Pros: The most beautiful graphics to date. Interesting (though not original) concept.
Cons: FIGHT IS NOT COMPLETELY FINISHED Its Basicaly Halo 2 in High Definition.
The Bottom Line: Halo 3 might be the most beautiful, intense action game ever made on a console, but, the original Halo seemed much more challenging and complete unto itself.
There are already plenty of Halo 3 reviews online. I got a late start on this review simply because I work fulltime and I have hobbies and engagements that keep me away from my computer for more time than I’d like. Think of this as a Review and Blog about my Halo 3 experience.
I will begin by saying, I enjoyed playing through Halo 3 just about as much as I did playing through Halo. I feel that Halo 2 was the worst looking, and the most annoying of the trilogy because it felt like a rushed gimmick meant to put more money in the pockets of Bungie’s employees and I would have liked to see the story of Halo end with the ending of the first game.
That however would have been unlikely. Halo has amassed a cult following of console gamers who, up until the Xbox had never truly experienced the beauty and joys of PC first person shooters, in much the same way Goldeneye did for the Nintendo 64.
I however have been with FPS games since the days of Doom, Duke Nukem and Quake 2, so for me, Halo is pretty but it fails to excite me enough as to join the personality cult formed behind Master Chief.
I feel that Halo is a copycat of most of the influential science fiction novels of our time such as Robert Heinlien’s Starship Troopers and most specifically Larry Niven’s Ringworld. Call it a dramatization if you will – done mostly with similarities to the movies ALIENS and Predator.
How long will I have to see sci-fi movie cliches such as:
The Black seargeant who's always smoking a cigar (Aliens)
The alien with the active camoflauge and green blood.
The recreation of Aliens Dropship sequence.
The female dropship pilot.
Still, even with those similarities, it is still a joy to play Halo 1 and Halo 3 simply because a tremendous amount of care has gone into crafting the world and other settings that I have not seen since Unreal.
STORY
The story behind HALO, is long and complicated as, half of the story takes place in the games, and the other half takes place in sci-fi comic books and novels that most players aren’t going to read – relying on the games themselves to present cannon material.
In the future, Earth is at war (big surprise?) with a collective race of Aliens known as the Covenant. The Covenant have decided to wipe out all of humanity, which it sees as an affront to its religion. Humanity is fighting back valiantly, but losing, due to the Covenant’s superior strength, technology and numbers. Humanity’s last ditch attempt to win this losing battle was to develop cyborg super soldiers in the SPARTAN program. All but one of these cyborgs has been destroyed by Covenant attacks and it is up to that one to aid humanity in winning the war. That cyborg, known only as Master Chief is controlled by the player (you) through multiple stages of each game in First Person Shooter style action gaming.
Master Chief has no face – as Bungie wants the player to feel as though they themselves are inside of him. However, he does have a voice – a male voice – which cuts out the possibility of a female gamer feeling at home playing as him. ( Female Spartans have the same armor and lack stereotypical breasts and pink/purple coloring common in video games to signify females). Along side Master Chief is Cortana who is an A.I. construct designed to monitor computer systems and aid the human forces with intelligence, information and electronicespionage.
In the events of Halo, Master Chief and his ship full of Earth marines crash land on Halo which is a megastructure (see: Niven’s Ringworld). The Covenant also land on the Halo intent on taking it over for their purposes. It turns out later that the Halo is a biosphere designed by an ancient civilization (“Forerunners”) to study the Flood, which are a parasitic organism that assimilates all life and mutates them into hideous creatures under a hive mind. (see: Star Trek’s Borg). Halo is also a superweapon designed to fire radiation through space and destroy all life capable of supporting the Flood should they ever escape. Master Chief fights a losing battle against the Covenant and later the Flood on Halo and then later destroys it during a desperate attempt to stop them from spreading their infection.
In Halo 2, we reprise the role of Master Chief who is again fighting to stop the Covenant from invading Earth. In this game, it is revealed that Halo is just one of several superweapon megastructures that fire simultaneously to annihilate life capable of sustaining The Flood.
