Halo 3
iaian7 » blog John Einselen, 8.10.07This past weekend has been awesome! A couple friends from Indiana drove up to my new place in Detroit to hang out for a bit… I love it when I get to hang out with friends! They also happened to bring an Xbox 360.
and Halo 3.
I should probably preface this by saying I’m not really much of a gamer. In college I hosted a few halo parties, but never played much myself till the last one… and was quickly beaten by some girls. Not that I’m sexist, but it was rather depressing, since they’d never played before at all. I eventually did get an Xbox system and a few games (Prince of Persia being one of my favorite single player games, simply because the graphics were beautiful), but for the most part, I don’t play unless someone else is there. It’s a social thing, and the best part about halo matches is the wild furor of a room full of people yelling and screaming as they slaughter each other.
Halo 3 is quite the update to the series! Multiplayer gaming is great, with both new maps and new game styles. In Halo 1 a friendly game of rockets was quite a bit of fun, especially when jousting with vehicles… in Halo 2 it was more of the same, though I found a few games of pistol whip to be rather addictive. Halo 3 has a wider array of games and variants, and a better system for organizing changes. Plus… it adds what could possibly be the best game yet; Zombies. Take the manic hilarity of rocket launchers or pistol whipping your comrades, and multiply it at least 2.67 times. You can start off with any number (or percentage) or players set to “zombie” status, and the game lasts until everyone has been bitten and reborn as the undead… special abilities such as superhuman speed or an abnormal aversion to gravity, and the need for group collaboration to survive (or attack, depending on your side) makes the game all that much more amazing.
I never got through Halo 1 or 2 in campaign mode, save for a few levels on “easy” (yes, I’m a wimp, and I’ll happily refer you to the preceding paragraph clarifying my less-than-gamer roots). Tyler was kind enough to put up with me as we played co-op for a good 5-6 hours straight. Without having played the previous titles in their entirety myself, I can’t form a good comparison, but having seen plenty of other people playing… Halo 3 kicks. Bungie is really rather brilliant at weaving in a solid story line, and now I’m all the more upset that the film isn’t getting made! Or perhaps, I’m all the more upset that the film, if made, may have a truly horrible director (have you seen the short films Neill Blomkamp recently released online? need I say more?).
The Halo campaign story line is grandiose, epic, and preposterously heroic, but somehow in a good way. Set against incredible vistas and gorgeous in-game graphics, Halo 3 features an excellent continuation of themes and characters from the first two games, and does so with a breathtaking score. Melodic motifs from the first two are expanded upon, and new ones added. For something that might be scoffed at as being “lowbrow”, it’s far more elegant than you might think. The soundtrack is not to be missed.
The real magic, though, could simply be in the graphics. Halo 3 implements high dynamic range imagery and detailed textures throughout. Highlights and reflections are far better, as are lighting and particle effects. There are points in game play where you just want to stop and admire the breathtaking scenery… and all in real time. Level of detail adjustments are especially obvious in multiplayer mode, where the system cuts down on quality in order to render multiple vantage points, but it never completely breaks down.
To be honest? This game has done more than any other to convince me I need a 360… 
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