Recent
Images
News
Videos
Community
Guides
Halo 3's single player campaign contains nine missions which complete the storyline begun in Halo: Combat Evolved. The game picks up immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of Halo 2, with the Master Chief crashing into a tropical forest on Earth. The Covenant has splintered into two factions: The Prophet of Truth, with his army of Jiralhanae ( Brutes), and Unggoy ( Grunts), Kig-Yar ( Jackals), and even Hunters; against the Arbiter and his race, the Sangheili ( Elites), who have allied themselves with humanity. After recovering from the fall, the Chief first escapes Covenant patrols in the jungle and goes to a nearby base. He then escapes again as the base is attacked by a large Brute force, followed by yet another escape to the town of Voi, destroying all Covenant resistance in his path. After regrouping, the combined Elite and Human force launch an assault on Truth's main base of operations where he is excavating a huge Forerunner structure under the ruins of New Mombasa. After providing a hole in Truth's anti-air defenses, the last remaining human ships began a devastating bombardment of Truth's main ship (a highly advanced Forerunner ship). However, just as the bombardment commences, Truth activates a portal to the Ark; a mysterious Forerunner structure of immense size. After receiving a message from Cortana hidden in a crashed flood ship hinting at a permanent solution to the Flood problem, the Chief and a large Human/Elite force give chase through the portal in a desperate attempt to end the war once and for all.
The gameplay in Halo 3 has undergone some significant changes compared to its predecessors, including simple tweaks to make it more cohesive. You may now carry "equipment," which can range from a gravity lift, allowing the player to lift himself into the air, to a bubble-shield, which will spawn a clear, protective bubble around whoever decides to throw it down, as well as deployable cover, which projects a small blue defense shield, as well as many others. Bungie has assigned these special abilities to the "X" button, which was previously used to reload. Players now use the RB (right bumper) to reload the main weapon and LB for the secondary weapon if they are dual-wielding, although they can decide to use a different, pre-made control scheme.
Halo 3's campaign can be played cooperatively and over System Link and Xbox Live with up to 4 players, although only 2 players may play on a single Xbox 360. In addition, Halo 3 can also be played competitively through a matchmaking service or in custom, user-created games. In matchmaking, players are matched with up to fifteen other players based on their rank and skill level in the individual "playlists", which are categorized into two groups depending on their overall purpose. Ranked playlists are used to match players based on their Trueskill rating. Social playlists allow players to play with others with no ranking system involved for each playlist, although Experience and overall skill still determines player match-ups. Few of the original achievements work in social matches, but the DLC achievements all are unlockable in social playlists. One can also still earn Experience for the playlists, as well as global and playlist-specific Experience points (EXP). Finally, every weekend, Double Experience Weekend begins that focus on a very specific playstyle or gametype, including Grifball and Infection. The playlists are:
Ranked
Battle Rifle Frustration
The Battle Rifle has a 66% random spread. Although gamers have contacted Bungie, asking for a change to the spread, Bungie has responded that they will not be fixing what they do not consider to be broken.
Skulls have various effects on the Halo 3 campaign. Bungie has expanded the original skulls "Easter Egg" from Halo 2. In Halo 3, when you find a skull you can turn it on and off at will, as opposed to having to start a new save to turn it off. There are 4 silver skulls which don't give an achievement but go towards unlocking the Hayabusa armor, and 9 gold skulls which each have their own achievement and go towards unlocking the Hayabusa armor.
Look at the guide section to find out where to find them. Additionally, 6 more skulls will be added with the release of the Mythic Map Pack and the 3 maps to be packed in with Halo 3: ODST, with one skull per map. These skulls do not affect the Campaign, and their only benefit is the Vidmaster achievement for finding all of them (and are therefore required to achieve the coveted Recon armor).
Downloadable Content
Halo 3 has seen four Map Packs released for the game since it's September 2007 launch, which are the Heroic Map Pack (free), Legendary Map Pack (600 MS Points), Cold Storage Map Pack (free), and the first half of the Mythic Map Pack (800 MS Points).
The first half of the Mythic Map Pack, which first shipped with the Limited Edition version of Halo Wars and came to Marketplace April 9th, 2009 consists of:
Mythic Map Pack (Second Half)
First referenced to in the achievements Title Update 2 added to the game, the Mythic Map Pack's latter 3 maps will be bundled in with Halo 3: ODST as maps exclusive to that package. Little to no information is known about these maps other than that, along with Halo 3: ODST, they will be the last additional content added to Halo 3. On Bungie Day '09, Bungie revealed the first screenshots and descriptions of Citadel, Longshore, and Heretic.
For more information, check out the ODST game page.