In the events of Halo 2, we are forced to play as a second character: the Arbiter, a disgraced Covenant Commander who is being punished for the loss of Halo by the Covenant leaders: The Prophets. In this game, it is revealed that the Prophets intend to use Halo – despite it being a weapon of mass destruction which will kill everything in the Milky Way Galaxy.
The Flood are also revealed to be lead by a hive mind entity called the Gravemind which intends to spread The Flood throughout the galaxy: “to improve all life” under its own design. Gravemind fears the Prophet’s intentions because it does not want the Halos to destroy The Flood’s chances of survival and aide’s Master Chief in halting the firing of the second Halo.
The Covenant falls into a Civil war when it realizes the Prophets are liars (like most religious leaders tend to be) and the Elites split from the Brutes – second class Covenant species who are upgraded by the Prophets when the Elites break away.
Halo 2 ends with Master Chief commandeering a forerunner device and hurtling back to Earth with it. The game ends with this cliffhanger ending and the mantra FINISH THE FIGHT
In Halo 3, we play only as Master Chief who has just crash landed on Earth after having battled his way back to it. The Arbiter this time around is a support character who shows up to help when you’re outnumbered or pops up at the most welcomed time to help with speedy escapes. Master Chief must stop the Prophet: Truth from activating the Halo system and killing all life in the galaxy.
The game unfolds over 9 stages. The first few take place on a Covenant occupied Earth in Africa where the Covenant are attempting to unearth a forerunner structure.
Later stages see Master Chief going to “The Ark” which is a massive megastructure floating in space that is so gigantic it serves as an automated factory for Halo rings (which basically answers the question: “Where do Halos come from?”)
GRAPHICS and SOUND
I think it is safe to say that Halo 3 has the best graphics ever for a console, if not, any video game ever released. In the first few levels, you are in familiar enclosed fortresses or outdoors in lush jungle terrain that we’ve gotten used to in games such as Far Cry. However, later levels take you to the deserts of Africa which overlook the Forerunner structures in the distance and then to the Ark which is a humongous megastructure large enough to manufacture Halo ringworlds.
Xbox 360’s draw distance is remarkable in that you see things moving, exploding and living off in the distance – for what might be miles. Some of the more impressive images are the static backdrops in the sky that complement the highly detailed and richly textured environments you tread through. The final three levels offer images that I haven’t seen since the days of Babylon 5.
Even more so remarkable is the battles that take place along gigantic structures. There is the Scarab walking tank for example which is a large beetle like tank that is the equivalent of a moving 2-story parking lot. You must damage their legs, and then get aboard so you can destroy its power core. The first battle of this nature is “jaw droppingly” pretty, but, later in the game, you are flown to one aboard a helicopter and dropped off on its backside so you can blow it to smithers. VERY COOL.
The draw distance also convincingly allows you to see a huge structure in the distance and them make a long journey to it so that you can get inside it to find a richly detailed environment. This is especially nice when a large ship comes down that you can enter, which allows you to see the interior and the working crew. I saw this trick first in Quake 4 but it looks even better here.
Whether you are on the ground or fighting in the air aboard ships, HALO 3 like its predecessors never ceases to allow you to look up and stare in awe at structures immensely larger than yourself.
That is the only reason I enjoy playing this game.
Unfortunately, the sound dissapointed me. The background music was done perfectly as it was in the previous games, but it is the weapon sound FX that let me down here.
Firing a bullet from any of the numerous weapons sounds "muted" unlike it does in games such as Counterstrike. I expect each round fired to thunder - an aural equivalent of ending a life.
The game does have plenty of sound samples and plenty of FX being played through multiple channels, but, why is it that there is no sound options for me to turn up the FX? I played this game through a 5.1 system with a large subwoofer and the gunshots sounded so unremarkable that each time I ditched one weapon for the next, I was left with no visual or aural impact to deepen my appreciation for the weapon I was wielding with impunity.
