Halo 3

Always surprises me when people haven't touched this game before. Really easy to enjoy both for the really casual type, as well as the hyper-competitive. Lovely storyline to immerse yourself into, multiplayer modes (multiple, by the way), that are always a blast with a few friends. A sandbox mode on top of that, if all of that wasn't enough for you.

Very few games in the FPS genre that set the bar this high.

This is my first Halo game I've played, figured it's a good time to discover the franchise in time for the release of Infinite later this year. I'm a big fan of Destiny, so I was looking forward to discovery how Bungie handled their previous franchise. And frankly I was pretty disappointed on how dated the whole thing felt compared to Destiny, the movements are slower and so is the gunplay. Destiny might get a lot of flack, but it has some of the best gunplay and overall fluidity that I've ever played in FPS games. Granted this is a game that is 14 years old and released fairly early during the Xbox 360 lifetime, so even for that gen it's not taking the full capabilities of what games could do then. I'm also not well versed in mid-00s shooters so I couldn't say if this was innovative or not, but as far as a 2021 experience it does feel pretty dated with most modern games improving over the formula here.

Aside from the slower control (no running!) one of the things that annoyed me what the lack of ammo in guns. The game does want you to constantly change guns and you rarely find ammo, which can be awkward as you can only have 2 guns and you have to equip your empty one in order to exchange it for another one on the floor. The amount of times I've been killed while doing this process, it just got very frustrating. I guess I prefer my FPS games where I don't have to constantly change weapons and I can just roll with the gun I'm comfortable with. Doom 2016 and Eternal also kind of has a system like this, but those games are just more fast paced and intense that it makes sense there.

I think one of the best elements of the game is the variety of enemies, it seems that each type has its own personality and style and the missions do give you a good variety of them. The gun selection is also nice, although there seems to be some that underpowered which can cause some frustration when it's the only one you have available. The shooting is somewhat satisfying at times, but like mentioned most modern shooters will do that a little better now. The missions have also a good variety to them with vehicle combat sprinkled here and there, it's nice they keep things moving and it's not always the same thing to do. The level design is generally pretty well done too, but I would prefer perhaps a little bit more directions since I feel like I'm getting lost at what's next to do (maybe newer games made me lazy or dumber?).

Overall I started enjoying Halo 3 about halfway through my playthrough. I came to grips with its flaws, started to understand what works and doesn't and generally had a better time then when I first started. It's a good game but I do admit that my expectations were much higher than what is was, perhaps if I had played it in 2007 like most people I would have a higher opinion of it.

(Played on PC as part of the Master Chief Collection via Game Pass)

The halo 3 campaign is probably a highlight of the franchise.
The whole game has been re polished with a new hud and various changes in the mechanics. The controls are even more solid, and the graphics have been touched up for the next generation 360 console.

The main thing about Halo 3 that makes it stand out is the level design and the locations. Throughout the campaign there is never really a dull moment or copy pasted area. You have some homages to Halo 1 levels, such as the level where you start out with a sniper, there are grassland levels full of enemy vehicles are lush beaches, snow levels with dozens of flood enemies in an epic gauntlet battle, and epic sections where you have to board an enemy ship to blow it up. Areas where you enter the flood hive almost turn into horror moments and it gets pretty cool. The driving sections are awesome too, with many huge scopes and sights to see where you'll be flying off cliffs and ramps and doing awesome stunts all the time. Compared to Halo 2, I think the level design is more memorable with less dull moments.

Halo 3 is also pretty short, shorter than 1 and 2 I think. It is also the easiest game on Legendary, as now when you die you can respawn, sometimes instantly, as long as your friend is still alive.

A big gameplay change in Halo 3 compared to 1 or 2, is that no longer do you fight Elites, instead, they are now your ally. In Co op, the second partner is an Elite. it's pretty cool to hear his input and dialogue all the time, and the story and cutscenes in H3 are probably the most interesting and fun to listen to/watch.
So since you no longer fight Elites, the difficulty is far easier. As on Legendary, the Elites were the biggest threat in previous games, because of their massive shield which required a plasma pistol to take out. But now, In halo 3, you are mostly fighting Brutes (which have no shield) or Flood (which also have no shield) So this makes the combat feel drastically different. Enemies don't feel like bullet sponges anymore, and even on Legendary they go down fast with only a headshot or 2.

Halo 3 being so short could be a flaw, but it might also be why its so solid. The campaign doesn't have a dull moment, and the difficulty on Legendary is just challenging enough to be really fun and engaging, without any of the tedious frustration of Halo 2.

8/10

Two fucking scarabs. C'mon you guys.