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Done with Normal mode after about 7-8 hours -- probably the most disappointing game of the trilogy (though I tend to hold Halo 2 in higher regard than a lot of people). Hard to explain without spoilers, but a guess there's a few non-spoiler problems worth considering:

--Story takes a while to really get going, then wraps up fairly quick
--Abuse of certain motifs -- Halo theme pounds almost everytime you hop in a vehicle, one major setpiece battle that is cool the first time is twice repeated to somewhat lesser effect (I guess they couldn't think of anything else?)
--Music feels mostly cribbed from the first two games....nothing new that is memorable here (though to be fair I tend not to notice music unless I'm playing Legendary)
--The story just feels really abbreviated, seems less expansive and epic than the previous 2 games. In a lot of ways it feels like it ramps down when it should be ramping up.
--If Halo 2 ended too early, Halo 3 somewhat overstays its welcome (I guess that evens it out )
--Cortana looks like some kind of cyber-dominatrix now....if they wanted us to take her and her relationship with Master Chief seriously, why did they slut her up so much? Fanservice at its most embarassing.

Spoilers below are nothing highly specific to the story (ending, plot points), but spoiler-y enough to freak out some people:

Spoiler

--Fighting brutes not as fun as fighting Elites - Elites as enemies gone for good
--Covenant story-arc is concluded 3/4 of the way into the game in an unsatisfying way and then everything after that is fighting the Flood UGGGGGH
--We never got the Urban Earth War that Halo 2's marketing and ending seemed to promise....a little desert, a little jungle, then back to Halo :\ Earth levels are good, but story-wise they feel like filler material.
--Cortana "flashes" don't ever add up to much of anything, I have no idea what they were really attempting to do with that...the whole subplot with her and Gravemind is useless....but maybe I just missed something interesting or insightful

I'll hold off final judgment until I'm done with it on Legendary.....as a good gameplay experience can easily overcome all of this nonsense, and I'm hoping that's where they will really deliver. I'm just mildly annoyed that they didn't really kick it up for this game.

 

[Cornballer]

"You are correct, when you pick up the skull that's it, you have it and it's recorded as being found and you can use it for later meta-campaign scoring purposes etc."

One more quasi-obscure question if you happen to have the answer - what's the deal w/ co-op and skulls? Does everyone need to pick it up to activate, or does one person grabbing it unlock for everyone in the current session?

 

[Windu]

So after playing halo 3 multilayer on my brother's 360 for about 6-7 hrs and a little bit of single last night i have decided I will probably pick this up. It is very strange because I didn't like halo or halo 2 that much but halo 3's multiplayer seems so much better, and that replay feature is the coolest thing ever. I played about an hour or two of single player too, but I didn't really like it. (I did play coop though.) It seems to me that I have been enjoying far more console FPS's this generation than last, It might be because of how good the 360 pad is, the joysticks are perfect.

 

[Zezboob]

It's not push to talk, if that's what you mean.

To the best of my knowledge it is not push-to-talk team communication for 5v5 or less but it is push-to-talk team communication for 6v6 or higher.

And I think that sucks.

Ok, thank you for the explanation.

It's just stupid, really.

Now I am forced to play 5vs5 till Bungie listen to the players...

No, only can select the matchmaking playlist types or you can make your own custom game and invite friends.

Yeah, forgot about this one, another stupid idea.

In ranking match why not, to force people to be skilled in any kind of match.
But god Bungie, on social match let the payers play what THEY WANT.



I really totally don't understand, with such stupid little decisions Bungie is really ruining the multiplayer. I really don't get the point.

 

[Chiggs]

But the skull is marked as found and usable after I drop it? The Achievement blips when I pick it up?

Yes it is. And you won't get achievements for all skulls. Only gold.

One other thing to keep in mind: When hunting for skulls, you have to start the entire level from scratch. You can't select a rally point. Also, I wouldn't go below Normal when trying to find them. There's some rumors that the some skulls don't appear when playing on easy.

 

[xBigDanx]

So how does EXP work in multiplayer? Any things in specific you need to do to gain EXP?

 

[op_ivy]

LOL Yes I remember that! I loved the last line given by the guy at the other side of the door...

Spoiler

C'mon Master Chief is out here and needs help?

Does he know the password?

the douche bags i was playing with in co-op killed him before the dialogue was over :/

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Oh yeah I also finished the game(on normal). I couldn't tell you what I thought about the story because I skipped all of the cutscenes that didn't involve Cortana's breasts or ass.

