Halfway through the Master Chief Collection! BACKGROUND:
Again, refer to the Halo 1 blog entry for my background on the Halo series. PLOT: Halo 3 picks up right where the last game left off, as Master Chief returns to Earth to stop the Prophet of Truth from activating the other Halos. In Halo 2, the existence of something known as the Ark was revealed, and it does exactly what the Prophet wants. It quickly becomes a race between the Covenant and the UNSC to get to the Ark, but things get complicated when the Gravemind (who was also introduced in Halo 2) gets involved. Joining Master Chief is the Arbiter and his band of Elites, who were cast out by the rest of the Covenant in the previous game. Now aware of the lies of the Covenant doctrines, they help the humans in their fight to stop the Prophet as well as the Gravemind. I really liked this alliance; it's a bit more nuanced than the typical "aliens bad, humans good" narrative that the first game was, plus I liked how the Arbiter and Master Chief gradually grew to respect one another. My only gripe is that the Arbiter is just along for the ride in this one, as opposed to his more prominent role in Halo 2. Compared to Halo 2, Halo 3 is a more straightforward plot, focusing solely on the race to the Ark (as opposed to doing a lot of world-building). It's easier to follow overall, and unlike Halo 2, it actually has a definitive (and satisfying) ending. The only real thing that strikes me as odd is the abruptness of some character deaths, the game's penchant for cutting into weird "hallucination" sequences, and the strange influx of truces followed immediately by double crosses. There isn't much to say about the characters, apart from the Master Chief-Arbiter alliance I previously mentioned. Cortana isn't as prominent in this one as she was previously, and Gravemind is still too enigmatic a character for me to get into. Also, Guilty Spark (who has been around since Halo 1) really overstays his welcome at this point (at least for me); something about the character just didn't click with me. PRESENTATION: There's no remastered version of Halo 3's graphics, so you get the original look, except upscaled to 1080p60. Compared to the previous two games, this game aged a bit better (and the upscaled resolution helps with that), but stuff like the faces still look dated. The music is still great, and all the renditions of the Halo main theme in here are fantastic. All I'll add is that Halo 3's OST has done more than enough to cement its place as one of my favorite video game soundtracks ever. I will mention that the HUD for this game is much more improved than that of the previous games. I didn't mention the HUD in the blog entries for Halo 1 and 2 (mostly because they weren't that notable), but Halo 3's HUD is larger and much easier to read. GAMEPLAY: Again, Halo 3 retains the first person shooter gameplay of the first two games, but adds a bunch of new stuff and changes to keep things fresh. Apart from what I'll say below, there isn't much in the way of significant overhauls (apart from completely new level designs, of course). As expected, you have a bunch of new weapons to try out, like the Spiker, the Mauler, and the really fun Gravity Hammer. Older weapons have been altered slightly as well, like how the Needler can't be dual-wielded anymore. In addition to that, there are new grenade types too, like incendiary grenades. Another cool thing you can do is detach mounted turrets and wield them as two-handed weapons, which is fun (though you move slower when doing this). I liked a lot of the new features (especially the unga bunga nature of the Gravity Hammer), and I'd go out of my way to use them despite being accustomed to the older weapons. Another new thing you can use is equipment. These are like power-ups you can pick up, and they all have various effects. The Bubble Shield, for example, deploys a shield you can stand in, while an Auto Turret sets down... an automatic turret (makes sense). You can only carry one piece of equipment at a time, however. I thought this was a cool addition, as these items really come in handy in a pinch. New vehicles also join the fray, like the Hornet (which is essentially the human equivalent of the Banshee), the Chopper (the Brute version of the Ghost), anti-tank Wraiths, and more. There are still a good amount of dedicated vehicle sections in some of the levels, and they're still a ton of fun (especially with the new vehicles). Most of the enemies are from previous games, but there are a few new ones, plus alterations to some existing ones. In place of the Elites, you'll be mostly fighting Brutes, which is a change that reflects the story developments of the last game. A quality-of-life change I really appreciated is the game making more use of quest markers during gameplay. I mentioned having trouble finding my way around in the first game, and that issue is practically nonexistent here. VERDICT: Halo 3 doesn't do much to change the series formula established at the point of its release, but its tried-and-true FPS gameplay still feels really good, and the small updates and new levels are enough to keep things fresh. The story, albeit basic, is decent and actually has a conclusion; plus, it caps off the original trilogy in an interesting way. Though I quite like the first two games, I think this is my favorite Halo game so far. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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