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Technology news and Jobs arrow Radioactive IT arrow Review: Halo 3 - What becomes of the Master Chief?
Review: Halo 3 - What becomes of the Master Chief? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Mike Bantick   
Sunday, 02 December 2007
Yep it has been out for sometime now, and one in four Xbox 360 owners snapped it up virtually on day one.  But like a fine wine we have been savouring the final Halo chapter, every last drop

Well the 'console seller' is now on retail shelves.  Bungie has delivered the last of the Halo trilogy and Microsoft have subsequently set them free of the Xbox 360 exclusivity.
Halo 3
 halo3pack.jpg Developer
Bungie
Publisher
Microsoft
Rating
MA 15+
   
Xbox 360


This time around, the Master Chief has lost his electronic female companion Cortana, and to make matters worse, the battle with the Covenent has landed here on Earth.  The Master Chief is not our last line of defence, but if you were going to hide behind anybody, MC is your man.

Like a comfortably pair of shoes, for veterans, it is easy to slip into the Halo rhythm.  Game play from the excellent original Combat Evolved on the first Xbox has not changed a great deal. 

The same floaty, low gravity jumping is there, vehicle control via the two analogue sticks remains, and dual wielding of weapons - introduced in Halo 2 - also makes a comeback.

The game-play changes are relatively minor considering the jump to Next-Gen hardware, but really, why tamper with a proven popular franchise?  Especially one that was always planned as a Trilogy, and has raked in the income for both developer and publisher alike.

So what has changed?

Well the most obvious changes are now the deployable devices; the X button now becomes the 'activate MC's special equipment' button.  Equipment such as the Grav Lift for launching the player into hard to get to areas (best used in Multiplayer matches) or the Bubble Shield for instant cover in open areas.

These devices are not over powered, MC can only carry one at a time and they are one-shot pieces of equipment, reducing spamming.
halo32.jpg
There is a new grenade, and the ability for MC to rip emplaced weapons from their moorings to tote around.  Ripping away a plasma cannon and then "owning" the battlefield is more fun than it should be.

New vehicles make an appearance as well; the zippy mongoose will get MC from one end of map to the other in no time and the Hornet is a hoot to fly around, with its twin weaponry of rockets and blaster bringing destruction to the enemy healthy doses.

How else does Halo 3 stack up? Push on to the next checkpoint on page 2


 
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