Bungie Day 2008 is almost upon us! The event will happen on July 7th. Outside of the freebies that will be given away, a new ViDoc has hinted that Bungie will announce a new game!
To quote: “Our independance has us driving towards becoming a multi-game studio, and the first thing we’re gonna announce today…” after which the first Bungie employee gets cut off by the second one who says “Whooo ho, we’re not announcing anything yet.” Could it be Halo 4 or Marathon 4?
Here’s what you can look forward to happening:
* Watch the new video documentary on Cold Storage:
* Cold Storage will be available for free beginning on July 7, Bungie Day, on Xbox Live Marketplace. Cold Storage is a remake of the Halo 1 map Chill Out.
* Additionally, on 7/7, Microsoft is dropping the price of the Legendary Map Pack from 800 spacebucks to 600 spacebucks. — For now, Cold Storage will be implemented in regular rotation in playlists that require the Legendary Maps. To avoid confusion, playlists that previously required the Legendary Maps will now remind players that they need “all Maps” to participate, and since Cold Storage is free, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you to grab the map on July 7 and then return to your regularly scheduled business in SWAT.
* Additionally, don’t forget to grab the one-day-only free gamerpics (last year it included Mister Chief) and theme on 7/7.
* Beginning on July 7, there will be a 48-hour long seven-player FFA playlist in Halo 3’s Matchmaking where you can turn the calendar back to 2001 and control Rockets, Invis and Snipe.
* Next edition of the Bungie Podcast: Guests include: Lars Bakken, Shishka, Producer Allen Murray, Security Expert Jerome Simpson, IT Manager and Podcast Engineer Steve Lopez, Producer Joe Tung and Mission Architect Chris Carney. Save roughly 95 minutes of your day on Monday for the Bungie Podcast, which will likely include the New Game announcement.
Did you know there are Halo 3 cheats for weapons and other effects? Also listed are skulls and armor tips in both videos and text.
CHEATS AND TIPS: The following cheats can be performed during a local match or replay only. You must simultaneously press and hold the following buttons for three seconds to toggle the effect on or off.
Keys description:
LB = Left Bumper
RB = Right Bumper
LS = Click in on Left Analog Stick
RS = Click in on Right Alalog Stick
Code effect:
* LB + RB + LS + A + Down [D-Pad] enables: Toggle “Hide Weapon”.
* LB + RB + LS + A + Up [D-Pad] enables: Toggle “Show Coordinates”.
* [Hold LS + RS] Press Left on D-Pad enables: Toggle Pan-Cam / Normal while Show Coordinates is on for different “Camera Modes”.
Getting extra grenades:
* In multiplayer or system link mode, when you kill someone make sure you slash their dead body with the Energy Sword to get more grenades.
How to get infinite Spartan Laser ammo in mission “Halo”:
* Once you meet up with Sergeant Johnson shoot him until he falls down and drops the Spartan Laser. Quickly pick it up, and shoot it at him. Keep shooting him until he kills you. When you respawn, knock him down again, and pick up his laser. He should get back up with another laser on his back. When he does, shoot him down again, and pick up the new gun he drops. This laser should now have unlimited Spartan ammunition, making it easier to destroy the Guilty Spark 343.
Skull collecting to unlock new armor parts:
Before you start collecting skulls, remember that you have to start the stage from the beginning (not from a checkpoint), but once you acquire the skull you’re seeking, you can save and quit at any time without finishing the stage. This will make collecting skulls quicker if you already finished the game before.
SILVER SKULL LOCATIONS:
1. Blind (location Sierra 117): The arms of the player and the motion tracker disappear.
2. Cowbell (location The Ark): Your explosives increase in strength.
3. Grunt Birthday Party (location Crow’s Nest): If you manage to get a headshot on a Grunt, the Grunt will explode.
4. I Would Have Been Your Daddy (location The Covenant): Unlocks new dialogue for the campaign.
GOLD SKULL LOCATIONS:
5. Black Eye (location Crow’s Nest): When activated, you will have to battle enemies with melee tactics to regain shield energy.