With the addition of armor to Halo 3's multiplayer fans would be able to customize their online characters to their liking. All armor is acquired in game via achievements, completion of levels, and the capturing skulls, except for Recon armor. Once community members found out they could not unlock Recon armor a full scale epidemic started on the forums. People contently spammed threads asking for "Reconz" when they finally figured out only Bungie could unlock it for them. Bungie finally had to put a stop to all the Recon madness by posting this thread on the pinned topics list, saying this " Any thread about Recon Armor will be met with a stern ban." The full thread can be found here. The topic went on to explain that the only way to acquire Recon armor is to do something that makes a big enough impression on Bungie and/or the Halo Community to "make us think 'Hey, this guy deserves Recon.'" However, this will all come to an end with the release of Halo 3: ODST which will provide a chance at unlocking recon armor by unlocking the Vidmaster achievements in it as well as those found in Halo 3.
Development, Release, and Reception
Halo 3 was officially announced at E3 2006 with the first cinematic trailer, and Bungie continued to throw the groveling masses bits of information on its weekly updates up to the games release. Halo 3 was developed using an in-house engine commonly referred to as the Halo 3 Engine. The engine utilizes advanced graphics tech including High Dynamic Range, Global Lighting and depth of field effects in the cutscenes, Motion Blurring was added in the main game but wasn't in the beta. Halo 3 uses normal, bump, and parallax mapping to increase the detail of models but keeping the number of polygons down. Halo 3 has over 50,000 pieces of audio (40,000 of them being NPC dialogue) a drastic improvement over the previous two games (Halo 2 having about 15,000). In fact, separate recordings for both distant and near gunfire were made and if the player were to hear distant gunfire it might actually be an NPC shooting and not just ambient noise.
Along with several voice acting cameo appearances from Red vs. Blue and Joss Whedon's Serenity characters.
Halo 3 was advertised using every marketing technique imaginable, including viral ads, game trailers, pre-rendered CGI, four Developer Diaries, real-time cinematics, Beta tests, product tie-ins, even live action film. Also, before and after the release, many interviews with Bungie personnel were conducted by the gaming press along with many magazine stories. In addition to the astounding amount of advertising money poured into the launch, Halo 3 was plagued by leaks, including a leak of the games test Beta before it's gold release (confirmed to have been 99.99 percent complete), Microsoft has responded by banning the gamertags of people caught playing it until the year 9999. In the weeks leading up to the game many pre-release (pirated) copies were seen for sale on E-bay, and a catalog retailer accidentally released copies of the game for sale a little early - this was confirmed as an honest mistake, and Microsoft is not punishing Argos (the retailer) for the error.
Halo 3 received favorable reviews from many critics, and with an average of 94% in reviews - the sixth best reviewed game on the 360 - according to Metacritic. The single player aspect though, had mixed reviews, some saying it was too short, others going so far as to say certain levels left a rotten taste in their mouth, while others saying it was anything but disappointing. The favorable reviews along with multiple record-breaking sales numbers fueled the games popularity as sales skyrocketed all the way up to the release of the map packs. Halo 3 has received several awards from several sources, including game of the year awards, runner ups for best shooter, best multiplayer, most addicting game of the year, and several more.
In addition to these promotional tie-ins, 7-11 stores across the United States were equipped with a variety of Halo themed merchandise including three collectible Slurpee cups and posters. The game was also sold in 7-11 stores for a limited time, even featuring a pre-order program. There were a variety of problems with this initiative, however, including the fact many staff members were unaware of the promotion as well as shipping issues on launch day.
Soundtrack The soundtrack to Halo 3 was once again composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori and was released a few months after the game in a 2 CD set.
Versions of Halo 3
Halo 3 was released in three separate versions. The Standard Edition contains the game disc, manual, and a small poster with the game's control-map and artwork. 
Title Update 1
This is achieved by adding a new layer of specificity to the tracking of player EXP (EXP is a value that serves to illustrate how seasoned a player is in matchmade games). While a player's online Service Record still reflects their total EXP value, under the new ranking system, the player also has a visual EXP value (in the form of the same military ranks that previously existed in the online game) for each individual playlist. To clarify, this means that as a player wins more games in a particular playlist their overall EXP value responds as it normally would, but they also progress through the Halo 3 military ranks specific to that playlist. An example: A player may fancy the Team Slayer hopper over all others, and after some time and enough wins, obtain an EXP rank of General in the playlist -- however, if said player has only been competing in the Team Slayer playlist, they will have a playlist military rank of Recruit in the other playlists that they've been ignoring.
A common misconception among Halo fans after the announcement of this news was that the hard-fought rankings that they had toiled away for since first setting foot online would be made meaningless after the release of the update, because now any player who invested enough time in a certain playlist would reach the esteemed upper ranks in a much easier fashion. This concern was later proven to be immaterial, because no aspect of the previous ranking system was being modified, and the individual playlist rankings were not to be reflected in a player's Service Record.
