Halo 3 (2007)

Phenomenal ending to a series that defined and cultivated my gaming experience as a kid.

I remember playing Halo CE on a crappy HP laptop for years when I was a kid and just hoping and hoping to get to play the rest of the series. Eventually I bought H2V but my laptop was so low-end that I could barely run it at like 15fps. But Halo 3 was the real game that I just dreamt of playing.

Flash forward to the MCC collection releasing on PC (plus me having an actual career and being able to afford a good system) and I finally got to play it a few years ago. Playing it again now I realize how strong of an entry it is in the series. Don't get me wrong, I have a few issues with the first half of the game feeling a little all over the place and the pacing being a bit too accelerated to really put you into the story and the gameplay, but the second half really just ties the entire story and series together, in a way that feels nostalgic, bittersweet, and just fun.

Other qualms I had was that I wish the gameplay was a little more open and free (a common complaint I have with other games in the series since CE), and the story could have been done better, although this moreso comes from Halo 2 being such a highlight in terms of story.

There will never be a series like the Bungie Halo games, which is fine, but I will always love coming back to these every now and again.

What works

• Fantastic pacing
• Challenging without being unfair
• So much bigger scale than CE or 2
• Still mostly looks great
• Ties the story up nicely
• I love the human-elite partnership

What doesn’t

• Equipment doesn’t really add that much on lower difficulties. More useful on Legendary from what I remember though
• Human character models are weirdly janky looking compared to everything else
• Often very hard to pick up the weapon you want, especially in the middle of a firefight

Verdict

I beat this game a ton of times when it was new, including Legendary co-op runs. But it’s been well over ten years since I last played it and, like Halo 2, I’d forgotten a good chunk of it. I had such a blast playing this.

I genuinely can’t think of any major criticisms. It’s all action all the time, and while I like the quiet moments of CE, the scale and breadth of this game makes it consistently entertaining. There’s no cases like Halo 2 where sections feel artificially lengthened—3 regularly switches between on-foot combat and highly varied vehicle sections in a variety of environments and play styles. Swarms of Brutes feel fearsome now rather than annoying bullet sponges, and some of the Flood sections are just insane.

This game also ties the story up which I have a ton of respect for. I intend to play ODST, which I only played once at release but enjoyed, and Reach, which I’ve never played, but I have no real interest in ever playing 4 or 5. I’m still not sure whether Infinite is a reboot or a sequel but I’m happy to leave that be too. Halo for me is CE-3, and replaying them back to back has been terrific.

I just finished replaying the Halo 3 campaign on Heroic Difficulty. This review is only on the campaign, not the multiplayer.

I loved the story, gameplay, and action of Halo 3. I played it originally in around 2010 and it still holds up. You mow down hoards of covenant and flood, feeling like a badass (or get mowed down yourself on the higher difficulties). There are 10 levels and most of them are the perfect length of about 45 min to an hour. I find this to be about the amount of time that I want to play in a single sitting. There are tons of weapons and some of the guns, like the needler and gravity hammer are absolute classics. There are also a few vehicles that you can drive, like a tank or a machine gun-mounted jeep (called a warthog). These vehicles often feel great, but I was tired of them by the end of the desert level (which was also my least favorite level). Honestly, I think that any fan of FPS games would have a lot of fun and should try out Halo 3.

Halo 3 is the magnum opus of the series. It ends the Bungie series of games perfectly and I can't get enough of it.

I was too young to really know how the Halo 3 hype was. Which is a shame because this game was seriously hyped to death. One of the most anticipated games of all time. The marketing for this game was so cool. With the tagline being "Finish The Fight" and especially the "Believe" Ads which essentially was a fake documentary about the events of The Human-Covenant War and The Master Chief. And then the game was released. Not only did it live up in many ways, but it also eclipsed Spider-Man 3 (At the time) for the single biggest US Entertainment Launch Ever with $170 Million in sales. Needless to say, this game was big and expectations were SUPER high. And I'd say it lived up for the most part.

The story is great. We follow The Master Chief and The Arbiter as they fight to save Cortana, stop the Prophet of Truth, and stop The Flood for good... And well.. Finish The Fight. It's unfortunately a pretty short campaign all things considered. But for what it lacks in size, it more than makes up with its satisfying ending. The ending ties everything together and feels complete.

The gameplay is also great once again. The enemy AI is still really fun and we are once again back in large sandboxes. Creativity in how you approach situations is back and it's done well. Not as well as Halo: Combat Evolved, but still great. The Level Design could use some work but it's pretty inoffensive and I love the environmental storytelling. And yes... The music is great.

The multiplayer is arguably better but it's really up to you if Halo 2 is better or not.

Halo 3 is everything you could ask for in a game and I'm happy it delivered on it's tagline of "Finish The Fight"

4/5

Would Recommend

It was just fine. Sue me!

But actually, I think I would have liked it more if I had more emotional involvement with the franchise. I've played Halo CE and Halo 2, and I remember playing all of them (including 3) when I was really young at my friend's house, but the payoff just wasn't here for me. I don't think I'll ever be on board with the Cortana as damsel in distress thing, the end of the game pushed the Flood too much, the ally AI is braindead and it ruins most of the driving sections (I wanna shoot things but they are incapable of driving!).

The gameplay is generally great, I love the feel of the combat I love the lore, I love the Biblical parallels, but the immediate story, the levels and the shortness of the campaign really made this entry feel lesser than those that came before it.

Also, I understand the last mission is a homage to the last mission from Halo CE but it felt like the most buffoonery thing ever to be driving a warthog through a Super Mario style obstacle course of collapsing platforms which appeared out of nowhere. Y'all couldn't have come up with a new idea for the last mission? 😭

(Campaign only, Normal Difficulty, Master Chief Collection on PC Game Pass)

Much like Reach and Halo 1 & 2, this feels a bit like a relic from an older time. Though its slightly more refined this time in all departments. It's a fairly simplistic shooter, with the same cheesy enemies recycled from the previous games (with seemingly a lot less participation from the toughest enemies).

The story is a bit more engaging, but not much. There are no upgraded cutscenes like in MCC Halo 2, so the characters look a little potatoey when they talk.

It's fine. Though without any multiplayer nostalgia from 15-ish years ago, I don't have a lot to prop it up with. And I was a little annoyed when my savegame disappeared after finishing 8 of 11 missions (luckily I was able to use the level select and continue mostly where I left off -- though the game doesn't acknowledge that I beat all 11 missions).

Halo 3 is, in my opinion, the best game of the original series and possibly the series as a whole. The story reaches more epic proportions, the level design is astounding and has some of the best missions of all time (The Ark, Halo, and the final sniper portion of the first mission, come to mind), and the combat feels more modern and thought out than previously. As a kid, Forge and Custom Games probably took at least 1000 hours of my time. I'm sure I've beaten the game 10+ times, with some sections such as the final driving mission being beaten dozens. I know there's probably a sense of nostalgia making me rate this game higher than I should, but you can't ignore that feeling.

4.75/5.00

Full Review: https://watchreadgame.com/halo-3/