It’s admirable to think that in spite of the mounting pressure, looming deadlines, and tremendous fanhype, Bungie never faltered in their step.  As much praise as the esteemed developer received after Halo 2, they knew they had just sqweaked by. Whether the design and narrative issues of Halo 2 were due to a lack of creative ideas or mismanagement after a sizable staff increase is up for discussion, but we still loved the game, despite its’ shortcomings.

Now, almost three years later, Halo 3 is finally hitting store shelves and the verdict is in: Christmas has come early this year and beloved fans will experience a truly compelling package featuring tons of depth and replayability, only this time both campaign and multiplayer are equally balanced.  Brimming with so much content means it’s just too much for one review.   Herein is part one of Gamehelper.com’s two part Halo 3 review feature. 

Today’s focus: The single-player campaign and all its variants (Please, feel free to continue as there are ZERO SPOILERS from this point forward).

Rewind and Re-Cap

At the end of Halo 2, the Prophet of Truth had the keys to galactic destruction and deluded his followers with stories of religious salvation.  Separated from her cyborg partner (the Master Chief), shipboard A.I. Cortana fell into the clutches of the evil Gravemind –leader of the infectious Flood parasite.  The, now infamously unresolved, ending unleashed a collective scream of discontent across the internets. Fear not friends, with the release of Halo 3 the epic conclusion we all desired is finally at hand.

Putting the ‘Brute’ in Brutal

The Halo philosophy has always been centered around “thirty seconds of fun” – the science of designing consistent encounter rates so as to keep the fun factor from slipping -, and Halo 3 doesn’t deviate from that formula.  It’s an admirable goal for any A.I. programmer to keep the player engaged with well balanced and seemingly ‘intelligent’ opponents.  Halo 3 delivers these types of encounters - consistently, with each difficulty level perfectly tuned for its target audience.  Normal mode is evenly paced for beginners while, at the other end of the spectrum, Legendary ramps up the A.I. and encounter rate (pros only need inquire within) as wave after wave of brutally difficult enemies will engulf your position, coordinating their attacks.  Eerily ‘omniscient’ at higher difficulties, your enemies appear as though sworn to keep you from finishing the fight. 

Most of Halo 3’s ’level-design’ is near perfect throughout with the exception of one particularly brutal encounter near the end of the campaign.  The environment’s close corridors were teeming with foes attacking from in front and above, making it difficult to navigate and well, to stay alive. .  This is a relatively small complaint at best, since the rest of Halo 3 is consistent and satisfying, and in context of the whole – deserved of our final score. 

That Halo Shine

The perfect complement to believable A.I. is visual fidelity and style and in this Halo 3 delivers.  Every environment in the game has been meticulously designed, detailed, textured and lit, resulting in an exceptionally tangible sense of depth and realism.  The lighting, in particular, stands out most spectacularly in the opening sequence as shafts of light work their way through the jungle canopy casting shadows across the narrow gorge, creating a play of light and shadow that will serve to frustrate your advances against the Covenant.  Though, you most likely won’t find the time to admire the fact that the Covenant technology glints magnificently under the rays of the sun, as their weapons rain down fire, destruction, and death down upon your position. 

The new look is impressive and though the results here will undoubtedly be compared to that of Epic’s Gears of War - it’s really an apples/oranges debate as the approach in design styles are quite distinct.  In fact, Halo 3 is easily one of the best looking games on the Xbox 360.  Period.

Inspired soundtrack aside, offered by series audio guru Marty O’Donnell, the star of the show is the in-game NPC dialogue which is rife with playful banter.  A.I. NPCs’ will actually respond to each other’s verbal cues.  Commands are relayed, orders shouted, and there is even slight dissention in the ranks (although very little) as friend and foe scurry about.  The voice-over cast doesn’t reinvent the wheel; rather they roll on, delivering loads of humor in the midst of seemingly dire straits.   

Having received harsh criticisms for its previous narrative work in Halo 2, it’s obvious that Bungie focused on delivering a straight forward story with less confusing subplots.  Yet, Halo 2 felt like it was missing some of the more epic moments of the original and there was an obvious difference in level design between the first two games.  Where the original game impressed players as they stormed the beach in levels like the 'Silent Cartographer', the second game scaled back and, although the vistas were huge, the firefights just weren’t as memorable. Similarly, the first Halo had way too much backtracking for a majority of the game while Halo 2 had none. 

Halo 3 manages to blend the best of both games distinct styles, serving up plenty of memorable moments set against amazing visual set pieces.  Jaded gamers might call it more of the same, but that would be too harsh a criticism since this is the third game in a trilogy.  Equally the narrative delivers a near perfect dose of cut scenes and in-game chatter to keep players focused for the duration of their experience (and less confused as they most likely were at the close of Halo 2).

Fragster Piece Theatre and the rest of Campaign

Console shooters have recently become a palette for the machinima audience to weave funny, interesting narratives of their own with shows like This Spartan Life and Red vs Blue.  Interestingly enough, it’s this line of thinking that makes the addition of Theatre Mode and Saved Films feel like more than just replayable video tools.  Of course, watching saved film can help players improve their play and these sorts of tools have spoiled the PC community for years, so pardon my enthusiasm, but Bungie has given Xbox 360 owners unprecedented access to the game’s assets.  Any level in campaign mode can be saved and watched in Theatre Mode and it’s deep toolset empowers the machinima crowd, providing dozens of possibilities for today’s digital Spielbergs’ – or maybe the next Red vs Blue team?

If you’re not into theatre (and some of you most likely could care less), there are enough alternative game modes offered within Halo 3’s primary campaign to keep even the fourth play-through fresh.  Campaign Scoring offers an arcade score variant to Halo 3 where points are tallied according to your kill method, encouraging players to fine tune their headshots, melee, and grenade skills.  Score multipliers enhance the experience by adding sharper degrees of difficulty to the challenge. 

But probably the greatest surprise in the Halo 3 package is its support for four player cooperative play over Xbox Live which surpasses anything offered by any of its predecessors.  Playing cooperatively across the network may be nothing new, but taking Halo beyond solo play and into the realm of a shared experience completely changes our perception of the narrative, and ultimately, the way we play.   

Halo 3: The Complete Console Shooter

Massive amounts of user hype and an avalanche of marketing (Halo 3 Mountain Dew!?!?) have had everyone talking about Halo 3 for months now.  And yet, marketing hype aside, Bungie has managed to endure the immense pressure to right the wrongs inflicted by Halo 2's rather abrupt ending while catering to fan expectations, resulting in what is surely to be considered the crown jewel in the trilogy.

With the long awaited release of Halo 3; it would appear the king of console shooters has finally arrived. Where other developers would likely have called it a ‘Gold Master’, Bungie takes Halo 3 to new heights, offering more entertaining campaign content than any title in its category to date. And that’s all without taking into account the multiplayer modes which I’ll discuss in the second half of this feature. Halo 3 manages to convey a sense of scope and scale that serves to envelope the player in a truly engaging experience they won’t soon forget.