Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

Saving the best for last, Bungie has done it again.
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 4 Comments | Page 3 of 3

We're not going to fawn over Halo 3 and tell you how visually impressive it is. Truth be told, we're now into third-generation Xbox 360 games -- games have to look awesome; it's pretty much a given. Even though Bungie had all the time in the world to work on Halo 3, we expected a little more in terms of visual 'wow.' For example, in some of the cut scenes, the characters' faces are little too blocky (Sarge comes to mind). Aside from the new Brute units, the other Covenant characters look basically the same as they did in the original Halo. Halo 3 also doesn't run at 1080p or even 720p; it runs at a slightly lower resolution than 640p (to deal with all the new lighting effects) -- when placed side-by-side with Halo 2, the visuals are marginally better. Sure, the draw distance might be farther, there are more enemies on-screen to shoot, and the game overall is brighter than previous Halos, but honestly, we wanted the feeling that we got the first time we played Gears of War. We remember thinking, 'Now this is what a next-generation game should look like.' Halo 3 -- not so much. Yes, it is the best looking Halo game ever; we just wanted a little more.

In the end, when you throw all of it together -- the Campaign, multiplayer, Forge and the Saved Films -- Halo 3 is one helluva gaming experience for only $60. From start to finish, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. Sure, I can nitpick about the game's visuals and multiplayer modes, but overall, Bungie has done a fine job living up to the hype, and Halo 3 is one of their crowning achievements. Master Chief should be proud.

This review was based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.