Lead to Halo on PC: Halo 3 Review

One trilogy finishes as does another, it's time to look at Halo 3, the franchise's jump to the Xbox 360. With a brand new console, does Halo still have what made it work? Well of course it does, but does it still hold up today? Well of course it does as well. But why is this held up so high amongst fans, including myself? Well let's dig into what I consider the apex of the series. Also I played this on Heroic because I can play through Halo 3 with my hands behind my back, Normal would be done in like 5 hours for me.

Set hours (and a shitty graphic novel) after Halo 2, Halo 3 sees the Master Chief wind up back in Africa, but this time on the slopes of Killamanjaro, where he is found by a squad led by returning Sergeant Johnson and the Arbiter. Things aren't looking good however, the UNSC is reduced to a resistance movement hiding in an old NATO base and a few frigates, the Flood are rampant with a super intelligent eldritch leader, Cortana is trapped on High Charity, and the Prophet of Truth has found the Ark which means he can fire all the Halo's at once and end all life. It's up to the Master Chief and Arbiter to stop the Covenant, kill Truth, save Cortana, and end the Flood and it's Gravemind.

What at first stands out about Halo 3 in this Halo-athon is how polished it is compared to Halo 2. Halo 2 is basically held together by hope, string, and prayer while Halo 3 is very solidly built with very few dips in visual quality; I can safely recommend the game in it's original form as a result. Halo 3 is also much more vibrant than 2 in terms of visual design and colors on display. There's never a moment where you go, "seen it," Halo 3 constantly throws new areas at you from the jungles of Kilimanjaro to the snowy tundra of a rebuilt Halo, Halo 3 fires non stop. Also, Marty O' Donnell brings his A game once more as his excellent orchestral score brings an epic feeling to this finale with perhaps his best rendition of the Halo Theme, One Final Effort.

Speaking of finales, I feel Halo 3 is a much less scatterbrained of a finale than Jak 3. Sure there are a lot of things put on the table, but it never feels like characters got the shaft like in, say, Jak 3. Sure, the Arbiter may have a disappointingly lesser role than in Halo 2 but he is still a major player and a companion through the journey as his arc is finished and dealt with which, compared to Keira in Jak 3, is much better. The only problem I have is how Commander Keyes dies, namely that she dies, because it felt like she needed just a bit more time to develop. Like if she was in Halo 1 it would be more effective but it is still tense and emotional how she goes so I don't hate it.

However the important character improvement is in the Master Chief, who is emoting a bit more, just a bit. In Halo 1 and 2 things sorta happened to the Chief and he was led around a lot. But now we see him taking a more active role as a result of losing Cortana. It actually is a bit of character development with the Chief to see him take the more active role of the hero, specifically at the mid way point where the fate of the UNSC rides on his choices. The only thing i wish is that there was a bit more development between the Chief and Arbiter; but I think it would break the pace of the game at the same time. Halo 3 is oddly enough the one game in the series I think would work in a book adaptation, focusing on Chief and Arbiter.

In terms of the actual game, Halo 3 evolves on what Halo 1 and 2 did and adds some new things to it that change up combat The Elites have been supplanted as foes by the Brutes which means new ways to approach conflicts. Now you have to worry about berseking foes, mini bosses in the form of Chieftans, and jetpackers flying all around. And while there are no new species added like in 2, the Brutes in 3 wear actual armor meaning battles aren't just one pop to the head and done. Other Covenant species see some changes in behavior and weapons as well. Grunts will now pull out grenades and try to suicide charge you. There's just as many Jackal Snipers as 2 but most of them use Covenant Carbines as opposed to Beam Rifles so it's more tolerable.

On top of this the Brutes have their own armory, a plasma rifle equivalent called the Spiker, a revolver called the Mauler, the Brute Shot from 2, and the Gravity Hammer. Alongside some new cars namely the Prowler to replace the Spectre and a more ram happy Ghost with explosive shells called the Chopper. These actually are pretty good additions as the prowler is less stiff than the spectre which it replaces and the chopper is the bane of anyone in a vehicle smaller than a tank. I've even seen some multiplayer magic pulled against the flyers, it's amazing to see a banshee get yeeted out of the sky by a motorcycle.

