QJ Review: Halo 3 (Part 1 of 2)

[This is the first installment of a two-part review. You can read the second part here. – Ed.]

Marines, the Prophet of Truth doesn’t know it yet but he’s about to get kicked right off his throne. You WILL take our city back and drive our enemy into the grave they’ve been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains.

If a line like that coming from Lord Hood himself doesn’t get you primed and ready to take on the gaming spectacle that is Halo 3, we’re not sure what will. Halo 3has been out barely 24 hours ago and it’s living up to the hype as evidenced by empty office cubicles and half-filled classrooms across North America.

Microsoft earmarked Bungie Studios‘ Halo 3 as “the most anticipated entertainment release of all time,” and put together the biggest advertising and merchandising campaign ever seen for a video game. Some may have felt that this was all going a bit overboard with NASCAR, Mountain Dew, and Burger King all getting into the act, but from what we’ve seen and played earlier, it’s not hard to conclude that the title gets Bill Gates and his boys some sweet vindication.

This is the first of a two-part special review that we’ve prepared for you. We’ve gone through the single player campaign and we’ve tinkered a little with some of the multiplayer features. We’re going to give you an overview of what we found using that experience, then go down to the nooks and crannies in the second part.

Click on the Full Article link to read Part 1 of QJ’s Halo 3 review. Prepare yourself.

[This is the first installment of a two-part review. You can read the second part here. – Ed.]

 

Marines, the Prophet of Truth doesn’t know it yet but he’s about to get kicked right off his throne. You WILL take our city back and drive our enemy into the grave they’ve been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains.

If a line like that coming from Lord Hood himself doesn’t get you primed and ready to take on the gaming spectacle that is Halo 3, we’re not sure what will. Halo 3 has been out barely 24 hours ago and it’s living up to the hype as evidenced by empty office cubicles and half-filled classrooms across North America.

Microsoft earmarked Bungie Studios‘ Halo 3 as “the most anticipated entertainment release of all time,” and put together the biggest advertising and merchandising campaign ever seen for a video game. Some may have felt that this was all going a bit overboard with NASCAR, Mountain Dew, and Burger King all getting into the act, but from what we’ve seen and played earlier, it’s not hard to conclude that the title gets Bill Gates and his boys some sweet vindication.

This is the first of a two-part special review that we’ve prepared for you. We’ve gone through the single player campaign and we’ve tinkered a little with some of the multiplayer features. We’re going to give you an overview of what we found using that experience, then go down to the nooks and crannies in the second part. Let’s get started.

Hail to the Chief

Contrary to popular notions, Halo 3 does not pick up right where Halo 2‘s controversial ending left off story-wise. There’s actually a significant amount of plot content that took place in between which is set to be detailed in the limited comic book series Halo Uprising which is coming soon. In any case, Halo 3 begins as the UNSC finds itself back on Earth with Master Chief awakening to be briefed about changes that took place during his unconsciousness. The Arbiter is now on their side and there’s no time to waste as the Prophet of Truth and his Covenant zealots are literally breaking new ground in their search for the fabled Ark.

If none of that makes sense to you, that’s probably because you didn’t play the first two games in the franchise or you weren’t paying attention to the cut scenes. To fully grasp how epic this sci-fi tale is, you’ll really have to brush up on your Halo history. Once that’s out of the way, you’ll realize that the fate of the galaxy is in your hands. We know that many other games have told you that, but this one sure feels like the real deal.

In effect, that disproves the myth that shooting games have little place for storytelling and only rely on mindless brutality to draw their crowd. Halo 3 responds to that in style by filling the show with involving characters, a plot layout that keeps you guessing what could be next and a witty script that hits close to home. What you have at the end of the day is an awesome fulfillment to the promise of a grand conclusion to a trilogy that has dominated the industry for almost a decade.

    

The spine-chiller supreme

A lot of people will argue whether Halo 3 sets the gold standard for Xbox 360 graphics or not, and those on the negative side will have very valid points. There’s no question that there are other titles out there which are at par visually with Halo 3, but when it comes down to it, it’s still one of the very best. Regardless of comparison, Halo 3 still looks awesome.

Everything from the special effects, character modeling, lighting and special effects are spot on. Master Chief and the Arbiter both look sensational with no jaggies, accurate scaling and fluid movements. Enemy units are the cream of next-gen bad guys as they look so realistically ugly in a good way that it hurts to let even one of them survive. Weapon animations are on target as flamethrowers, machine guns and rockets all provide eye-popping graphical wizardry that only big-budget projects can deliver.

You’ll notice that even if there’s a multitude of enemies coming right at you with independent movements and animations happening all at once, there’s not a bit of slowdown detectable. The game looks fantastic at any screen resolution, though the premium is still on the 1080p setting for maximum sweetness on eye candy.

The audio on the other hand is where Halo 3 simply stands head and shoulders above the rest. The musical score is done with such mastery and impeccable timing that you don’t just watch the scenes and hear the music, you actually feel the holistic value of those elements melding with the equally riveting storyline. It’s an experience you’ll find in few, if any other titles, so prepare to be amazed.

