User Review : Halo 3

Ups

• New weaons, vehicles and equipment add some much needed variety{Map design is much better than in Halo 2{Great blend of fps and vehicle based combat during the campaign

Downs

• Multiplayer could have used some more debugging{Story is confusing and discombobulated...and that is putting it nicely

Worth Waiting in Line at Midnight or Overhyped?

In the months leading up to Halo 3 I could not turn on a TV or buy a soda without being reminded of where I should be on September 25, 2007. Now is Halo 3 the end all be all of video games or the most over hyped title in history?

Now given the nature of this website if you are reading this I probably don't need to chronicle the previous adventures of Master Chief because you probably already know them. Halo 3 was promoted to the gaming community as the final journey of Master Chief in the fps format. And it is quite a going out party; I especially enjoyed the new vehicles, weapons and equipment which added some much needed variety to the game play. Let me tell you that there are very few things as rewarding as taking down your first Scarab.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed the game play in the campaign the story itself I could have done without. Now don't get me wrong I was eagerly awaiting the end of Master Chief’s journey but the road getting there was pretty rough. I feel like the campaign was designed by someone suffering from a bad case of ADD. It's almost as if they tried to squeeze about 2 hours of story into about 25 minutes of cut scenes. The result is a story that feels half told and missing key components. At times I found myself wondering if I accidentally skipped a scene and that is why I was confused as to what was going on, but it was not me it was the story itself which is discombobulated to the point where you will find yourself lost through a good section of the game.

Okay lets be honest you very possibly skipped over the first 3 sections and picked up this review right here. Those who have xbox live have a completely different definition of the word Halo than those who do not have xbox live. Although I like the editions of the new weapons and greatly prefer the new maps I must confess that I thought that Halo 2 had better overall multiplayer game play. Halo 3 almost feels unfinished to me when I am in matchmaking. It feels as those it was not given an extra coat of polish to work out the little kinks here and there. Despite my minor complaints it is still a great online game just like its predecessor.

Is Halo 3 worth waiting in line at midnight for? No, of course not, and no game is. Is it over hyped? No, maybe a little overexposed but Halo 3 is a great game and lets be honest there is a reason that Halo 3 received so much hype and that is because of the dominance of Halo 2 on xbox live. I would definitely recommend Halo 3 but be warned that if you are a hardcore Halo 2 fan you might find yourself dusting it off before too long.

Score

9.2

Graphics

Very enjoyable blend of vehicle and fps game play.

8.3

Sound

Not an ugly game but it's not a pretty one either.

9.0

Gameplay

The Halo main menu music is legendary.

9.7

Fun Factor

The campaign, co-op and matchmaking all offer hours of enjoyment and are all designed well for the most part.

8.5

Online

I'll be completely honest I thought that Halo 2 was better in the multiplayer game play.

Overall

9.1

[toughNAME]

There were a couple points I disagreed with in the review, but the ratings breakdown I completely agreed with.

Although I do think this game was overhyped, as 99% of games are.