Halo 3

Introduction
Halo 3, developed by Bungie, has been the most long awaited game in history. It has certainly lived up to its name, and despite the final scene appearing on you-tube, it still stunned gamers across the world. It picks up where Halo 2 left off, with Master Chief "Heading back to Earth to Finis this Fight", and Cortana in the hands of the Evil Gravemind. The Arbiter is also joining Master Chief as they aim to rid the flood, and defeat Truth.

Graphics
The graphics on Halo 3 really are next gen. The graphics have always been of a high standard but on Halo 3 they really are out of this world, you can pick out the exact shade of Sgt. Johnsons skin, not sure why but you can, the only problem with this is that it changes throughout the game. The scenery is brilliant also and is something completely different to anything ever seen before.

Sound
The sound is another thing that has been improved by Bungie in the latest instalment, all the voices has great clarity, and the Grunts even speak now. If only to say "He was my best friend.

Instructions/Ease of use
If you have ever played the halo series before, you won't have much trouble. But the introduction of the equipment button has caused problems, the torch is now on the d-pad, stupid but Oh well, reload is now on the right bumper, change grenade is on the left bumper, and enter vehicle is also right button. The only invisibility on Halo 3, is if you find an orb, this also brings back the over shield.

Storyline
The story unfolds that the Halo rings are on standby, and the Prophet of Truth is heading to somewhere to set them off. You must find truth and stop him, and then rescue Cortana from the clutches of Gravemind, the flood leader. Master Chief and the Arbiter begin on Earth, but move around a great deal.

Characters
There are 7 main characters. Firstly there is Spartan-117, The Master Chief, he is the last of the Spartans, and He is the main playable character in the game. The Arbiter is the disgraced covenant elite He and the rest of his race have joined the humans. Cortana is the UNSC's most sophisticated AI, and is the Master Chiefs companion; it is his job to rescue her. The Prophet of Truth is the Covenant leader, he is on a mission to light Halo, and destroy all life forms, on the Great journey. The Gravemind is the flood leader, killed before he has now returned and lives on High Charity. Sgt. Johnson and Commander Miranda Keyes, both distinguished UNSC officers, they work well together, and Johnson knows the Chief like no one else. Halo 3 also brings back Guilty Spark 343, who now helps the chief along with the flying things that kill the flood with sentinel beams, if anyone knows what these are pleas tell me.

Covenant Species
These are the lowly grunts who exist as packs, easy to kill, but are a significant military force. Prophets, the leaders of the covenant and only one remains, Truth there were once Mercy and Regret. Jackals, these are the snipers and with their shields they are difficult to kill. Drones, these are flying creatures that are excellent soldiers. Brutes, the Prophets guard, they exist as packs with an alpha member, and are formidable in packs, they can now where armour. Elites, now with the humans, excellent fighters who are lead by the arbiter, and the Quartermaster. Finally, are the Hunters, there physical strength and large amount of armour makes them very difficult to kill.

Weapons
There are many different weapons, May of which has undergone improvement like the battle rifle and the carbine. There are only two new weapons, the Spartan laser, capable of firing 5 shots per charge, and the Brute spiker, which is dual wieldable, and fires 48 spikes per reload. Halo 3 also sees the Assault Rifle and the Sub Machine Gun, as well as all the weapons from Halo 2. There are also two new types of grenade, the spike grenades, which lodge itself in the target, and the incendiary grenade, designed for burning the flood. Another capability in Halo 3 is to rip turrets of their mounts, this includes the machine gun and the plasma cannon, there is also a missile pod, and a flame thrower. There are now also equipments, including and auto turret and a trip mine.

Vehicles
The same vehicles from Halo 2 are in Halo 3, the Warthog, and the Scorpion now fitted with a space for a machine gunner, the Ghost, Banshee and Wraith. But these are now joined by many different vehicles. Firstly, there is the human mongoose, which is a bike that has a crew of 2, but no weaponry. There is also the hornet, this is a plane/helicopter, that can move up and down and side to side, this has a crew of 3, and has 2 guided missile launchers. The shade is a turret and has a crew of 1, and basic plasma cannon. The brute vehicles are also in this. The chopper is a two wheeled vehicle with brute shots on the side. And there is another brute vehicle which also has twin brute shots but can carry up to 4 passengers.

Multiplayer
As usual, this is very important in the Halo series, with many new maps and the new vehicles included this is truly brilliant. In the map sand-trap, there is a vehicle called the elephant which is fitted with turrets, and heavy armour. As usual it can be played by system link, Xbox live, or split screen. Parties can now be developed over Xbox live, which brings a whole new element to the game.

Film Options
You can now watch yourself playing on either the campaign or multiplayer and record clips of yourself and even take screen shots, this is brilliant because if you make a quadruple shot with the Spartan Laser, you can record it and put it on Xbox Live for all to see.