6. Catch (location The Storm): When activated, enemies will throw more grenades.
7. Famine (location The Ark): When activated, dropped weapons will hold less ammunition.
8. Fog (location Floodgate): When activated, the motion tracker disappears.
9. Iron (location Sierra 117): When activated, you will be sent back to the beginning of the stage you’re on when you die instead of to the last checkpoint.
10. Mythic (location Halo): When activated, all enemies will have twice as much health.
11. Thunderstorm (location The Covenant): When activated, enemies will be of a higher rank.
12. Tilt (location Cortana): When activated, enemies will become more resilient to your attacks.
13. Tough Luck (location Tsavo Highway): When activated, enemies are skilled at getting away from projectiles such as grenades.
HAYABUSA ARMOR:
Collect Skulls to obtain the first three pieces of the Hayabusa Armor. To get the Chest piece, collect six Skulls. To get the Shoulders piece, collect nine Skulls. To get the Helmet piece, collect all thirteen Skulls.
KATANA ARMOR:
To unlock the Katana, which is a non-usable item that is essentially the fourth piece of Hayabusa Armor, get all thirteen Skulls in the game, and achieve a gamerscore of 1,000. Meaning you’ll have to complete all achievements to get it.
COMPLETE ALL ACHIEVEMENTS:
There are 49 achievements with a total of 1,000 Gamerscore points. 36 achievements for campaign and 13 achievements for multiplayer.
Achievement (Gamerscore points) — How to unlock it.
1. Askar (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the fourth mission.
2. Assault (30) — Finish the fourth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
3. Black Eye (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
4. Campaign Complete: Heroic (125) — Finish the Campaign on Heroic (normal is unlocked as well).
5. Campaign Complete: Legendary (125) — Finish the Campaign on Legendary (normal and heroic are unlocked as well).
6. Campaign Complete: Normal (125) — Finish the Campaign on Normal.
7. Catch (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
8. Cavalier (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the third mission.
9. Cleansing (30) — Finish the fifth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
10. Demon (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the second mission.
11. Exterminator (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the fifth mission.
12. Famine (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
13. Fear the Pink Mist (5) — Kill 5 enemies with the needler in a ranked free for all playlist or in campaign.
14. Fog (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
15. Graduate (10) — Earn 5 EXP or finish 10 games to complete the requirements for basic training (Online).
16. Guerilla (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the first mission.
17. Headshot Honcho (5) — Kill 10 enemies with headshots in a ranked free for all playlist or in campaign.
18. Holdout (20) — Finish the second mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
19. Iron (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
20. Killing Frenzy (5) — Kill 10 enemies without dying in any ranked free for all playlist (Online).
21. Landfall (20) — Finish the first mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
22. Last Stand (40) — Finish the seventh mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
23. Lee R Wilson Memorial (5) — Score 5 grenade sticks in any ranked free for all playlist (Online).
24. Marathon Man (40) — Locate and access all Terminals in the Campaign.
25. Maybe Next Time Buddy (5) — Board the same vehicle within 10 seconds after being boarded in any free for all playlist (Online).
26. Mongoose Mowdown (5) — Splatter an enemy with the mongoose in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
27. MVP (5) — Earn the MVP in any ranked playlist (Online).
28. Mythic (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
29. Orpheus (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the eigth mission.
30. Overkill (5) — Kill 4 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
31. Ranger (10) — Score over 50,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the sixth mission.
32. Reclaimer (10) — Score over 15,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the final mission.
33. Refuge (30) — Finish the sixth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
34. Return (50) — Finish the final mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
35. Spartan Officer (25) — Advance to the Spartan Officer ranks (Online).
36. Steppin’ Razor (5) — Score a Triple Kill with the sword in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
37. The Key (40) — Finish the eigth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
38. The Road (20) — Finish the third mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.
39. Thunderstorm (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
40. Tilt (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
41. Too Close to the Sun (5) — Destroy an enemy banshee with the spartan laser or missile pod in a ranked playlist or in campaign.
