Halo 3

[Ciaran]

Is the multiplayer up and running yet or do you have to wait till launch?

[angelox]

Worrying about legnth of a game shouldnt matter. Bioshock was slightly shorter (for me) and provided a lot of fun. The reason I think Halo 3 is better than Bioshock is because I actually want to replay missions for fun and variety (atm) and later multiplayer, rather than just clock the achievements and waste for the nostagic value to set in.

Talking about that, I mess around with Forge/Theater last night. Most have read about forge, but its just nice to try and figure new game types. For example, you have one friend who is in the back of a warthog fireing away with no gunner, as the forge you can pick the warthog up and "drive" for him, dodge rockets etc. I can imagine that being quite fun if you swap a warthog for a scoripan. I also like how you can switch between the two on the fly, meaning you could fly up to a sniper point as the forge and then turn back into a spartan and kick his ass.

Theater is great, you can really see the attention to detail on the maps with it. I think it will be better when I dont have to see myself die on the same part again and again

[ne0star]

This is definitely region free, 100%. Been confirmed by the mad pirates. :/

Nice one cheers

[Gerry Helmet]

Custom games are fine but they haven't updated the matchmaking play lists.
Played the first two levels Co-op with Bignige, some really difficult battles and unbelievably smart AI manoeuvres.

However I do Feel its slower movement all round than the beta, and I keep deploying equipment when reloading also trying to sprint ala COD4

Mazing !

[Pookmunki]

Much more interested in the single player/co-op campaign myself as I'm not a huge fan of Halo 2's multiplayer and, as the Halo 3 Beta proved, little has changed in terms of gameplay and mechanics. But anyway, if the campaign's only three quarters as good as the original's then I'll be happy.

Conversely, I am more interested in the multiplayer side of things, as it's nice to now that even in a few years time, there will always be people playing games of Halo 3. Compared to the faddish popularity of most live games, it feels like more of an investment

Will rinse the singleplayer first though

[capcom_suicide]

Custom games are fine but they haven't updated the matchmaking play lists.
Played the first two levels Co-op with Bignige, some really difficult battles and unbelievably smart AI manoeuvres.

However I do Feel its slower movement all round than the beta, and I keep deploying equipment when reloading also trying to sprint ala COD4

Mazing !

Was the coop the full experience? Cutscenes and story intact? OR is is it cut back like Vegas?

[recipher]

Was the coop the full experience? Cutscenes and story intact? OR is is it cut back like Vegas?

Full experience.

[Chinster]

From my blog over at crookedabstraction.com some first impressions, SPOILER FREE

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Halo 3 starts off pretty good, but not pretty awesomely. There's a nice cut scene and a bit of scene setting and then you are off and into the action pretty much straight away, but it all seems very familiar and straight forward. There is almost a feeling of 'same old, same old'. This more or less continues for the first hour and a bit and while I enjoyed it, there were no jaws dropping or no huge smiles appearing. Thankfully after the first couple of hours things really begin to pick up and Halo 3 starts to shine and show its pedigree.

Let me be very straight, this is no Halo 2. What do I mean? I didn't like Halo 2, I found it to be an above average shooter, nothing more, nothing less. I felt it lacked pretty much most of the magic of the original Halo and a lot of people felt the same way. Halo 3 is ****ing miles better and it's also better than Halo. I've played around 5-6 hours of the game so far and barring the beginning I have been completely unable to put the pad down. On normal level the AI is still pretty good and give you the run around and I've died a few times, almost always through my own stupidity. I can tell folk are going to love this on Heroic and above.

The graphics, which get better as you get further into the game really are stunning in places. Not everywhere mind (indoors can be a little lacklustre in places) but then when Bungie do break out the eye candy they do so with real aplomb. The frame rate is solid (very small frame rate drops at moments of outrageous awesomeness I couldn't possibly spoil but so good you won't care) and tearing is absent. Vibrant colours contrast with the indoor sections which are much less repetitive than in Halo. The outdoor sections have been lavished with love, care and attention and some of the vistas are just beautiful and you genuinely will want to stop at certain points and just soak up the atmosphere. Music plays an integral part in the atmosphere and Bungie have really pushed the boat out with a score pulsing with urgency during moments of drama and melancholy during the quieter moments. It's top drawer stuff.

