Halo 3

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Product Details

Description

Adding to Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the epic saga continues with Halo 3, the amazingly anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax.

Get ready. The Chief is back.

HDR lighting, self-shadowing, and more make Halo 3 look and feel realistic. View larger.

Mystery abounds with the return of Cortana. View larger.

Earth is conquered. The Covenant is everywhere. Halo 3 promises to be an epic journey. View larger.

Game developer Bungie announced that Halo 3 will be released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 sometime in 2007. The game was revealed to the world at the Microsoft press conference held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA in May 2006. To gamer's delight, the announcement was a complete surprise. The rumors have been abound for the past year, as everyone wondered when the next installment would be ready. Bungie and Microsoft did a stellar job keeping their lips sealed, and fans benefited from their first glimpse of the hallowed third and final installment.

The short presentation was delivered in real-time on the Xbox 360 using the current version of the Halo 3 game engine. That's right, no studio production video, Bungie and Microsoft delivered the real deal: what they showed at the announcement is what gamers will see when they play Halo 3 in 2007. The HDR lighting, self-shadowing, GPU-run particle system and many other effects are rumored to show up in full effect in the final game. Needless to say, the gaming community is salivating.

CJ Cowan, Bungie's director of cinematics discussed one of the most startling moments of the presentation: the return of Cortana. "Given the variety of character and story arcs at the end of Halo 2, we wanted to boil down our announcement to a few key threads. Cortana and the Chief being a galaxy apart is a situation we haven't seen before, and is something that is a powerful component to Halo 3. We are using her transmissions in the demo to give the viewer a few subtle clues to her situation and state of mind, without revealing any specifics we want to save for the game itself."

Graphically, the game closely follows in the tradition of Halo 2, although it has been upgraded to take advantage of the Xbox 360's more prodigious visual abilities. As art direct Marcus Lehto explained, "[The presentation] was intended to be an understated announcement of Halo 3 -- the tone is that of mystery and suspense -- the calm before the storm. I wanted to make sure that we reintroduced the Chief, showed that Earth was thoroughly conquered, with Covenant everywhere, and that there is a glorious, ancient artifact buried under the Earth's crust which will provide Halo 3 with the epic journey which we all want."

Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, Halo 3 expands on everything that has made the franchise great, adding a wealth of technical and gameplay advancements. The game design has evolved with next-generation, high-definition visuals, enhanced A.I., an advanced real-time lighting engine, and, of course, new weapons, characters, and challenges. Halo 3 promises an unparalleled first-person shooter experience and, in the end, the most compelling and engrossing story in the franchise's history. Last, but certainly not least, Halo 3 builds upon the unique social multiplayer experience and innovative, evolving online gameplay of Halo 2. Rest assured, you'll still be able to run with your clan and battle with (or against) your buddies from coast to coast.

Customer Reviews

Finish the Fight!

Halo 3 is a great sci-fi/horror first person shooter that is based on three main combat components: shooting, melee attacks and grenades.

The campaign is great, the universe rich and consistent, the story compelling. It is even better in co-op.

But what makes Halo 3 really special is its Multiplayer experience. Varied gametypes, useful True Skill system matching you up with people of comparable experience, great maps, hundreds of thousands of people online at all times... it's totally excellent.

A great game that provides hours and hours of entertainment. Well worth the price and the hype, if you ask me.

Bad Game

My older bros. have this game but i think people get excited over nothing. Wii games are better and you can just complete Halo 3 in two days. All you do is going around killing freaky alien dudes.

Legacy Continues

When Halo 2 was released the Halo series exploded into a household name. Master Chief was on lunch boxes and people were trying to figure out how to create the spartan suit for Halloween. Needless to say, the expectations were high for Halo 3. How could the second game be surpassed?

Bungie's developers have created a unique balance for Halo 3 that has enabled them to retain the elements of Halo 2 that we adore while still being able to provide a unique feel to Halo 3. The first draw is probably the continuation of the story and how the Halo war is going to conclude. The second is, of course, the next gen graphics that will capture the eye and draw you into the stunning scenery until you realize you have been killed while distracted. However, the new elements added into the game have given an entire new strategic dimension to Halo 3. New vehicles, weapons, gadgets and enemies give the familiarity of Halo 2 but with a gripping sense of freshness that is the result of Bungie's brilliance. The seamless transition of the story line from Halo 2 to 3 makes you forget the anxious years of waiting for the sequel as the opening sequence depicts Chief's crashlanding on earth to be reunited with the Arbiter and earth's forces. The soundtrack, again, is second to none with familiar orchestral melodies and new guest performers. And my favorite new addition, four player co-op is an adventure that cannot be missed. I am certain Halo Parties will continue for months after the release of this title that can now include more of your friends in your attempts to save the universe. I am certain we woke up most of residence on a Saturday morning as we all plugged in for the first time together. Getting chased down with a gravity hammer is one thing on your own, do it with three close friends at your side and the house comes down.