42. Tough Luck (10) — Find and claim this skull when playing on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty.
43. Triple Kill (5) — Kill 3 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
44. Two for One (5) — Score a Double Kill with a single spartan laser shot in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
45. UNSC Spartan (15) — Earn your Sergeant rating to be recognized as a true Spartan (Online).
46. Up Close and Personal (5) — Kill 5 enemies by melee or assassination in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).
47. Used Car Salesman (5) — Destroy a vehicle that has three enemies in it in a ranked playlist or in campaign.
48. Vanguard (10) — Score over 50,000 points in the Campaign meta-game on the seventh mission.
49. We’re in for Some Chop (5) — Destroy an enemy vehicle with equipment in a ranked playlist or in campaign.
If you want to know what achievement specifically unlocks what armor piece, lookup “Armor Permutations” at Gamefaqs.
Bungie reports in their weekly update that the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack (due April 15th) comes with more than just three new maps priced at 800 Microsoft Points (that’s US$10 / €9.60 / £6.80 / CAN$12.40 / AU$13.20).
To quote: “While the Legendary Map Pack doesn’t feature a map that you can build from scratch a la Foundry it does have a pretty unique series of Forge objects and some new knicks and knacks for Legendary purchasers to tool around with. The biggest new things are the Forge filters, these are forge objects that change the camera settings to create a variety of effects.” Outside of the default Basic setting, you’ll get these six filters: Gloomy, Juicy, Old Timey, Pen & Ink, Nova, and the Colorblind effect shown in the screenshot above.
“I had a dream. It was not all a dream.” Watch the Halo 3 Darkness Map Pack trailer.
In my time around the Halo Universe I’ve seen quite allot of great machinima. Up until now it was just fun to see what people could come up with rather it be great dialog or a magician ship with the character movement. Surely it couldn’t all be topped, but I think the video after the break has climbed its way up my Mount Everest of Machinima greats. And to think this is the supposedly the first attempt by who that calls them self LoneStarGamer. It’s ten minutes long, but I’d be shocked if you didn’t stay to watch the entire video. LoneStarGamer, Bravo!
* If you say it’s not that good then your most assuredly a robot. Yeah that’s right, I’ve seen all 32 Terminator films.
The Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack, released last year December at a price of 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live, can from today be downloaded for FREE off the Marketplace!
Now you can own some noobz in Standoff, Rat’s Nest, Foundry and in the Heroic Map Pack for free courtesy of Bungie.
Coming on April 15th is the second selection of new maps, titled the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack, priced at 800 Microsoft Points (that’s US$10 / €9.60 / £6.80 / CAN$12.40 / AU$13.20).
Get a slideshow sneak peek at two of the three new maps to be introduced - Ghost Town, Avalanche, and one map yet to be revealed.
A little while back a Halo 3 game variant known as Grifball hit the scene. It’s a great showcase of what the customization of Halo 3 can offer. It’s fun as you would think, but none of that matters if you don’t know how to play. Shown above is a quick walk through by Roosterteeth’s Red vs. Blue. A feature that those of you loving Call of Duty 4 don’t have the ability to create, this should remind gamers of the depth of that current #2 Xbox Live game Halo 3.
Will Arnett (of Arrested Development fame) was a guest on the TV show Late Night with Conan O’Brien. On the show he talks about playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on his Xbox 360. The funnyman is hooked on the FPS game and it shows…
According to Joystiq there was another celebrity, Jason Sudeikis from Saturday Night Live, on the Conan O’Brien show talking about gaming. Apparently Sudeikis demonstrated Halo 3 teabagging in front of a live studio audience. Sadly that video was removed from Youtube.
Ghost Town (formerly known as O.K. Corral) is the first map from the upcoming Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack. This second set of downloadable content will be released sometime this spring. Artists Vic DeLeon and Cameron Pinard and designer Lars Bakken answered a few quick questions you might have about this abandoned shell in Africa.
