Halo 3 is the final chapter of the Halo trilogy. It is a first-person shooter game produced by Bungie for the XBOX 360. The story of Halo 3 picks up right where Halo 2 left off. For those people who have not followed the Halo storyline, basically the story revolves around a war between humanity and a group of aliens called the Covenant. The main character in all the Halo games has been Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced soldier, who leads humanity in the war against the covenant. In Halo 2, Bungie introduced a new character called the Arbiter, which is part of a rogue group in the Covenant. In Halo 3 the gamer takes control of either the Master Chief or the Arbiter. On top of these two playable characters, a few others return including: Sergeant Johnson, Cortana, Gravemind, and Miranda Keyes.
There are various new features that were added to the gameplay in Halo 3. The two most obvious features would be the new and enhanced graphics, and the new part of the story in the campaign mode. On top of those features Bungie add new weapons, new vehicles, and a few brand new levels in the multiplayer mode.
The new weapons are as follows:
There are also various large weapons which are very powerful, but require the use of two hands and cause the character to move slower. These weapons include:
There are several vehicles that were added into the game, but only two are usable in the multiplayer.
- The Mongoose, which is a two person fast moving vehicle
- The Prowler, which is the Brute equivalent to the Ghost
- The Chopper, which is a larger brute vehicle that has 2 cannons on the front
- The Hornet, which is the human counter to the Covenant Banshee
As most people who really wanted to play this game have heard, its short. I do admit that the campaign mode is really good and does tie the series together nicely. The problem is that a good person can beat the game in a few short hours.
However, Bungie definitely made up for it with the multiplayer mode. Of the new features, the ranking system has definitely made things interesting. A player now gets a 1-50 rank based on ranked-games matches. On top of that everyone also gets a medal which signifies the amount of matches they have won totally, both in ranked matches and social matches.
In addition to the ranking system, Bungie added several new levels and remodeled a few old levels. The multiplayer maps are as follows :
- Construct : this is a new map, and it is very difficult to describe in words. Basically this is a map with a lot of levels, which are connected by gravity lifts and ramps.
- Epitaph : this is a new map, and is basically just one building. The players fight in the one big room inside the building, or on the ramps ouside.
- Guardian : this is a new map, but it seems like the jungle version of Lockout. It is a very small level with a lot of small buildings.
- High Ground : this is a new map, and consists of a base at the top of a hill. One team always starts the match at the bottom of the hill and the other team starts inside the base.
- Isolation : this is a new map but has a common symmetry to the Midship map. It consists of a big hill with tunnels running underneath it.
- Last Resort : this map is a remake of Halo 2's Zanzibar.
- Narrows : this is a new map, and basically it consists of two buildings separated by a ravine and connected by two bridges.
- Sandtrap : this is a new map, and basically consists of a gigantic desert, with a lot of buildings in the middle of the map. This map is designed for games with bigger teams and contains a lot of vehicles.
- Snowbound : this is a new map, and basically consists of a big snowy open field, with a base on each side of the field.
- The Pit : this is a new map, and basically consists of a big room with lots of ramps and hallways.
- Valhalla : this map is basically a remake of the original Blood Gulch.