Having started on the original pong as a game platform and having seen them all when it comes to games, some of the most fun straight out of the box I've had with any console game was Halo 3. I highly recommend this title if you are a FPS fan, if you are a science fiction fan or even if you can just appreciate amazing talent being put forth to create a work of art.

Rent it if you don't have xbox Live.

This game is a follow up to Halo 2 but offers new game types and weapons. Also the graphic details are improved for the xbox 360.
The game is short, Novice mode can be completed in 6 hours.
However achievements are offered for beating the game in every difficulty but easy. Which offers about 24 hours of game time.

The best feature to Halo 3 much like Halo 2 is the online competition.
If you play online, you could be hooked for months.
Get out of your shell and find the golden skulls.

Love
Indecipherable.

This Is The Biggest Game Ever,A cultural Phenomenon,This Is Halo 3

After the succes that Halo and Halo 2 have receved on the original XBOX,the epic Halo saga finally came to the XBOX 360 on September 25th 2007.The launch date has been marked on the calendar of every gamers even those who didn't plan to buy it or don't even have an XBOX 360,whatever would happen it would still be Halo 3 and sell millions of copies.The launch did happen as planned by Bungie and Microsoft,unlike many games who have been delayed,it is no surprise that Halo 3 sold millions of copies and the game ultimatly receved mixed but mostly positive review and attracted many gamers to XBOX Live.Those are all facts but continue reading for my personnal review.

As someone who has actually PLAYED THE GAME,Halo 3 in my opinion is true to the Halo serie and brings much of the same insane fun that millions had playing the first two Halo games.It is similiar to Halo 2 but with a few improvements in the game itself,new weapons,vehicles and a better online play with some new things added such as grades for your character(ranked as General for exemple) and the ability to now record,take screenshots,or just watch your entire matchs as much as you want by saving them on you XBOX 360 hard drive and put them on XBOX Live.If you have XBOX Live then you should stronlgy consider buying this game.

The ending of Halo 2 was pretty bad as many gamers will agree,i am one of them.Now with Halo 3 at least its wrapping the Halo story properly and you feel like you really did something,only for that Halo 3 is great.The storyline is alright.The story stays true to Halo and concludes what is said to be the final chapter of Halo greatly as you will see after you completed the game really good and you discover why there won't be Halo 4,on that point its great.

The controls are easy if you played Halo before,Halo 3 is much of the same on that point.Don't worry it is still a FPS.The controls can be resumed as easy,quick to learn,fun,well designed and they feel great great unlike some games where the controls feel all bad.They made some changes but for the better as it takes advantage of the XBOX 360 controller's triggers(you use them to shoot)it feels great.Those are some of the best controls i have experienced on my XBOX 360 so far.

The single play is pretty solid on the story mode,its pretty fun and the game did a good job of getting me into it early on.Having played the first two Halos i had the experience necessary to get trought the game,if you haven't played it before you will get into it rather quickly.I liked the missions so i can say story mode is definatly worth playing and fun.Some missions are longer than others while others are shorter,some are better,some are bad.Its mixed in many areas but its worth playing.I had lots of fun discovering the new weapons and try to make the best dual-up combination(i came up with some pretty good ones).I had even more fun discovering the new vehicles i don't want to give too much details and ruin the experience for you so i will stay quiet abnout the new weapons and vehicles.

Multiplayer is neat if you have some of your friends to play it,if you don't you can't play multiplayer as the game simply doesn't have bots for multiplayer.That's right DOES NOT HAVE BOTS,Halo after all those years still doesn't have any bots.For those who have XBOX Live,no need to care but for those won't don't and can't get it,its bad as you can't play alone multiplayer or online,wich is where the true fun of the game was in the first two Halos and remains in Halo 3.That point right there will make potential buyers not buy it,because at this point of age in the video game industry if you can't even have bots in the game...

And also those who play online but don't like the experience for various reasons(hackers,bad connection...) might have prefered playing with bots instead.Yes bots might be things of the past for many and online is the future but still its nice to have them in the game.That is deceving for some but that's how it is.I think Microsoft did that on purpose to get more people on XBOX Live,that's a smart strategy but had they put put bots ainvailable in multiplayer they would have got bigger sales....

Alright enough bot talk.Now lets talk Online,there might be some problems and it can be frustrating but if you are looking for a great game online and online experience Halo 3 is your buy.Online is wicked fun,i can't really say a lot for it except online for Hallo 3 is great.This is where the real fun of the game is.

Im conclusion to this long review,Halo 3 is a must for the XBOX 360 gamer especially if you have online,if you don't have it you should.I am satisfied with what Bungie offered with Halo 3,a great XBOX 360 experience for all gamers.I think it ,lives up to the hype.I recommend this edition for those who wants to save cash and don't care for extras.For those who like Halo a lot then consider the special edition and if you are a Halo freak then by all means buy the Legendary edition that has the master chief helmet.