bit-tech Shopping: Microsoft Halo 3 (XB360)

• 1080i (HDTV)
• 1080p (HDTV)
• 480p (EDTV)

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: Classic Halo gameplay, short but satisfying single player campaign, addicting multiplayer over Xbox Live, record clips and take screenshots (share them on bungie.net)

Weaknesses: campaign is over quicker than you'd expect, no "final" boss fight, not everyone on Xbox Live is mature and friendly..

Summary: If you're a fan of Halo then you don't need a review to know if you're gonna buy Halo 3. You should have already bought the game and beat it numerous times. But if you didn't buy it and are curious about the game then listen to what I have to say about Halo 3. It's a fun sci-fi first person shooter. You play as Master Chief, a super soldier tasked with saving the human race (oh, and also the whole galaxy) from numerous bad guys. The campaign is very exciting. You traverse different locales killing bad guys, riding vehicles, using different weapons, and discovering more about the plot (which is the third part in a trilogy of games). The campaign is a bit too short for my tastes but it also allows up to 4 player co-op over Xbox Live which provieds a lot of replayability. The multiplayer is probably why most people purchased this game. It's very addicting and has a lot different game types (lone wolves is a free for all fight, team slayer is a team death match, etc). The maps are mostly well made and can even be customized through the Forge menu (this option allows you to place objects, weapons, vehicles, etc anywhere on any map). Killing Spartans and Elites over Xbox Live is a lot of fun but it is definitely not a PG experience. There are a lot of immature people on Xbox Live and it seems like they mostly play Halo 2 and 3. Luckily Halo 3 has a mute button which allows you to mute people. Another cool new feature in Halo 3 is the Theater. This is where you can view your previous multiplayer games or campaign missons. You can choose to save these or create small clips from memorable moments (like that jumping, no-scope headshot you did in Valhalla, etc.). You can even take screen shots from any moment of any film clip saved in the Theater. The game automatically records your 25 previous multiplayer matches or campaign missions, you can then select certain ones you like and save them to your hard-drive. Or you can upload your film clips and screen shots to Bungie.net and allow friends or the whole Halo community to view your spoils of war. So overall, this is a very fun game with beautiful graphics, tight controls, and a lot of replayability. If you've played the previous two installments of this franchise then you know what to expect. If you're brand new to Halo then you should give this game a try; Master Chief commands you to start finishing the fight!

Rating: 10

Time with product: 6 Days

Strengths: Great graphics, great play

Weaknesses: none so far

Summary: This game has been awesome.. everything we expected and more so. Its definitely kicked it up a notch from Halo 2, keeps you on your toes and has a TON of great new weapons, characters and so on. Two thumbs up.

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: One of the best FPS on any console.Multiplayer is fantastic.

Weaknesses: Short campaign.

Summary: If you have played Halo and/or Halo 2, you should know what to expect: multiplayer, multiplayer, multiplayer!The game has a good campaign, which is enhanced with four-player CO-OP, but the meat is in the tons of available maps and settings awaiting you in ranked and social matches.New to this iteration is the map editor, which lets you make your own custom map settings. Very cool.I don't think you need this review to know that you need Halo 3. All of you friends will be playing this one for months.