The Title Update also introduced four new variants of existing maps, out of Epitaph came Epilogue, and out of Snowbound came Boundless. While Epilogue is entirely without shield doors, Boundless still has those in High and Low base middle entrances (to counter the possibility of grenade spamming). These new maps will replace the existing ones; they will appear in matchmaking simultaneously, however in the long run Bungie hopes to have these maps become the dominant set. In addition to these two, Sand Tarp is now a version of Sand Trap without the Elephant vehicle and with new flag capture spaces. Pit Stop is a new version of The Pit with the upper spawn areas now inaccessible. These same matchmaking policies apply to these two as well. These maps are treated as Forge variants by the game, and can therefore be played normally and saved to an Xbox 360 Hard Drive.
Halo 3 requires 6.3GB of space to be installed on an Xbox 360 HDD. However, Bungie has asked players to not install the game to the HDD. Due to the optimizations made to the game so that it can be played without a hard drive, installing to the HDD actually causes longer loading times when playing multiplayer.
-
Halo 3: KEEP IT CLEAN
-
-
Master Chief and the Arbiter join forces in a race to save humanity, and all sentient life, from the fanatical alien races collectively known as the Covenant and the parasites known as the Flood in this epic conclusion to the Halo trilogy.
Overview
Halo 3 is a critically acclaimed first-person shooter (FPS) developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft. The central focus is again on the Master Chief, a surgically/genetically augmented super-soldier who fights against an alien army known as the Covenant and the parasitic Flood. Said to be the "final chapter" in the story arc that began in the first Halo and which continued in Halo 2, Halo 3 was released on September 25, 2007, and quickly became one of the Xbox 360's first system-sellers, making an astounding $300 million during the first week of its release and going on to eventually sell over 8 million copies.Story
Master Chief in Halo 3
Gameplay
Mechanics
A Multiplayer Armor Permutation
The gameplay in Halo 3 has undergone some significant changes compared to its predecessors, including simple tweaks to make it more cohesive. You may now carry "equipment," which can range from a gravity lift, allowing the player to lift himself into the air, to a bubble-shield, which will spawn a clear, protective bubble around whoever decides to throw it down, as well as deployable cover, which projects a small blue defense shield, as well as many others. Bungie has assigned these special abilities to the "X" button, which was previously used to reload. Players now use the RB (right bumper) to reload the main weapon and LB for the secondary weapon if they are dual-wielding, although they can decide to use a different, pre-made control scheme.
A Multiplayer Armor Permutation
The Load Out
Bungie has added a different version of the original Assault Rifle (it has about half the clip size of the version in Halo: Combat Evolved, but it deals a little more damage and has better accuracy), strengthened the Needler (though it can no longer be dual-wielded), and also included some new weapons like the Spikers (Brute sub-machine guns) and the Gravity Hammer (the Brute counterpart of the Elite Sword). There are also 2 new grenade classes: The Spike Grenade and the Incendiary Grenade (AKA the firebomb grenade). The former is a Brute-themed grenade that sticks to objects, and the latter a UNSC weapon especially useful against the zombie-like Flood. Bungie also reduced the load out on each grenade from the previous four, to two, allowing players to carry a total of eight grenades and switch between the types with the left bumper (when not dual-wielding). A player may also pick up turrets and flame-throwers, but by using them he/she will switch into a 3rd person view, in which movement will be slightly restricted and ammo will become limited. There are also a few new vehicles like the Mongoose, a quadbike with two seats, the Hornet, which is the human equivalent to the Banshee, and the Chopper, which resembles the Ghost in that it has only one seat and can fire front-mounted cannons.Multiplayer
Multiplayer gameplay on the Mythic map, 'Assembly'
Ranked
- Lone Wolves-Matches include 6 players and use free-for-all game modes, like Slayer, Swords, Slayer BRs, Crazy King, and Oddball.
- Team Slayer-Matches are team-based and usually include 6 or 8 players in 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 games. Modes played are Team Slayer, Team BRs, Team Snipers, and Shotty Snipers.
- Team Doubles- 2-on-2 matches with both Slayer and Objective gametypes, including Team Slayer, Team BRs, Team Snipers, Team Oddball, Team Crazy King, Multi-Flag CTF and One Flag
- MLG- A playlist using MLG-created maps and MLG versions of Team Slayer, Team Ball, Team Hill and Multi-Flag.
- Squad battle 6-on-6 matches with slayer and flag variants
- SWAT-A hardcore playlist involving the use of no energy shields and no motion trackers, and using only Battle Rifle/Magnum combos, just Magnums, or just Shotguns. Most games are simply SWAT, SWAT Magnums, or ShWATguns, but as of an update, SWATball and 2-flag CTF are also used as gametypes.
- Team Snipers-3-on-3 and 4-on-4 games in Slayer-based gametypes such as Team Snipers, Shotty Snipers and Team Splasers.
Social
- Rumble Pit-Much like Lone Wolves, but in a social setting. Uses Slayer and "Fiesta" variants such as Slayer, Hammerzeit, Swords, Juggernaut, Oddball, Crazy King, Ninja Ball and Mosh Pit.
- Social Big Team-Uses 5-on-5 and 8-on-8 matches. Gametypes played include Team Slayer, Multi-Flag CTF, One Bomb, VIP, Territories, Big Splockets, Land Grab, and 2 Flag Heavy CTF.