Q: What did each of you do on Ghost Town?
Vic: We split the map up into so many tasks that it became more of a collaborative effort than anything else either of us had ever worked on. It’s a small map comparatively speaking, so there were some challenging aspects- like who’s working on those polys over there? And hey I want to do that little part here! There are very few things that either of us can’t do, but we resolved to go with the idiom that I would direct the artistic direction and Cameron would take charge of the layout. Cameron’s heaviest influence was designing the blue base, the greenhouse building, and all that beautiful rebar. I worked on modeling the main areas around and inside the central building, the debris and damage everywhere, and placing all the vegetation throughout the map. We took turns modeling, painting, and detailing the terrain and the cliff walls.
Q: What’s the fictional premise behind Ghost Town?
Vic: Ghost Town is the fragmented ruins of a small 24th century water purification complex that geographically lies just North and West of the jungle foothills hydroelectric facility from the Sierra 117 mission. The well-protected facility built into a shallow ravine was once home to the Global Water Campaign, where the still somewhat-pure Kilimanjaro meltwater was transported via pipelines from the river and directed to this small outpost where it became further purified, and then transported via GWC trans-African pipelines along the Tsavo Highway for distribution throughout the entire continent.
Q: Was there a hook that led to the map’s initial creation?
Vic: Yes and no. Steve Cotton started out with a very rough mass of spaces that were insanely fun to play in, and then Cameron and I were left with our imaginations running wild and our spirits ablaze, only to find ourselves pounding our heads against large heavy things. There was blood. When we got started on the map it was literally a group of boxes posing as buildings and feeling like swiss cheese. Some of the guys during our early playtests (not sure who) started calling it “The Ghost Town Map” and it totally stuck, even after a brief effort to rename it Mortar. Is this something I should mention? How about “Some of us were affectionately calling it the Counter-Strike map.”
Q: From beginning to end how long did Ghost Town take to complete?
Vic: The first massed out models were created in mid-September of 2007 so it’s been about 4-5 months.
Q: What’s the nuts and bolts premise behind Ghost Town in terms of gameplay?
Cameron: Essentially Ghost Town is an asymmetric map designed for 4v4 encounters, it’s meant to be a strong infantry map where you get a nice range of close combat and longer range. The spaces are set up to allow two to three person squads a good bit of operating room and several tactical options.
Q: What gametypes is the map designed for?
Cameron: As an asymmetric map it’s designed for things like One Bomb, and One Flag, it also creates a great environment for FFA and team slayer. Overall though, the map is more general purpose and of course balancing is done with an eye towards our more popular game types.
Q: How has the map layout evolved over time with Ghost Town? Have different configurations resulted in a map that plays different?
Cameron: The core layout has actually been fairly constant throughout development, while a few areas have been added, for the most part it follows the original layout. Over time the map become more and more porous, we also worked on funneling action into more interesting areas of the map. I’d have to defer to Lars on most of the design changes over time.
Lars: Like Cameron said the core layout hasn’t changed much. For a time we had the “bases” switched, in terms of gameplay. The fortified building used to be the attacker spawn in objective games and the open cave spawn used to be the defender base. We made some changes to the building (added another way in), and then switched to its current configuration. Other subtle (or not so subtle, heh) changes were swapping the Spartan Laser for the Rocket Launcher, and removing the Regenerator for the Grav Lift. This one was actually pretty cool, because it allows players to enter into the second floor of the center building now without taking the normal routes in.
For those of you who just can’t get enough of actually playing Halo 3, these new toys . . . ahem, we mean “action figures” from McFarlane Toys are for you!
Intimately detailed, they will be sure to put a smile on the face of any fan of Halo 3 and let you re-create your virtual killjoy in the physical world. Just keep from talking like Master Chief and making BR sounds I’ll have to slap you.
