Product Description

The epic saga continues with Halo 3, the hugely anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax. Halo 3 represents the third chapter in the Halo trilogyan international award-winning action series that grew into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 14.5 million units worldwide, logging more than 650 million hours of multiplayer action on Xbox Live, and spawning action figures, books, a graphic novel, apparel, an upcoming film adaptation, and more

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2007-09-25
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Original language: English

Amazon.co.uk Preview
The Halo games were always the best reason to by an Xbox and now the final part in the initial trilogy of ground breaking first person shooters is set to raise the bar for all Xbox 360 games. Well known for their secrecy, Bungie have officially revealed little about Halo 3, but what is known is that the new game features an Earth completely overtaken and controlled by the Covenant, as they seek a secret hidden Forerunner weapon.

Although little is known about the single player mode, more has been seen of the multiplayer, with various beta testing schemes going on in both secret and in public. A number of new weapons and vehicles have already been revealed including a new assault rifle, the new Spartan laser anti-vehicle weapon and a new hand held shield device for Master Chief that can create a far more effective protective shield around you. New vehicles include the ATV-like Mongoose, a new variant of the Warthog and the new, more powerful, Brute Ghost.

Of course the most important new feature that every new fan is interested in is the graphics, and they are looking predictably fantastic. With lots of technobabble, new features like high dynamic range lightning and pre-computed radiance transfer means the game will not only play great but looks amazing too.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
The Mission: The Covenant controls Earth. The Flood is unleashed and on the loose. With the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, Master Chief is the only one who can save the human race. The entire epic story arc has led up to this moment. Master Chief, the last of his kind, is a warrior born for combat and bred for war â€" and is humanity’s only hope.

After stowing away on a Forerunner spacecraft, Master Chief, a genetically altered, cybernetically enhanced Spartan supersoldier, must race back to Earth to stop the Covenant once and for all and save mankind. With his artificial intelligence companion Cortana in the grip of the Flood’s intelligent embodiment, Gravemind, Master Chief and his allies are vastly outnumbered, but the stakes are too high to do anything but face them head-on.

In Halo 3, the third installment of the legendary epic, the war has come to a climax; the Flood continues to grow in numbers and strength, the armies of Earth are scattered and decimated, and the Covenant threatens to activate the Halo, effectively destroying all life in the galaxy. Master Chief’s mission is to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat and, ultimately, save mankind.

Customer Reviews

Disappointing
I'm going to make this brief, because I have a feeling I will be re-treading the same ground and bringing up the same issues that many reviewers before me have already highlighted.

The original Halo was 'Combat Evolved' but this feels more like an inbred throwback. As far as I am concerned, Halo 3 isn't just a bad Halo game, it is a bad game full stop.

Where do we start? It's too short. Much too short. The plot really suffers for this as well; in fact the plot has been steadily unravelling since the original Halo. The ending is marginally better than Halo 2, but that isn't exactly high praise. The levels are far too linear, with none of the wide expanses of the first Halo, or the urban environments of Halo 2. And for a lot of the game, the Arbiter tags along. No real reason is given as to why he accompanies you; perhaps he is bored. This is a shame, as the switch from the Master Chief to the Arbiter was one of the highlights of Halo 2.

There's too much reliance on vehicles; you spend a good quarter of the game driving about with infinite ammo. The set pieces are contrived once you know they are coming. The audio on the voices, particularly the Elites, is dreadful - you can barely hear what is being said and as a result, you are missing out on huge chunks of the flimsy plot. The weapons sound like pea-shooters.

The enemy A.I has been dumbed down since the first game, and the ally A.I is unacceptable. Really unacceptable. I used to just wait until they had massacred themselves through blind stupidity and take their guns to replenish my ammo. That was their sole use to me. Enemies no longer react to being shot; they no longer grab body parts that have been hit and stumble back. They just charge at you as if the bullets are made of paper mache.

I'm not being brief at all, am I..?

The flashback sequences are deeply irritating. There is a ridiculous boss battle towards the end that has clearly been crowbarred in. It is as if Bungie were going down a checklist of character loose ends and suddenly thought "Damn! We forgot about him!" So you have a boss battle, in which you are tossed the most powerful weapon in the game and it is over in seconds.

And then there is the infamous level called 'Cortana'. Now, I like a challenge as much as the next gamer. I used to love being flanked by hordes of intelligent Elites in the first game. I accepted death with a wry smile knowing that occasionally I had been overpowered or outwitted by a computer game engine. The level where you have to rescue Cortana was not fun. It was deeply frustrating, to the point where I almost didn't bother completing it. I almost got rid of it before I had finished it. That bad.

To be honest, the only thing that got me through the game was a desire to see the trilogy out until the end. I mean, Halo 3 is very pretty. The music is stirring and perfectly matched to the settings. And, despite Bungie's best attempts, there are still moments where the Halo magic peeps through, like sunlight viewed through a dirty window pane.

It just feels rushed. Bungie had all the time and money in the world, but on the evidence of the end product, it feels as though they made it in a fortnight for shillings and sixpence. It almost seems like a game that Bungie didn't want to make. Perhaps, under pressure from Microsoft, they were frogmarched into the office and forced at gunpoint to produce it. It is the only explanation for such a nosedive in form.

So, to sum up, Halo 3 is bad. It isn't so bad as to be unplayable. It just doesn't hold up against its' previous installmments. I've bought it, completed it, and now I'm going to sell it. And I'm going to carry on playing the first Halo, and remember when the series was the definitive FPS.

You need Xbox Live to really get your money's worth.
When you buy Halo 3 I seriously recommend having a subscription to Xbox Live set up or in the process of being set up. I promise you that you will become bored of story mode very quickly after fanatically completing it on Normal, Heroic, Legendary and Metagame for the gamerscore (if you are a gamerscore whore such as myself). Halo 3 story mode is no different from any other Halo. It is just as mediocre as Halo 2's campaign in my opinion.

The addition of cool new features like Forge and Theatre mode offer players huge oppertunities to play the game they want and that's no just me kissing up to Bungie. You could spend hours altering maps, adding your own touch to the pre-programmed maps as well as the downloadable content or taking cool screenshots and video clips from both story and online gameplay, allowing you to look back at past games and (if you are very enthusiastic about your style) analyse your games and where you keep making mistakes. Halo 3 is also provided with excellent online backup from Bungie.net allowing players to view their character on the site as well as their online stats such as percentages of weapon usage, medal chests displaying the number of medals earned online and Heatmaps showing players where their kills are made and where they die the most in games online.

Online gaming is what really makes Halo 3 one of the best games ever though. Although there are plenty of other games with online capablities Halo has a certain feel about it that just sets it apart from other games in the genre. Maybe it is the huge variety of playlists (new ones added for weekend events), the chance to play Social matches in which players are allowed to have upto 3 guests all playing through one Xbox online or the huge appeal to many to earn the rank of General in Ranked playlists I do not know but one thing I do know is that without Xbox Live I would have gotten rid of Halo 3 months ago.

failo 3!
in my opinion this game is missing something and i just cant get engrossed. although i havent played halo 2 and halo 1 i imagined i would be writing a 5 star review right now.before i got an xbox 360 my mates were creating so much hype around this game and i personaly just cant see why. i have completed 6 levels but since i have purchased some other games halo has taken a back seat. but dont get me wrong this game is definatly worth purchasing and still has some major appeal and, after all it is the game you associate with the mighty xbox 360... Tom