So Halo 3 has been out now for 2 weeks and I am sure everyone has gotten a chance to check this out in some way shape or form, so now it’s time to tackle a review. Halo 3 is Bungie’s follow up to its two predecessors Halo 1 and 2 and picks up right where they left off. After months of advertising and hardcore marketing now gamers get a chance to put Master Chief into action and judge just how good this behemoth really is?

Presentation and Graphics: Halo 3 is polished, not light years beyond Halo 2, but you can see the difference when viewing the game on an HD screen, especially during the cut scenes. Master Chief’s visor never looked so shiny! A nice new distinction now is that you can customize your characters appearance for multi player matches, now you don’t have to always use the same Spartan armor and can actually get the Ninja Gaiden helmet if you collect all the skulls. 4 out of 5

Sound and Music: Halo 3 in 5.1 surround sound does extremely well; there is enough Gregorian chant and inspiring orchestra music to fill a room at any time. From the opening credits the familiar sound of Halo comes booming out of the speakers and carries all the way through. The music plays a big part in the game in that when you hear the inspirational music begin you know you are headed up to a big encounter or cut-scene. AI commentary is pretty funny too, a few times I found myself laughing after hearing grunts yell out that I killed their brother. 4.5 out of 5
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Microsoft today released word that the Halo 3 franchise has topped off $300 million in sales since launch. MS have dubbed it the “fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.” This is hard to argue with as the boys at Bungie and MS really marketed it well and made sure everyone got a taste of the hype train. Kudos boys.

There is one part of the press release I don’t agree with, where MS states “Xbox 360 has the greatest lineup in the history of video games and is the only console where consumers can play all the year’s biggest blockbusters.” I think this is far too over zealous to state, the lineup is looking good, but the best in history, wow that is a tough call.

There have been some great lineups in the days of the NES, Xbox, PS1 and 2, which paved the way for what we have today in video games. MS has definitely the bankroll to show for their current success, which is also attributed to the fact that video gaming in the years of old was more of a underground cult, where gamers were a minority. Today video games have become a huge industry and I doubt we will diminish in size as all those kids that played the old consoles are now grown up and spending their hard earned money on games. I think their best in “history” is a bit over the top and minimalizes what the other older consoles have done to get games to this point.

It is impressive that about one third of all Xbox 360 owners have gotten a copy of Halo 3, I actually figured this statistic to be higher and will probably reach a lot more people during the holidays.

From the press releasse:

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 4, 2007 — Interactive entertainment will never be the same, with the launch of one title that has changed the way the world thinks about video games. “Halo® 3” has captured the attention of consumers worldwide and has made history as one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.
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As someone who has played quite a bit of Halo, mostly Halo 2 multiplayer on the original Xbox I was interested in Halo 3. Not like some other gamers out there that flocked to retailers at midnight to get the first glimpses of the game, but still interested. I found it interesting that some retailers were pushing for consumers to pre-order Halo 3 and actually told people that they couldn’t sell the game opening day without pre-orders, this is ridiculous. I went in the day of the launch into a Best Buy and saw literally hundreds of copies sitting on the shelves and heard reports of more the same throughout the US.

I actually know people that got screwed because of pre-orders, they went in and the retailers system was having problems so they couldn’t get the game on launch day! That is insane, you make me pre-order because if not you won’t sell me a copy of a game you have tons of, so I do and then your computer screws me.

Anyone else run into these problems?

No matter if you are an Xbox 360, PS3 or even a Wii fanboy I think we all have to tip our hats to the new generation of consoles and the power they bring to the table.

I recently heard about the requirements for the new John Woo game, Stranglehold on the PC and it’s borderline ridiculous requirements.

“The game will require at least 15 gigs of hard drive space, 2 gigs of ram and a Nvidia 7800 or higher / ATI x1300 or higher graphics card.”

That is a lot of machine required to play a FPS game on your computer, a buddy of mine recently ran into similar problems, but not as extreme, when he purchased Halo 2 and Shadowrun for the PC, he could not run Shadowrun on his rig. This is why PC gaming is a problem in my eyes, you have to constantly upgrade your computer just to keep up with the newest titles. Games are built for consoles and the only thing you have to worry about is upgrading to a different system every few years to stay with the curve of technology.

