Halo 3

Tom's most assuredly a Believer

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At the age of 25 I thought I had gotten over the whole "I'm really excited this new game is coming out" syndrome that you can easily suffer from when you are younger, and yet that day has once again come hurtling through my letter box a day early. Yes, thanks to a reputable seller of video games I received Halo 3 fresh from the prints a day early, and boy was I excited. Maybe my levels of anticipation were caused by all the hype or maybe it was because I was hoping for a decent end to a series that was great, but could - dare I even hint it - have been a whole lot better.

As anyone that played through Halo 2 unto the end will know, it ended on a bit of a downer, to call it an open-ending would be an understatement of monstrous proportions. Of course, we knew at the time there would be a third Halo coming out on the Xbox 360, but what we didn't realise was that Bungie would leave us hanging in such a devilish manner. That entire aside aside, Halo 2 was a fantastic game flawed only by some repetitive levels that didn't entice the player to re-play trough the game again. This time however the experience feels a whole lot more accomplished in nearly every aspect. The levels now all seem to flow flawlessly - and really don't get boring - and the graphics complement this at every turn. Also implemented in Halo 3 is a magnificent lighting system that will make your jaw drop, especially when you go into the theatre mode and capture some screenshots (more on that later).

The campaign sees you returning as Master Chief picking up right where he left off in Halo 2. You crash land back on Earth and join up with Sergeant Johnson, some troops and the Arbiter. The Elites have allied with the Humans as they now know of the true destructive force of the Halo rings. But during the game you are not tethered to planet Earth, once again you travel off-world to some amazing looking locales in search of lost friends and to engage the Covenant in a battle to try and stop the activation of the Halos. The enemy's artificial intelligence is pretty top notch, they won't just run straight at you guns blazing but will use tactics and take cover behind walls or throw out a bubble shield to hide under. Play on easy mode however and the enemy become a lot easier to take down and you could finish the game very quickly, which is why the manual states that Heroic mode was how Bungie created the game to be played.

One of the great new features (and one that fans really wanted in Halo 2 but were let down) is the ability to play through the campaign mode over Xbox Live (and locally via split-screen) with up to three of your friends. In this mode one person plays as the Master Chief, one as the Arbiter and the other two players are Elites. Playing on anything less than Heroic mode doesn't offer much of a challenge but when you have all agreed on a difficulty level it really is a fantastic way of going through the game. I personally played through the campaign in single player mode first but one of my friends bought it mainly to play through the game in co-op, which I can only presume would provide a bigger sense of awe as the storyline unfolds in front of all the players at the same time. I have heard tell that all participants really need to have a decent broadband connection to have a stutter free game due to the amount of information which needs to be passed to each person playing. The trick is to get the person with the fastest connection to host the game. I played through two levels with two of my online friends and the whole experience was seamless and very well implemented (also completely lag free), nothing has been changed at all from the single player experience so if you do want the game just for its co-op values then you won't miss anything from the main storyline.

The story is an engaging one, albeit a little hard to follow at times. If you are new to the franchise you may be at a loss as to what is happening and are recommended to read the manual for a brief synopsis of events leading up to the game (or just get a friend to fill you in on the details). Playing through the singleplayer game there really does feel like there was just the right amount of driving and flying missions (including the best warthog level ever, period). One level sees the player traversing a ship that has been overtaken by the Gravemind (the intelligence behind the Flood) and it makes for a very gruesome setting as the walls are covered in living, pulsating biological matter (I won't go into any more detail because I don't want to spoil any surprises or story elements).

Sound in Halo 3 is once again top notch with a great orchestral soundtrack by Marty O'Connell and very well acted voices that all add to the atmosphere. The enemy banter is also commendable as you will hear them shouting out orders to each other and mourning fallen comrades from time to time. All the regular cast from previous games are back en force with the likes of Steve Downes as the Master Chief, Jen Taylor as Cortana, Keith David who plays the Arbiter and David Scully as Sergeant Johnson.

The multiplayer aspect is very similar to that of Halo 2. You can choose to either be a Spartan or an Elite and are given many ways to customise your character to your liking. We see the return of the icons that appear by your name when you join matchmaking. Also included this time is the ability to unlock and change the armour your character wears which is a nice touch and adds a bit of variety to the battlefield. Matchmaking is once again very easy to join and get into games. You are still matched with people of your level and experience (which goes up the more you play and the better you play) so that you won't jump into a game where someone is so good that you hardly move five feet without being killed. There are 11 maps in total, ranging from small enclosed levels to huge open areas like that of Sandtrap. Many of the familiar game types are back with the likes of Team Slayer and Big Team Battle. Some new game modes have been added this time round just to add to the variety and replay ability.

The maps are well balanced and look gorgeous. However there are going to be times when you won't want to go to a certain map so you get the chance to veto the selection forcing the game (if there was enough votes) to choose a new map and game mode. This is a nice feature considering that at times in Halo 2 you would sit through the same map over and over which became rather boring.