The enemy bodies don't help the experience as they have no decals to mark bullet wounds or burn marks to signify energy weapon damage.
The graphics and sound would be much better if Bungie sought the help of Michael Mann...at least then, even firing a lowly pistol would leave a resonating *crack* which would help justify the covenant's retreat.
The game Black tried to focus on the aural details of gun violence but I believe both games would benefit from the detail that went into Soldier of Fortune on the PC. At least, then, this game would actually earn that "M" rating.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of HALO 3 is almost identical to its predecessors with some small additions.
Firstly, you may now pick up single use items that offer marginal tactical advantage on the battlefield. One such device is the bubble shield which surrounds you with a selectively permeable membrane. Bullets, rockets and grenades bounce off if fired at it but, man-sized particles may pass in and out at will. This means that you can throw up a shield to stop incoming fire, but, if the enemy charges you, you’ll need to find higher ground quickly because you can’t stop him from getting inside and attacking you.
The enemy units have access to the bubble shield too and you may rush them in the same manner for a quick kill.
Another piece of equipment worth mentioning is the power drain -which you will be hit with plenty of times during the game. The power drain depletes your shields quickly and leaves you open for attacks that will kill you instantly. When you are hiding under cover, the enemy always seems to have this device available and you don’t realize what hit you until you hear the crackling of electronics frying from overload.
There is also a regenerator which creates a field that recharges you instantly but as you already have a powered armor that regenerates itself, this device is redundant. It is also one of the rarer equipment pieces to be found.
I should also mention the cloak which is the equivalent of the Arbiter’s cloaking device in Halo 2. This is probably the rarest device in-game but it does come in handy as it allows you to run past enemies without being seen for about 30 seconds.
Besides the equipment, Halo 3 is the same run and gun game you already played in Halo 2. You may still dual wield weapons, however, the needler loses this ability. New weapons in the game are basically better dressed versions of weapons we saw in the previous Halo games. Now that the Brutes are the primary antagonist, we see their new weapons: the spiker (similar to the needler), the mauler ( similar to the shotgun) and the brute shot (a glorified grenade launcher)- which has been made slightly faster and stronger against the Flood. Also worth mentioning is the Spartan Laser which fires a concentrated energy beam at a target and the Battle Rifle which now only has a 32 round clip and is a b*tch to use due to its poor long-range accuracy.
New vehicles include the helicopter-like Hornet and the Brute’s Chopper which is similar to a Harley Davidson with rims designed to shop people into hamburger meat.
ONLINE WITH XBOX LIVE
Firstly, I am very upset that Halo 3 was released because nowadays everyone is playing it and almost no one who owns a 360 with Xbox Live is playing anything else.
I never enjoyed Halo’s multiplayer. It is too slow and too sterile for me compared to the high impact violence of Quake 4, Battlefield 2 or Rainbow 6 Vegas. When I play a multiplayer game, I want to be able to kill my opponent brutally and then talk smack to them so they are left cursing my name as they count down the seconds till their respawn.
Despite Halo3’s ridiculous M’rating the game is remarkably tame for a seemingly “violent video game”. Killed players are not dismembered by explosions and their organs are not littering the field of battle after a massive attack. Blood stains are kept to a minimum unlike most other multiplayer games like Gears of War where a chainsaw bayonet reveals the interiors of an opponent’s corpse.
At no point does Halo 3 get anywhere near as violent or brutal as games like Soldier of Fortune so I am left wondering where the M’ rating comes from.
Online the game experience is just as mundane with the exception of a large number of players with varying degrees of sanity and socialization skills. Because everyone is playing this game nowadays, you run into everybody from young pre-pvbescent kids with annoying voices, to die-hard smack talkers with 1/5 star Reputation ratings on Xbox Live who are quick to tell these 12 year old pre-pvbescents to “shut the f**k up” regardless of their tender ages and virgin ears.
