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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 28, 2007

System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Publisher: Microsoft

Reviewer's rating: ***

ESRB rating: Mature

Game type: First-person shooter

Kind of like: 'Halo 2'

Best feature: Online multiplayer action is insanely fun.

Worst feature: Single-player campaign is comparatively dull.

The bottom line: 'Halo 3' may not be the best-looking video game on the market, or the most innovative. It may not have the most compelling story, or the most likable characters. Arguably, it may not even be the most fun to play.

What it is, however, is the most popular. And in the world of interactive entertainment, that's a really big deal.

Because as a result, there's a good chance your friends will own it, too. And in the next-gen world of broadband interconnectivity, playing with your friends is what it's all about.

That's where 'Halo 3' - like its platform, the Xbox 360 - truly excels. Its online multiplayer action is, quite literally, a blast.

But more on that later. First, what about Master Chief?

For the newbies, Master Chief is the iconic protagonist of Bungie Studios' sci-fi shooter. A genetically modified soldier, he's humankind's last hope in an intergalactic struggle with The Covenant, an alien civilization characterized by religious extremism and internecine conflict. (Sound familiar?)

Among 'Halo' nuts, questions abound regarding Master Chief's fate. Will he indeed 'finish the fight'? And if so, will he survive the ordeal?

We're not telling, of course. But as the series' increasingly convoluted narrative plays out in the game's relatively brief nine-chapter Campaign mode, you may find yourself caring less and less about its outcome. That's because the level designs are uninspired and the action is unrelentingly linear and repetitive. Don't even waste your time on the Normal difficulty setting, where the enemy AI is practically brain-dead, and don't expect any help from your computer-controlled allies, whose AI is even worse.

Even our resident 'Halo' freak grew bored with the single-player action before the story's conclusion, and we were soon in agreement: If all sentient life in the universe has to perish in order for us to get to the multiplayer lobby, so be it.

Let's be honest. 'Halo 3,' like its predecessor, is about one thing and one thing only: online multiplayer killing sprees.

Nothing - and we mean nothing - can prepare you for the breathtaking visceral thrill of scoring a triple-kill with the Gravity Hammer, obliterating a Warthog full of your best friends with the Spartan Laser or torching your roommate with the Flamethrower.

In addition to new weapons, there are also new gadgets and vehicles that add tactical wrinkles to the frenzied blast-anything-that-moves mayhem. But make no mistake: If you pause long enough to even think about the cerebral strategies of hyper-realistic shooters like 'Rainbow Six,' you're likely to take the butt-end of a Battle Rifle upside your helmet posthaste.

The 11 multiplayer arenas are brilliantly varied, each one as gloriously detailed as the last. Better still, you can edit all the maps with The Forge, which lets you rearrange the location of objects, including weapons, power-ups and spawn points. What's more, it'll let you make edits to the map during a match. If that doesn't get your creative juices bubbling, go back to playing 'Uno' on Xbox Live.

Not satisfied? What if we told you that you can save films of your greatest victories and share them with friends (i.e. rub it in their faces)? You do have friends, don't you?

Ultimately, behind the big-budget marketing and gee-whiz gimmicks, 'Halo 3' is like most Hollywood sequels: more of the same. But if you're already a fan, you won't be disappointed. And if you've never played a 'Halo' game, it ain't a bad time to start.

Rommie Johnson

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