Beyond hype and hullabaloo, Halo 3 has been released

By Dan Zuccarelli . September 25, 2007 . 12:49pm

I don't envy the folks at Bungie. The expectations for the 3rd Halo game are sky high to say the least. With millions of pre-sales meaning guaranteed money in the bank and all eyes on Microsoft's shooter (at least in the states), is there any way that Halo 3 could possibly satisfy everyone? Left with the task of giving fans something new to enjoy while not straying too far from the formula that bred the success of the first two, it seems impossible to be all things to all people. 

 

The anticipation (and marketing) for Halo 3 has reached nearly biblical proportions, led by a unprecedented marketing blitz that included limited edition drink flavors and NASCAR sponsorships. And while that certainly puts a lot of pressure on Bungie, let's be honest it's almost all of their own doing. Last night it reached a fever pitch and is now luckily over. To be honest I was getting a little tired of it. With the exception of those "Believe" spots it all just reeked of George Lucas-esque marketing saturation.

 

But enough about all that nonsense! The game's out now and anyone can head down to the store and pick it up. At the end of the day all the marketing in the world don't matter one lick is the game's no good. So how's it play? 

 

The game picks up with the "ending" of Halo 2. The Covenant have pretty much taken over Earth on their quest to find a way to fire the huge Halo rings spread throughout the galaxy. Of course the flood show up again, making a mess of everything. And this time you'll fight side-by-side with the Arbiter. Of course that's all just a means to an end. The end being the reason to shoot anything that moves. Luckily in this area, Halo not only continues the formula of the first two games but improves upon it.

 

Easily the best addition this time around is the integrated co-op for the campaign, kinda like Gears of War. When you're playing solo the Arbiter tags along for the ride, though he manages to vanish from time to time when the fighting gets heavy. The AI of your teammates is about as well as can be expected for single player, which means occasionally watching them do stupid shit, but it's the playing along side friends where the campaign mode really shines. For the first time I didn't care that I looked like an idiot yelling into my headset, I was too into the fighting to care. For me to say that is saying ALOT.

 

I'm not through the entire campaign yet so I really can't speak for closure or length, but I'm really enjoying the hell out of it so far. Same goes for multiplayer, which I haven't delved into yet since I'm not really a huge deathmatch fan. I'm sure I'll get to it but for me the campaign is where the action is.

 

If you liked the first two, you'll like what you find here. It's a refined version of a proven formula.

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