Halo 3

You find an energy sword convientely propped up against a wall, you pick it up and advance. You then come to a clearing, all is quiet until you are ambushed by the Covenant forces. This may be Halo, but it’s no angel.

The 3rd instalment of Bungie’s Halo trilogy has finally landed, and pretty impressive it is! Futuristic shooter, Halo jumps back on the scene. This time round however, the Xbox 360’s the game’s one and only platform instead of the original Xbox. It is definitely one of the most hyped games in gaming history, but does it live up to the hype?

Halo 3 is set in the year 2552 and follows on from the previous two instalments. You once again, play as ‘Master Chief’ a.k.a. Spartan-117 intent on stopping ‘The Flood’ before it destroys everything in the galaxy. The Flood is a parasite that transforms victims into ‘puppets’ under it’s reign and will stop at nothing until every breathing thing is on its side. The Covenant on the other hand, is an alien civilisation that believes humanity stands in the way of their religion. However, the Flood and the Covenant are not Master Chief’s only problem. He has to save the galaxy from the slowly ticking time bomb known as the ‘Halo network’ in a race against his two enemies. Assisted by the Arbiter and Cortana, it really is time to ‘finish the fight!’

The controls system of Halo 3 is identical to its previous instalments, apart from one small change. The X button activates any equipment you may have picked up (I will explain more on this later).
Achievements in the game are mostly based around the campaign which features some ‘meta-games’ in which you have to get above a certain score. Online achievements are also included, mostly available in the ‘Lone Wolves’ game type.

Campaign in Halo 3 can be played in 4 difficulty modes- Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary. With a total of 10 missions, this will keep you amused for quite a while.  The ability to bring in up to 4 friends for some Co-op play online or off also makes this a lot easier. Another new feature to the Halo game are “Skulls” which you can collect for different achievements and to unlock different Campaign effects. “Terminals” can also be activated in Campaign which unlocks an achievement when all are uncovered. All these things will give you a more enjoyable experience on campaign mode if you’re doing it for either the achievements or just for fun.
Covenant species are what you will usually be pitted up against. There are 7 different types of covenant species. There are also different species of ‘The Flood’.

Weapons play a massive part in any shooter; this is no different with Halo 3. Two different classes of weapons are available- UNSC and Covenant. Covenant weapons are more alien-like and UNSC are forms of weapons you would expect in modern day. Some of these weapons can be duel-wield, increasing the damage inflicted on your opponent. Grenades also play a huge part in Halo, there are 3 different types of grenade. These are Frag Grenades, Plasma Grenades and Spike Grenades. All grenades have different uses and are suited for certain situations. Support Weapons are placed around maps also; these include Plasma Cannons, Machine Guns and Missile Pods. These are essential in taking down enemies quickly.

Now, equipment is something I mentioned earlier. These range in effect towards the player and/or environment. There are many types of equipment and each will have a different effect when activated. Good use of these can change a game completely and sometimes lead to spectacular killing streaks.

Vehicles have always played a big part in Halo but there are a few additions to the party. Yet again, the two types of vehicles are UNSC and Covenant. UNSC vehicles are more modern whereas Covenant vehicles are more alien-like. Vehicles range from 1-seaters to 4-seaters and are usually suited to certain situations or maps.

Onto Online Play, featured in all previous Halo instalments and contributes a lot to the game. There are a total of 11 maps available in all multiplayer modes, some best suited to particular game types.
Matchmaking has always been a main component on Halo’s multiplayer, where you are pitted up against players of your own skill level in various different game types. There are 2 playlists available; Ranked and Social.
The Ranked playlist is where you compete for a higher rank against matched players in competitive games. Game types available in this include:

• Lone Wolves: You’re a one man team in this game type, taking on various other players in a Slayer match.
• Team Doubles: A 2v2 game type, communication and teamwork are essential.
• Team Objective: Featuring 4v4 objective type games like Multi-Flag.
• Team Control: 4v4 area-control games like Territories.
• And many more…

The Social playlist on the other hand is un-ranked and not as competitive. Matches in this do not affect your Halo Rank in any way and also allow players the opportunity to take up to 4 guests online. Game types available in this include:

• Rumble Pit: A non-ranked version of Lone Wolves.
• Big Team Battle: 2 teams of 6 players go head to head in slayer and objective games.
• Multi Team: Teams of 2 take on a number of other teams.
• Rocket Race: Team of 2 take on other teams in a race to checkpoints in mongooses, with a driver and ‘shooter’ on the back. Rocket launchers are the main weapon in this game making it fast-paced.
• And many more…

Another critical part of the Halo series is Custom Games,where players host their own matches. Picking their favourite game types and inviting others for some friendly un-ranked private games. An additional game type is available in Custom Games however; Infection is when one player begins as a Zombie while the others fight for survival. Custom Games is the place where you can make your own rules:

• What’s the starting weapon?
• What’s the strength of the players’ shields?
• How fast can players move?
• And much more…

Forge, a new addition to the Halo franchise and a wise addition at that! Forge is an excellent mode available to players, allowing them to add, delete or move objects on any pre-made map available in multiplayer. There are endless things to add or change in any of the maps; these can include weapons, spawn points, vehicles, equipment, scenery and teleporters. Players are placed in the map of their choice and can then begin their recreation process by entering ‘’Forge mode’’. Even the smallest changes on a map can have a dramatic effect on how everyone interacts with what’s at their disposal.

Another new addition to the Halo franchise is the Theater and is yet another wise move by Bungie! In the Theater players can view videos of their previous games on Campaign or Multiplayer and edit them in various ways. Players can pause the video and take a screenshot or record a video clip of a certain part of the video, changing the camera angles as they please. A first class feature which enables clans to compose match reports with pictures and let’s players prove what they have and haven’t done in Halo 3.

Last but not least, the File Share. This amazingly neat little addition to Halo 3 enables players to share their videos, screenshots, map variants and rule variants with anyone in the world! Like the look of your friend’s map? Well, download it and play it! Downloads are always extremely quick and can continue in the background while you engage in some more Multiplayer or Campaign. Also, if you’re not happy with the space of your File Share you can join Bungie Pro for increased File Share Slots. Another great thing about the File Share is viewing ‘Bungie Favourites’, which is the very best map variants, rule variants, films and screenshots provided by the Halo 3 Community. This will keep you occupied for ages, trying to get the funniest or coolest screenshot to show off to your friends list.

Onto the graphical side of Halo 3, personally I don’t think that many changes were made graphically to Halo 3. Although the detail to characters and vehicles is superb and focuses on practically every inch of them, the terrain isn’t as impressive and could probably have been further polished. Overall in the graphics section, they’re still highly impressive although not much different from Halo 2.

Audibly the game is amazing; the shooting, dying screams from players, explosions and vehicles all add to the battle. Such sounds also help you while playing, this way you know what’s going on around you and you become aware of the dangers lurking closer. The music on the menus on the other hand, is calming and slow-paced; it fits in perfectly with the war mood.


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2 responses to “Halo 3”

  1. Ebay hot items avatar
    Ebay hot items

    Very interesting blog, i have added it to my fovourites, greetings

  2. TM Brock avatar
    TM Brock

    I agree to that. Very good.

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