One of the best shooters for the 360!
Customer Rating: 
One of the best shooters for the 360! Its right up there with Gears of War. Very fun on-line and also co-op with a friend. Adding to Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the epic saga continues with Halo 3, the amazingly 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.Game developer Bungie announced that Halo 3 will be released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 sometime in 2007. The game was revealed to the world at the Microsoft press conference held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA in May 2006. To gamer's delight, the announcement was a complete surprise. The rumours have been abound for the past year, as everyone wondered when the next instalment would be ready. Bungie and Microsoft did a stellar job keeping their lips sealed, and fans benefited from their first glimpse of the hallowed third and final instalment.
The short presentation was delivered in real-time on the Xbox 360 using the current version of the Halo 3 game engine. That's right, no studio production video, Bungie and Microsoft delivered the real deal: what they showed at the announcement is what gamers will see when they play Halo 3 in 2007. The HDR lighting, self-shadowing, GPU-run particle system and many other effects are rumoured to show up in full effect in the final game. Needless to say, the gaming community is salivating.
CJ Cowan, Bungie's director of cinematics discussed one of the most startling moments of the presentation: the return of Cortana. "Given the variety of character and story arcs at the end of Halo 2, we wanted to boil down our announcement to a few key threads. Cortana and the Chief being a galaxy apart is a situation we haven't seen before, and is something that is a powerful component to Halo 3. We are using her transmissions in the demo to give the viewer a few subtle clues to her situation and state of mind, without revealing any specifics we want to save for the game itself."
A Poor Conclusion to the Series
Customer Rating: 
Let me begin by saying that I have bought and played both Halo C.E. and Halo 2 for more than my fair share of hours, and I endeavor to explain Halo 3 to someone who is familiar with the previous games. Like other reviews have stated, the first Halo set a high bar for the series, and it is hard to recapture the feeling the player gets when first experiencing a new world like that of Halo. That said, it doesn't mean that any kind of sequel that follows will automatically suck, but it is harder to impress an audience a second time. In a similar fashion, the original Matrix was an impressive and unique film , but that did not in turn ensure a crappy conclusion to the trilogy--the filmmakers just didn't put the thought or work into the later movies, which is very much what seems to have happened with Halo 3. The multiplayer element in Halo 3 seems to be the emphasis, and while I do enjoy it, I feel the campaign is laughable compared to the previous games, primarily as a result of 1) a bad, empty script, 2) too little planning or thought, and 3) nothing new and interesting, despite some vehicles and weapons as well as a power-up feature that seems unnecessary. Allow me to get in to specifics.
In Halo C.E., every mission in the campaign was set in a completely different environment (save for a few maps that were reused later in the campaign, but those were still altered by either changes of weather or enemies involved--like adding the Flood/Covenant battles in Two Betrayals). It keeps the gameplay fresh in Halo when your missions go from expansive, grassy hills and rivers to canyons at night, to on a Covenant ship, to a snowy Control Room, to a mysterious swamp. Bungie completely loses their momentum in level design by Halo 2, which, aside from Outskirts and a couple of other good maps, has nothing new to offer. On top of all this, they 'stretch' some missions so you end up playing two missions when you thought you just finished one (Outskirts/Metropolis a prime example). Also, the first "mission" isn't even a mission--it's a cutscene introduction! They put it in there to make it look like the campaign was longer--and they've done the exact same thing in Halo 3 with the first cinematic mission: The Arrival.
The story from the first Halo is great, and although sometimes you can get lost in the missions, you have a general idea of what you're working toward or trying to accomplish. Halo 2 had a good story as well, but most of all a great script and great voice acting. The difference between Halo 2 and Halo 3 is I'll actually WATCH the cutscenes from Halo 2, because they're actually worth seeing. Halo 3 seems to put all the characters you know in dull situations and you end up not caring about what happens to anybody. I also don't like that they got a new voice actor for the Prophet of Truth, who sounds nothing like the same character from Halo 2. During the entire campaign in Halo 3, I was never sure what I was actually trying to do, and if I did, I didn't really know why--the story really just seems like a lame cop-out by the developers. The fact that the final boss in Halo 3 is the monitor from the first game is completely predictable, and aside from being a stupid "fight" where you shoot him 4 times with a laser, it doesn't make sense that 343 Guilty Spark (the monitor) sided with Master Chief in the first place--he actually says in Halo 3 that he has one primary function--to "help you, as I always should have done." ...... WHAT?! Are you kidding me? This moment, like most others from the campaign, are completely inconceivable for the characters involved. And why can't you play as the Arbiter anymore? There aren't too many games out there that downgrade their features for the sequels. I also hated that you don't get to kill the Prophet of Truth in Halo 3, whom you have been following since the middle of Halo 2--very disappointing, Bungie.
Now I'd like to talk about the Flood. I know most Halo fans hate or complain about the Flood, but I have always welcomed them as an additional race of aliens to refresh the Halo gameplay. But the differences between the Flood from the first and third Halo is staggering. In Halo 3, brute, elite, and human forms of the Flood all attack and jump in a similar fashion to the previous games. In this game, however, when they approach the Master Chief, you can melee with any gun, and not only do they die, but they usually disintegrate as well.... In Halo 2, the Brute Shot and Energy Sword were the ONLY weapons that could make quick work of Flood via melee, but now, any old kid with a plasma pistol can pimp slap a charging brute, Flood version or not--even on Legendary difficulty. This is a terrible change, as it makes close combat with Flood not only too easy, but encouraged by the overpowered melee. The previous Halo games required a shoot and run strategy, which makes more sense when fighting zombies.... What I loved about the first game was the resilience of the Flood--I dare anyone to try to melee a Flood to death in Halo C.E. -- you'll receive one heck of a rebuttal. Also, you could melee a downed flood 3 times in Halo 1 and it would still get back up to kick you around. Fighting Flood in Halo took strategy, for instance shooting off their limbs, like Dead Space has since streamlined. Now it's not scary fighting Flood anymore because it feels like you're at batting practice with some dusty dolls.
To wrap up, I find Halo C.E. superior, and Halo 2 an acceptable sequel. If you're looking for a stunning and coherent conclusion to a great game series, you will, like me, be sorely disappointed.
a big let down
Customer Rating: is this seriously one of the best selling video games of all time?i thought it looked like a really crappy version of much better space video games.the graphics looked all scuzzy,dirty and scum ridden.the aliens look like they were drawn by a kindergartener.the character development was horriffic
the weopons handle poorly.there are a lot of better video games out there.dont waste your money on this one.the reason it sold so well was because 95% of people always belive the hype.im in the 5 % that thinks for myself.the real deal is this game is average at best.the story was kind of lame too.
if you're looking for a space video game to play any star wars game is better,especialy knights of the old republic 1 and 2.also mass effect 1 and 2 are 1 billion times better.
so leave it alone.dont belive the hype!if it tastes like honey dont swallow it all.if it sounds to good to be true...........this game doesnt even taste like honey it tastes like a 3 decker sour kraut and toadstool sandwhich with arsenic sauce!
