And yet another Halo thread....the haters must be getting tired of seeing these...but whatever. I just finished the campaign...and I had some thoughts I wanted to share: I think as a whole, it does a pretty job of wrapping up the trilogy, but it's not without it's flaws. I think the story starts off really well w/ Cortana's voice over...one of the reasons I love her character so much is she, more than the Chief, humanizes his character. The level designs are exceptional in my opinion...one of the things I didn't like about Halo 2 was that, for one, only a third of the game, if that, was spent on earth. And the earth levels were great, but weren't as detailed as I'd like them to be. Halo 3 spends about half it's story on earth, and the maps are quite good. For the first time, I actually feel like I'm on earth, I'm fighting my way through a base, I'm travel on a deserted and decaying roadway, I'm fighting through jungle...in fact the Tsavo Highway level reminded me a lot of the highway level from Half Life 2. The covenant levels, which I always felt were a weakness in the game, were for the most part, done right...especially the High Charity level...it felt alien, chaotic, claustrophic and was definitely challenging. The cutscenes are pretty good, but I kinda felt something was missing...like they weren't completely fleshed out some of the time...and as such some of the scenes felt a little awkward, a little rushed and a little cheesy. But all in all, the story moves along smoothly. For the frist time, I enjoyed the weapons all the way through...most of the time I was able to use a human weapon (unlike past games where I would get stuck with covenant arsenal for long stretches). But when i couldn't use a human weapon and had to find something on the map, there was such a wide arsenal, and the weapons have become much more balanced, that I didn't have a problem with picking up a covenant weapon. My only complaint here...is I didn't like the fact the assault rifle was the starting weapon. the addition of the hornet was a nice touch...but I felt that the warthog has not evolved as a vehicle. It's still floaty and you know...I'd like to feel the ground beneth my tires...no way a vehicle like that has nice enough suspension to where you can't feel the bumps! My only complaints....the story I felt started to fall apart at the end... Spoiler Johnson's death was so messed up....this is a hardened soldier who has fought his way out of plenty of messes and he meets his death by a prissy little robot?! And then Gravemind...why was he not present when you finally rescue Cortana...that would make a lot more sense than the nonsensical drivel he shouts at you during the final levels. And speaking of the final levels...that very last mission...the first half felt like the Library level and the last half felt like the final level from the first Halo. Pretty dissapointing, especially the last half....I can understand escaping the Halo ring as it's destroyed...but up the ante...how bout piloting a hornet out of there...or better yet, give the player it's only opportunity to fly a pelican...but a warhog?! How the hell did Johnson get down there in the first place with just that vehicle?! And then, where we all the other people? You telling me Johnson was flying that frigate alone? Or that there were only a handful of soliders at the memorial at the end? Now the final scene was pretty nice....with the Cheif telling Cortana to wake him if she needs them....but they could have done a lot better on the last mission The campaing is definitely the best out of the three...some of the cutscenes from Halo 2 were a little better...and at times, the other games felt a little more epic...but the level designs and gameplay were by far the best out of the three. And I freaking hate the Flood! Especially the new ones that use the brute spikers.