- Social Slayer-5-on-5 and solo gametypes, such as Team Slayer/Slayer, Team Rockets/Rockets, Team Duals/Duals, and Team BRs/Slayer BRs.
- Social Skirmish-4-on-4 and 5-on-5 non-slayer matches. Gametypes are One Flag CTF, Multi-Flag CTF, One Bomb Assault, Neutral Bomb Assault, VIP, Territories, and Land Grab.
- Multi-Team- Uses four teams of 2 in gametypes like Team Slayer, Team Hammers, Team Swords, VIP, Team Oddball, and Team Crazy King.
- Action Sack- Random 8 player matches offering 0 EXP
Gameplay of multiplayer map, 'Avalanche'
In custom mode players can play multiplayer matches using custom game modes, settings, and maps. All modes and maps are available to play on and can be changed between matches by the party leader. Players must invite friends to play these games, however.
Ranks
Reaching different ranks requires the player to gain certain amounts of EXP and, for officer ranks, reach different skill levels. Skill levels are increased when the player wins ranked games. EXP is gained from simply winning games which can be either ranked or unranked. One EXP is gained from winning a game, zero is gained from loosing a game and one EXP is lost for quitting out of a game early. The Ranks in increasing order are:
- Recruit grade 1
- Apprentice Grade 1, Apprentice Grade 2
- Private Grade 1, Private Grade 2
- Corporal Grade 1, Corporal Grade 2
- Sergeant Grade 1, Sergeant Grade 2, Sergeant Grade 3
- Gunnery Sergeant Grade 1, Gunnery Sergeant Grade 2, Master Gunnery Sergeant
- Lieutenant Grade 1, Lieutenant Grade 2, Lieutenant Grade 3, First Lieutenant
- Captain Grade 1, Captain Grade 2, Captain Grade 3, Staff Captain
- Major Grade 1, Major Grade 2, Major Grade 3, Field Major
- Commander Grade 1, Commander Grade 2, Commander Grade 3, Strike Commander
- Colonel Grade 1, Colonel Grade 2, Colonel Grade 3, Force Colonel
- Brigadier Grade 1, Brigadier Grade 2, Brigadier Grade 3, Brigadier General
- General Grade 1, General Grade 2, General Grade 3, 5 Star General
Competitive Popularity
Halo 3 is widely accepted to be one of the most popular competitive games to date. Halo 3 has a huge competitive fanbase and is the flagship game for most gaming tournaments and leagues. Many people adore this game for its balance, fun factor, and overall longevity. Leagues like Major League Gaming have used Halo 3's Forge abilities to make their own gametypes and maps for the game. There is even an MLG playlist (see above) in Halo 3 for all the competitive players out there. MLG maps can be downloaded from the Gamertag MLG Gametypes. In MLG Halo 3 players start out with a Battle Rifle instead of an Assault Rifle, have no radar, and they are a bit faster and stronger. MLG has currently 7 maps to play on (Guardian, Construct, Narrows, The Pit, Onslaught, Amplified and Lockdown) and use only 6 weapons ( Battle Rifle, Carbine, The Plasma Pistol, Sniper Rifle, Rocket Launcher, and Mauler). These changes were made to make it more competitive.Battle Rifle Frustration
The Battle Rifle has a 66% random spread. Although gamers have contacted Bungie, asking for a change to the spread, Bungie has responded that they will not be fixing what they do not consider to be broken.
User-Generated Content
Forge
With the addition of Forge any Halo 3 owner can completely customize every Halo 3 multiplayer map. From vehicle and weapon placement to fusion coils and equipment placement, just about everything the player can use and interact with on a map can be moved, tweaked, and adjusted to the player's liking. Once completed, all forged maps can be put on the player's file share and uploaded to Bungie.net were other players can download, comment, tag, and share their creations over the Internet. The recent maps Foundry (From the Heroic Map Pack) and Sandbox (From the Mythic Map Pack) were made specifically to cater to users of Forge. Many forging communities have arisen in the wake of these two maps releases, creating a massive number of user-generated maps. Bungie has recently taken notice of this user-generated content and has incorporated several Forge maps created in Foundry and Sandbox into both Ranked and Social matchmaking. Bungie has also regularly featured maps created by the community in their weekly updates and included interviews with their creators. A few special features of the Forge have been included in recent map packs as well, from different color affects to the Killball.Theater
The Theater is a powerful tool allowing the viewing and saving of previously played campaign missions and multiplayer matches. The system used to create the video allows the video to maintain a size of mere kilobytes. The Theater can be used to take screenshots, save film clips, and save whole films. The camera in the Theater is not limited to a body either. The camera can be moved to any player or free-floated anywhere in the map, allowing for interesting angles and screenshots.
