Halo 3 | 
| From: Microsoft
Category: Video Games
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $13.97
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Seller: vampiresbooksnmovies
Rating:  691 reviews
Sales Rank: 96
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: adventure_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
16:9 Support
720p Support
Dolby Digital 5.1
Downloadable Content
Memory Card
SystemLink
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 9UE-00001
Model: 9UE-00001
UPC: 882224444477
EAN: 0882224444477
ASIN: B000FRU0NU
Publication Date: September 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Expands on the franchise and adds a wealth of technical and gameplay advancements | | • | Unparalleled first-person shooter experience and the most compelling story of the trilogy | | • | Builds upon the social multiplayer experience and innovative, evolving, online gameplay of Halo 2 | | • | Loaded with high-definition visuals, enhanced AI, an advanced lighting engine, new weapons, characters, and challenges |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Covenant rules the Earth the Flood has been unleashed and the fate of life everywhere hangs in the balance. There is only one person capable of saving the human race: Master Chief. This genetically engineered super soldier is the last chance for humanity's survival. Everything he has gone through has led him to this monumental moment. Stowed away on a Forerunner ship, he rushes back to Earth to defeat the Covenant once and for all. Hopelessly outnumbered, and with his Artificial Intelligence companion Cortana ensnared by Gravemind, things look bleak. But when you are bred for battle like Master Chief, you fight past the breaking point and bow to no one. It's all been building to this a desperate, final war that leads to a soul-shattering climax of epic proportions. Help this incredible hero stop the Covenant, destroy the Flood and save the lives of every person on the planet.The third chapter in the critically acclaimed franchise features insane battles with an arsenal of alien and human weaponry. You'll discover all-new armaments and characters as you fight to the finish. You can even play online with Xbox Live and battle in pulse-pounding multiplayer action. Next-generation graphics and technological advances, such as enhanced artificial intelligence and a beefed-up real-time lighting engine, make Halo 3 shine with stunning realism. Finish the fight once and for all in the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood and the entire human race in the climatic curtain call of the awesome Halo saga.
Amazon.com Product Description
| Adding to Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the epic saga continues with Halo 3, the amazingly anticipated sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo franchise. In this third chapter of the Halo trilogy, Master Chief returns to finish the fight, bringing the epic conflict between the Covenant, the Flood, and the entire human race to a dramatic, pulse-pounding climax. 
Get ready. The Chief is back. | 
HDR lighting, self-shadowing, and more make Halo 3 look and feel realistic. View larger. | 
Mystery abounds with the return of Cortana. View larger. | 
Earth is conquered. The Covenant is everywhere. Halo 3 promises to be an epic journey. View larger. | Game developer Bungie announced that Halo 3 will be released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 sometime in 2007. The game was revealed to the world at the Microsoft press conference held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA in May 2006. To gamer's delight, the announcement was a complete surprise. The rumors have been abound for the past year, as everyone wondered when the next installment would be ready. Bungie and Microsoft did a stellar job keeping their lips sealed, and fans benefited from their first glimpse of the hallowed third and final installment. The short presentation was delivered in real-time on the Xbox 360 using the current version of the Halo 3 game engine. That's right, no studio production video, Bungie and Microsoft delivered the real deal: what they showed at the announcement is what gamers will see when they play Halo 3 in 2007. The HDR lighting, self-shadowing, GPU-run particle system and many other effects are rumored to show up in full effect in the final game. Needless to say, the gaming community is salivating. CJ Cowan, Bungie's director of cinematics discussed one of the most startling moments of the presentation: the return of Cortana. "Given the variety of character and story arcs at the end of Halo 2, we wanted to boil down our announcement to a few key threads. Cortana and the Chief being a galaxy apart is a situation we haven't seen before, and is something that is a powerful component to Halo 3. We are using her transmissions in the demo to give the viewer a few subtle clues to her situation and state of mind, without revealing any specifics we want to save for the game itself." Graphically, the game closely follows in the tradition of Halo 2, although it has been upgraded to take advantage of the Xbox 360's more prodigious visual abilities. As art direct Marcus Lehto explained, "[The