Halo 3
Review
We enjoyed reviewing Halo so much, we did it again
by Chris Scott
reviewed on X360
Multiplayer
If somehow you manage to become bored with all of the campaign options, Bungie has included the most robust multiplayer feature set ever included in any first person shooter on any platform, including PC. From simple ranked match-making to social playlists with odd game variants to custom games like the zombie influenced Infection or the nutty Rocket Race to the all new Forge Mode, a real-time playable map editor with Counterstrike like purchasing options. You can spend quite a bit of time with Halo 3’s multiplayer and you may still not have scratched the surface of its considerable depth.
Gameplay
But as great as all the options that Bungie has put into the game are, what about the actual gameplay itself? While it might not be very innovative, Bungie has reconfigured the controls for Halo 3 and overall there is not a better handling FPS that uses the dual analog setup. Firing and reloading your weapons are smartly set up to the trigger and bumper buttons, while jumping, melee and the new deployment of equipment are mapped to your face buttons. Vehicle controls have stayed the same from previous games. The lack of an option to customize your controls is somewhat of a drawback but the setup Bungie has imposed is easy to use and most players will have no problem with it.
Graphics
Graphically Halo 3 looks good. It is not the best looking title on the XBOX 360 but it more than holds its own. For those who were spouting that Halo 3 looked like Halo 2.5 back when the Beta came out, please be advised that the game looks significantly better. Everything from the character models to the vehicles to the environmental textures is much more detailed.
Considering the amount of action Bungie has packed onto the screen and how good it looks it is amazing the framerate never really drops out. There is some slight slowdown in parts but mostly it runs perfectly. Does it look realistic? Well no, but the Halo series has always maintained an almost cartoony like design to its graphics and Halo 3 follows along in this design just making everything look nicer along the way.
Audio
On the audio front, Bungie does an excellent job of stimulating your sonic senses. Martin O’Donnell returns to score his third Halo soundtrack and does so with some rousing orchestral pieces that make you feel as if you are taking part in a full on action movie. O’Donnell does a great job of not overdoing it with the music though and sometimes he lets the ambient sounds or idle character chatter take over and flesh out the scene. A supposed 35,000 lines of character dialogue were recorded; meaning that you could conceivably be playing the game a couple years from now and still hearing new lines of dialogue.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