User Created Screenshot
Screenshots
With the use of theater mode, users can take screenshots of their favorite moments and upload them to Bungie.net. There players can also comment, rate, and download other users' screenshots. Bungie has used screenshots uploaded to Bungie.net in their Weekly updates.Saved Films
While watching a match in Theater, people can save entire custom and matchmaking games or cut out specific parts to make video clips. These videos can then be watched through Theater by anyone who has downloaded the file from the user's File Share. Plus, as the Theater records gameplay information and not video, matches can be viewed from any angle.File Share
The File Share is available for every Halo 3 user and allows them to upload their files for others to view and download at no cost. These slots can include Films, Film Clips, Screenshots, Map Variants, Gametypes or any combination. The standard capacity for the File Share is six slots and 25MB, although this can be upgraded to 24 slots and 250MB via Bungie Pro (see below).Bungie Pro
Bungie Pro enables a number of premium features to the Halo 3 user, including an expansion of storage for your Halo 3 File Share (see above) and the ability to use Bungie Pro Video (see below). A 12-Month Bungie Pro subscription can be purchased over Xbox Live for 750 MS Points. At the end of the subscription, you'll be asked to whether you want to renew or your subscription or not. For a limited time, a trial of Bungie Pro was given as a gift to people who downloaded the Legendary Map Pack or Mythic Map Pack. The trial lasted roughly 4 months.Bungie Pro Video
As of now Bungie Pro comes bundled with Bungie Pro Video. Bungie Pro Video allows you take your game film clips (which, as they are purely game data, require Halo 3 to be viewed) and turn them into videos you can watch on your computer using the wmv format. Users are allowed 5 render minutes a month, which expire at the end of the month. Bungie has stated that users will soon be able to buy render minutes using the File Share menu at 10 minutes for 100 MSP ($1.25).Skulls
A Halo 3 Skull
Silver Skulls
- Cowbell Skull - Makes explosions larger.
- Grunt Birthday Party Skull - When grunts are shot in the head their head explodes and confetti flies out. There is also the sound of children cheering.
- IWHBYD Skull - Opens up new, often humorous dialogue in the game.
- Blind Skull - Removes your reticule, shield bar, ammo count, etc. from your HUD.
Gold Skulls
- Catch Skull - Makes enemies use grenades more often and also drop more when you kill them. Friendly units will also throw grenades more often.
- Iron Skull - If playing the campaign single player, death will send the player back to the beginning of the level. In co-op, the death of a single player takes all players back to the last checkpoint.
- Black Eye Skull - Your shields don't recharge unless you melee attack enemies.
- Tough Luck Skull - Enemies are better at dodging explosions and vehicles.
- Fog Skull - Removes your motion sensor.
- Famine Skull - Makes dropped weapons supply you with less ammo. This does not include weapons on weapon racks or certain weapons "planted" by Bungie for the player to use.
- Thunderstorm Skull - Enemies ranks are higher. Higher ranked enemies take more damage.
- Tilt Skull - Enemies are more resistant to certain weapons. Shielded enemies will take dramatically less damage from bullet weapons and unshielded enemies will take dramatically less damage from plasma weapons. This includes vehicle weapons, such that a Plasma Rifle can take down a Brute's shields before a Warthog LAAG turret can, but this is much less noticeable in a tank.
- Mythic Skull - Enemies have double health.
Look at the guide section to find out where to find them. Additionally, 6 more skulls will be added with the release of the Mythic Map Pack and the 3 maps to be packed in with Halo 3: ODST, with one skull per map. These skulls do not affect the Campaign, and their only benefit is the Vidmaster achievement for finding all of them (and are therefore required to achieve the coveted Recon armor).
Multiplayer Map Skulls
- Assembly Skull - This skull is located in the center of the map, up top, in between the big purple arm and the middle post. As with all the Mythic skulls, you must be in Forge to obtain it.
- Orbital Skull - This skull is located above the pit in the middle of the map, it is a few floors up and hidden under and overhang. As with all the Mythic skulls, you must be in Forge to obtain it.
- Sandbox Skull - This skull is located at the back of the dunes, in between the guardians towers. There are many custom maps you can download with the towers shut off so you can just fly out and grab it. As with all the Mythic skulls, you must be in Forge to obtain it.
- Citadel Skull
- Heretic Skull
- Longshore Skull
Downloadable Content
Halo 3 has seen four Map Packs released for the game since it's September 2007 launch, which are the Heroic Map Pack (free), Legendary Map Pack (600 MS Points), Cold Storage Map Pack (free), and the first half of the Mythic Map Pack (800 MS Points).
Heroic Map Pack
The Heroic Map Pack was released on December 11th, 2007 and included 3 new maps:- Foundry
Foundry
A medium-sized map with a focus on team-based gametypes, made from the ground up for Forge, as every object in the level can be deleted and rearranged in innumerable combination's.
- Rat's Nest
Rat's Nest
Based on Crow's Nest, the second level in Halo 3's campaign, Rat's Nest is a medium-sized symmetrical map with a focus on vehicular combat and large-scale objective gametypes.