Each new console and handheld runs games with high quality graphics and you never have to be concerned about disk space or RAM, just buying the game and being able to get it unwrapped from it’s plastic straight jacket. Putting the problems of hardware aside (which PC systems are very prone to as well if not more if you factor in viruses) these consoles are designed to have you gaming with little to no effort or worries by the gamer, you have to respect the consoles and their pushing of one another to bring this technology further and faster every year.

As a huge fan of Starcraft I wonder what the requirements for the new Starcraft II game will be, at least for me if they are too exagerated Blizzard can count me out.

Yes folks, today is officially Bungie Day throughout the world. Celebrate with your Halo lords by fragging a couple friends online in Halo 2 for either the Xbox or PC.

As a special gift, Bungie is putting up some special Bungie Day gamer pictures and a theme for FREE on the Xbox Live Marketplace on the Xbox 360. You read that right… FREE.

Make sure you grab these pretty quick, though. Once midnight hits, these puppies are gone forever. As in never available again. As in pray your Xbox 360 doesn’t die if you enjoy these because you won’t be able to download them again.

You can score a free copy of Shadowrun for the PC when you purchase a copy of Halo 2 for PC at your local Circuit City. A great deal if you have Windows Vista and can run the two games. So you end up paying $39.99 for two sweet games and you can play Shadowrun cross consoles (with the Xbox 360 people) and get live on your PC, this makes for some nice gaming. Happy hunting!

As we all know, the Halo 2 Blastacular Map pack did not download the way it should have. Bungie has released a statement saying that in order to have any kind of matchmaking in Halo 2, you must have the new maps in order to do so. The lesson here is that even though this content is marked as optional, it is necessary to have the new maps to play ranked matches. This will force gamers to make a huge choice if they wish to continue playing Halo 2 in a ranked manner. Here is an excerpt from Bungie:

Tonight’s update means that both new maps will be REQUIRED in order to participate in some of our matchmaking playlists. However, we are keeping several playlists in their oldschool state so if you don’t have the new maps you will still have some options. Here’s the breakdown of what will be available after this update:

Rumble Pit – Unranked – New Maps Required
Double Team – Ranked
Team Slayer – Ranked – New Maps Required
Team Skirmish – Ranked – New Maps Required
Team Training – Unranked
Team Snipers – Ranked – New Maps Required
Team Hardcore – Ranked
Team SWAT – Unranked – New Maps Required
Big Team Battle – Unranked

Of course you can continue to play custom games with or without the new maps as much as you’d like.

Thanks guys.

Here is a video that compares the multiplayer versions of both Halo 2 and Halo 3. Excited much?

Here is your HD love.

Halo 2 for Windows Vista will be available June 2007 and comes with much anticipation. Many gamers believe FPS games are best played with a mouse and keyboard, since I played hundreds of hours on the Xbox already I think I will pass on this one.

A couple of things that do interest me in the Windows Vista version are the map editor, which will alloy people to edit and make their own personal versions of maps and the 2 new multiplayer maps that are specific to the PC version, District and Uplift.

The PC version will get it’s own servers to play off and will actually allow gamers to now play the game from the disc, this mean no more having to load the entire game on your hard drive, but instead playing it like you would off your console.

From the press release:

Key Features:

• Exciting single-player gameplay. Experience firsthand the epic struggle between Master Chief and the Covenant armada. Brandish dual-wield weapons and Covenant arms, while piloting human and non-human vehicles and aircraft to battle intelligent AI alien enemies.

• Unmatched online gaming. “Halo 2” for Windows Vista will tap into the power of Games for Windows — LIVE to deliver online matchmaking for its Gold account members. The service will enable Windows Vista gamers around the globe to connect via their PCs and play in an innovative and competitive online forum.

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Bungie released a statement to say that all the incompatibility between the xbox and xbox360 has been fixed. Another possible scenario is people on a silver account trying to download as if they were on a gold account. Either way, the map pack is up and ready to be downloaded problem free. Unfortunately, the map pack is not free, you still gotta pay.