Halo 3

[El Leone]

Wait a min, just played through the ending again

And, Kevvy Metal.

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I never heard a countdown. I heard Contana informing me that the Ring was reaching 30%, 70%, 90%, and that just felt like it was initiated once I'd reached specifics points in the run. If that was supposed to induce fear, it failed. Especially when you've finished the original Warthog run in HALO a billion times.

Err what?

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So you're saying a countdown can make a sense of urgency, but a fully collapsible enviroment which will explode and will collapse doesn't? They don't need a timer to initate a cutscene, because if you're too slow everything will collapse and you'll be left for dead.

[dogen]

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The counter means dick. I only mentioned it because it was the first thing I noticed that seperated the two warthog runs.

What I'm saying is that playing a rehash finale from HALO1 takes away from the sense of urgency. Like, as soon as I jump in Johnson's Warthog, I know exactly how this is going to pan out.

And EvilBoris,

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I can actually understand that view point, but I still think it was a shoddy decision. It's like Bungie can't end a HALO game without a Warthog run, or a lack of an ending altogether. (Sup HALO2)

[rmoxon]

Anyone who has found that they have maybe been left a bit flat by Halo 3. Are you long term PC Gamers as well?

The thing I've found is that for a Halo fan or console FPS fan, Halo 3 probably offers everything you could ever wish for. The game is a portal to a Halo hub that is going to give you everything you could ever wish for months and years to come.

For me, who started out with Wolfenstien on the PC and have subsequently played to death most FPS games since then, it all feels a bit like a game I was playing many years ago and even then, it doesn't quite match those games. Feeling similar to games like Quake and Unreal is not a bad thing, but I wonder if the negativity about Halo 3 says more about the evolution of FPS games on consoles currently than the quality of the game.

I think its a brave stab and can understand the ratings given out by Edge and Gamestm. I personally would have rated it as a high 8. In comparison to games I have played in the past, mainly due to the fact that the single player is very weak apart from 2-3 levels in the middle of the game, but I can see why, from a console perspective, it is a revolution.

I really disagree with this post, Halo 3 is a FPS, I'm not really sure what being on a console has anything to do with it, you sound like one of writers of PC ZONE that gave Devil May Cry 3 60 odd percent and called it a button masher, not really saying much else about the game other than it was a console port...

I'm a massive FPS fan, played most of the PC, havent really found a great one on it since Half Life 2... which conicidently you probabaly wont like anymore i guess becuase its on the 360 soon so will no longer have intresting gameplay, even though its the exact same game.

To be honest I think Halo 3 has some of the best general gameplay, A.I. and atmosphere ever seen in a FPS, no matter what platform you talk about. And as a whole package its just a pretty damn brilliant game

I'm not really sure how you compare it to the bland looking, very linear environments and dumb AI of Quake to be honest.

[NekoFever]

I just finished it, so I can actually come into this thread without fear now

Overall I loved the game, and with the exception of one massive low (

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Cortana

) the campaign was up there with the first game. In fact I'd probably say it was better since Halo wasn't without its own infamously bad level and Halo 3 was much less liberal with the repetition of environments, at least dressing them up differently. Off the top of my head there are three missions here that I could play until my thumbs drop off and not bore of them -

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The Storm, The Ark, The Covenant

- right up there with The Silent Cartographer and Assault on the Control Room.

As for the final sections,

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the Warthog run didn't bother me because I liked the reference to the first game and found it to be less unforgiving than the run through the Pillar of Autumn since you weren't up against the clock (or were you? It seemed to me like Cortana would update you at certain points no matter what you did). It was just a bombastic and exciting end sequence

.

And then there was the ending.

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It didn't do what I expected but I found it very satisfying and a great way to finish up the story. Things are still open to some extent (I hope they leave it as it is, though) while it gave closure. I enjoyed how it bookended the whole thing, as the Halo trilogy began with Master Chief getting out of his cryo-pod with little information on his past and ended with him getting into one with a similarly uncertain future. Beautifully done and impressively understated

.

[angelox]

Doing legendary Halo 1 final level in co-op or solo required a fair amount of skill and tries and yes, it was against the clock (legendary, I believe the timer was shorter). Anyway, regarding Halo 3:

(spoiler) I thought that the countdown initally was a hidden timer, but as I got the last part of the level I realised it was just a script, which completly removed any sense of urgency. I did realise that more and more of the platforms would go as time went on, but it wasnt fast enough. I felt that the jump between checkpoints should have been faster, or just generally the warthog felt slow. Personally - I think legendary should have introduced the mongoose and a strict timer. Plx patch it in bungie. (end of spoiler)

Regarding ending (spoiler) what do people make of the legendary ending?(end of spoiler)

[rmoxon]

->Open Spoiler<-

The counter means dick. I only mentioned it because it was the first thing I noticed that seperated the two warthog runs.

What I'm saying is that playing a rehash finale from HALO1 takes away from the sense of urgency. Like, as soon as I jump in Johnson's Warthog, I know exactly how this is going to pan out.

And EvilBoris,

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I can actually understand that view point, but I still think it was a shoddy decision. It's like Bungie can't end a HALO game without a Warthog run, or a lack of an ending altogether. (Sup HALO2)

And you didnt know how the ending was gonna pan out when you played the original Halo? did you think after all your hard work to beat the timer you wouldnt make it and Master Cheif would die? what would be the point in even playing then?