Story is well catered for with plenty of cut scenes and everything explained and easy to follow. Character voices are great and thankfully good enough not to spare any tears in the fabric of immersion. We have the likes of Keith David to thank for that. The story is interesting and makes sense and throws enough curve balls at you on the way to keep you on your toes.

The skirmishes are where Halo 3 really lifts itself above other pretenders to the throne and as you get further into the game the new weapons and enemies create the best Halo fights ever. I **** you not, you'll be grinning from ear to ear.

At one point a few hours into the game I was actually moved to say out loud, slowly and with a lowering jaw - "Holy ****!" before a huge wave of omg omg wtf wtf ahhhhhhhh!!! overtook me. I can't wait to read other folks impressions of the game once it's in the public domain to compare notes.

Is there any backtracking? Sadly yes, but not so much that it will get on your nerves and the backtracking actually makes a bit of sense. Anyway, you'll be having too much fun to worry about it. There are a huge amount of options in the menu I've hardly touched on (too busy playing it you see) but I love the idea that it (seems to) save your game as movies which you can then go back and view from any angle, create clips and then share them with the Halo 3 community. I really need to delve into that aspect a bit more.

The best games of the year have been those that have appeared without a juddering hype train leading the way (Crackdown, The Darkness). Bioshock we'll forgive for its hype because it almost lives up to it. Thankfully despite being the most hyped game ever at this point in time I'd say that Halo 3 is really delivering the goods. It's truck loads better than I thought it would be (my expectation levels may not have been as high as yours!) and is a really fantastic single player shooter that I can see being replayed on countless difficulty levels just to try out different tactics on some of people's favourite skirmishes.

Obviously I can't comment on co-op or multiplayer as the servers aren't up but let me end these first impressions by saying one thing:

You lot are in for a bloody treat
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[Rossco]

Custom games are fine but they haven't updated the matchmaking play lists.
Played the first two levels Co-op with Bignige, some really difficult battles and unbelievably smart AI manoeuvres.

However I do Feel its slower movement all round than the beta, and I keep deploying equipment when reloading also trying to sprint ala COD4

Mazing !

I keep doing the same too pressing X to reload!

I need to get on some co-op action with this tonight hopefully. Wish Matchmaking was set up already though.

[angelox]

I found some new stuff in the first level, easter egg on the second (ahhh redvsblue...)

[IanE]

Much more interested in the single player/co-op campaign myself as I'm not a huge fan of Halo 2's multiplayer and, as the Halo 3 Beta proved, little has changed in terms of gameplay and mechanics. But anyway, if the campaign's only three quarters as good as the original's then I'll be happy.

The beta showed that the gameplay has changed quite a lot from the second game, I suppose not playing much of Halo 2 might hinder your comparison though.

[ChrisF]

The beta showed that the gameplay has changed quite a lot from the second game, I suppose not playing much of Halo 2 might hinder your comparison though.

The only difference in gameplay I've noticed so far are the power ups. Am I missing something?

And I played Halo 2 last week so it's still fresh in my mind...

[Uli]

The skirmishes are where Halo 3 really lifts itself above other pretenders to the throne and as you get further into the game the new weapons and enemies create the best Halo fights ever. I **** you not, you'll be grinning from ear to ear.

At one point a few hours into the game I was actually moved to say out loud, slowly and with a lowering jaw - "Holy ****!" before a huge wave of omg omg wtf wtf ahhhhhhhh!!! overtook me. I can't wait to read other folks impressions of the game once it's in the public domain to compare notes.

that's pretty much all i wanted to hear!

thank you mate for this excellent spoiler-free impression!

[Chinster]

that's pretty much all i wanted to hear!

thank you mate for this excellent spoiler-free impression!

You're very welcome!

[Rossco]

To the people worried about length of this game, I've just finished the 3rd chapter and overall I've probably put like 5 hours into this already. So I'm taking it easy, and playing on Heroic. So unless you are rushing through, I can see it lasting about 15 hours at this rate!