But the UNSC gets some new and old toys as well. The Assault Rifle returns but entirely changed, now having more power and accuracy than in 1 but with almost halfed ammo to compensate for the power. It manages to be a nice in-between for the SMG and Battle Rifle and it works well for a standard infantry gun, as does the returning Pistol which has less ammo but is more powerful.  The UNSC also gets the Spartan Laser, a one hit weapon that kills everything it touches but needs to charge up. Also new vehicles come in, the Hornet which is a VTOL response to the Banshee and mixed with a warthog, and the mongoose which has no weapons but is small and fast with passenger capability both of which add a lot of variety to Halo's sandbox.

Another addition is equipment, a new third pillar of combat, equipment takes up it's own slot and allows you to drop certain items. Some like however are useless though unless it's used on you and equipment makes me feel torn. On the other hand it doesn't change too much, but on the other hand it could have been removed and not much would be lost, only three are really useful. equipment is probably the only dark spot on Halo 3 I would give if I were to be honest. Some other things are messed with too, two new grande types are added while total grenades per type are cut down to two. Also turrets can now be ripped of their hinges and used on the move but will make you slower, minor change but it is a bit fun.

But what has seen massive improvement is level design, we're back to wide open combat arenas with lots of options for combat like in 1. Sure, some levels are closed in and narrow, but they feel more like the exceptions than the rules in Halo 3, which I don't mind. Hell in some levels like the Covenant and the Storm, the two are mixed together again, it's a great design choice to see return. A lot more set pieces happen to, with bosses being a thing, yeah they were in 2 but it was more like a bullet sponge. Here you have to use your environment to beat the boss and while the actual enemy itself is the same, the environment or toys at your disposal are different so you have to come up with new strategies to beat them.

That sort of is the mentality with Halo 3, there are very little repeating environments unlike in 1 and 2 where it felt like they copied and pasted some areas. As a result no two battles feel the same in 3 unlike in the first games, and things are a lot more intriguing in 3 as a result. Even the worst level, Cortana, can be skipped and hopped past, which is how I did it, there's just a whole lot more options than in 2. There are even collectables that allow you to modify your game with all sorts of rules and create the Legendary All Skulls On Mode, or as I call it, Mythic Mode which turns the games int a hellzone. And these skulls can also unlock things in Multiplayer to encourage exploration and outside the box thinking.

Speaking of multiplayer, this is where 3 dominates over the franchise, sure there's still online death match but now custom games come into their own with things like gravity and speed being changeable. You can now modify maps with the first incarnation of Forge and maps like Foundry and Sandbox really go whole hog with this idea, just giving you a blank canvas and letting you go nuts with building blocks to create new maps which have actually been added into the matchmaking at a later date because of how well designed they can be, some are even accepted in MLG Pro tournaments.

In fact Halo 3's new features essentially allows you to make whole new games like Jenga or Racing games, or bat shit crazy versions of regular modes, like 300% speed and minimal gravity with Rocket Launchers or swords. Forge and Custom Games take Halo 3 from a good shooter to a party game and I love that you can squeeze hundreds of hours out of this game with friends. You can even record the good times with a theater mode and share everything with the new file share system, allowing players to share their maps, modes, videos and photos. This had the side effect to popularizing Machinima and gave rise to the glory days of Halo Machinima that I still remember fondly, people using Halo 3 to make some pretty funny movies or series stand out being Arby'n the Chief, Spriggs, and The Gunstop Way.

Customization doesn't end with the game modes either as you can unlock new armor sets, yes, Halo 3 takes the character creator to a new level with both Spartan's and Elites able to mix and match armor sets to create a unique identity. It even encourages doing more with the game as armor is unlocked through accomplishments, progression, and skulls. This all culminates in Halo 3 being a well spring of creativity over a decade later... oh and it's a great shooter as well. The only problem being that some weapons are screwed up by the netcode of Halo 3 but that's not on the head of the game itself and only matters in a pro environment.

Halo 3 is the Halo franchise on all cylinders, it tells a pretty good story, wraps up the loose ends from Halo 2, fixes a lot of 2's problems, serves as a great multiplayer shooter, and it's a fantastic party game/movie maker thanks to Forge and theater. If I had any complaints about 3 it's how Cortana is almost a non-entity and just kinda stops your progress at random points to break the games flow, and equipment not being all that great. But those are minor nitpicks on an almost perfect game and the franchise at it's peak, but peaks don 't last for long and Microsoft saw spin offs in the future.