These babies will be headed to store shelves and available for purchase this March. As you can see in the picture they include the Master Chief, Cortana, Spartan Soldier (white), a Brute Chieftain, Jackal Sniper and Grunt. Three vehicles will also be added to the line-up, including a Warthog, Ghost and Brute Chopper. — Via Joystiq
Halo 3 is the third game in the Halo Trilogy and the Xbox 360-exclusive gives a thrilling conclusion to the events begun in Halo: Combat Evolved on the Xbox back in 2001. Halo 3 picks up where Halo 2 left you hanging… The Master Chief is returning to Earth to finish the fight. The Covenant occupation of Earth has uncovered a massive and ancient object beneath the African sands, an object who’s secrets have yet to be revealed. Earth’s forces are battered and beaten. The Master Chief’s A.I. companion Cortana is still trapped in the clutches of the Gravemind, a horrifying Flood intelligence, and a civil war is raging in the heart of the Covenant.
“This is how the world ends…”
System: Xbox 360
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release dates: September 25th 2007 (USA), September 26th 2007 (EURO)
Players: single player, 1-4 (online) co-op and 1-16 multiplayer
Developer: Bungie Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Origin: America
If you want to start playing Halo 3 without having played 2001’s first Half-Life game or its 2004 sequel Halo 2, I suggest reading and watching the videos and storyline text for both Halo games, as well as the summary of the books on that page that fill out the blanks in between the games.
This Halo 3 short movie shows what’s happening down on Earth as Master Chief returns and UNSC troops move to intercept him. This feature clears up how Halo 3’s campaign starts. Watch the Landfall video:
The Mission: The Covenant control Earth. The Flood is unleashed. With the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, Master Chief is the only one that 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, bred for war… and humanity’s only hope.
The Blockbuster Saga Concludes. 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.
A Desperate Enemy: A Desperate War. In Halo 3, the third installment of this legendary epic, the war has come to a climax - the Flood continue to grow in numbers and strength, the armies of Earth are scattered and decimated, and the Covenant threaten to activate the Halo, effectively destroying all life in the galaxy. Master Chief’s mission: to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat and ultimately save mankind.
Watch the Halo 3 launch trailer.
The first-person shooter gameplay of Halo 3 is similar to the previous games in the series, taking place mainly on foot, but also includes sections focused on vehicle combat, be it on the ground or airbound. The balance of weapons and objects in the game was adjusted to better adhere to what Bungie Studios Multiplayer Designer Lars Bakken describes as the “Golden Triangle of Halo”. These are “weapons, grenades, and melee”, which are available to a player in most situations. Halo 3 contains the ability to dual-wield to get the combined firepower of two weapons at the same time, instead of fighting with grenades and melee attacks.
Your arsenal of weapons available includes many series’ favorites that have received that look a little better and their power has been tuned. Halo 3 introduces “support weapons”, which are exceptionally large, powerful, and cumbersome two-handed weapons which drastically limit the player’s normal combat options and slow them significantly, offering greatly increased firepower in return. For example, you can rip a turret from its Warthog or fort mounting and take it with you. In addition to new weapons, there’s a new class of usable items called Equipment of which you can carry one at a time: these items are found like weapons and have various effects and functions, ranging from defensive screens to shield regeneration and enemy confusion. New vehicles like the Brute Chopper and UNSC Hornet can be controlled, but some are A.I.-controlled like the Anti-Air Wraith and sadly Scarab. Certain vehicles controllable in campaign are not available by default in multiplayer and then some are only controllable in multiplayer.
Please remember that online multiplayer on the Xbox 360 is only available if you’re subscribed to Xbox Live Gold, luckily for those of you with an Xbox Live Silver account, as far as I’m aware every copy of Halo 3 comes with a free 2-day trial for Xbox Live Gold. Try it out, because 4-player online co-op and up to 16-player online multiplayer are such crazy fun and fine-tuned modes, that you have to have experienced them at least once in your life.