presentation] was intended to be an understated announcement of Halo 3 -- the tone is that of mystery and suspense -- the calm before the storm. I wanted to make sure that we reintroduced the Chief, showed that Earth was thoroughly conquered, with Covenant everywhere, and that there is a glorious, ancient artifact buried under the Earth's crust which will provide Halo 3 with the epic journey which we all want." Taking full advantage of the power of Xbox 360, Halo 3 expands on everything that has made the franchise great, adding a wealth of technical and gameplay advancements. The game design has evolved with next-generation, high-definition visuals, enhanced A.I., an advanced real-time lighting engine, and, of course, new weapons, characters, and challenges. Halo 3 promises an unparalleled first-person shooter experience and, in the end, the most compelling and engrossing story in the franchise's history. Last, but certainly not least, Halo 3 builds upon the unique social multiplayer experience and innovative, evolving online gameplay of Halo 2. Rest assured, you'll still be able to run with your clan and battle with (or against) your buddies from coast to coast. |
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 691
 A Must-Own - But Not Perfection September 30, 2007
Lisa Shea
93 out of 117 found this review helpful
Halo 3 was, in a way, doomed before it was released. No matter how well it did, people are going to judge its "wow factor" against how amazing the original Halo felt to play back when it first came out. Now that we are used to the weapons, races, environments and plotline, nothing is as cool as it was that first time. It's the same issue that plagues any series, be it Dune, the Matrix, Star Wars, etc.
Halo 3 does get a boost in that it is released for the 360, so you get an automatic upgrade in abilities there. We're playing on a high end HD TV, and yes, it looks really nice. The backgrounds look like a painting in motion, with swirling clouds and dancing dust storms. From the light glinting off the metal surfaces to the detailed shadows in the rocks, it can be really gorgeous. Is every detail as beautiful as every detail in, say Gears of War? Maybe not. Different developers focus on different items. There are always trade-offs for speed and visual appeal reasons. For a Halo world, I think they did a good job.
The sound and dialogue are really great. I like the background music, and I find much of the dialogue hilarious. There are some conversations that have me laughing out loud. This is a good game to play with your surround sound stereo system hooked up, and of course the subwoofers.
I hated the ending of Halo 2. I dislike it when a story finishes with a "and now wait a few years to find out what happened." They can at least have you feel like you achieved something, and ended a chapter. For that reason alone it's good to have Halo 3 here to wrap everything up.
Unfortunately, with all the time they spent in development, this third outing is a bit predictable. I really enjoyed the multi character play in Halo 2. I thought that was a great touch. They completely removed it for Halo 3, setting you back into a Master Chief only mode. To be honest, I really thought we'd get THREE races this time around, and get to play as the Flood too. Why reduce ourselves to just one?
Also, while there are a lot of "missions", some of them are maybe 5 minutes long. That's a bit on the short side. I realize you can go back and replay on harder and harder levels to challenge yourself - but they could have put more depth into the basic story line.
Now, all of those things being said, the key to any game in modern times is its multiplayer ability. No matter what single player game you play, it's pretty much a limited time game. Multiplayer is completely unlimited - and you're not stuck with the formulas built into the AI brains. Halo 3 is definitely the best multiplayer experience of the three games - the most balanced, the most fun, the best graphics. You could literally play this for years and not get bored of it.
So to summarize - if you don't have XBox Live, you could rent this game for a week, get through it and have a lot of fun. You'll be able to see how the story ends, get your Halo fix in and be happy. But if you do have XBox Live, you'll want to own this. Between replaying the base game on harder levels to improve your skills, and playing multi-player in a variety of maps and set-ups, you'll be happy for a long, long while.
There are many games we write a walkthrough for that we have to push ourselves to get through, but when we did our walkthrough for Halo 3, we really did have fun :) So that's always a good sign!
I BELIEVE! September 26, 2007
W. Chang (Houston, TX)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
Since the days of Halo 1 & 2 on the original Xbox, I have found the Halo series slightly over hyped and somewhat boring. Especially when compared to other online FPS's such as Counter-Strike / Quake / Unreal. So you can rest assured, this review was not written by a Halo "fanboy" or fanatic.
Now in 2007, Halo 3 is finally upon us and all I can say is I now do "believe" this is the best in the Halo series and will live up to its hype.
