Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Preview
The Halo games were always the best reason to by an Xbox and now the final part in the initial trilogy of ground breaking first person shooters is set to raise the bar for all Xbox 360 games. Well known for their secrecy, Bungie have officially revealed little about Halo 3, but what is known is that the new game features an Earth completely overtaken and controlled by the Covenant, as they seek a secret hidden Forerunner weapon.

Although little is known about the single player mode, more has been seen of the multiplayer, with various beta testing schemes going on in both secret and in public. A number of new weapons and vehicles have already been revealed including a new assault rifle, the new Spartan laser anti-vehicle weapon and a new hand held shield device for Master Chief that can create a far more effective protective shield around you. New vehicles include the ATV-like Mongoose, a new variant of the Warthog and the new, more powerful, Brute Ghost.

Of course the most important new feature that every new fan is interested in is the graphics, and they are looking predictably fantastic. With lots of technobabble, new features like high dynamic range lightning and pre-computed radiance transfer means the game will not only play great but looks amazing too.
HARRISON DENT

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Product Description
The epic saga continues with Halo 3, the hugely anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax. Halo 3 represents the third chapter in the Halo trilogy?an international award-winning action series that grew into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.5 million units worldwide, logging more than 650 million hours of multiplayer action on Xbox Live, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel, an upcoming film adaptation, and more

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Customer reviews

review by: lamergamer date: 2008-08-03 rating:
More of the same, but still lacking something
Okay, so I've played Halo:CE and Halo 2 to death since launch, and waited in anticipation for Halo 3 after the disappointing cliffhanger at the end of Halo 2. Unfortunately, the game doesn't feel like it was worth the wait.

The graphics in Halo 3 are actually very good, they still look great next to graphical powerhouses such as Gears of War but it's important to remember that fancy graphics can only take you so far. Halo 3 really doesn't feel like anything massively new; sure, there's nice new pieces of kit such as the Bubble Shield and Power Drainer, but these just feel pointless and irrelevant when you view the rest of the game in context. It's like Bungie just slapped more icing on top of the same, bland cake with the dull recipe that you've eaten thousands of times before. The single player campaign is good (albeit linear and, as some have argued, a tad too short although I didn't find it so) but be warned; without giving any spoilers away you'll have a nasty feeling of deja-vu when you reach the final mission and play through that and you may end up joining me in gaining the impression that Bungie have got lazy.

However, Halo 2's excellent little addition, the online multiplayer... well, that's still there in Halo 3 but I can't say it's really improved. Granted there are less people modding, cheating and hacking as well as using glitches, but the whole experience just feels stale, dated and the default maps are just plain awful. It's no wonder that, out of the seven brand new downloadable maps that are now available, about five or six of them are remakes from the older Halo games because those maps were just plain better. Another glaring problem is that there were balance issues from Halo 2... well, Bungie have listened; the weapons are now so balanced that it's nearly impossible to kill anyone with anything at all, no joke. The whole game revolves around fire assault rifle, run in, beat down, rinse and repeat, the fast paced, frantic action from Halo 2 has been replaced with a simple matter of running around until you see an enemy and then cross your fingers. Bungie even released a patch for the melee system so that there is now no way of predicting whatsoever who will actually die first (if at all) and what will happen afterwards, it's a complete cop-out and ruins everything. The overbalanced weapons are mitigated by the ludicrously overpowered UNSC rocket launcher which will kill anything in a ten-billion mile radius in one indirect hit, or the just-plain-annoying Energy Sword - as the other weapons aren't powerful enough, it's near impossible to kill anyone who's carrying said sword because the sword attack allows for an epic, unavoidable lunge forward; the sword kills in one hit, so I think you can see where this is leading. This was a problem in Halo 2 as well but at least the exciting variety in weapons and maps somehow made it less irritating.