Sound effects are crisp, from the speaker-shuddering blasts, the incessant engine noises, in-game character speech and howls of pain from needle rounds finding their way into alien flesh. The only gripe we have is when Covenant forces say “Damn you” in frustration. For some reason that clip is a bit overused and pretty monotonous.

    

No wonder Earth’s losing

In our estimates, an average player will finish Halo 3‘s single player campaign in about 13 to 15 hours give or take experience from the first and second installments in the series. Better players might do it in half the time depending on the way they approach battle situations and mission objectives. Some of you may think that this is a little short for a game-of-the-year shoe-in, but the replay value really makes up for that with all the little things you can tweak and discover to reinvent the experience each and every single time.

Halo franchise veterans will notice that the Easy and Normal setting are a breeze in Halo 3 compared to its predecessors. Go beyond that, however, and you’ll start to feel the huge difference in the level of play required to run through the game. Even more interesting are secret Skulls scattered throughout the nine levels which can be used to juice the AI up even more. You’ll notice enemies getting smarter, moving faster and their hits getting harder as you activate skulls. It’s not all pain, however, as achievements are boosted every time one is activated.

Whereas the enemy AI shines, the same could not be said of friendly units. UNSC soldiers are practically zombies who react poorly to situations and do very minimal damage at the times that they do decide to help you out. At times it gets even more frustrating when you’re taking hits and you see them staring at absolute nothingness like they’re on sci-fi crack. Don’t even think about letting them drive vehicles while you shoot because you’re better off just putting the controller down and waiting for your death. Seriously, just take the wheel, swallow hard and drive.

The Arbiter is a little more reliable as he subtly shows that he actually cares about you finishing the game in one piece. When it all boils down though, you really should just take matters into your own hands because it’ll take forever to get past a horde if you plan to save on ammo by letting him do the work. With friends like the UNSC and the Arbiter, it’s not shocking why the Earth’s been overrun by the uglies.

    

Meet my little friends…. And the big ones, too!

Fortunately, Halo 3 has an insane armory of new toys and old favorites to make your plight against the Covenant fun and manageable. Old friends like the reliable Battle Rifle are back and some old ones like the once-useless needle gun have been improved. One-handed guns can be dual-wielded so you can shred past enemy forces with light armaments, making your movements light and precise.

New toys, however, have stolen the show. Brute weapons are particularly bad-ass. The Spiker is light, accurate, fires extremely fast and does frenetic damage. The mauler is another Brute toy reminiscent of contemporary shotguns. It’s handled with one arm and soaks up the hurt when fired at close range. Melee weapons are a joy to swing as well, with swords now having a clash effect for that classic swordplay feeling.

Those of you who already own a copy of Halo 3 will understand when we say that the new QJ staff favorite is the Gravity Hammer. This bad boy is a humongous, blunt whacker which you can pound to the ground for splash damage. Aim it on a single enemy and it’s like Mark McGwire with a bad pitcher in front of him. You’ll literally send fools flying with the hammer, taking almost anything out with one swipe.

A lot of you probably don’t use machine gun or missile turrets in other games because you’ll have to stay in place and be a sitting duck. That’s not a problem anymore in Halo 3 as you can uproot these babies and fire them like there’s no tomorrow. Be warned, though, that you’ll have to switch to third person view and move a tad slower when carrying these.

Finally, Bungie breaks new territory with the addition of deployable equipment that can be thrown strategically to aid you in combat. Bubble shields which Covenant troops often used in past games are now in your repertoire. Shield regenerators and energy drainers round up the list of items which a lot of us believe will be useful when fighting other players online.

Of course this wouldn’t be Halo 3 without the customary vehicles and Halo 3 trumps its predecessors again in that regard. UNSC and Brute rides are all here and you’re free to romp and run amok. The all-purpose Warthog is also here and using it with friends is a blast. There’s also the Banshee counterpart for the UNSC called the Hornet, and there’s this blogger’s personal favorite, the Brute Chopper which has blades up front to create a nice arterial spray when you run the Covenant dudes over.

    

That’s not all, folks

That’s about it for the single-player aspect of Halo 3 in a nutshell, though we’re not sure if the word “nutshell” even applies for this post. That only gives you an idea of how huge the scope of Halo 3 is, and we haven’t even touched the deep, deep multiplayer aspect of the game yet.

There are very few times you’ll catch this blogger saying this, but let’s go out on a limb here: Even if Halo 3 didn’t come with a multiplayer mode, it would still have been a must-buy. For US$ 59.99 a pop, this is one of the most immersive gaming experiences you’ll ever get. It provides more excitement than most movies with bigger budgets, gives you more fun than most FPS titles we’ve seen, and when it comes down to replayability, there are very few in the same page, let alone in the same book. It’s aggressive, polished, in-your-face gaming content at its finest, and it’s an instant legend for sure.

Watch out for the second part of our Halo 3 special review. We’ll discuss in detail the local and online multiplayer modes as well as the Forge, file sharing, and replay features. Until then, keep right on firing away with the comments.