Halo 3

I was first introduced to the Halo world early this year. Ray brought over his xbox to give Jem something to do when we were out doing the Couple Thing. He gave her Halo 1 to play. When I watched her play it I thought I'd never get a hang of the controls. I've only ever played PC games - never with a controller. It all looked far too complicated.

About a month later I picked it up and had a go for myself. I took to it quite well. Driving the car for the first time had me in tears of laughter. I completed the game on Easy and then moved onto Halo 2. I wasn't as keen on Halo 2 but once I figured out the new guns I found it quite easy. I then worked my way up through the settings. I finished Legendary on both games last month. Legendary on Halo 1 seemed easier to me than it did on Halo 2. But I do much prefer Halo 1.

When Halo 3 was released Ray, of course, bought a copy. He is obsessed with the game, and his obsession has rubbed off on me. I adore Master Chief, and of course hate Cortana (cos she's after my man ;D). I told Ray to play the game through first cos he is an amazing player and I knew if I played it we'd all still be sat there a month later wondering how the damn thing ended.

First of all: the graphics.



It looks amazing. And I mean amazing. Halo 1 and 2 look like games compared to Halo 3. Halo 3 looks, feels and sounds like a real event. It feels like you're really on earth, really at war, and it does all rest on your shoulders. Everything is real.

Secondly: the story.



I always found the story quite hard to follow - too much going on, and I was too intrested in shooting everything that moved. Halo 2 really pushed the story arc but that just confused me even more. Halo 3 was meant to "tie up all the loose ends". I'm not sure it did that. I was, once again, left a little confused. I was helped this time by having read the three Halo books before playing it. So I understood what was happening to Cortana and what the things she said meant. If you haven't read "The Fall of Reach" then you probably won't ever understand all the things she says. So that was good. But the rest of it just confused me, as always. Maybe a few more plays and I'll understand it.

Thirdly: the kills.



The enemies look and sound great - real just like the rest of the game. The Grunts's balls have either dropped or are in the process of so their voices are deeper or that embarrassing in-between stage. There's a lot more Brutes and they now wear different coloured armour like the Elites did. There are no fights against the Elites, which is sad cos I used to love killing the Elites. The Jackals are easier to kill, thank God cos I hate those bastards. The Flood look very scary now - much more believable. And the Pure Forms are, well, I found some of them a bit silly - but spidery-monsters always seem a bit silly to me.

There's a couple new weapons, which are fun. The new vehicles - and old - are heaps and heaps of fun. The levels look amazing. Your marine friends aren't nearly as stupid (which I think is a bit sad).

Overall the game is good - fantastic even. It looks great, feels great, sounds great - it's just all very good. My only complaint is its length. I've seen the extra features disc and seen how it was made and I can totally see why the game is so short. I understand that budget and time restraints can come into play, especially when you're making each level look so good, but considering this is Halo 3, that it has a huge following and shit-loads of money, I'm disappointed that they didn't lengthen it. Plus it is pretty much a copy of Halo 1. For example: there's a beach level, a Cartographer mission, a mad-dash car ride - all very familiar. Kind of good in a way cos it means you get to see how Halo 1 always looked in the eyes of the makers but also kind of bad cos then it's not really anything that new. I'm afraid they sacrificed the Campaign for all the Multiplayer options, which is no good to me cos I don't like Multiplayer.

So, yes, buy it buy it buy it - of course you have to. It is the best game visually you're probably going to see for a long time. It's Halo for God's sake so you're going to want to see it and play it - if only to see how it all ends. But don't be surprised when it suddenly ends.

Oh! And you can watch back your game and pan the camera around for different angles, and also take screenshots. Guess what I'm going to be playing with now? I'm starting the game on Easy tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on.

Labels: halo, jem, photos, ray

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