- Standoff
Standoff
A medium- to large-sized map, set near a Satellite Base in New Mombasa, ideal for medium-sized objective games.
Legendary Map Pack
The Legendary Map Pack was released on April 15th, 2008 and included 3 new maps:- Avalanche
Avalanche
A large, heavily vehicle-based map inspired by Halo: Combat Evolved's Sidewinder, Avalanche is set on a snowy shelf of the partially completed Installation-04.
- Blackout
A small, asymmetrical map that is a re make of Halo 2's Lockout. Made, like Lockout, specifically for FFA and small team-based gametypes. Bungie took great efforts to make Blackout an exact recreation of Lockout, even going as far as to recreate the ability to launch the Sniper Rifle across the map via shooting the nearby fusion coil.
Blackout
- Ghost TownA medium-sized base-assault map, set in the jungle of Sierra-117, the first level in Halo 3's campaign.
Ghost Town
Cold Storage Map Pack
The Cold Storage Map Pack was released on July 7th, 2008 and included only one single map. It was a gift for Bungie to it's fans for Bungie Day '08 (July 7, 2008). Cold Storage is technically considered Legendary tier, meaning to play it in matchmaking you must have the Legendary map pack also.
Cold Storage
- Cold Storage - A faithful remake of Halo: Combat Evolves Chill Out, Cold Storage is a small, claustrophobic map used primarily for Slayer and Oddball gametypes.
Mythic Map Pack (First Half)
First alluded to in the achievements Title Update 2 added, the Mythic Map Pack consists of 6 maps, with 3 bundled in with the Halo Wars Limited Edition and released onto Xbox Live Marketplace April 9th, 2009, and 3 to be bundled with Halo 3: ODST, along with every other map. Unlike with all other multiplayer maps, the Mythic Map Pack will contain 6 hidden skulls, with 1 per map. The skulls go toward u nlocking the "Vidmaster" achievement. Bungie has said that once all the Vidmaster achievements are unlocked, Recon Armor will be unlocked. The last Vidmaster Achievement will be achievable when the other 3 maps of the "Mythic" Map Pack release with Halo 3: ODST.The first half of the Mythic Map Pack, which first shipped with the Limited Edition version of Halo Wars and came to Marketplace April 9th, 2009 consists of:
- Assembly
Assembly
First shown off at PAX '08, Assembly is a small, symmetrical arena-style map made to cater to small, team-based gametypes and FFA. Previously known as Purple Reign internally, Assembly has been one of the longest referred-to maps by Bungie, via their Bungie Weekly Updates.
- Orbital
Orbital
A close-quarters, asymmetrical map, tailored for 8 player, 1-sided gametypes. The map takes place aboard the Quito space tether, an orbital docking station used as an Earth-based space port. First referenced as Moonbase Alpha, Orbital, along with Assembly, have been the longest referenced DLC maps by Bungie.
- Sandbox
Sandbox
A map made from the ground-up with Forge in mind, similar to Foundry. Sandbox is unique as it features 3 separate "planes" of play. The ground level, made completely from Forge objects and using a floor of sand. The "sky bubble", a free-floating level hundreds of feet from the ground, uses an invisible "kill-barrier" to allow the creation of maps similar to "Guardian" or "Blackout". And the "crypt," an underground room, accessible via the ground level, made to accommodate Grifball matches, though it, like the ground level, can be completely customized via the level's almost endless array of Forge objects.
Mythic Map Pack (Second Half)
First referenced to in the achievements Title Update 2 added to the game, the Mythic Map Pack's latter 3 maps will be bundled in with Halo 3: ODST as maps exclusive to that package. Little to no information is known about these maps other than that, along with Halo 3: ODST, they will be the last additional content added to Halo 3. On Bungie Day '09, Bungie revealed the first screenshots and descriptions of Citadel, Longshore, and Heretic. - Citadel
" Citadel may be a long abandoned Forerunner stronghold, but its small, symmetrical confines are far from secure. Two opposing bases offer little safety for players looking for solace. Instead, Citadel forces small squads to stay in constant communication, keep their heads on a swivel, and be prepared to adjust combat tactics in close quarters." - Bungie.net
Citadel
- Longshore
"Longshore lacks the commercial ships that once made it a lucrative port for Old Mombasa, but it still bustles with activity. Designed for large scale combat and well suited for smaller affairs, Longshore’s multitude of industrial buildings, elevated walks, and open inlets conspire to create a complex battleground tailored for multiple combat scenarios." - Bungie.net
Longshore
- Heretic"Heretic returns players to familiar ground as the Halo 2 arena “Midship” makes its long-rumored debut in Halo 3. The stark interior of the Pious Inquisitor might appear austere on first glance, but Heretic’s symmetrical spaces require players to execute complex strategies in order to outplay their opponents." - Bungie.net
Heretic
Halo 3:ODST
A standalone campaign expansion to Halo 3: ODST (formerly known as Halo 3: Recon), will be available as a disc-based product Fall 2009. The game will be bundled with the second half of the Mythic Map Pack (Citadel, Longshore and Heretic) and will feature every multiplayer map from the retail Halo 3 as well as every DLC map up to and including the Mythic Map Pack.For more information, check out the ODST game page.
