Halo 3

Hype nearly destroyed every Halo before it had launched because with great publicity comes great expectations. One could argue that the hype for Halo 3 has been building since the original Halo was released seven years ago. While the attention is overwrought, Halo 3 at least comes by it honestly: Halo and Halo 2 are remarkable first person shooters. They also put the Xbox brand on the map. Not that praise was universal as some felt that Halo 2 was a step backwards in a few respects. Complaints were various: the campaign was too short, the cliff-hanger ending, linear level design, and so on. Halo 3, then, is not only up for intense scrutiny based upon its stellar heritage, but also the niggling shortcomings of the previous versions.

I can definitively say that Halo 3 was well worth finishing the fight. Halo 3, in short, is one hell of a gaming package, practically unrivalled in breadth, innovation, and sheer quality. Mind you, there are still issues with the core gameplay specifically relating to the campaign - this game is not perfect. But whatever issues one might have with the campaign are quelled by the multiplayer portions, and the wealth of exciting new additions that will keep gamers playing for years to come.

Let us just start from the top, from the first moments of play, as a way of easing into and best conveying my impressions of the campaign. After witnessing the opening cinematic and the return of the Master Chief, I was immediately taken aback by just how impressive the visuals in the game really are. This first good impression continued upon the opening moments of gameplay. You find yourself in a lush jungle, rays of light streaming through the canopy, with an abundance of fauna everywhere. As my squad mates and I got moving, the foliage actually moved and swayed with us. I was getting pretty excited already, not the least of which was because I was brandishing the much vaunted assault rifle, a favourite weapon from Halo conspicuously absent in Halo 2. I wanted to pull the trigger, badly. Coming across the first encounter with a Brute and a gang of Grunts, I had my opportunity. I positioned myself, taking careful aim at several Grunts packed together, and let loose...

The assault rifle discharged with…a disappointing whimper.

I was practically heartbroken. The ensuing battle was a bit lacklustre, and my positive impression was quickly wearing off. The beautiful scenery took a turn as well, as it became far too clustered and dark for any kind of situational awareness. Turns out that maybe this setting was not such a great way of easing players back into the gameplay. It was also frustratingly difficult at times. Bungie themselves had recommended that Heroic difficulty be the default for returning Halo fans, making it known that they upped the difficulty of the level from previous games. Did they ever. But my immediate frustration had more to do with clustered level design than anything else.

Less than engrossing scenarios would play themselves out over the next few levels. There were also some ridiculously difficult and frustrating sections; I would find myself dying over and over again in one or two particular spots. It would appear as though the pacing of the difficulty was out of whack as well. Early on, the experience was most certainly a hit-or-miss affair.

It is a good thing, then, that Halo 3 builds up momentum and improves the further in you get. Battle scenarios become more interesting, varied, and epic. In fact, the more epic Halo gets, the better it gets. It could be said that all of the aforementioned complaints lie solely in the micro aspects of battle, the simple one-on-one shooting action not being where it should. But when Halo 3 pulls back from the canopy and opens up the battles, vehicular combat in particular, it provides some absolutely phenomenal thrills. When Halo 3 goes epic, it goes epically epic.

There were more than a handful of occasions when Halo 3 dropped my jaw, and I nearly shook at the task ahead of me (or sometimes standing directly over me). As soon as you see the level open up, you know you are in for something special. After you have had the thrill of your first newly redesigned Scarab arrive onto the scene, you will be thoroughly impressed and ploughing ahead to experience more. And after you have defeated your foes, you can gawk at the ridiculously huge panoramic views that usually feature something that is not just pretty, but relevant to the story arc as well.

Visually, the game appears to be hit-or-miss as well upon first blush. There is the aforementioned great first impression, but there were also a number of times I was simply underwhelmed. Some environments and character detail are rather bland. This is really not Gears of War’s level of detail to be sure, but in Halo 3’s defence, it has a distinctly different art direction. Furthermore, what Halo does well, it does extremely well. Special effects such as weapons fire and explosions are sharp and beautiful. Lighting, at times, is utterly stunning. The game is also extremely adept at creating absolutely massive spaces and objects - that Scarab is just for starters. And so here, again, we see a similarity to the game design: the bigger Halo 3 gets, the better it looks.

By the end of the campaign you will walk away impressed and feel compelled to experience it all over again. In fact, on a subsequent play through, the finer points of what makes Halo so great came to light.

Playing it over again, I did not mind the first few levels as much and actually enjoyed them. This had a lot to do with becoming a smarter and better player, having become acclimated to the difficulty setting. Getting more comfortable with the game also encouraged my more playful nature, taking my time and exploring the environments. If you were inclined to plough through the campaign in a straight line, you will miss a remarkable amount of variety to the levels. Halo is unique amongst first person shooters as it carries a decidedly strong element of sandbox-style play. The level design in Halo 3 is no different, and taking your time to discover the hidden complexity of the levels will reward you with other ways to approach the combat. You never really know what is just above that rock face or where those ladders will lead, and what weapon or vehicle might be waiting for you. Halo 3 really excels at this, which is an improvement over Halo 2’s very linear structure. There may still be some backtracking in Halo 3, but it feels natural and justified.

