Post Halo 3 Reviews Here

[IEatFriedPikmin]

So far we have:

Famitsu 10/9/9/9
http://www.famitsu.com/sp/070914_halo3/
Press Start Online - 10/10
http://www.pressstartonline.co.uk/view/287
Gamespot 9.5
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/halo3/review.html?sid=6179646&tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot
GameSpot UK 9.5
http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/actio...opslot;title;1
IGN 9.5/10 (I personally favor this one more over UK)
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/821/821911p5.html
IGN UK 9.5/10:
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/822/822427p2.html
Gamereactor: 10/10
http://www.gamereactor.se/recensioner/11718/Halo+3/
1UP.com 10/10
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3163125
Teamxbox 9.7/10
http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1387/Halo-3/p4/
Gametrailers 9.8/10
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/2606.html
Pro-g 10/10
http://www.pro-g.co.uk/xbox360/halo_3/review.html
Gamepro 10/10
http://www.gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/reviews/135749.shtml
Eurogamer 10/10
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=83948
Gamespy 5/5
http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/halo-3/821976p1.html
Cheat Code Central 4.9/5
http://www.cheatcc.com/xbox360/rev/halo3review.html
Game Informer 9.75/10
http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200710/R07.0923.1932.21255.htm
Worth Playing 9.6/10
http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=46189
Yahoo! Games 4.5/5
http://videogames.yahoo.com/xbox360/halo-3/reviews/
Gamer 2.0 8.8/10
http://www.gamer20.com/gamehub/halo-3-x360/review/1081

CVG: 9.7

Official XBox Magazine (Australia) - 10/10


Expect a lot more to be released at 12:01 pm PST today, including IGNs and Teamxbox.

I won't be able to keep this up to date since I don't get out of church till after the embargo is lifted this afternoon.... admins, feel free to edit it in however way you wish.

[Passive]

i expected this will get high scores :P

Im actually interested in how this will play and how the console will handle it. For the sake of the 360 i hope it doesnt push the console to much. 1. bad news for the hardware :P and 2. I dont want the 360 to reach its top performance just yet lol. Im actually considering purchasing one to play Halo 3 so i hope the console still has some room to improve. I mention this because Halo 2 really pushed the xbox i mean really pushed it haha. H2 was basically the best the original box could perform so im really hoping the 360s potential hasnt been reached with H3.

all this said the single player looks visually amazing and im gonna have to play it :P i gotta haha.


cool thread if you can keep it up to date ;) i wanna see how many 10s it'll get. although in my personal opinion no game should ever get 10s not on any console in my eyes there is no such thing as a perfect game. that said this game deffinetly deserves high 8/9 for visuals and if the gameplay follows suit of the first two games (as i expect it shall) it deserves around 8/9 again. But not 10.

/rant haha.

[OG_Monkey]

Gametrailers is putting one out today, 12PM Pacific

[the boney king of nowhere.]

9.5 from ign

weird. the review makes it sound pretty shit, then they give it that. they even say "god bless the Cell" at one point.

[OG_Monkey]

ITS UP! First Official Video Review:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/25484.html

[NickSCFC]

GameSpot UK - 9.5
http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/halo3/review.html?sid=6179646&tag=topslot;title;1

IGN UK 9.5/10:
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/822/822427p2.html

Gamereactor: 10/10
http://www.gamereactor.se/recensioner/11718/Halo+3/

1UP.com: 10/10
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3163125

CVG: 9.7

[OG_Monkey]

so what...did everyone have to wait until Sunday to put them up!?

[IEatFriedPikmin]

yah... there was an embargo in place.

[masteratt]

Well who didn't see this coming?

All 9s and 10s.

Congrats, MS.

Look beyond the gameplay and you have a rich feature set unlike anything ever delivered in a videogame.
Ummm......lol?
:huh:

[Hylian-Advocate]

nice scores....to bad the last level supposedly sucks ass though... and it seems that most have said the campaign still isn't the greatest.....oh well.. it should still be fun....but the dificultyissues IGN was talking about has me a bit worried...we'll see though.

[Fillibuster]

Lol some of these reviews sound like there are complaints but they feel they will be chastised if they don't give the game a 9

[masteratt]

...I feel the same way.