Pros:
I think the absolute number one feature for Halo 3 is the online play A SOLID 10/10. It is incredibly stable, easy to use and it just plain works! Within 10 minutes of inserting the game disc, my buddy and I were squaring off in battle over XBOX live along with nearly half a million other players! Voice over IP is loud and clear with an occasional echo, no lagging or stalling even on release day! The interface is absolutely beautiful. I'm sure things will be even further improved over time by online patches and updates.
The graphics are a 9/10. I have seen better effects & textures (BioShock, BF 2142, etc.) but all in all, I am very pleased. (Note: I am running an Xbox 360 elite w/ HDMI on a LG 32" 1080i display)
I give the sounds effects and music a 8/10, nothing really mindblowing.
Fun factor is a perfect 10/10! It really is addicting.
Single player story mode works great too. Although it is not the true "focus" of the game, single player mode will provide great entertainment when you're seeking a change of pace. It's somewhat short, but has excellent replay value. And YES you can play to story mode online with friends!
Cons:
I honestly haven't yet found many flaws in the GAME itself. If I were to be picky, I would say the graphics and sound effects "could" be improved further. Also, due to numerous reports of scratched discs in the Limited Editions, Microsoft was careless in its packaging method. I would say 95% of all the LE versions have loose discs and are scratched. (my copy was perfect though because I purchased it locally at Be$t buy and gently shook all the cases to listen for loose discs.)
Halo 3 is a true winner for noobies and veterans of the Halo series period. I think this game will offer endless entertainment for quite some time and the Limited Edition is $70 well spent. You get quite a few extra goodies with the LE, such as a metal case, mini-hard cover book, and lots of extras on the bonus disc. For a mere $10 additional dollars, it is well worth it.
Just remember, you may want to purchase the Limited Edition in a retail store so you can listen for loose discs. With some careful searching, you can find one that does Not contain scratched discs.
Goodluck everyone and game on!
5 stars!
Review for Non-Gamers September 27, 2007
Greeper (Washington DC)
48 out of 62 found this review helpful
I'm not a gamer, just a regular 30something who wants an easy way to take out my frustrations. This review is probably most helpful to middle aged men like me, not hardcore gamers.
I have tried many other games but Halo is the only one that doesn't tax me too much with choices and complicated controller requirements. I give the Halo franchise 5 stars because it is so simple, one mission, kill everything in sight. You don't need to investigate, open your pouch, choose between a million weapons, read maps, or think for even a second. It's the only game I've found which I can stand for more than 5 minutes and which is completely uncomplicated. And you can skip the story and all that nonsense by just hitting the main button.
As compared to other Halos: I'm not crazy about the weaponry. The needlers run out of ammo and the other guns don't do much. You also need to press a button to reload some weapons, it seems, whereas before they would reload if you walked over the same kind of weapon. THere are 3 kinds of grenades, which is unnecessary and just harder to switch between. You can also only carry 2 of each instead of 4. Since the new grenades stick like the plasmas, they don't add much and just add another layer of choice and button-pushing. Too complicated. Also, the little bonus things like flares and landmines are gimmicky and add too much comlpication. Again, advanced gamers probably love it, but I'm too old to learn all this new stuff. Just give me a gun and some grenades.
In previous games you'd come across more types of things to do, like a lot of sniper rifles so you could sit on a hilltop picking off aliens or use other strategy. In this game you don't find a lot of useful weapons, so there's a lot more direct hand to hand, on the ground type combat. I've also found that it's easier to kill things and easier in general to solve the levels. Also, it uses the "follow me" arrow and the voice gives you suggestions if you seem to be missing the point, which I like, since in previous Halos I've spent hours wandering around wondering what I'm supposed to be doing. No such problems here. They've sufficiently dumbed it down.
I've had a few graphic glitches in this one, which has never happened before. I've also gotten stuck and unable to get out of things twice. THe sound and graphics are great, of course. I've never paid any attention to the story, unless it required me to, so I can't comment on that. Kusdos to Bungie for making it easy to skip over.
Overall, this is the same experience as the others, though it seems easier than Halo2. As little thought as that required, this one requires less. I've not had to think at all about weapon choice, strategy, or anything, Just pull the trigger and kill! I wish there were more FPS games like this -- fast-paced, completely intuitive hand controls, easy storyline, simple mission, and FUN.
