Halo 3 (Xbox One) Review

Finish the fight.

 Halo 3 was the then-thrilling conclusion of the Master Chief saga released back in 2007. A continuation of the first two games, Halo 3 sees the game's hero Master Chief and the Arbiter back in action to finish the fight with the Covenant and Flood forces. The game was the first entry in the series to launch on the Xbox 360, the successor to the Xbox, and it was praised for being a satisfying conclusion to the series; some even calling it one of the best games of all time. Halo 3 was among the earliest games I recall playing on the Xbox 360 and fondly loving it. I'd often play the single-player campaign with my brother and move up to the multiplayer with friends. In short, I had some pretty great memories with Halo 3 and now that it's next game on the Halo: Master Chief Collection, it's time review one of developer Bungie's most beloved classics.

Following the climax of Halo 2, Master Chief returns back to Earth-- in New Mombasa, Africa-- only to find it being under control by the Covenant. Now with an unexpected ally in the Arbiter, the pair and the rest of the UNSC forces must fight back the covenant threat and stop their leader, the Prophet of Truth, who plans on launching "The Ark", which will activate all Halo rings and wipe all of signs of life from the galaxy. The story packs even more high stakes than before and it's not short on emotional moments as well. I loved the uneasy yet trusting dynamic between the Chief and Arbiter and Sergeant Johnson steals the show again with some memorable scenes too. What I didn't like was that Arbiter feels more of a side character now compared to Halo 2. I wish we had more moments of interaction with him and his fellow elites, but instead he's just there for cutscenes, which is a letdown. Nonetheless, the game's story ends on a satisfactory note that makes you excited what's in store in the future of the series.

The Chief's back to finish the fight.

 Halo 3 follows the same "If it works, improve on it" philosophy of Halo 2 by keeping the core basics while adding some new features. You still control the Master Chief from the first-person view and have access to your regenerative shields and motion sensor. While the story primarily focuses on Chief, the Arbiter still joins the adventure either as an AI partner or a second player. Dual-wielding makes a return as you get to carry two handguns in both arms (no dual needlers this time around though!) at the cost of accuracy. I love this feature as it's great for mowing down the annoying hordes of brutes and flood. The game's new additions include power-ups to aid you in combat. These include the likes of a bubble shield-- which shields you and your allies from all enemy fire, a clock ability that renders you invisible, and a turret that fires at enemies. I personally didn't use them as much since I just found them to be pretty weak and often times brute forcing your way got the job done more quickly. The game also introduces heavy support weapons, which are two-handed weapons like the Missile Pod Launcher, which will take out Wraiths and Scarabs without much trouble. My absolute favorite has to be the Spartan Laser, which after a brief charge, decimates anything in sight.

 Possibly my favorite feature of Halo 3 is the map editor mode, Forge. Here, you can choose preexisting multiplayer maps and go all-out by placing them with all kinds of weapons, vehicles, and objects all over it. It's a fun customization feature as I fondly remember plating hours on the Sandbox map, customizing it while also playing against my brother. The amount of absurd stuff you can do here is limitless, as I always loved placing a group of traps and hazards around my maps. Better yet, you can upload your creations online via Xbox Live and share the fun with others, which is a neat feature.

There is no new mechanics to the gameplay

aside from the secondary power-ups.

 While the game itself is spectacular, Halo 3 slightly falls flat on a few things. For example, it sucks to see that there's not much in terms of enemy variety, as you'll be fighting the same enemies from Halo 2. The brutes, grunts, flood, and sentinels are back and are just not as fun enemies as the elites were. That and I have to say that not many levels caught my attention in the game. Out of the game's 10 levels, I found four to be pretty alright. "Sierra 117" and "Crow's Nest" were great levels where you're fighting off the Covenant with the help of your UNSC buddies. "Tasvo Highway" was the first level where you get to freely explore the ruins of New Mombasa while also getting to drive new vehicles such as the Mongoose bike and the Brute Chopper. Another good one was "The Covenant", where you acquire the Spartan Laser for the first time and fly around in the Hornet, blasting away at enemy Banshees. The rest of levels are okay, though I didn't find them anything special. However, the worst Halo level I've played so far has to be "Cortana", which instantly invokes "The Library" vibes where you're constantly fighting off wave after wave of flood. The kicker this time is that unike the library, the level is narrow and the enemies give you little room to work with, which sucks since most flood pack energy swords, shotguns, and rocket launchers with them. It's easily one of the levels where I was patiently waiting for it to just end!


 As the first high-definition Halo game, Halo 3 has aged better than its two Xbox predecessors, to the point where it receives some minor enhancements for the Xbox One. The game doesn't receive the Anniversary treatment of its predecessors, however, it does receive a needed bump in frame-rate and resolution, as the game now looks fantastic at 60FPS, 1080p. Character models and backgrounds look fine though they slowly show their age. The animations, however, are far more smoother and hold up exceptionally well. The voice acting is great as ever with many commendable performances from Steve Downes, Jen Taylor, Keith David, and David Scully. The soundtrack is nothing short of phenomenal as composers Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori deliver some great tracks such as "Arrival", "Floodgate", "Cortana", and the ending theme.

Halo 3 holds up surprisingly well

 by today's standards.

 Halo 3 is among the best Xbox 360 games I've played and is just as great as I remember it. The narrative has some great moments and epic set-pieces, but it's disappointing that the Arbiter's story takes a back seat. The gameplay is still strong with the game adding new weapons, vehicles, and game modes (Forge being tons of fun back in the day). The presentation holds up well with the visuals and voicework being strong highlights. While it definitely has its shortcomings, Halo 3 still remains an engaging finale that I'll remember for years to come.