Also, the matchmaking and ranking system isn't as solid as Halo 2. Halo 3 will happily churn out the same gametypes over and over and over again, people will use the newly added veto option and the game and map combination will be rejected. However, it'll immediately be replaced with something ten times worse; it would be nice to be given both options at the same time and pick one of them, the option with most votes wins. Failing this, at least a simple preview of what the next selection post-veto will be would be nice. The gametypes on Halo 3 are none too impressive either seeing as half of them involve sniper rifles, it gets very boring and very old very quickly indeed, added to this the Lone Wolves ranked free-for-all playlist is the worst FFA playlist I have ever seen in all my long years of gaming. The ranking system is also not as solid, it is easier to level up but at the same time the new skill system is brutal; it takes you about six or seven won matches in a row to level up, but it can take you back down the same level after losing just one. It's horrible, unfair and uncompetitive and I don't quite know what Bungie were trying to do here besides creating an n-tier system.

In conclusion, this game is a step forward in single player, but the multiplayer may leave you a good bit disappointed, I'm afraid to say.

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review by: mick date: 2008-08-03 rating:
Halo 3 the NOT so good.
Now i have been playig halo since the first one came out so before i continue dont say " your an idiot and dont understand how to play or you dont know anythink". Halo 3 Storymode for instance yes the graphics arnt bad but if you actually go up to the AI and see there face its about as detailed as a ps2 game, not to mention every 15 minutes into a level you get a silly computer woman "cortana" in your face on screen shouting at you. After this happens for the fith time you feel like snapping the disc. The guns well first off the assault rifle in halo 3 sounds like a pea shooter firing pellets, compared to the assault rifle in halo 1 the on in halo 3 is aload of rubbish.The weapons ARE Dull.



Now for the Mulitplayer.

Yes this game has a good multiplayer to last err 1 month or 2 but after that you realise how boring it is. Its not fun. The guns feel more effective when used as clubs whacking senslessly at one another. Running at each other firing the pea shooter then its a matter of who presses B first. And then you will get sick of the BR because if you arnt good with the "BR" then you will pretty much get killed on every one on one you have. Also most people online halo 3 are very aggressive and, ULTIMATLEY its alod of KAK online and to sum it up its a matter of who gets the big gun first and little kids ARGUING and TEAM KILLING over the Energy Sword or Shotgun, Rocket Launcher etc.
I could go on but its just alod of babies wearing tight space suits whacking each other with guns.

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review by: Andy date: 2008-07-24 rating:
Master Chief
I am stuck at work and am counting the minutes untill i get home to play Halo 3. The games is brilliant,graphics top notch,game play is brilliant. Bring on Halo 4 lol

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review by: date: 2008-07-12 rating:
WOW!! what a great game!
This is by far the best game I have ever played on the Xbox 360, The graphics are excellent the gameplay is realistic, Online multiplay is fantastic. I play it every day (for the last 3 months) and im still not bored of it. I would reccomend this game to anybody if you like shoot em up's.
Its simply THE GREATEST GAME EVER and it will not be forgotten!


review by: date: 2008-07-02 rating:
I followed the hype and it was okay...nothing more
After having played HALO 1 and 2, number 3 should have been the armageddon of the trilogy...and sadly, it did not work out the way that many people thought, or at least, I did.

The game itself is okay, nothing more. Graphics are outstanding, nice range of weapons, yet it is basically a linear FPS. What I really dislike is the various times 'back tracking' through levels. I guess that close to 50% of the game consists of playing the 'same level' over again, with new enemies and new goals. Yet, you're going through the same environment. Challenging? Not really, it can be, and not really attractively made from a design point of view. Also, these irritating voice-overs in especially 'Rampant' and 'The Running Man' will become very irritating and at those points, you wish you could press the fast forward button. Bungie has dissapointed me here tremendously.

Transportation controls are sluggish at some point, but funcion well. Nice break from the running and jumping.

Overall, if you like a FPS, it is nice, you come sometimes into situations, where you have to know your weapons and which would work the best on which enemy.

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Accessories

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