Recon Epidemic
Full picture of the Recon armor
Development, Release, and Reception
Halo 3 launch event at the NASDAQ building in New York City
Voice Actors
- Steve Downes as Master Chief
- Jen Taylor as Cortana
- David Skully as Sergeant Johnson and the Elites
- Keith David as the Arbiter
- Tim Dadabo as 343 Guilty Spark
- Ron Perlman as Lord Hood
- Robert Davi as Rtas Vadum
Along with several voice acting cameo appearances from Red vs. Blue and Joss Whedon's Serenity characters.
Halo 3 was advertised using every marketing technique imaginable, including viral ads, game trailers, pre-rendered CGI, four Developer Diaries, real-time cinematics, Beta tests, product tie-ins, even live action film. Also, before and after the release, many interviews with Bungie personnel were conducted by the gaming press along with many magazine stories. In addition to the astounding amount of advertising money poured into the launch, Halo 3 was plagued by leaks, including a leak of the games test Beta before it's gold release (confirmed to have been 99.99 percent complete), Microsoft has responded by banning the gamertags of people caught playing it until the year 9999. In the weeks leading up to the game many pre-release (pirated) copies were seen for sale on E-bay, and a catalog retailer accidentally released copies of the game for sale a little early - this was confirmed as an honest mistake, and Microsoft is not punishing Argos (the retailer) for the error.
Halo 3 received favorable reviews from many critics, and with an average of 94% in reviews - the sixth best reviewed game on the 360 - according to Metacritic. The single player aspect though, had mixed reviews, some saying it was too short, others going so far as to say certain levels left a rotten taste in their mouth, while others saying it was anything but disappointing. The favorable reviews along with multiple record-breaking sales numbers fueled the games popularity as sales skyrocketed all the way up to the release of the map packs. Halo 3 has received several awards from several sources, including game of the year awards, runner ups for best shooter, best multiplayer, most addicting game of the year, and several more.
Mountain Dew Game Fuel
Promotion
The summer prior to Halo 3's launch, Pepsi released a new Halo specific Mountain Dew called Game Fuel. The flavor was a mix of Code Red and Live Wire, and the drink was discontinued early November. This may be due to the fact that the drink had a reputation for a horrible taste. Halo 3 also had an ad campaign in association with Burger King prior to the game's release.In addition to these promotional tie-ins, 7-11 stores across the United States were equipped with a variety of Halo themed merchandise including three collectible Slurpee cups and posters. The game was also sold in 7-11 stores for a limited time, even featuring a pre-order program. There were a variety of problems with this initiative, however, including the fact many staff members were unaware of the promotion as well as shipping issues on launch day.
Soundtrack The soundtrack to Halo 3 was once again composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori and was released a few months after the game in a 2 CD set.
Versions of Halo 3
Halo 3 was released in three separate versions. The Standard Edition contains the game disc, manual, and a small poster with the game's control-map and artwork. The Limited Edition, contained in a metal case, contains the game disc, manual, poster, interactive Xbox 360 bonus disc with several featurettes, and a hard cover bound "Bestiarum", which is a collection of information and art covering the species, cultures, and civilizations of Halo 3.
The final version was marketed as the "Legendary Edition", which contains the game disc, manual, poster, interactive bonus disc, Bestiarum (on one of the DVD discs), Legendary DVD containing special content exclusive to the Legendary Edition, and a scale replica of the Master Chief's helmet as a case for the three discs. The slip-cover packaging unfolds into a large heavy-stock poster of Master Chief. The helmet that came along with the Legendary Edition could not be worn by a person, but some noted that it could fit on the head of a cat. Many journalists coined the Master Chief helmet as being the "Halo Cat Helmet".
