Pistols and Spikers, both of which lack firepower, but both of which can fire rounds rapidly, and are common enough that ammunition should never be a problem. Ultimately, which weapon you choose to carry boils down to your individual playing style. But suffice it to say that each weapon is properly balanced.

The game ups the ante further by allowing dual wielding. While dual wielding is restricted only to the smaller and somewhat weaker weapons, it can make for a significant addition to your arsenal, since it allows for rapid and never ceasing firing of shots. However, dual wielding comes with its own downsides as well, as you cannot lob projectiles such as grenades, flash bangs and the like when you're using two guns at once. Melee attacks are also impossible while dual wielding- you have to drop a weapon before you can attack an enemy physically up close.

Halo 3 being so balanced means that its multiplayer modes have unusual longevity. Indeed, playing through the game's variations on the classic deathmatch, king of the hill and capture the flag modes can lead to dangerous addiction, and you might risk loosing many, many hours to this game.

Halo 3's multiplayer is aided by Bungie's expert matchmaking which ensures that you're always up against an opponent who's around your own skill level. The online modes are fast, frenetic, furious and fun. There's something to be said for breathlessly making your way through the harrowing corridors of the map, all the while keeping an eye on your radar, just so that you may take down your enemy before he does the same to you. There is never any slow down, never any lag, so there is no interruption in the action.

Moreover, Bungie's genius community features- such as Halo 3's levelling up and ranking system, which is independent of the Xbox Live Gamertag and Achievement system- which awards you for being on the winning team in online matches, keeps you returning, if only because your ego cannot digest the idea of you having a lowly rank.

It's to Halo 3's credit that it can sustain the same kind of addiction in its single player mode as well. The missions are nice and varied, and they generally take you through gorgeous looking locales. The world of Halo 3 is bright and colourful, and it consists of lush locations- from forests, to beaches, to snow capped mountains… Halo 3 has it all.

Locations are backed by wonderful level design to boot. While Halo 3 is, strictly speaking, a linear game, there are multiple branching paths and options in each level so that you'll never play through the same mission the same way twice. There are just too many variations to have that happen.

The strong level design is accompanied by some creative enemy design as well, all of which is just fitting. The Brutes look appropriately trollish, the Flood looks appropriately disgusting, the Grunts look appropriately insignificant, and so on. Moreover, enemy AI also varies as per their species and ranks. So the Grunts are generally stupid and will just rush into your onslaught of bullets; the Brutes tend to be cautious at first, but get really reckless as you pin them down, attempting to take you down with physical prowess; the Flood appears to be like mindless zombies.

Your ally's AI appears to be similarly varied. Whereas the computer controlled human soldiers do a good job of fending for themselves and of taking enemies down, they also get killed a lot, just so that the level does not end up playing itself for you. Of course, as good as they are when it comes to ranged gunfire combat, they cannot drive to save their lives- or yours, for that matter.

You're probably best of driving the vehicles yourself. Although the rather outlandish controls may take some getting used to, in the end, you get familiar with each vehicle and its own individual properties. Halo 3 does a good job of making each vehicle feel authentic. So, a jeep like a Warthog will have a higher centre of gravity and better off-roading capabilities than a Ghost.

There are some vehicles like the Wraith tank which are confined exclusively to your enemies. You can either attempt to take these vehicles down, or you could hi-jack them and turn them upon their creators, adding a neat Grand Theft Auto-esque twist to the gameplay, and ensuring that there's always more than one way to finish a section.

The exciting and thrilling gameplay is always accompanied by moody and fitting musical scores. Halo games have been known to have epic soundtracks, and Halo 3 excels in that department as well. Not only is the musical score that plays in the background in a cutscene great to listen to, the little sound effects- from the screech of an enemy to the sound of a gunshot- add immensely to the overall experience of the game.

There is so much to Halo 3, that it's impossible to paraphrase it into words. It's a vast, sprawling game that really pulls you in, and does not relent its hold on you. As the conclusion to a story that has captivated an entire generation of gamers, Halo 3 excels, even when the story it's telling might not be mightily impressive. And yet, its functionally decent graphics, which nevertheless do the job of crafting just the right atmosphere, accompanied by its haunting and always appropriate music and sound-effects make for a deftly presented narrative.

What it is that makes Halo 3 so good can probably not be expressed properly. I can tell you, though, there is a reason that the Halo games are so widely acclaimed, and are still played to this very day- they're just darn excellent. There are legions of fanboys that this is the best thing ever, and there are others who will obstinately refuse to touch anything Halo. They're both wrong. Halo 3 is, ultimately, an extraordinary game, albeit with its own flaws, and yet one that is good enough that it can definitely be recommended to anybody without reservations.

GRAPHICS: 90/100
The graphics are great, and the environments are gargantuan. The weapons, enemies and vehicles all have a distinct visual flair. While there are several jaggies and pixelisation up close, Halo 3 manages to look good on the whole.

SOUND: 95/100
Halo 3's sound is just wonderful. From the brooding soundtrack to the expert voice acting, from the subtle sound effects to the enemy grunts and roars, halo 3 manages to be an aural delight.

GAMEPLAY: 100/100
It's hard to pinpoint on Halo 3's greatest strengths, but maybe it's the sheer balance and on the fly strategising that Halo 3 requires that manage to make this game so compelling. The vehicle riding sections and the airborne fights are thrilling and exciting, and the typical shooter gunplay hooks you for many hours at end.

PRODUCTION: 94/100
The graphics are a bit off in some places, but the game has next to no glitches, except for a few insignificant and unnoticeable framerate drops, and the story has been presented brilliantly, so all's well and good in the end.

LASTING APPEAL: 100/100
At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Halo 3 is probably the one game you'd ever need to buy. Playing through its single player campaign on one of the four difficulty levels can never get boring as it's a different experience everytime. This isn't even talking about the online mode, which is the single most addictive multiplayer mode I've come across in any console game ever.

OVERALL: 96/100