Halo 3

 Since the release for Halo:CE back in 2001, the Halo franchise has exploded, single handedly leading Microsoft into the big market gaming business. Now, with Halo 3, the series closing chapter and final part of a Epic trilogy, people all over are frothing at the mouth to get a hold on a copy of the game. Gameplay wise, Halo 3 still delivers the fast paced FPS shoot-em up that we have all come to know and love. But, Bungie has decided to throw the addition of a few new things into the old formula. Most notably, equipment. Equipment is just a really cool feature that Bungie has mapped to the "X" button, which allows you to deploy different types of equipment onto the battlefield. Some examples would be the infamous Bubble shield, Energy Drainer, Auto Turret, Radar Jammer, Flare, and many more. All in all Bungie has not strayed too far from original "Halo" gameplay...which is definitely a good thing. Now technically speaking, Halo 3 is not exactly a wonder.

I am sure many of you people of heard the huge amount of complaining from the community about graphics...don't listen to them! They are all quick to compare it with "Gears of War", but lets get this straight...does Gears of War have vehicles driving around, dozens of enemies fighting, ships flying around in the air blowing up AND a giant Scarab's stomping around all on screen at the same time? Why no, it does not. For what Halo 3 does and pulls off, it's graphics are astounding. Not to mention the games lighting effects...quite honestly the best out of any game I have played to date.

Audio is also top notch, providing good sound effects and voice acting all around. Cutscenes also look very good...the only one graphical complain that I have is the Anti-Aliasing...Bungie could have done a better job, but as it stands, it is certainly tolerable. Over all, the game is very pretty to look at.

Multiplayer is much different from Halo 2. While the core gameplay remains very much the same, there are so many new features it takes a while to get used too. First there is theatre mode and the "Save Replay" feature that allows you to watch recored in game footage of either the campaign or a multiplayer match. Next would be the "Forge" mode which allows you to edit and move objects in any of the eleven maps in the game. Then, there is the File Share that allows you to share your gametypes, custome maps, screenshots, OR gameplay footage to anyone who opens it up an looks at it. It is also automatically transfered to Bungie.net for the entire Halo community to see for themselves. Very, very cool. And finally, possibly what most people have been looking forward to, the campaign mode. After finishing Halo 2 and witnessing the worst cliffhanger in video game history, people were...angry, to say the least. But in Halo 3 all the loose ends are tied, and the story is AWESOME, Epic, and extremely entertaining. The Cutscenes are probably one the best parts of Halo 3's campaign, they are the best out of any previous Halo game. They move the story forward flawlessly and can be watched over and over again.

Playing alone on Heroic will take you about 10-12 hours to beat the game, on Legendary it will probably take you 16-18 hours, considering that you can beat it at all. While playing Co-Op it obviously takes less time, probably between 6-8 hours.

Overall, Halo 3 is easily one of the best games that I have played in a very long time. Barely any noticeable flaws in the game design, programming, or map design. Everything is very well thought out and has been executed to near perfection. And for $60.00? With the vast amount of entertainment that this game features it is easily worth $80.00 for the game alone.

Now what are YOU waiting for...FINISH THE FIGHT!