Halo 3: A+ October 3, 2007
C. Johnson (Lawrenceville, GA)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
After loving the original Halo, and being somewhat disappointed with Halo 2, I did not know what to expect with Halo 3. I still, being a fan of the series decided that this game would be on my must have list regardless. I wasn't "dying" for the game to come out and in fact I actually missed the release date and ended up picking it up the day afterwards. After playing the game for a while I must say that I am very impressed with the game overall.
First things first, if you get the Limited Edition, then know that you run a HIGH chance of having damaged game CD's due to the poor case design. Luckily in my case, the only CD that was damaged was the "Essentials CD", but still with me paying $70 for a game I would have liked to have both CD's in new condition. In any case Microsoft realized the issue and decided to replace all damaged Halo 3 CD's free of charge for the next few months.
With that out of the way let's get to the actual game.
When I first started playing the game, I thought it was going to be another disappointment like Halo 2 was, and ended up finding another great game, Bio Shock more fun to play. However after progressing further in the game, I am finding Halo 3 to be nearly as fun as the original. One reason of this is because of the new weapons, and vehicles. In addition you, Master Chief, no longer have to be driving a vehicle (with the exception of the scorpion). So if you want to man the turret on the warthog, while your computer controlled teammates drive, you can do it, same hold true for most every vehicle in the game. This makes things very interesting and fun. One of my favorite new vehicles in the game is the Hornet. My first air battle with this machine was an absolute blast. I enjoyed flying over beautiful scenery shooting down banshees while two of my squad mates sit outside on jump seats supporting me with fire of their own. I was having such a good time just admiring the scenery, I decided to fly the hornet high in the air and jump out mid flight into the sparkling ocean below. It was a looooong way down and needless to say I died, but boy it sure was fun.
Flying the Hornet allowed me to appreciate the incredible detail of the graphics on this game. In HD, the graphics are stunning. Whether it's walking through the jungles, flying through the air or scaling snow covered mountains, everything looks amazingly real. Aside from the detailed scenery, the characters themselves are also done very well. Characters move, attack and even die realistically. Its things like this that separate the average FPS's from the great ones.
I also am very pleased with the audio. This game boasts true surround sound and if you already haven't then I highly suggest getting an optical sound cable to experience the movie like experience from you're A/V receiver. Many gun sounds have that "punch" that I was missing in Halo 2. The grunts usually are the first ones to die, and for a little comic relief, many times you'll hear them saying things like "He killed my friend", or "How will I go on with him?" In addition to the exceptional in game sound, the soundtrack itself is very well done. Very often, after I finish playing for the night, I often leave the game on the main screen just so I can hear the music on the title screen.
The controls in Halo 3 are still quite intuitive with only a small complaint; in many other FPS games, the reload button is often the X button, but not in Halo 3. In Halo 3, the X button is the "Equipment" button. So whenever you pick up items like auto turrets, bubble shields or radar jammers, if you are not careful you may accidentally use them instead of doing what you really wanted to do. In Halo 3, LB and RB reload the weapon, and I suppose this was done to accommodate dual wielding, which is back in this game. In addition to the two standard grenades from the previous installments, Halo 3 has a couple of more grenades types; one is called the Spike Grenade, and the other...well I'll leave that up to you to find out; it wasn't in the manual so I was quite surprised when I picked one up during campaign mode. In addition to the equipment I already mentioned, there are lots of others.
As good as the single player is I must say that I am quite impressed with the multiplayer mode. If you know me I am not a big fan of playing online, but one night I decided to try my luck at Halo 3 on XBOX Live....and let's just say, I didn't get to bed until 5 in the morning. First off this game runs very smoothly online with no noticeable degradation in the graphics or performance and I haven't once encountered a laggy game. Best of all the game is very playable online, and not the chaotic mindless shoot fest that I experienced with Unreal Tournament. This was my first time playing online in a long time and I even ended up winning a Slayer match. One thing that makes this game playable online is that nearly every weapon either has a weakness or a counter thanks to the additional of the new equipment items. Sure the insanely good players will mop up the floor with people like me, but its still very fun playing just because it just seems fair. Games like Capture the Flag which proves to be nothing but a disaster in Unreal Tournament, is a true pleasure to play in Halo 3. And hey, if this game is good enough to allow ME to enjoy online games, then it must be pretty darn good.