Halo multiplay has never interested me and even with Halo 2, I shelved the game within 3 weeks of purchase in favor of Counterstrike (for Xbox) which I considered the better multiplayer game of the two.
New additions to Halo’s multiplay include a more robust matchmaking system that makes it easier to assemble group battles, clans and various other matches – a clear testament to the multiplayer features of the 360 console itself. There are also video filesharing modes that allow you to replay matches and email them to friends over Xbox-Live. As the 360 has been designed to keep track of scores, stats, ranks and other player performances, most of the game’s achievement points are tied to multiplay which will most likely be dominating the 360 until Grand Theft Auto 4 is released. If GTA4 has an online multiplayer as robust as Halo3’s, then Halo3 will lose many players after a few months. For now, the desire to unlock awards and achievements will keep people glued to Master Chief’s visage.
There is also a multiplay option within the campaign mode which allows 4 players to fight simultaneously through the game. This makes moving through the hardest difficulty mode a snap since each player is easily able to overwhelm the under performing A.I. governing the enemy characters.
As I am now forced to play Halo 3's multiplayer, I have found the game to offer a decent (but, lacking) multiplayer experience, but, several aspects truly annoy me about the game.
#1 Halo 3 allows players to join lobbies so they can play with each other continuously rather than being scattered to different matches after each round (as in Halo2).
The downside of this is that you still cannot setup Ranked matches with friends. You will however be matched up with others who closely resemble your skill level.
#2 Halo 3 does not allow you to speak to others in free-for-all Deathmatches. Possibly this is done to keep people from cheating for achievements, however it is annoying and doesn't in any way stop achievement cheating.
#3 The gameplay is not as good as in the QUAKE series. In Halo 3 most weapons are fully automatic "spray-and-pray" weapons. Your entire objective is to damage an opponent enough to drop his shields and then either melee him to death or toss a grenade. The game is entirely too grenade happy - many maps are virtualy littered with frag grenades.
Every match comes down to a 10 meter spraying contest where players try and get lucky.
#4 Halo 3 keeps track of stats and rewards in-game achievements with options for additional armor customization (similar to Rainbow 6 Vegas) however, many of the stats are irrelevant as you will level up through regular play anyway, and the only achievements most people will be interested in are the true Achievements so they earn gamerpoints.
#5 HALO 3 has the strangest Achievement list I've ever seen. Many achievements can be earned through regular play or online. Why bother trying to do it online if you can fight the predictable A.I.?
Some of the achievements, furthermore are extremely hard to earn legitimately and entice players to cheat for them - which they will do. In fact, one of the problems with games of this type on Xbox360 is people get them the day of release and spend a few days leveling up; cheating with partners to get achievements and gaining experience points. Therefore, when you enter some matches, you are at extreme dissadvantage.
My biggest problem with Halo multiplay is there is very little intelligence in it. Each player starts with a machine gun which when emptied into an opponent will both drop their shield and kill them by the time it needs reloading. Therefore, as soon as you start the match, all you need do is rush up to an opponent spraying them and they will die. Since you rely on your shield recharging, you are at the mercy of the next player's spray-and-pray ability for those precious few moments you anxiously await your shield to reach 100%. Until that time however, anyone no matter how skilled or how young they are can hit you just once and kill you. Even a 2 year old who accidentaly steps on a controller. Its ridiculous.
Melee attacks are the ideal followup to an emptied clip - most of the time you will be killed by someone who empties half their clip into you and then slams their rifle butt in your face by simply running up to you and hitting the B button. And if it isn't the annoying melee attacks that frustatrate you, it is sure to be the excessive grenade tossing.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Many reviewers have claimed that HALO 3’s artificial intelligence is tremendously better than Halo, and that the enemies seem to work together to take you down. They have also pointed out that the artificial intelligence governing your friendly non-playable characters is tremendously bad especially when it comes to driving or flying vehicles.
They are right on the latter count.