New features in Halo 3 include: 1. Forge, a map-editing tool that enables players to insert game objects, such as weapons and crates, into existing multiplayer maps. Almost all weapons, vehicles, and interactive objects can be placed and moved on maps with Forge. Forge allows multiple players to work on maps at the same time, players can turn into a Forerunner Monitor and edit and manipulate objects in-game. 2. Saved films, which allows players to save up to 100 films of gameplay to their Xbox 360’s hard drive, viewing the action from any angle (the camera can be detached from first-person view) and at different speeds. The Saved films are only game data (not an actual video) and this allows the file sizes to be smaller than a true recording and they’ll be recreated in real-time. Saved films can be replayed at whatever resolution the Xbox 360 is currently set to, regardless of which resolution was used when the film was recorded. Halo 3 offers a form of file sharing, where items such as saved films, screenshots (you can take these from films), custom game modes, and Forge settings can all be uploaded to the File Share. Anyone can browse user created content that has been uploaded to Bungie’s website on a PC and tag it to automatically download to their console next time they sign into Xbox Live.
The multiplayer designer at Bungie goes in-depth about the new features of Halo 3 multiplayer. Watch the multiplayer developer walkthrough.
Take a look at the third-person support weapons, bubble shield, and more, in the second part of the multiplayer developer walkthrough.
Key gameplay features:
* Next-generation experiences. With the power of the Xbox 360, Halo 3 raises the bar on the next-generation gameplay experience with non-stop action, an incredible story, massive battles, and visually stunning worlds.
* Stunning single-player action. Epic and compelling storytelling on a scale never before seen in interactive entertainment with new weapons, characters and challenges. You can experience Master Chief’s greatest battle as he transcends greatness and becomes a legend.
* Xbox Live multiplayer redefined. Working in concert with Xbox Live on Xbox 360, Halo 3 builds upon the unique social multiplayer experience of Halo 2 and promises to enhance the innovative and evolving online gameplay of Halo 2 on Xbox Live.
Key technology features:
* Evolution of a Blockbuster. Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, Halo 3 will expand on everything that has made the Halo franchise great and will add a wealth of technical advancements.
* Next-generation, high-definition visuals. Presented in stunning HD with a resolution of 720p and 1080i/p (scaled from 1152×640), see the well-known Halo universe as it’s never been seen before. State of the art HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting makes every scene look and feel like the real thing, from terrifying gloom to dazzling sunshine, adding more detail to every weapon, more texture to every character, and more realism to every battle.
* Enhanced A.I. Countless foes, each with their own distinct personality, strategy and fighting style, make for better encounters and more replay value, which will culminate in larger scale combat than ever before witnessed on the Halo battlefield.
* Split-screen support. Staying true to the original games, Halo 3 will support four player split-screen and system link gameplay, letting gamers battle it out both online via Xbox Live or with a group of friends right in their own living rooms.
* In-depth stat tracking and standings. Made famous as a key component of the renowned Halo 2 multiplayer experience, Bungie.net will continue to innovate how gamers track their progress, as they view their rankings and stats in real-time.
* Fully positional Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Duck as a rocket sizzles over head. Take action as the footsteps of a Covenant adversary echo in the distance. Every sound in Halo 3 is fully positional, bringing the world of Halo to an even more vivid level of realism.
Watch a Halo 3 gameplay montage.
In conclusion let’s see how much fun Halo 3 is on a scale from 1 to 10?
FUN FACTOR - 10 Halo 3 takes the best parts from Halo 1 and 2 and improves them to first-person shooter perfection. As epic as it was anticipated. It’s like your favorite comfy chair, sit down and relax, because you know you’ll have some fun. It’s no surprise that as of January 3rd, 2008, Halo 3 has sold 8.1 million copies worldwide. Daily around 1 million of those gamers are actively playing the multiplayer online for hours. A true statement of it’s playability thanks to the community features as a level creator (Forge), saved films (for bragging rights) and all the addictive multiplayer modes. As for the story mode with its huge scale, the best tip I can give you without spoilers is that after you finish the main campaign, keep watching your TV screen until after the credits stop rolling! You’ll be replaying it a lot too thanks to the brilliant 4-player online co-op. Since I bought my copy at launch, now that I’ve waited almost four months for the hype to die down, I can safely recommend Halo 3 for shooter and sci-fi fans. But really, it’s a must-have for every Xbox 360 owner!
