Now Playing: Halo 3

I played Halo 3 on its original release in 2007, but it’s been at least 10 years since I replayed it, so I was curious to see how it would stack up today compared to Halo 1 & 2. It’s generally regarded as one of – if not the best – Halo campaign and overall, that’s an assessment I’m inclined to agree with.

Halo 3 gets off to a somewhat slower start than Halo 2, but it soon ramps up into one of the most exciting and fun shooter campaigns you’ll ever play. Unlike Halo 2, which became more linear and restrictive as you progressed, Halo 3 plays to the key strength of the series – open, sandbox combat environments.

Playing either in solo or co-op is a blast as you navigate these open maps. And Halo 3, acting as the conclusion of the Human / Covenant war, includes plenty of large scale, vehicle based combat missions with plenty of friendly and enemy characters. Halo 3 took all of the best aspects of 1 & 2 and combined them into a thoroughly entertaining campaign from beginning to end – and one which wraps up this particular Halo story to a satisfying degree.

The combat is as smooth and enjoyable as ever – although noticeably easier than I recall, even on Legendary. The lack of shielded elites certainly makes a big difference, the checkpoints are more lenient than in Halo 2, and the co-op re-spawn system is also far more forgiving.

Somewhat disappointingly, this PC release hasn’t received much in the way of a visual overhaul, unlike Halo 1 & 2. I guess you could argue Halo 3 wasn’t in such a great need of visual improvement compared to those games – Halo 2 in particular – but it’s a shame more attention wasn’t given to the perfectly acceptable but obviously dated visuals.

The sound and music are as excellent as ever, with the classic Halo theme kicking in at all the right moments. The enemy AI continues to impress, although fighting the dim-witted brutes is never quite as challenging as fighting the sneaky elites.

Halo 3 also marks the end of the Halo games I had previously played so the next releases as part of the MCC – ODST and Halo 4 – will be my first time. I am curious to see where the story goes because Halo 3 does a pretty good job of wrapping things up. Like the others, Halo 3 also has plenty of collectibles to discover and score / time challenges to test your skills.

If I had to rate the Halo games I’ve played in some kind of order it would probably be Halo 3 = Halo 1 > Halo: Reach > Halo 2. I don’t know how the series progresses from here or what the future holds, but these four games provide a fantastic experience and really shouldn’t be missed if you’re a fan of engaging, first person shooter campaigns.

8/10