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Wednesday 5 March, 2008
SUMMARY
Halo 3 is an immersive First Person Shooter taking place in the futuristic universe of "Halo." The player starts the game with Master Chief (your playable character) being shot down through Earth's atmosphere and crashing into the dirt. My goal through the game (aka the plot) was to prevent the leader of the opposing alien forces (called "Covenant") from reviving an ancient race of intelligent beings that will threaten the existence of the universe.
GAMEPLAY
Having played both Halo and Halo 2, I suspected that the third installation would remain very much the same. However the advanced game play and unique story helped to prove this theory incorrect, much to my enjoyment.
Once I was thrown through the atmosphere into Earth, I was already immersed in the story of the game, as I felt like I actually was Master Chief. Being "thrown" (literally) into the plot of the game and being allowed to move around instantly already made me realize I was in for a pleasurable gaming experience. Whereas I felt the previous Halo's suffered from heavy exposition, Halo 3 allowed me to get right into the action, which is a crucial element of an enjoyable FPS.
As I began to first explore the surrounding area, I was completely amazed and impressed by the environmental aspects as well as the whole level design of the graphics in general. As I traveled through shade into a sunny area, it accurately captured the effect of this occurrence as it exists in real life. This again added to the feeling that I was actually in the game. I felt this aspect of the game was particularly important because many FPSs suffer from a detached atmosphere between the player and the game for one reason or another, and as I played Halo 3 further, I realized this was not such a game.
In addition, I found that the already engaging story also acted as a guide to direct me where to go next. Whereas many games offer excessive, though sometimes interesting, story lines, Halo 3 not only created a unique storyline but also used it as a method to progress game play, which I found to be a particularly helpful and unique element of this game.
Another aspect of the game that helped create an immersive environment was the voice acting (which greatly aided the development of the the story). Many FPSs tend to avoid helpful (and well acted) dialog and focus mainly on the action. Playing Halo 3, I felt its story was not only presented and developed, in no way detracted from the overall game play of the game. It was short and to the point, yet still very interesting. Typically I feel like I want to skip through the boring and uninteresting narratives of most FPSs, and I find myself unable to do so, greatly taking away from the "funness" of the games. However, I always found myself engaged with Halo's story, and if at any parts it were to lag a bit, I happily discovered I was allowed to skip the scene if I so desired.
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