Halo 3

Having only just acquired an Xbox 360, naturally one of my first purchases was Halo 3. I have fond memories spending hours of my life playing the original round my mate's house. Warthog jousting, Blood Gulch sniping and mastering the campaign on Legendary were the perfect antidote to the stresses of life.

So, when I picked up a copy I had high hopes. It was also hard not to notice that the game box was covered in superlatives and praise from no less than five sources.

The game picks up from the end of the second title and carries on the story, with Master Chief falling to earth and being found by a squad of marines. If you haven't played the previous games in the series don't expect to understand what is going on. I must admit I was pretty confused for most of the game despite having played the other games.

Within a few minutes I was blasting the evil Covenant aliens with the help of some good ones and a squad of Earth's finest. The gameplay remained tight and was virtually unchanged from the previous games. The core system revolves around you being protected by a shield which prevents you dying as long as your bar isn't depleted. If the shield does disappear, then you have to avoid taking damage for a set period of time for it to regenerate, you die.

The limited choice of weapons also returns and adds a tactical element to the gameplay. You are restricted to two weapons (but have the ability to dual-wield two smaller guns) and can carry a range of grenades. This system often makes you switch weapons as ammo is normally limited so you tend to use a range of different arms. Part of the skill comes from selecting the right guns for the task, which becomes second nature depending on your opponent.

There is an impressive range of weapons available, both human and alien including some nice melee weapons, including the return of the energy sword and a new gigantic war hammer. I also liked how turrets could be used to increase firepower, but could also be torn off their mounts and used on the move. There is also a new selection of equipment which can be deployed to give certain benefits. Shields, jump pads and temporary invincibility are all available, but they never have a real impact on the gameplay.

The sound for the game is generally good, with some impressive background music which fits the game well and always plays at the right moment to add a sense of scale. I really liked it when I was assaulting an enemy position level by level, while the music played in the background; it seemed like a real popcorn gaming moment. Voice acting is also well handled and fits well with the characters, though Master Chief's speech never really adds anything to his iconic character.

The vehicle sections return with a new selection, including a fast quad bike and an aerial assault craft. Yet the real appeal lies in racing over the landscape in a Warthog with a gunner, destroying all opposition. The Scorpion tank still feels suitably powerful and the section where you attack a fortified position with marines sat on the sides shooting was really memorable.

However, Halo sticks rigidly to the same formula of the previous games. The levels are still enormous and take around an hour or so to complete. Whilst the checkpoints are frequent, you often get frustrated as many of them force you to backtrack through them fighting new waves of enemies. This can feel like a cheap way to extend the life of the game especially on the harder difficulties where you end up doing sections over and over again.

The entire game feels like a retread of the previous titles just in a new location with some slightly new features. Returning enemies are very similar from the past and towards the end of the game battling endless waves of them gets very annoying. The game uses a system where they continue to spawn until you push ahead, yet if you won't realise this you can spend a long time dying whilst trying to kill all of them.

The AI of your colleagues is also frustrating and getting them to do what you want can often take you a long time or get you killed in the process. During an epic set piece battle, the soldier I was with decided to drive our vehicle off a cliff leading to a rather painful death.

However, if you have an extra controller and a good friend then the co-op mode really improves the game. The appeal of Halo's co-op remains and levels are a lot better with another human player in the game. With the addition of network play, you can now have up to 4 people on your team, which is a real saving grace.

The multiplayer is also entertaining and the selection of levels is really strong, voice support and a very busy online community makes multiplayer a must. A good selection of game modes are available and even 4 player split screen is really good fun.

Halo 3 has a good amount of replayability, with lots of hidden extras in the form of "Skulls" which increase the game's difficulty but are hard to find.

Chances are if you have a 360 you already have Halo 3 and it is certainly worth playing. However, this game just seems to be repeating the conventions of the series and doesn't really move it forward. I was left a little disappointed by the whole experience. The gameplay doesn't feel as polished and innovative as something like Call of Duty 4 or the Half Life Episodes and it lacks the strong narrative of FPS titles like Bioshock.

Halo 3 is a good game, just not an amazing one.