AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Six years ago, Bungie Studios defined Microsoft's new-kid-on-the-block platform, Xbox, with one game: Halo: Combat Evolved. It can be argued that without Halo, the Xbox would have been a miserable failure, and there certainly wouldn't be an Xbox 360 today. After the tremendous success of Halo, Microsoft put Bungie to work on Halo 2, which released to see even more impressive sales. And now there's Halo 3, which will undoubtedly sell through the roof. The title is the third and final installment in the Halo trilogy, which means it offers closure to the arcing storyline. In addition to its campaign mode, the game also supports Xbox Live multiplayer. Some will argue that Halo 3 is essentially "Halo 2 Plus," but few would disagree that it's superior to its predecessor in nearly every way possible.

What's Hot
It all starts with campaign – at least it did for us. True Halo fans will immediately sink their teeth into the campaign mode, as it brings to an end the Halo trilogy's storyline. Bungie's third installment is roughly the same length as its predecessors and has diverse level design. You'll explore a satisfying amount of areas as you progress into the game's depths. Like both its predecessors, Halo 3 is pure action. There are no puzzles to slow you down. You'll have to blast your way through level after level, employing different weapons for different situations. In this sense, the game can very easily be picked up and played without having to think a lot. You get to shoot stuff. And it's fun.

It's hard not to compare Halo 3 to Halo 2, as we'll be honest: we were disappointed with Halo 2's campaign mode. The reason we bring this up is because Halo 3's is an absolutely huge step in the right direction. Indeed, Halo 3 is a blast to play for many of the same reasons the original Halo was years ago. The level design is compelling, the story interesting and the action non-stop.

Playing alone is fun, but playing with friends is more fun. Whether it's in two-player co-op or four-player co-op via Xbox Live, Halo 3 provides an excellent co-operative experience. The new "points" system, which challenges you to compete as well as cooperate, adds a whole new reason to replay through the campaign mode. If you love playing co-op, you're going to love Halo 3.

Halo 3's greatest single strength is – no surprise – its multiplayer. This is true for co-op, but it's even truer when it comes to the game's main multiplayer mode. In many ways, it is a more refined version of what we got in Halo 2. Bungie has tweaked, polished and re-tweaked the different facets of the Halo 2 multiplayer experience, the end result being Halo 3.

What's more, Halo 3 has the most interesting variety of weapons in the entire franchise. There are more weapons to choose from than ever before, and many of them are purely awesome. Take, for instance, the gravity hammer. It feels like pure power when you use it to literally pound your enemies to smithereens. What's more, not only is the spartan laser an excellent option for dealing with vehicles, it's just as satisfying to get a kill with it against someone on foot. Oh, and what about the needler? It took Bungie three games to do it, but finally, at last, the needler is a serious option for those looking to do some serious damage.


If you've ever played Halo 2 on Xbox Live, you know all about the annoyance that is push-to-talk. Well, apparently Bungie listened to all of our complaints – it's gone. Well, sort of. If you have four people on your team or less, you don't have to press the D-pad to talk to your friends. Hallelujah.

Perhaps the number-one thing that sets Halo 3 apart from both its predecessors is The Forge. With it, Bungie has ensured that the online community can reinvent Halo 3 as time goes on. You're able to customize almost anything you want. Whether it's modifying weapon placement, adding vehicles to a map, changing spawn points or creating power ups, you can do it in The Forge.

Bungie has also included the long coveted Saved Films feature in Halo 3, which lets you save and edit your own game videos. What's particularly impressive about this is that the game automatically keeps in memory the last few games you've played. So, if you decide that you want to find and send a game you played an hour ago to a friend, Halo 3 will most likely have kept the real-time replay of the match in a list of previously played matches. This even works for campaign mode.