It didn't need to meet the hype
Customer Rating: 
Undoubtfully the most hyped product in excistence with every game consumer under the Sun expecting the game to provide some sort of stairway to heaven.Could the game ever meet such high demands? Undoubtfully not. What Halo 3 is is a game that can provide one of the most engaging experiences on any shooter, if you let it.
Master Chief, the series protagonist is back and apparently he's here to finish the fight. Though I don't want to divulge to much of the story it can be said that Halo isn't a game you buy for this part of the game. Though the universe is one that you really become absorbed in, the cheesy scrpting means that you occassional detach yourself. The game itself is just like any Halo game in that it's a tactical shooter that varies between tight corridors and vast open spaces where quick wits and weapon selection is king. Halos tactical pioneer is that you can only hold two weapons at a time and two of each grenade type meaning you have to judge what weapons are best for certain combat scenorios on the fly. Though your weapons will aid in dealing with the surprisingly intelligent enermys they cannot help your squads AI which can range from helpful to plain frustrating.
Single player is great but not groundbreaking and it's here that online steps in. With Halo 2 Bungie revolutionized Xbox Live and Halo 3 builds upon this. A simple looking but amazingly thought out matchmaking and leveling system remains intact but Halo 3 introduces new elemnets like deployable equipment to add a layer of stratergy to the already brilliant formula. With balance issues such as the sword fixed for this installment plus a large selection of new maps the online mode of Halo 3 will keep you playing for months on end.
This review can't end without mentioning the two surpeb new features of the series: forge and photo and video capture. With forge Bungie has givin gamers the tools to create surprising alterations to excisting maps with the result being an endless possibility of custom maps. The latter is the abilty to snap shots and video of games, save them and share them with the world. As far as user created content goes this will keep players tinkering away for a good while.
Halo will always have its detracters but this is to be expected and though Halo 3 will never silence them it does what no other game could; live below the hype of expectation and still be one of the best games of the year.
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