Halo 3 Review By A Non-Writer

[Dave]

Let me begin by getting this out of the way: Halo 3 Kicks Royal Ass. Run and gun action returns to us in a pretty package, and if you like first person shooters, you must get this game. Yes, it's the expected response, but it has thus far held true.

The meat and potatoes of this game is the multiplayer. The campaign is fun, and you will have tons of fun playing through the full game with 3 other buddies covering you. Finish the Fight, watch the pretty, smooth graphics, and pull in your bragging rights with co-op scoring and achievements. Then, jump into what will take up the rest of your gaming life for the next few months, the multiplayer.

The multiplayer system is, without a doubt, one of the best I've seen. When you start up your game for some multiplayer action, you're set in a lobby where you can see which of your buddies are currently playing. If some of your friends have set up a team, and there is room for one more, you are given the option of joining up with them. Alternatively, you can take the initiative and start sending out invites to your friends, watch your lobby fill up, and set your team up for ranked games, which limit you to a team of 4, or non-ranked games (called "social games") which allow you and your team of up to 8 to take on other players on Live, or step it up to 16 players for large in-house games.

The Ranking system is also done very well. Whenever you join a ranked game, the ranking system will match you to other players of relatively equal skill, based on your play history. The first few matches may make you feel really good or really bad about yourself depending on your base skill and luck, but after you have a few matches under your belt you will begin to notice that the games are more evenly match. The only way to climb the ladder is to keep playing and keep getting better. When you play with a team, the game will average out the skills of all involved, and the end result of a match usually tells of a close game, even if the kill counts of individual players are widely different.

Speaking of player skill, if you have any experience with first person shooters, Halo 3's controls feel really intuitive and the game is easy to pick up and play. Your character, be it a Spartan or Elite, will do what you tell him to and any mistakes in action can be pegged as lack of experience. Keep playing and keep learning. And if you insist on playing your way, you are free to change your button layout. Halo Boxers, you know what to do.

Halo 3 is not a ground breaking game. Halo 3 is a good game done better, with time, thought, and effort put into it to ensure that you have the best experience possible with something you already love. I'm all for the progress of video games, but improving on something that's already good is always welcome. Again, if you have any love for first person shooters, buy this game and play it, you won't be dissapointed.
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"Addiction can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only be changed."
-Clango, Diesel Sweeties
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I (heart) Hanners of Questionable Content.

[Mike]

I kyll pepple gud.
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