/ps3 fanboi lol

seriously though what the hell, the media is scared to review a popular game badly now?

[wildcardd]

9.5 from ign

weird. the review makes it sound pretty shit, then they give it that. they even say "god bless the Cell" at one point.

Where does it say that? I didn't see it.

[OG_Monkey]

Official Playstation Magazine, 5/10

"Graphics arent that great, while playing i got 6RROD on 5 xboxes, my HDD crashed, and the AI is dumb, and the worst of all, i cant throw grenades. Killzone FTW!"

its a joke lol

[the boney king of nowhere.]

Where does it say that? I didn't see it.

i think i read the uk one. it must be different...

[Dakota Grabowski]

We (as in Xbox Evolved) were going to put it up at 12pm today but my DHL doesn't work on Saturdays I guess (as I was told by customer service). So, our review will 'hopefully' be up tomorrow night after a full day of playing the game.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Where does it say that? I didn't see it.

He was referring to the UK version I think.

[OG_Monkey]

We (as in Xbox Evolved) were going to put it up at 12pm today but my DHL doesn't work on Saturdays I guess (as I was told by customer service). So, our review will 'hopefully' be up tomorrow night after a full day of playing the game.

DHL...i could swear they work on Saturdays. Guess not everywhere. Ur getting the game straight from Microsoft right? Let us know whats int he box lol, i got a feeling as deal for getting the game early, there are some rules as to how you have to score it and guidlines

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Officially the most retarded review so far:
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=809528

They gave it an 8.8...
Why you should rent it: The story and graphics aren't what they were played up to be. You've never been the biggest Halo fan.

When did Bungie say this game would have astounding graphics? Sure they gave it a low score, and it is their opinion, but something like that should not justify docking points off the game

[Dakota Grabowski]

I have the game now. The package was bare bones with one slip basically saying to finish the fight and save humanity from the flood.

The game is a big box -- may be a special edition though I haven't followed which each edition looks like.

Well, I am going to play it. The reason I didn't get it is because somehow the zip code was marked off through transit so they had to rewrite it back on. I won't be on all day most likely besides to write the review. haha

[Hisham]

Officially the most retarded review so far:
http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=809528

They gave it an 8.8...


When did Bungie say this game would have astounding graphics? Sure they gave it a low score, and it is their opinion, but something like that should not justify docking points off the game

Did you even read there recomendation. They said buy it. The review isn't really that bad. They are playing devils advocate when they put the rent vs. buy section.

And 8.8 is still an awesome score, so I don't know why you are complaining lol.

[OG_Monkey]

I have the game now. The package was bare bones with one slip basically saying to finish the fight and save humanity from the flood.

The game is a big box -- may be a special edition though I haven't followed which each edition looks like.

Well, I am going to play it. The reason I didn't get it is because somehow the zip code was marked off through transit so they had to rewrite it back on. I won't be on all day most likely besides to write the review. haha

cool

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Did you even read there recomendation. They said buy it. The review isn't really that bad. They are playing devils advocate when they put the rent vs. buy section.

And 8.8 is still an awesome score, so I don't know why you are complaining lol.

I said they have the right to their own opinion, but they should be able to justify it. I just don't get where they get the idea that the graphics aren't as good as they were made out to be... everyone knows the graphics aren't the greatest. Halo isn't even known for its graphics.

They also state that their is lots of backtracking in the review, which many people are saying isn't that bad since there is a lot less of it than previous halos. But I guess that's just the way they interpreted it.

...so I don't know what you are talking about.

[Dakota Grabowski]

just beat Halo 3. Took five hours on normal. Totally ashamed of what Bungie put together for their storyline. The ending was atrocious and I hope Microsoft lets someone else handle the storyline/plot the next time they decide to make a Halo game.

Time to play multiplayer, use the save film feature, forge mode, etc.

Impressions so far --- disappointed :(

[OG_Monkey]

WTF!? Is it worse than Halo 2 or better ending? 5 hours!? What kinda bullshit story is that!?

[Dakota Grabowski]

well at least in Halo 2 it ends with the Master Chief being bad ass. The storyline for Halo 3 is basically "Save Cortana." That's the simple premise and it pisses me off.

If you want me to PM you some details I can but I won't spoil the fun for you.

Halo 3 storyline is horrible in execution.

