Halo 3
Bungie Studios, Xbox 360
Rating: M
Halo 3 is the fastest pre-selling game in history. On the first day of its release, more than 50,000 copies were sold in Australia, consumers spending more than six million dollars.
Hours later, in the United States, Microsoft declared Halo 3 "the biggest entertainment launch in US history", making $A195 million in its first 24 hours. It beat records set by Spider-Man 3, and sold more copies than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
But what happened next? How good was the game when all those people got it home?
My local electronics store seemed determined to impede my progress. I'm sure those of you living in rural areas like me can appreciate what I say when I say that local business owners don't appreciate pop culture.
Around lunchtime on release day, I finally got my copy. I was playing it a few minutes later - after all, I bought an Xbox 360 (this game is exclusively for the 360) just for this game.
The campaign
After Halo 2's storyline was widely criticised as bland and uneventful, especially after the vibrant and well-written events of the original Halo, I really would have expected Bungie to put in more effort with Halo 3.
While I won't go into details here and spoil it all for those of you who haven't played, it took me about eight hours to clock the campaign on normal difficulty, after which I had really only really just tasted it.
A major flaw in the original Halo, and to a much lesser degree, Halo 2, has been ironed out completely in Halo 3. At no stage will you be plagued by repetitive rooms - every step brings a new and beautifully illustrated experience.
The ambient sound and sound effects are completely immersive. The dialogue is (in true Halo style) absolutely brilliant and incredibly entertaining. The graphics, while not on par with some newer games, are beautiful, and any flaw in them is compensated for by the sheer scale. This is game that realises the true value of size.
So really, the only problem with the campaign is the story. It sometimes feels like it doesn't have much to do with what you're doing. Most of all, it isn't LONG enough!
Some people, like me, don't really have the obsession with playing games online that others do. I like stories! I love movies, I love books, and I want games to be more like them!
Fans of the original Halo will love the final mission of Halo 3, but when you play it keep watching until after the credits. If you forget to and skip the credits, you will miss a very important part of the story.
That's all the bad stuff out of the way, believe me.
Multiplayer mode
Even with me not being such a huge online player, I can't deny that the multiplayer in Halo 3 is perfect.
The new guns and equipment add a feeling of completion to the work in progress that was Halo and Halo 2 multiplayer. Saved film (an automatically recorded version of the games you play) is one of the best things ever invented. Now you can effectively look over your opponent's shoulder after he beats you to find out exactly how he did it.
A new feature, which will definitely find its niche, is Forge, which allows you to customise multiplayer maps. You walk around, and then press a button to go into edit mode. In edit mode you can pull objects around, drop exploding canisters on people and just have a good time in general. Not exactly fair gameplay, but awesome to mess around in.
If you're into shooters, grab yourself a copy of Halo 3. If not, buy it anyway, because it's definitely the best shooter ever made, and after playing it, you'll probably be a convert. Seriously, it's the best game of all time.
My rating: 4.75 stars.
