Halo 3

[Uncle Sam]

The latest (and last, probably) addition of Microsoft's flagship FPS series is here and it's... underwhelming, really. Not much of difference between this one and the first one in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, playing on Xbox Live (round my mate's house, seeing as my Virgin Media-ized connection sucks balls) is pretty awesome, as you would expect it to be, but the single player is same old, same old, and the ending is, well, yea, same old. I never thought the gameplay was all it's cracked up to be. In single player it normally goes "shoot as accurately as possible for a little while, get shield depleted, hide, repeat" or alternatively, "run into enemy, tapping the hit button wildly, get killed by pissed of larger enemy, never try again". Multiplayer is much the same, even though it's fun as fuck, except deaths are a lot more common, especially against the saddos that haven't been off it since it was released.

Anybody else have thoughts?

 

[Shocky]

I've heard the complaints about campaign, and I don't see it.

I think the game itself is amazing and the scope and scale of the this third and final chapter is amazing. The amount of enemies in this game, and the AI is incredible.

I love how the Brutes will sit and wait, while you have to fight a Guardian with a War Hammer. The second the brute with the Hammer falls, the rest get pissed and begin to hunt you. I love stuff like this.

And as far as the multiplayer, my god, I'll probably not have to buy a game for a long time. Seriously, the multi is sick as hell. The best game I've played so far has been fast Zombies on Sand Trap. You will play it for hours.

 

[SBW]

I like the game, it has EXCELLENT graphics but I honestly don't see why this is so hyped up. I may need to add that this is thr first Halo I've played as I've always been a PlayStation man.

I enjoyed Gears Of War and BioShock more TBH.

 

[Memory Horizon]

The latest (and last, probably) addition

Have you finished the game on Legendary and seen the cutscene?

...Moving on, Halo 3 is one of the best FPS' I have enjoyed. Certaintly the best shooter for the 360, BioShock was all well and good, but it didn't have replay value as high as this does. I've been playing the campaign a lot, finding all the skulls (finished), getting all the achievements, etc. Then I'll move onto Multiplayer. I've played a couple games already, and it is damn fun.

Well recommended to anyone with a 360, easy. Game of the Year candidate right here.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Have you finished the game on Legendary and seen the cutscene?

Yea, and Halo 4 has been confirmed... apparently. To be honest, I felt a bit cheated by the ending, it was all good but I didn't really feel it satisfied me as much as it should have. I also think maybe the graphics are a bit overrated. Especially online, when I experienced major pop-up.

I don't think this should get game of the year. Online game of the year, definitely, there's nothing better, but game of the year should belong to Bioshock. I've always though that the multiplayer should be additional material, not the best aspect of the game. For Halo 3, I think that's just the problem. Bioshock has so much more depth and is so much more satisfying as a single player experience.

 

[SBW]

Halo 4?! I thought this was suppose to be the final one?

I've also heard rumors that Microsoft and Bungie are splitting up.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I sincerely doubt it. Microsoft owns Bungie, to my knowledge. Even if they didn't, there is absolutely no way in hell they would let go of their flagship series.

This was the final Halo of the current story arc, but it looks likely that Master Chief and Cortana will be returning in a different story arc.

 

[Memory Horizon]

Not anymore. Bungie has officially left Microsoft. They own a small financial change there, but for the most part, it's over between the two.

And it is the end of the Chief vs the Covenant story, but it was left open (without going into detail) that there is a high chance of another one. Why end the number one selling franchise in gaming history?

As for BioShock being GotY over Halo 3, I would agree that BioShock had a much better single player campaign, but they usually judge a total package to just one aspect. Of course, Oblivion got GotY over Gears, so it may strike twice this year (single player only over single and multi), but I think that Mass Effect will probably take it anyways. Halo and BioShock are high candidates though, without a doubt.

 

[Uncle Sam]

It would seem Bungie are still closely related to Microsoft though. I also expect they'll be receiving a lot of pay to stay exclusive to Microsoft platforms. It'd be a massive blow if Halo went to the CrapStation.

The multiplayer isn't as addictive as you might think though. I played it a lot today and I'm not going into withdrawal symptoms or anything from not having played it in a few hours.

 

[Memory Horizon]

Truth be told, I'm not in multiplayer a great deal. Yeah, it's fun, but it's not the reason I buy a game. I bought Halo 3 for the sole reason of finishing the fight. Halo 3 has more replay value because of it, however, and replay value is always a good thing. But I do agree with you, that it isn't anywhere near the fun of a wonderful SP experience like BioShock. Just that it's an honorable mention when it becomes part of the competition.

 

[Andy G]

The only thing I didnt like about this game was the ending. I expected more because of the hype but it is still a "meh" game. I hope it left it an open for a Halo 4.