Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: First Person Shooter
Metacritic Rating: 94/100
Copies Sold: 14.5 million
Release Date: September 2007

Halo 3 is a first person shooter developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360 console. It is the third installment of the Halo franchise, concluding the storyline that began with Halo: Combat Evolved and continued with Halo 2.

Gameplay

Players once again control Master Chief in his quest to rid the galaxy of the alien covenant race utilizing advanced human and alien weaponry that has been enhanced in the third installment of the Halo franchise. It is played in a first person role just like the previous titles. Most of the playing takes place while on foot, however there are times when vehicles are used, such as a warthog or banshee. Weapons can be dual-wielded much like in Halo 2, however melee or grenade attacks cannot be used if dual-wielding weapons.

Halo 3 added the ability to use two-handed weapons which allows for Master Chief to output greater power at the expense of attack speed. Equipment has also been added, which allows Master Chielf to deploy screens, flares, and increased shield regeneration. Equipment items can be found throughout the game in both single and multi-player modes.

Another major introduction to game play is the Forge system. Forge is a map-editing tool that allows players to add or remove game items such as weapons, vehicles, and power ups. This allows for completely customized maps that players can create. In addition to customized maps, players can also save game footage to the Xbox 360 hard drive that allows for multi-angle viewing of game action and variable speeds. Players can also upload saved replay content to Bungie.net and share this content with others.

Halo 3′s campaign mode can be played singularly or co-op with up to three additional players via Xbox Live or System Link. For online multi-player game modes, players can play with up to sixteen other people in game modes such as deathmatch and capture the flag.

Halo 3 has sold 14.5 million copies to date and is currently the best selling Xbox 360 game of all time. Microsoft spent over $40 million on marketing in hopes of attracting a wider audiance to the Halo universe as well as the Xbox 360 console. It appears to have worked making Halo 3 one of the best selling video games of all time, and one of the greatest video games ever made.