[OG_Monkey]

Ok yeah, can you PM me some details without spoiling it. Save cortana eh, the game focuses on saving a fuckin holograph, yep, thats waaaay coool

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Freakin A!!!!

The multiplayer is sooo awesome... one more round and I am going to bed... I applaud Bungie. They pulled it off, despite the ridiculous amount of pressure.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

1st match, got first on my team... but our team lost. I was playing with 2 friends and they were doing terrible.
Next match was team slayer with shotties and snipers, and our team did absolutely terrible. Tied for first on our team with 6 kills..lol
Then I did a lone wolf match and got 1st by 2 kills... w00t.

[Unspoken]

Multiplayer on Halo 3 is incredible. Even though it's almost the same as 2, it just seems so much more fresh. I played on Last Resort tonight, which is the remake of Zanzibar. It looks so much more badass than the original. I gasped when I saw it, as did five other people. :)

But yeah, I totally owned the senior key holder, and I was neck-in-neck with my manager. I wish turning was a bit quicker. It seems to be a bit slowed down.

Also, this should have been the game that incorporated a dash button so that you could run instead of quickly walk away while making it look cool like in the trailer. But yeah, new items are incredibly fun to mess around with. I threw a portable man cannon in between two boxes, and the boxes shot up into the air. :-)

[Gummy]

All those 9's and 10's proves halo 3 is suckcessful.

I'm buying it, soon.

[masteratt]

Impressions so far --- disappointed :(
QUICK! GIVE IT 50 OUT OF 10!

[Dakota Grabowski]

QUICK! GIVE IT 50 OUT OF 10!


Lol that would please a lot of Halo acolytes

[frosty]

That's disapointing, the only reason I ever liked halo was it's single player. The multiplayer never felt right to me (i'm an unreal tournament junkie), so that was the main thing I was looking forward to.

[curryking1]

It took 5 hours for you Dakota?

Man... that's ***king retarded. I really wanted this game to just be abused and filled with action for SP. I watched the intro to the game and I got so pumped.

I mean, all they had to do was make some arbitrarily long areas to just ***k people up and shoot more Covenant. Even make entire levels that aren't really needed, just have them there and just make him go there inbetween more purposeful things.

They definitely focused a lot on multiplayer and the videotaping yourself and etc etc.

I really got to play it myself though, I really want to get my own first impression of the whole SP campaign.

[IEatFriedPikmin]

Dakota, I am not going to read the spoilers, but when you right the review, keep in mind that this is a review many people will probably read.

I am not saying you should give it a high score... whatever score you give it, just be sure to justify it. You can't simply say "The SP was disappointing." You probably already know this... I have read some reviews where they don't justify their reasoning, and it annoys the heck out of me.

[the boney king of nowhere.]

got 10/10 from gamesradar as well.

[r33hash]

You could probably go ahead and do a double-header review, making the multiplayer and single player aspects each a seperate review.

Also, you can change the speed of your turn by changed the sensitivity or your reticule.

[Nameless]

I completed the game yesterday on Legendary and it took me about 9 hours to complete. The difficulty for specific sections was over the top and other sections were not that bad... I would recommend any Halo veteran play the game on Legendary, because I'm not a huge Halo fan and only play the SP campaigns and beat the game on Legendary in less than 10 hours... The AI was amazing and the best I have seen in a game period.

Here's my Halo 3 review:

Gameplay: 9.5
The game play is rock solid and the new weapons and equipment are refreshing and put to good use by the enemy AI. I was really impressed with the number of enemies on screen at once all doing unique sophisticated AI routines. Also, the weapons and physics really made the gameplay feel like a unique warzone. Plus, the advanced AI completely changed the way certain levels would replay, because I died numerous times and each playback resulting in different reactions from the enemies. The overall story was decent, but not epic considering this was the conclusion to the Halo storyline. There were several moments where I really found myself getting into the storyline, but the ending was a little off...
(The ending cinema was cool, but the final gameplay sequences were wack IMO...) Also, the ending gameplay sequences felt rushed like it was thrown together due to time constraints... Overall the SP campaign was a great experience and significantly better than the previous SP campaigns. Bungie decided to play it safe and stick with a great formula and make minor enhancements instead of trying to revolutionize gameplay.