Forge Mode
This means that you can now play god, and change the multiplayer amps to how you see fit. This means that all the vehicles can be put on one map, and complete warfare can be unleashed. This means that you can put in things like barricades and gravity-lifts, making anything possible.
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Improvements from Halo 1 & 2

A.I.
This was one of the things that let Halo 2 down, and it also meant that the Grunts were much easier to kill, in Halo 3; the hierarchy system actually infiltrates the game, and the grunts work together to make them much harder to kill. They are now able to speak, and there are Kamacarsi grunts who run at you with twin plasma grenades, the grunts are also easier to make run away, I spent 5 minutes trying to catch a grunt running round a pillar. This was also helped that the Brutes now work together, and on one of the levels they post lookouts. The Humans also help you much more readily, and take up defensive positions in order to help you to kill the Covenant.

Scenery
This is the greatest improvement, and the scenery is now vast and varied, there are also more covenant camps which you need to invade, this means that you have to split up, and take them from different angles. There are also many new multiplayer maps, which make the game so much more entertaining, they are about 5 times the size compared to Halo 2, but this means that loading times are compromised.

Storyline
In Halo, the storyline was left on a cliff-hanger, and many of the Halo enthusiasts felt that this was a bad ides, personally I liked it, and in the end, it was just a marketing stunt to get everyone to buy Halo 2. In Halo 2, there was no real storyline, and at the end there was no direction apart from Master Chief heading back to earth to finish this fight. In Halo 3, you have definite quests on each level, and always an overall goal, for example in the first level ,you must rescue the prisoners and get to the river for evacuation, won't give any more as it will spoil it for you. There are also a lot more scarabs to kill, you can do this by a variety ofmethods, the best is to get in a tank, blow of the legs, and climb aboard, then you can blow up the power core.

Cut Scenes
These are brilliant and really show of the Xbox 360's graphic processing power, this means that there are more cut scenes at the end and if

you complete it on Legendary, there is an extra ending, but I won't tell you what it is, wait until after the credits. The best cut-scene, look away now if you don't want to know, is when Sgt. Johnson walks past the Elites with the Covenant guns, and then the Arbiter walks past with all the human guns, both sides jeer as they walk through.

Achievements and Scoring
I missed these on Halo 2 when I played it on 360, but the achievements are really well set out, but I wish there were some for killing a 100 Brutes or something like that. I like the fact that you don't get achievements for completing on easy, and I managed to finish it in about 12 hours constant playing on normal and then 17 hours on Heroic, I was so tired afterwards. The campaign scoring is also very good and it means that you have to try and beat your previous scores on the level, you get points for kills, and for a time bonus

Weapons and Vehicles
There are new weapons and Vehicles in Halo 3, and I won't go into them in detail as I have done this above. The new gravity hammer has to be the best weapon, the only drawback being if you use it close to the edge of a building you will probably fall off, you can kill hunters with one well placed shot, and multi-kills are available. The new vehicles are also very good, and the hornet is by far the best vehicle in the game, and it should be used more often for a more devastating effect. The only bad thing about this is that the scorpion machine gun is now controlled by an A.I. gunner, which is very disappointing as this was more devastating than the cannon.
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Things that I would like to have seen in Halo 3:

I would have liked to have been able to use the pelican a bit more, this would have been brilliant to fly, and then you could even have flown the dawn, a very large ship, and I could have caused complete devastation. I would also have like to have used a Covenant Drop-ship of the Elites, this would've been great.

I would have liked to have had more playable characters that were optional, it would've been great to have played Sgt. Johnson, or if Cortana had to try and escape, that would've been amazing.

Can't really think of anything else, but being able to destroy scenery would've been brilliantly, and this is why I'm looking forward to the release of Black site Area-51.
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Price
I purchased the collectors edition for £44.99, this was well worth the extra 5 pounds, and the making of CD was quite interesting to watch, and I also enjoyed the book that came with it. I also think that the deals with an Xbox 360 are very good value, but go for the premium.

Opinion
This has to be the greatest Halo so far, and it is the best game that I have ever played. It makes me want to play it again and again. Unlike on some games, there are levels that I want to do again, and the use of campaign scoring means that I can try to better my own score. The new vehicles have worked brilliantly and what was missing in Halo 2, is now back. Well done to Bungie on such a fantastic game. I can't wait for Halo Wars to come out, and the ending really leaves scope for Halo 4, or whatever they will call it.

My score 10/10, absolutely no doubt about it
Xbox 360 magazine: 10/10 they'd be idiots not to

Thank you for reading this review and if you don't buy Halo 3, you are mad

Rhys

PS, please let me know what I should do to get more exceptional ratings