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Microsoft HALO 3 (M) FOR 360 GAME Review

Doesn't live up to hype

"Pros

Good graphics

Great music

Nice cutscenes

Frequent auto-save checkpoints keeps you moving along even if you die

Interesting storyline (even if somewhat contrived in places)

Campaign gameplay is pretty fun (while it lasts)

Decent level design



Cons

Way too short

End "boss" battle is a complete letdown

No real bosses to speak of (just masses of same old handful of monster types)

Only one savegame (switch to campaign mode from solo? change difficulty setting? lose your save)

Nothing new for competitive multiplayer (same old run, shoot, jump, die, respawn... been doing that for 15+ years)

Missions have far too much backtracking (makes it boring... "I've already been here")

Too few types of enemies (it's boring to kill the same handful of monster types over and over again)

Constantly reloading is annoying (you'd think by now we'd be past shotguns with a handful of rounds)

Constantly searching for weapons after running out of ammo is annoying

Entire "veto" system is archaic and stupid (why can't I just request a particular type of game in matchmaking?)

Too few weapon types

Vehicle control is terrible (even the computer A.I. has trouble driving)

Too many/too long cutscenes (feels like I'm watching the game rather than playing... most of the actually interesting things happen in cutscenes)

Many bugs still in the game



Additional Thoughts

This game definitely falls short of the wild pre-release hype. Perhaps people new to the genre or to deathmatch arenas will find it fun for a while, but old-hats like me will quickly get bored. The game is just way too short, repetitive, and the competitive multiplayer is "been there, done that, bought the t-shirt". Halo 1 and 2 players will likely enjoy being able to finally "finish the fight", even if it isn't exactly very exciting. Still, don't expect anything new or mind-blowing. Quite a disappointment."