I believe the best artificial intelligence I’ve seen thus far in gaming was that used for the marines in Half Life. In that game, the marines went for cover when you charged them, or charged you when you sought cover. They were grenade happy and would use grenades to flush you out, but, what interested me most of all was that they were likely to retreat when you gained higher ground or when you killed a buddy near them. In short they seemed very lifelike and determined despite being hopelessly outmatched by a single player armed with the adapting benefits of true intelligence.
In the first Halo, I believe the enemies were at their best on Legendary mode. The Elites could survive nearly any attack with the exception of the needler which the player was forced to use as a last ditch weapon. Elites armed with plasma swords were nearly invincible unless they were targeted at a respectable distance.
The Flood in the first Halo were also tremendously powerful on Legendary mode. Besides their overwhelming numbers, they caused tremendous damage with whipping melee attacks. The carrier form would take half of your power away if it exploded nearby and to make matters worse – it always seemed to do just that.
In Halo 3, even on legendary mode, the enemies rely on numbers rather than virtual wit and increased weapon damage to kill. The brutes and the grunts are the primary enemies you will kill in scores. Hitting them with an a 3-burst assault rifle always takes them down quickly with a few headshots and even though they are quick to jump away from grenades you toss at them, they tend to clump together and can be blown up with a well planned grenade toss which lands in their vicinity if they are surrounded by natural barriers.
The intelligence reviewers are raving about is simply a consequence of them being grenade-happy, having extreme accuracy, and charging you when you aren’t firing at them. They are quick to throw a grenade and many times they will throw a bubble shield seemingly randomly. Sometimes they will use a shield but simply step from behind it right into your sights. The enemies never seem to actually work together in the sense that they don’t offer cover fire to each other while they attempt to outflank you.
I've noticed the enemies seem able to avoid you're targeting reticle through computer aid. If you aim at an enemies head on the harder difficulty mode, they seem to instinctively step aside or seek the nearest cover.
The enemy A.I. has a very narrow instruction set. If the enemy hops into a vehicle, they will attempt to shoot you if you are further away than 10 meters, or will try to ram you if you are closer.
That is not what I consider "intelligence".
If the game was truly intelligent, it would take far fewer enemies to kill you - perhaps just 2.
The Flood, on the 9th level (Cortana) are the game’s only true challenge. The reason is because they outnumber you, rush you and overwhelm you in a tight space which has been so littered with alien biomass that you cannot accurately decide which is the best way to retreat until it is too late. You heavily rely on your shield to recharge so you may avoid death but if you are attacked non-stop, your shield will stay down and you’ll be killed by the random explosions from carrier flood, or from thrown grenades or melee attacks that you never saw coming.
I am left wondering – if the Flood are controlled by a central intelligence, why does it not simply have all the available units stand still and simply snipe you simultaneously as you come out of cover? Does the Gravemind controlling them not realize that rushing is not an effective method of attack after you slaughter hundreds of them?
FINISHING THE FIGHT ?
It may be a spoiler to those who have not beaten the game yet, but, Halo3 ends with another cliffhanger despite the fact many people claim it is the end of the trilogy.
Perhaps Bungie doesn’t know this – having “borrowed” so many elements from other sci-fi creations, but, ending a story usually means one of two things:
#1 the hero is successful and he defeats the antagonist thoroughly – possibly dying in the end or… #2 The hero fails and the antagonist forces win defeating the protagonists thoroughly – likely killing the hero.
A completed story devoid of a cliffhanger ending does not however include an unknown future for the main protagonist – which Halo 3 does…
He must die or succeed thoroughly. All questions must be answered – all blanks must be filled.
Bungie leaves Halo 3’s ending open for speculation and a possible sequel which simply feels wrong and inconclusive.
Jesus, for example, returns from the grave and ascends into Heaven according to the Bible. We are not left wondering whether or not he chooses to go Heaven or go to Hell to battle Satan on his own ground. Why then can’t Bungie, purported “master storytellers” give Halo fans an ending that is actually an end?
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