Upon release, some of the Limited Edition versions of Halo 3 were found to have a defect in the hub that kept the discs in place, which could lead to scratched discs. Microsoft confirmed the problem and offered to replace scratched Halo 3 Limited Edition discs free of charge until the end of January 2008.This was not a problem in either the Legendary Edition or the Standard Editions
Tracklist
Soundtrack Box Art
Disc 1
- Luck
- Released
- Infiltrate
- Honorable Intentions
- Last of the Brave
- Brutes
- Out of Shadow
- To Kill a Demon
- This is Our Land
- This is the Hour
- Dread Intrusion
- Follow Our Brothers
- Farthest Outpost
- Behold a Pale Horse
- Edge Closer
Disc 2
- Three Gates
- Black Tower
- One Final Effort
- Gravemind
- No More Dead Heroes
- Keep What You Steal
- Halo Reborn
- Greatest Journey
- Tribute
- Roll Call
- Wake Me When You Need Me
- Legend
- Choose Wisely
- Movement
- Never Forget
- Finish the Fight
Title Update 1
Melee
In Bungie's first mandatory Title Update they fixed what many players where complaining about at the time, the melee system. Previously, if both players melee'd each other at the same time, the player with the more shielding would die and there was a two second window that the system considered "same time." Due to the high level of complaints, Bungie came up with a new Melee system. The "same time" window was closed to about a second and the kill would often go to would hit first, but if the game determined that both players hit at the same time, both players would die, ending in a somewhat humorous death as both players flopped backwards.Armor
Prior to this update the there was an issue with the Elite shoulder pieces of the armor permutation "Commando" not unlocking, even after players had gotten the required "Overkill" achievement. The update granted every player the ability to use the "Commando" shoulders regardless if they had the achievement for it or not.Title Update 2
Ranking
In their online Weekly Update for August 1st, 2008, Bungie unveiled a new addition to the online ranking system to be implemented in the second mandatory Title Update for Halo 3. The post included a chart illustrating EXP progression in various matchmaking playlists. The update offers players another visual representation of their progress in the online game, and serves to display precisely how many victories they have earned in any given matchmaking playlist.This is achieved by adding a new layer of specificity to the tracking of player EXP (EXP is a value that serves to illustrate how seasoned a player is in matchmade games). While a player's online Service Record still reflects their total EXP value, under the new ranking system, the player also has a visual EXP value (in the form of the same military ranks that previously existed in the online game) for each individual playlist. To clarify, this means that as a player wins more games in a particular playlist their overall EXP value responds as it normally would, but they also progress through the Halo 3 military ranks specific to that playlist. An example: A player may fancy the Team Slayer hopper over all others, and after some time and enough wins, obtain an EXP rank of General in the playlist -- however, if said player has only been competing in the Team Slayer playlist, they will have a playlist military rank of Recruit in the other playlists that they've been ignoring.
A common misconception among Halo fans after the announcement of this news was that the hard-fought rankings that they had toiled away for since first setting foot online would be made meaningless after the release of the update, because now any player who invested enough time in a certain playlist would reach the esteemed upper ranks in a much easier fashion. This concern was later proven to be immaterial, because no aspect of the previous ranking system was being modified, and the individual playlist rankings were not to be reflected in a player's Service Record.
Back-End
Aside from the addition of the new ranking system, the second Title Update adds several "under-the-hood" fixes and updates. The details of these "invisible" changes were not explicitly fleshed-out, but the general overview given of the modifications indicate that they increase the functionality for auto-detecting malicious behavior and cheating over Xbox Live.Map Variants
The Title Update also introduced four new variants of existing maps, out of Epitaph came Epilogue, and out of Snowbound came Boundless. While Epilogue is entirely without shield doors, Boundless still has those in High and Low base middle entrances (to counter the possibility of grenade spamming). These new maps will replace the existing ones; they will appear in matchmaking simultaneously, however in the long run Bungie hopes to have these maps become the dominant set. In addition to these two, Sand Tarp is now a version of Sand Trap without the Elephant vehicle and with new flag capture spaces. Pit Stop is a new version of The Pit with the upper spawn areas now inaccessible. These same matchmaking policies apply to these two as well. These maps are treated as Forge variants by the game, and can therefore be played normally and saved to an Xbox 360 Hard Drive.
Rumors
While initial rumors and speculation ran wild with the release of Bungie's Edge acceptance speech, they have calmed the outcries of bots and campaign forging by definitively stating that these things will not be appearing in multiplayer or Forge.Xbox 360 Game Installation
Halo 3 requires 6.3GB of space to be installed on an Xbox 360 HDD. However, Bungie has asked players to not install the game to the HDD. Due to the optimizations made to the game so that it can be played without a hard drive, installing to the HDD actually causes longer loading times when playing multiplayer.
| Game Name | Halo 3 |
| Platform(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Genres |
|
| Themes |
Add a new theme
|
| Original US Release |
Sept. 25, 2007
need a fuzzy date? |
| Original US Release |
January
Q1 2008 know the real date? |
| Aliases | H3 |
| OFLC |
OFLC: M
|
| CERO |
CERO: D
|
| ESRB |
ESRB: M
|
| PEGI |
PEGI: 16+
|
| BBFC |
BBFC: 15
|
|
Mythic Map Skull Locations
A quick guide (with pictures!) to locating and claiming the hidden skulls on Assembly, Orbital, Sandbox, Citadel, Heretic, and Longshore.
|
|
| Halo 3 Achievement Guide | |
|
Enemy Guide
A descrition of every enemy in the game *SPOILERS*
|
|
|
Armor Permutations
A guide to get the different Armor Permutations in Halo 3 Multiplayer.
|
|
Thousand Master
a list of 117 items by 5parrowhawk
a list of 117 items by 5parrowhawk
Xbox 360 Games
a list of 52 items by Matt_
a list of 52 items by Matt_
Games most deserving for an Uwe Boll movie.
a list of 13 items by Metal_Gear_Sunny
a list of 13 items by Metal_Gear_Sunny
