GREG BARNETT
Sports Assistant
Since 2005, gamers around the world have been waiting for the final installment of Halo, the first-person shooter video game that has been the most successful game on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. On Sept. 25, Halo fans got their wish and Halo 3 was released. If you loved Halo 2, you are sure to be a fan of its sequel.
Halo is the story of Master Chief, a biologically enhanced super-soldier, who is protecting earth against the Flood, creepy-crawly characters that attack anything in sight, and the Covenant, an alien species that tries to destroy all life in the Universe.
Although the game is basically made up of killing creatures that get in your way, Bungie Studios, the makers of Halo, added and changed little things that help it live up to its expectations, such as improved high definition graphics.
Not surprisingly, Halo 3 already has smashed sales records previously held by Halo 2. In its first day, the game raked in $170 million in sales and had more than one million gamers play online on Microsoft’s Xbox Live network.
In the campaign mode, gamers play as Master Chief, and fight the Covenant with his alien partner in crime, the Arbiter. In the campaign, gamers can also play Co-Op, meaning a friend can play as the Arbiter so that both players can take on the Covenant.
The game is fast-paced with many weapons, such as a sniper rifle, assault rifle, rocket launcher and a new favorite, a huge hammer that smashes aliens to bits if players get close enough.
Early in the game, one of the most enjoyable parts is jumping on an enemy anti-aircraft tank and jumping off it right before your grenade blows it up.
Every Halo game to date has had picturesque landscapes throughout the campaign, and Halo 3 is no exception. Throughout the game, aliens sprint and shoot at players over vast valleys, jungles and, of course, spaceships.
Although the campaign is fun, that is not the reason that Halo has had such an immense following. What keeps gamers coming back for hours and hours on end is the online multiplayer portion of the game.
It is incredibly fun to play Halo online with friends against gamers from all over the world. Gamers play within the confines of perfectly designed maps with weapons to destroy the other characters to their heart’s content.
Players are able to get in a “party” with their friends and play as a team against other teams, as well. Bungie’s software matches the party against teams of, or around, the same ranking as a gamer’s own team to create an even match.
Players are ranked simply on how many wins and losses they have accumulated over their Halo 3 career. Whatever a gamer accomplished in Halo 2 does not matter, as everybody starts over in Halo 3 and races to be its best player in the world.
Bungie has not changed much with the multiplayer’s game play, but it has changed enough to make it better than Halo 2. Gamers will find a new batch of multiplayer “maps,” which are the different levels at which the individual games take place.
The new maps look great in high definition, and the new weapons and vehicles are an improvement.
Although Bungie did not change much in the overall aspect of the game, they didn’t need to. Bungie created a solid ending to its blockbuster trilogy and are now planning multiple projects to try and capitalize on the Halo name. Halo Wars is slated to come out in 2008 on Xbox 360, and a Halo movie has been rumored for some time with Academy Award winners Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh producing the film.
10-04-2007