In my opinion Halo 3 does not disappoint one bit. It was a slow starter, but now that I am finally somewhat deep into the game, I must say that I am enjoying this game VERY much. It's a blast to play both in campaign mode and in addition the online play will be sure to keep me playing this game long after I have beaten campaign mode multiple times. Other than the small issue with the controls, I can't find anything else really wrong with this game. On a 10 point scale, I'll give this a 9.7. While Bio Shock (another 5 star game IMO) is definitely more original and just as fun, Halo 3 is the best of the breed when it comes to your "typical" shooter, and the added fun one can have playing it online make it 5 stars in the fun category. This is a great game across the board.
Return of the King September 25, 2007
Michael Corona (New York City)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Halo 3 - Circa 2007
GOOD:
- Four-player online (or offline) co-op Gameplay allows two; three, or four players play through the game from start to end. A co-op player can come into the game at any time and leave at any time (note only one of you will play as the Master Chief, while another will play as the Arbiter, and the other two players will be Elites that work with humans)
- Great looking graphics and animation, that look even better then Halo 2, F.E.A.R. and just as good as Bioshock, while these graphics might not look as good as Gears of War do to some people these graphics still are some of the best seen to date.
- Intense multiplayer action online through Xbox Live with matches as small as one on one and as big as 16 players (and offline with out using Xbox Live using either spilt screen, or system link). Halo 3 is set up similar to Halo 2 in the sense that you're given a rank when you play multiplayer (this rank can go up or down at any time) this rank is representative of your skill and your matched with others of your skill type, that way new unskilled players and hardcore veterans will not often play against one another, unless they make a special match themselves that ignores rank.
BAD:
- Confusing plot to new players of this franchise - Playing Pervious games and read the Halo Novels will fill you in on the details, if you are incline to learn them.
- No Clan Support (like in Halo 2) - This might get fixed in a future patch
- Game is considered short to some (Campaign Story Mode).
IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- A Sci-Fi First Person Shooter with quick pacing and vehicle combat.
- Co-op and online versus/team games is the big draw here.
- NEW MODE: Forge is a mode that lets you edit all the maps in Halo 3, while you cannot rebuild the maps themselves you can in this mode, add and take away any and all of the objects from vehicles and guns to spawning points and flag zones. This is all done in real time and you can invite friends to this mode while your customizing the map(s), they can play a multiplayer game while your doing this (instead of just waiting for you) and if you want you can forgo editing the map and join the game at hand as either a player or the map editor (who looks like 343 Guilty Spark), while playing as the map editor you can still add and take away any and all objects from vehicles and guns to spawning points and flag zones any time you want.
- NEW MODE: Theater Mode is a video editor that lets you record and play back any and all matches from Campaign, Multiplayer, and Forge modes from the point of view of any player either in first person or third person (even in a orbit-cam where the camera circles around the player) all in real time (you can also pause this at any time as well as fast forward and rewind), even use your camera to fly around the match and see the match from any angle you want, Don't forget you must save your videos before you turn off the game or you will lose said videos. Also you can take a picture at any time and save it to your Xbox 360 then download your picture at Bungie.com.
GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Halo 2 (Xbox)
- Halo (Xbox)
- Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
- Bioshock (360)
- Gears of War (360)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- There are bonus items scattered through the Campaign Story Mode called Skulls getting these "Skulls" will make the game harder (by doing things like turning off radar for the rest of the Campaign Mode your playing it) but will also greatly increase your meta game score for the Campaign Mode.
- There are two different limited collectors editions of this game. One is called the limited edition, which comes in a metal tin and has a bonus disc (with behind the scene videos and such) and also comes with an art book. While the other limited edition (called Legendary edition) you will find an art book a mini poster two bonus DVDs (with behind the scene videos and such as well as a collection of all the cut scenes form Halo and Halo 2 and themes you can download to your 360) And the it comes with a plastic Master Chief Helmet to keep your DVDs in (Helmet as big a volley ball).
- At Bungie.com you can sign up and pay a small fee to upgrade your Halo 3 account (default is free) to hold more space on their serves for your videos/pictures/clips that you made.
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