Halo 3 review on Halo the Master Chief collection, it's a bit of a step down after playing that great Halo 2 remake.

Note this hub uses assets from Halo the master chief collection it is no way affiliated with Microsoft. The video review was taken from my own gameplay using a capture device and the pictures were taken from the video and had some photoshop done.

Well continuing on with Halo the Master Chief collection we get to the 3^rd game in the series, the one that finished the fight because well Halo 2 kind of refuse too. Still Halo 3 gave us all that was good about Halo 2 and added a few things in, if there is one thing I can really criticize about the game is its campaign is a little bit shorter. But I have had a few more experience with this games online and can tell you the maps are awesome and its online game play is classic. And the only thing keeping the master chief collection back is that its online content is still a little bit of a pain to do.

The story in Halo 3 starts off pretty much right where the last one ended, with the Master Chief deciding to get out of his current predicament by doing a little sky diving…without a parachute. He somehow manages to survive because he’s a cyborg super hero but it does allow us to have some good moments between him and Johnson that elevate Johnson above being just a comic relief character that he was in the first two games. Anyways it seems that the elites have join forces with the humans to stop the prophet of truth from going to the ark which portal somehow exists on earth, so he can set off the Halo rings and destroy all life in the galaxy. And of course it’s not just the covenant who wants to get their hands on the ring. So does the Grave mind and is flood army who is also targeting earth and the ark. And of course the Chief also wants to find a way if he can to rescue the now capture Cortona.

The story is ok it’s not quite has good has the 2^nd one has it just focuses on the chief with no real role for the arbiter you get a few good scenes with them together but there is no real bond or anyway in the story telling. The most unique thing in the story is how they put Cortona in the game, since the majority of the game she’s capture she’s not going to directly talk to the Master Chief instead she comes to him in dreams and hallucinations. These are kind of annoying but at the same time surreal enough to add an extra layer to the story. The grave mind does this has well just barging in and shouting insults at you.

And not to spoil the ending to much but while it does wrap 99% of the story up but it leaves the Chief in a perilous situation in which he has to enter a suspended animation capsule for what could be forever. While we would get Halo 4 eventually, it wouldn’t be after we got several more spin offs. And a whole new developer before it came out.

Well Halo 3 takes what was good about Halo 2 and improves upon it some more. Were still allowed to duel wield, and the shield remains mostly the same except its move to the top of the screen where we can see it better. The enemies are for the most part the same impressively program and fun to tear through enemies that we have seen before. The covenant have replace the elites with the brutes but for the most part it’s now just a pallet swap, the brutes have a charge attack which is nowhere near has powerful has it was in Halo 2 and are now super easy to take down.

The flood though actually has a new form or two, one of the bigger pains in the butt is this one that can shoot spikes and then also transform into a super big monster. Your best bet for fighting off the flood are still the shot gun or laser sword. But there is one new weapon that is kind of cool. You know that hammer that Tartar sauce here had in Halo 2, yeah a lot of Brutes now pack a smiler weapon that you can pick up. Nothing like clearing away enemies with a single hit.

Add in a few new grenades that you can now pack and some extra items like the bubble shield, and the ability to carry turrets around and combat is has open has ever. Stage design is also top notch and just down right nail. In larger more complex stages you even get nav points and beacons to point you in the right direction.

If there is one compliant I have about the game is it’s anticlimactic ending. While sows everything shut in the story, gameplay wise it feels more incomplete then Halo 2. After an epic trilogy you would expect an epic final show down right. Will it be against the prophet of truth who has lied to the covenant and is trying to destroy all the galaxy because he believe he can become a god. Nope dies in a cut scene. Is it the Gravemind who tricked the chief and captured Cortana nope you never meet him face to face. Your final boss is against this guy, and yeah he’s a lamer boss battle then you think.

Basically move around easily dodging his laser blast that don’t do much damage, while firing unlimited laser ammo at him, until he dies. The only way he get more lamer is if beating him required you to jump over him and grab an axe. And don’t get me wrong I have been wanting to put a cap in this guy’s ass since the first time I met him in the original Halo but really this is the best they could do for a boss fight.

After experiencing the Halo 2 remake going into Halo 3 is a bit of a step down. While it’s not a full remake like the last 2 games, Halo 3 has had a few touch ups and runs a lot smoother on the xbox one. That said just taking a look at the old school version of Johnson when he finds the Chief’s body is a little shocking at the step down it seems this time, kind of ironic considering how an impressive a step up it was the first time I saw this. Still for its age Halo 3 looks great and for the most part I would say this is the first time Halo actually really started to look like Halo the bright and colorful worlds, and a lot of sci fi landscapes the game still looks great, even if it does have a few rough edges around it.

Same awesome music in this one and the same great voice cast has in Halo 2 come back to reprise their role I have nothing to complain about in the sound department.

The online areas here are huge and are a lot of fun, I turn these areas on probably the most out of all the games in the master chief collection. Again not a big fan of the whole set up in the master chief collection and it does take to long to connect, but the stages have been preserved really well.

I give Halo 3 a solid 4 out of 5 it’s not has long has the last one and it’s story isn’t has compelling but it does a good job ending the tale, last boss fight being the exception. But the gameplay keeps everything great about Halo 2 but it expands on it even more with some of the extra items you can pick up and even more weapons. Overall it’s a great experience.