Review: Halo 3 (2007 - Xbox 360)

Operating System: Xbox 360
Price: ~ £30 
Website: http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/games/overview/halo3


Halo 3 is the final game in the Halo trilogy, produced by Bungie and licensed by Microsoft. The game is set in the year 2552, the player being a genetiacally modified supersoldier John 117, more commonly known as the Master Chief, a product of the SPARTAN-II project, developed by humans. The scene is set in the midst of a war between humans and the covenant - an alien race that set out to destroy humanity. The Halo 3 storyline starts directly after the final scene in Halo 2, in which the Master Cheif is seen on a forerunner vessel headed for earth. At the end of Halo 2, the elites (A high-ranking covenant race) split off from the main covenant group, and join the humans. The brutes take the elites' place in the covenant hierachy, serving as the main tools for the Hierach (Another alien race) prophets. 


The graphics in Halo 3 were built to harness the power of the new Xbox 360 console, that, although a great improvement on those in Halo 1 and 2, is comparitively disappointing compared to those seen now in Halo: Reach, and other games like Call of Duty and Battlefield 3 that harness the power of the new Frostbite 2 engine. The online multiplayer takes a long time to find a match, although the general gameplay is acceptable. 


The player starts the campaign straight from where the player left off in Halo 2, the Master Chief is seen plummeting into a forest, before joining up with Sgt Johnson and destroying a base completely overrun by covenant. The player then fights their way through covenant installations around New Mombasa, before the covenant open a portal to the Ark, and the flood, a parasitic race who aims to infect all sentient beings in the galaxy arrive. The player must then fight this off before travelling to the Ark. The player must then neutralize the threat from the hierachs and the flood. 


Overall the storyline feels somewhat empty, but it does resolve the Halo trilogy fairly conclusively. Overall, although the game is good, it could have been so much better, which may leave some Halo players wanting more. After the campaign, playing online can be a very painstakingly slow experience. The matchmaking system is slow and even playing online with friends can cause issues. 


Storyline: 8/10 
Graphics: 7/10 
Gameplay: 8/10 
Online Multiplayer: 6/10 
Overall: 7/10