Halo 3: First Impressions

I have a friend with a relationship with the big M and was lucky enough to take a spin on an advance copy of Halo 3. A few quick and dirty thoughts.....

Is utterly amazing I have to say…..Give you a little lowdown without giving anything away. Definitely found myself looking at all the little graphical enhancements. My friend asked if it was as pretty as Gears, and while I don’t know at first, the little details on everything from plants swaying to the rusty guardrails really popped. It could be better, because I haven’t played too many games in HD yet, but the graphics were well above the beta. I would put it up there with some of the best ever on xbox360. Oh and the explosions are incredible. They seem completely unscripted even though I know they cant be.

Gameplay was very tight, similar to the beta, but they definitely tweaked it a bit. Will let you discover that for yourself. Level design (so far) is super sharp, definitely better than 2, reminiscent more so of the first one. A.I. is waaay better, all the way through the little guys(grunts), who are braver and more accurate. I have definitely had some tough moments, and i'm 5 chapters in…Some of the battles are on a grand scale, which was spectacular. I had moments where the adrenaline was really rushing, and i was totally immersed in the environment. And it’s tough, so I can see tons of replay value. Not to mention the new weapons and vehicles, mmm mmm you are in for a treat.

The multi-player servers weren’t up yet, but I was definitely itching to get online. Guess we have to wait till the launch.

All in all, no one should be disappointed. Its everything they promised and then some. And more.

Bungie.net