Weapon and vehicle variety has always been a hallmark of the Halo series and the new additions are zingers. Notwithstanding the fact that quite a few weapons do not pop like they should, there are many powerful and uniquely satisfying weapons. Master Chief now has at his disposal a Spartan Laser and Flamethrower, both of which feel and look fantastic. Returning weapons have seen significant upgrades, such as the Brute Shot and Plasma Cannon which are massively more useful and fun. Notable additions to the combat include the ability to detach gun placements like Plasma Turrets, Missle Pods, and Machine Guns (think chain gun), and carry them while you unleash fury. These are very powerful and the trade-off is slower movement, but you will be compelled to go to them every time because they look great and dish out some serious punishment. I cannot fail to mention the Brute Hammer either, a massive melee weapon that strikes opponents down in giant sonic boom. Yet again, Halo 3 excels when it goes big.

Some great new vehicles are introduced. The Mongoose, an unarmed, two-seater ATV, is easily the best of the bunch. While seemingly unremarkable, this little buggy scoots around levels with fantastic zip; running circles around enemies and making flying jumps is just a blast. There are also a few Covenant additions, like the Brute Chopper and another unnamed vehicle that looks like a disproportioned snowmobile with a manned turret on the front. They look awesome, although I must say the Brute Chopper handles and manoeuvres like a drunken pig.

Now take all of this and throw in some great enemy AI and you have that sandbox of destruction that makes repeated play such a treat. There was much talk prior to Halo 3’s release about Brute Pack behaviour AI and how they would organize themselves according to a command hierarchy. To be honest, I never really saw much advanced coordination besides watching one Brute Chieftain (usually the guy standing in the back with the biggest weapon) direct his subordinates to attack me while he waited for his turn. One thing is for certain though: if Bungie set out to make the Brutes menacing, they succeeded. They are tough, aggressive, and are tactically aware of when to take cover or when to push an assault. The other supporting cast members, such as Grunts and Jackals, are also put to good use providing cannon fodder and sniping respectively.

Halo 3’s campaign, then, stands as a great achievement worthy of its predecessors. It is impossible to imagine how anyone could not find some fun to be had here. And this only touches on some of the aspects of gameplay, without having even mentioned the much vaunted inclusion of “equipment,” the little gadgets that deploy shields, grave lifts, trip mines, and other assorted goodies. You will very much enjoy Halo 3 and the smorgasbord of gameplay it has to offer.

If there is one persistent gripe I have with Halo 3’s campaign, it is most definitely the manner in which they go about wrapping up the narrative. The story does what it should and comes to a very satisfying end with no real cliff-hangers to annoy the faithful. But it does just what it should and not much more.

If there is one aspect of Halo 3 that is virtually without significant criticism, it is its multiplayer component. If you know Halo 2, then you know what you are getting into with Halo 3: online competitive multiplayer spread across several distinct maps with automated matchmaking in either ranked or social playlists. All of the weapons, vehicles, and equipment are useable here, and the gameplay is as tight as ever. The new vehicles, especially the Mongoose, really add another dimension to the fun. There are a number of larger maps, such as Sandtrap, that are geared towards massive vehicle combat. With all that is new, multiplayer, while not radically different, feels fresh. Bungie has also included a more robust ranking system whereby you increase in military rank, all the way from private to general, for just playing rather than pure skill. This is sure to give more casual players an incentive to keep playing.

Bungie has given us the ability to create customizable games. The options you can play around with apply not only to the maps, but to game types as well. There are really too many variables to list here but suffice to say that it you grow bored of the rules and matches the matchmaking service sets up for you, you can host your own game customized to your heart’s desire.

Bungie also included “Forge,” a map editor and game rolled into one. While one cannot edit terrain, Forge allows the player to enter onto any map and fool around with such things as spawn points and vehicles and weapons. In real time, you possess a detached monitor who can bring up any piece of equipment, hardware, vehicle, and weapon, and place it about the map as you see fit. You can actively manipulate any object and lift, carry, and throw it if you like. Afterwards you can save your particular configuration and play it. But Forge goes one step further and turns it into a game. Friends can join and help edit the map or play competitively. With just a press of a button, you can transform from floating monitor to regular player with weapon in hand. Confused? I do not blame you as its true nature is really only revealed through actual use, but here’s an example: a scenario might begin with players battling it out at ground level but then some of those same players might switch to monitors in order to spawn some tanks with which to continue the fight! The whole thing is basically insane. The amount of experimentation and pure unadulterated creativity that ensues is really mind-boggling. It does not appear as though Forge is available in matchmaking at this time, so for now you will have to stick with your friends.

Perhaps the most remarkable addition to Halo 3 is the ability to play back any game session – be it a campaign mission, forge session, multiplayer game – in real time on your Xbox 360. After playing the game, the data is stored on your hard drive and accessible through the menu. By choosing that saved game information, the Xbox 360 takes that data to recreate the gaming session.

If you have just finished playing a match of slayer, jump into the main menu’s Theatre section, choose the game you just played, and watch it unfold again. You can pause the action, detach the camera, and fly about the map freely. You can start up the action again and watch it all unfold from any angle, dynamically moving about the map as you see fit. What’s more, you can take snapshots and record portions of any game from any angle to create little films. After you have done that, you can then send them off to bungie.net for others to view. As a matter of fact, all of the customized maps and game variants you created can also be sent to bungie.net for sharing. I really cannot get over how awesome this feature is as it takes community gaming into the stratosphere. I find myself playing Halo 3 to achieve just one cool performance so that I can review it and save it for posterity!