The multiplayer is pure Halo, but feels more like an extension of Halo 2 than a true sequel. The new weapons and equipment should create some fairly fresh experiences. Also, Forge should definitely create some interesting experiences and is a baby step toward user mods... *I'm not a huge Halo MP player so many subtle changes could impact gameplay and I would be oblivious...*

Sound: 10
Definitely some of the best music and sound effects ever to grace a console title... I can't say enough about the music, because it really has an emotionally moving effect. I can definitely say the music is on par or better then many big budget Hollywood movies. Also, the ingame NPC chatter is the best I have ever heard in a game period. It seems like every comment regarding your location or coordinating team combat strategies is on point an matches the enemy’s actions. The enemy chatter really makes a huge impact on the gameplay experience and many other developers need to take notes. This is the first title that I found myself getting amped up killing average grunts and not just boss battles...

Presentation: 9.8
The opening Bungie logo intro made me immediately know this was going to be something special. The opening menu items, music, fonts, etc. are very well done and exude polish... The Live integration with the user interface is very elegant and well thought out. I can't recall too many other next-gen titles that had the same level of polish the title had from a presentation perspective except for heavenly sword…

Visuals: 8.0
I will start by saying that Halo 3 has some of the best lighting ever seen on the 360 or any console title period. Once you get past the incredible lighting you really see the title is in a lot of ways Halo 2 HD. I know some will disagree with that statement, but just complete the entire SP campaign and you will see my point... The overall environments are well done and look great on HD displays, but some of the environments are hit or miss. I found myself either very impressed with an environment or disappointed, not much in between. Also, the character models are horrible and do not meet next-gen standards IMO. Previous 360 titles like GOW & Bioshock provide significantly better visuals especially from a character design perspective. The best looking character model in the game is obviously Master Chief, but during cutscenes you can really see the engine struggling to provide solid cinematic visuals. Honestly, I believe some balancing took place regarding the engine, because the game has so much on screen activity with enemies and physics, but the frame rate is rock solid the entire time. I would imagine some gameplay sacrifices would have to been made if Bungie went for high end visuals... Overall I would have to say the visuals are somewhat disappointing considering this is the flagship title for the 360. *Not to start a flame war, but I would argue that Resistance on the PS3 is overall visually superior...*

Replay Value: 10
Halo 3 is the best value for $60 bucks period!
The SP campaign is better than the previous titles and provides some of the best enemy AI seen in videogaming.
The community features of Halo with video sharing & Forge should keep this game viable for years to come. *We may see people on Halo 3 servers come 2012...*

Overall: 9.5
Bottom line is Halo 3 lived up to the hype and delivered an overall incredible experience. I would agree the game is not a visual showcase for the 360 platform, but the titles delivers on rock solid gameplay and multiplayer community features. If Halo 3 delivered on extraordinary visuals the game would have deserved a solid 10; the package delivered is definitely an AAA effort and every FPS 360 fan should have this title in their library.

[OG_Monkey]

It took 5 hours for you Dakota?

Man... that's ***king retarded. I really wanted this game to just be abused and filled with action for SP. I watched the intro to the game and I got so pumped.

I mean, all they had to do was make some arbitrarily long areas to just ***k people up and shoot more Covenant. Even make entire levels that aren't really needed, just have them there and just make him go there inbetween more purposeful things.

They definitely focused a lot on multiplayer and the videotaping yourself and etc etc.

I really got to play it myself though, I really want to get my own first impression of the whole SP campaign.

i guess it really is short, my friend got it at 12 and beat it at 4AM, i dunno

[r33hash]

Well I'm going to run through it on Legendary. Hopefully before I ever even jump into the multiplayer.

[Pro A.]

My take on Halo 3...

Not much has changed since the original Halo at least in terms of general execution. The multiplayer continues to be rock solid and the forge addition adds even more depth to an already loaded MP system. The level design is on par with the first two and will have gamers playing for months and months afterward. 4-player coop is another fine addition and should have been included in Halo 2, but one can't have everything. First-rate when playing with a friend or a bunch of like-minded fanatics online. This is the best part of the game, but we all knew that going in.