Its just a way to end the game, the original games ending was obvious as soon as you sat in the warthog. So if that bothers you I dont see how you ever felt any tension at all.

[dogen]

the original games ending was obvious as soon as you sat in the warthog...

Yeah, it was obvious. Which made using it again in HALO3 worthless.

[huxley]

I ****in love it!......... Gave me a semi lol

[Oh_Mutants]

Have avoided this thread so far cos still haven't found the time to sit down and play this properly. Don't want to read back through the thread and spoil things for myself, would anyone be kind enough to explain the skulls thing i keep hearing about? What mode etc do you need to play on, i want to unlock some new outfits Spoiler tags if necessary.

[EvilBoris]

There are hidden skulls on each level, if you pick one up you'll bag an acheivement and you'll be able to turn on that specific skull next time you play campaign.

The skulls make the game harder in some way but give you a mulitplyer for the campaign scoring mode. They can be found on Heroic and Legendary.
Nobody knows how to get all the costumes yet, but finishing the campaign seems to give you some , as does finding all the skulls.
I seemed to unlock a fair few just by playing multiplayer

[Oh_Mutants]

Thanks Boris Can you play Campaign with the scoring mode activated on single player or is it just a multi player thing? And can players just jump in on your single player campaign unless you set it to invite only? I have to be honest, i find some of the options in the game very unclear...

[jimtendo]

You have to have your XBL settings (within the Halo 3 options) set to invite only if you want it that way. Otherwise, on default, any member of your friends list can jump into your co-op campaign created lobby.

Players can't jump into your co-op campaign (whilst in play, unlike gears of war) as you need to all start from the lobby.
If one player wants to quit when in game, the whole stage quits, and you all go back to the lobby.

As for costume unlocks:
The Hayabusa outfit is unlocked only by achieving skulls, whereas the others i think are unlocked via performing certain achievements only. As to which achivement unlocks which spartan/ elite part... who knows.

[Dogg Thang]

I'm completely stuck on the very first level. Can anyone help me or give me advice? The part I'm stuck on is here -

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/DoggThang/1171139-Full.jpg

It's a big bridge with loads of nasties on it. My Arbiter is long dead. I have no weapons. There are grunts all over the side I'm on and a few bigger guys. Snipers are everywhere. If I do manage to take out the guys on this side of the bridge (manage it most times now, depending on pure chance with the snipers), the guys on the bridge slaughter me no matter which route I take. The guy in this next pic never seems to drop and either kills me or chases me out into sniper fire.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/DoggThang/1133686-Full.jpg

I wouldn't be lying if I said I've tried this well over 60 times by now. Probably much higher. I'm on heroic. Is there something I'm missing? Should I start again on heroic and hope I get there with better weapons? Or should I just restart on normal?

[Uli]

just finished the campaign with very mixed feelings. what a weak story conclusion for this epic trilogy. our Bungie masterminds had better asked Nylund to help them out. a real bummer this is!

gameplay-wise the game just went downhill for me past chapter 6. it was by no means bad, just not as enjoyable as the middle portion of the game. also, how some common technical faults of the predecessors, such as the clumsy transition between cutscenes and gameplay regarding the gear or the occasional texture- or object-pop-in made it through the QA is beyond me.

looking forward now to play my favorite chapters co-op on Legendary

[NekoFever]

The skulls make the game harder in some way but give you a mulitplyer for the campaign scoring mode. They can be found on Heroic and Legendary.

Normal as well. I found a couple that I knew about for my mate earlier today.

I'm completely stuck on the very first level. Can anyone help me or give me advice? The part I'm stuck on is here -

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/DoggThang/1171139-Full.jpg

It's a big bridge with loads of nasties on it. My Arbiter is long dead. I have no weapons. There are grunts all over the side I'm on and a few bigger guys. Snipers are everywhere. If I do manage to take out the guys on this side of the bridge (manage it most times now, depending on pure chance with the snipers), the guys on the bridge slaughter me no matter which route I take. The guy in this next pic never seems to drop and either kills me or chases me out into sniper fire.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y26/DoggThang/1133686-Full.jpg

I wouldn't be lying if I said I've tried this well over 60 times by now. Probably much higher. I'm on heroic. Is there something I'm missing? Should I start again on heroic and hope I get there with better weapons? Or should I just restart on normal?

If you're having that much trouble it might be worth restarting from the previous checkpoint (select Sierra-117 from the campaign menu and it should give you the option to start in a couple of different places), which IIRC is the start of the previous clearing. When you've fought your way through that check next to the

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crashed Pelican

for a sniper rifle which is a godsend for that area on higher difficulties.

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Take out the snipers across the way and try and kill the hammer Brute with some quick headshots before he goes on the rampage and uses his invincibility equipment

.

Incidentally playing through that section today on normal (I did it on heroic my first time through) I realised how much changes on the various difficulties. On normal the

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hammer Brute doesn't have invincibility, there are no jackal snipers, and the snipers in the previous area only have carbines rather than beam rifles

. I dread to think what it'll throw at us on legendary.