Bungie is not the studio it was 5 years ago.
If Halo 1 was the New Hope of the series, Halo 3 is comparable to the prequel trilogy. Halo 3 had promise, taking every single thing that made Halo 1 and 2 good, and putting it into a blender, the problem was that the mix was just the same thing as the first two games. There was nothing different about this game, and yes, you can argue that armor mods are totally new concepts, and that the new weapons make it a great game, but in the end, what does it really amount to? Sure, forge mode is ok, multiplayer is still fun, but it feels hollow. There's no love to this franchise anymore, it's just another corporate shell to make money. I'm not quite sure how to explain what was wrong with Halo 3, because it seemed to do everything right. Everything we wanted to be in the game was there, but oddly, it was very hollow and felt like a rehash of the first two, not its' own game. The singleplayer slipped into monotony, as we retread the territory of the first two games, and finally finished the campaign. The multiplayer was clearly the focus here, and this is something I especially hate. Multiplayer should be an afterthought. Making a good singleplayer campaign is the first thing in mind, not multiplayer. Multiplayer is a fun affair while it lasts, but it's the same monotony the other games built upon; BXR, or stick and run. This is a good game, no doubt, but it already exists, is 30 bucks cheaper, and is called Halo 2.
