07/07/2008
From the minute I put the X-Box controller down, shaking with euphoria at the end of Halo: Combat Evolved, I’ve been waiting impatiently for the next installment; the first Halo game on a new generation of consoles. The good news is that it’s finally here. The bad news is that I’m shaking like Michael Moore’s rump. Again.
From the first time you step out into the sunlight to slay Brutes foolish enough to use Sergeant Johnson as bait, to the first time you realise that shooting a grenade on the floor will blow it up, Halo 3 shimmers and glows, reflects and absorbs and grabs hold of you, threatening never to relinquish it's grip. It made me buy an X-Box 360; it made me take 3 days off work to play it; it made me sweat; it made me laugh; it made me cry out in anger; but it never made me regret any of these. It’s a masterpiece.
When I first completed Halo: Combat Evolved on legendary, I got a sense of satisfaction seldom felt when playing computer games; the feeling that you have been a part of something special that you'll remember for a long time. Eternity even. Few games can claim this - maybe some Miyamoto classics, or Link and a certain princess possibly, but Halo 3 joins this short list.
You see, all share a sense of completeness; a combination of interaction, story-telling, graphics and sound; control and skill being conducted together to create an experience that the programmers truly envisaged you to be a part of. Halo redefined the first-person shooter and Halo 3 very much follows in its footsteps. If you didn't like Halo then you won't like Halo 3; if you don't like first-person shooters then you won't like Halo 3; but that’s not to say you won't appreciate the engineering that has gone into it.
Every texture, every barrel and every enemy placed; every voice and every instrument sampled for the soundtrack and audio; the story; the camera angles; the experience; all have all been crafted with the greatest care and attention to detail. This was meant to be played 1000 times, again and again, to give a different experience each time. The A.I is frighteningly intuitive at times. High ranking Brutes order lower ranking Grunts to flush you out with grenades and the enemies will try to out flank you if you hold back with suppressive fire. Grunts will run at you on kamikaze missions with 2 lit plasma grenades; Brutes will surprise you with their ability to avoid fire; Brute Chieftains will terrify you in ways that Commander Elites never could. The only complaint would be that the game just isn’t long enough…
At first it’s remarkable how easily you slip into the Halo 'zone' again: the balance of the weapons; the importance of targeting certain enemies in a group first; the grenades under their feet before you wade into battle; the Chief being the same faceless arbiter of your desires… But the sheer scale of the battles really sets the game apart. We’re talking epic!
As with Halo 2, for whom the multiplayer was the saving grace, the multiplayer in Halo 3 will probably survive decades of group-play gaming. The maps are being updated and upgraded all the time thanks to the online resource's remarkable testament to the quality of action. Up to 250,000 people regularly play online at any one time (as long as America is awake), making Halo 3 one of the finest multiplayer games on the market.
Perhaps you'll have trouble choosing which weapon to wade into battle with and you'll have to adjust to disliking Brutes as much as you did the Elites because they lack the grace that the Elites had, but they bring a fresh character of their own to the battles and by the end they will have earnt your respect just as the Elites did 7 years ago. You should buy Halo 3 if you don't have it. You should savour it; embrace it; marvel at its achievements. It's what Halo was and so much more. Ten times over. Ed Breakenridge |