Speaking of not having everything, let's focus on the single-player. The single-player kept Halo 1 and 2, for me, well out of the pantheon of the greats. Both are great for adrenaline's sake, but really lack any serious depth that you would see in a Bioshock, for example. That said, the levels are pretty involving and none of them could be counted as a lemon, really, but none of them are any better than a B+ on an A-F scale. I also wish they would stop rehashing situations and level design. This nearly killed the original Halo single-player and there are times when the same feeling appears. I also wish Arbiter could have been a playable character. Generally, in Halo 2, he had the better levels and his story is actually quite good, but no, this is about the casual gamer. The variety of weapons and the insane pace are still there with fewer lag stretches. There are times when this really feels like a true war epic. It is too easy, though. If you want a challenge, play on Heroic or Legendary. You'll be done in six hours on normal.

While the single-player has a bit of an epic feel, one can not say the same for the story, which has always been a weak point in the games. Halo 2, at least, tried to do something unique with the Arbiter and make him a focal point. He's back, but has been relegated to the background. The general story progressions are okay, but everything starts to unravel near the end. The dialogue is also pretty cheesy, dropping out a lot of cliches. The voice-over work remains first-rate, led by my hometown boy Steve Downes as Master Chief. The graphics aren't revolutionary, but they still look awfully good for a 360 game.

You'll get exactly what you expected while feeling a bit cheated that Bungie hasn't rectified the single-player or story problems. And when compared to Gears of War, Halo 3 seems to be a little out of its depth because Gears came with some real teeth. Halo 3 is a great party game with a single-player that doesn't do more than it has to. Buy it, relish it, but don't expect this to be the flagship of the 360 lineup or the best game of 2007 because it is neither.

Overall score: 9.1/10

[XboxEvolved]

I don't know what Dakota is talking about, or what he expected. I personally have only played the Campaign (and messed with Forge and looked around the multiplayer maps) because I dont have internet again until Thursday. It took me from a little after midnight to 7AM to beat it (thats with pooping and smoke breaks) and I was overall pleased. There are parts where its kind of shallow, but it doesnt through all kinds of shit at you like Halo 2 did, its easier to follow, like Halo 1, and you literally only have like two different purposes this one, rather than a bijillion like Halo 2.

Only thing I didnt like was the over reliance of vehicles.

[Dakota Grabowski]

what i am talking about is the storyline is elementary. A 5th grader wrote it. It's the basic war premise and there's not much to it. Or at least, they attempted to add to it but it wasn't well executed.

They have all this back story from the books, graphics novels, etc., that I am surprised they barely ever brought some of that groundwork laid out for them into the story.

Bungie needs to hire new writers.

[Fillibuster]

i guess it really is short, my friend got it at 12 and beat it at 4AM, i dunno

Me and my friend went through Heroic in about 6 hours with drink and piss breaks

[IEatFriedPikmin]

I'm glad I didn't buy this game expecting an awesome SP.

[XboxEvolved]

To see Dakota's full review, and my full thoughts so far, click on my ridiculiously badass sig. Dakota is full of crap--the story obviously did well enough because when Chief:


SPOILERS AHEAD PEOPLE IF YOU HAVENT PLAYED STOPPPPPP!!!!!!111













Got Cortana from Gravemind I almost cried..the whole Johnson thing was a bit overdone, but at the end when you think Chief is dead I got mad and teared up..then I found out he was still alive just all pissed off and tired, so I headbanged violently.

[NickSCFC]

EDGE: Issue 181

Halo 3 10 :o
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption 7
PGR4 9
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars 8
Sega Rally 7
Lair 3
Stranglehold 7
Skate 8
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 7
Singstar 8
Two Worlds 4
Grimgrimoire 7
Jam Sessions 6
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions 9
World in Conflict 8
Eternal Sonata 7
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations 6
Sonic Rush Adventure 5

[IEatFriedPikmin]

^looking at those scores... I don't know if I would really rely on Edge for my reviews anymore.

MP3 a 7? Jam Sessions a 6?

[Kenshin]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2304-Zero-Punctuation-Halo-3

BEST REVIEW EVER!

[OG_Monkey]

just seen the alt. ending....leaves ALOT of speculation. Cant wait for the next Halo cuz i think WE ALL know there will be another

[r33hash]

I forgot to watch the clip after the credits.

P.S. I finally beat it on Legendary all alone.

[OG_Monkey]

sike