Graphics - 9.0
While maybe not the best on the system, the graphics are technically impressive in such a way that they allow you to see distances of up to ten miles away in 3D and conjure up amazingly huge explosions. Halo 3 uses normal, bump, and parallax mapping to give surfaces more detail and then there’s tech in action that allows for High Dynamic Range, motion blurring, global lighting and depth of field effects within cutscenes, all the while maintaining a steady framerate as you play. The enemies look cool yet fierce. Maps are better designed than in the previous games and while the buildings are all very dark, the game’s art style is very colorful overall. Which you’ll see in both the many flashy special effects and in the environments, as you move from locations like jungles to deserts to snow planes.
Audio - 10
The music is a bombastic mix of old and new tunes composed again by Marty O’Donnell and performed by large orchestras that sound completely epic in 5.1 surround sound. You can also add your own custom soundtracks to the game background music. The sound effects are fantastic and make for an immersive ambiance, gunshots sound real and are satisfying. All in all there are over 50,000 pieces of audio, with nearly 40,000 of those being non-playable character dialogues! Reprising their fantastic and believable roles in Halo 3 are Jen Taylor as Cortana, David Scully 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, and of course Steve Downes as the voice of Master Chief. The game also features new voices from the likes of former Firefly cast members Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, and there are appearances from Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff and Gears of War lead John DiMaggio.
Ingenuity - 9.5
All your Halo controls are back, feels like home. Halo 3 is built the way fans of the series want it to be with easy controls for the four player online co-op, a level editor, screenshots (the one at the start of the review is of me playing with Master Chief), and the best matchmaking system in the world. It has a full theater mode. Level editing is live and collaborative, and even part of the multiplayer itself. Co-op includes a deep scoring system that provides welcome competition while battling together. While the difficulty can be unbalanced in the later campaign levels, what action there is, is thrown at you for maximum adrenaline-pumping action. It’s advised to play with people as the team A.I. isn’t perfect in its teamwork execution and driving skills, but you’re the star of the story filled with chaos so who cares. On top of all that’s great the game allows players to share their film clips, screenshots, Forge maps and custom gametypes with each other, with additional gameplay statistics collected on Bungie.net. While none of these features are new to video games, they have never been so honed to perfection and thoroughly and accessibly incorporated into an extremely full-fledged experience.
Replay Value - 10
Depending on the difficulty mode you choose and your play style (facing matters head-on is quick, but explorers take their sweet time) you can expect to spend anywhere from 8 to 10 hours playing through the single player campaign, and you’ll want to revisit the action-filled levels multiple times, especially to play (online) co-op with up to four players, it’s fun if they are your friends. The multiplayer mode is what drives the game with what feels like near-infinite replayability thanks to the Forge map editor, downloadable map packs and lots and lots of fun multiplayer modes that have a community in the millions. What I’m trying to say is that if you enjoy the multiplayer only so-so you’ll still be playing Halo 3 for weeks if not months, but if you LOVE the multiplayer in the Halo series you’ll be able to play Halo 3 until probably 3-6 years from now when “Halo 4″ or whatever Bungie will call it comes out.
To quote: “Our independance has us driving towards becoming a multi-game studio, and the first thing we’re gonna announce today…” after which the first Bungie employee gets cut off by the second one who says “Whooo ho, we’re not announcing anything yet.” Could it be Halo 4 or Marathon 4?
* Additionally, on 7/7, Microsoft is dropping the price of the Legendary Map Pack from 800 spacebucks to 600 spacebucks. — For now, Cold Storage will be implemented in regular rotation in playlists that require the Legendary Maps. To avoid confusion, playlists that previously required the Legendary Maps will now remind players that they need “all Maps” to participate, and since Cold Storage is free, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you to grab the map on July 7 and then return to your regularly scheduled business in SWAT.