I think that sums up my interest in the Halo storyline. Dug the campaign though for the most part(except for

Spoiler

stage 8 in the Flood's rectum

...ughhhhh)

Still really annoyed about not being able to join custom games(without an invite). I don't give a shit about match-making or exp(though I will play it to unlock all of the armor variants) but I'd love play to 8v8 CTF all day everyday(hell that's all I played when I owned Halo 1 PC)

 

[KBox]

So what can I do about the overly quiet weapon volume? I'm playing on a shit TV and have nothing fancy as far as sound goes, but still this isn't a problem in other games

I have this problem on my HD tv as well, with Headphones it sounded fine, but the voices are too loud and the guns sounds low.

 

[RavenHawk]

The worst part about matchmaking is that you get shotty/snipes 50% of the time.

I'd be happy if I could get it down to 50%

 

[Creamium]

What is the function of the service tag you see under your gamertag? Like the default G70?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I really totally don't understand, with such stupid little decisions Bungie is really ruining the multiplayer. I really don't get the point.

Wait. Wasn't it the same in H2?

 

[giga]

What is the function of the service tag you see under your gamertag? Like the default G70?

Kind of an easier shout out for your teammates instead of yelling "xXx FreakSniperOwnage xXx"

 

[Flo_Evans]

wow. total Halo n00b and former PC FPS elitist first impressions of Halo3:

I jumped right in to multiplayer since I had no background on the story or characters. The party system and online in a word is sweet! Really impressive work. Played a few matchmaking games, smooth as hell. Then I joined up with errorjustin while he tweaked a gametype (low grav rocket hell!) awesome. Then I saw doctor hacks online so I joined his party and we did some of the campaign on legendary. Fuckin' hell! They did a great job with the checkpoints and respawning to make it not so frustrating to get constantly owned by snipers :lol It seems like I got the chapter achievements for going through it with him on co-op, but I can't continue where we left of on my own save. Oh well the levels where fun

Then we went into the forge and played around making our own level layout. O_O really impressive! Going to be allot of fun making insane levels.

 

[gohepcat]

wow i cant believe bungie looked over something so basic. This really is dissapointing.

Wow...we are back to 2004 again.

Yes this is how all Halo games are. It's not an oversight. It's used to balance players skill and is a part of the matchmaking process.

 

[X26]

Wait. Wasn't it the same in H2?

Yea

I figure it's because it ensures games get filled up quick, whereas with more control there would be more standing around waiting for people to join these specific match types. But given Halo's fanbase I don't see how filling up even 'obscure' gametypes quickly would have been difficult *shrugs*

 

[Creamium]

Kind of an easier shout out for your teammates instead of yelling "xXx FreakSniperOwnage xXx"

Ow ok that was pretty much the only thing I could think of, thanks.

 

[joelseph]

I'd be happy if I could get it down to 50%

Yeah I was probably being a little too generous. It is ridiculous. Anytime a map is vetoed up comes shotty/snipes on narrows. uggghhhh.

 

[Smidget]

One more quasi-obscure question if you happen to have the answer - what's the deal w/ co-op and skulls? Does everyone need to pick it up to activate, or does one person grabbing it unlock for everyone in the current session?

Only one person needs to pick it up for it to unlock for everyone.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Wow...we are back to 2004 again.

Yes this is how all Halo games are. It's not an oversight. It's used to balance players skill and is a part of the matchmaking process.

That's what I thought. It's the concept of the "hopper" right?

I saw that dude saying that they're "ruining" the multiplayer and I was like "what?"

 

[border]

Yes this is how all Halo games are. It's not an oversight. It's used to balance players skill and is a part of the matchmaking process.

Yeah, but it still feels like bullshit.....having to sit through shitty gametypes and shitty maps, all in the name of some crappy e-penis system.

 

[voltron]

About the skulls: how hard are they to find? I'm playing the game casually and I'm not looking out for them per sé, but in my next run I'll try to find them all. Do you have to comb every nook and cranny of the level?

Yeah I managed to find a few.... if you explore intelligently you get rewarded with skulls. They are in obvious exploration spots.

Judging by my google search result it seems the whole internet is still stuck on the last 2 silver skulls. I have all the gold and the 2 easy silver skulls obtained on the first 2 levels. Will be interesting to see when they are discovered.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Yeah, but it still feels like bullshit.....having to sit through shitty gametypes and shitty maps, all in the name of some crappy e-penis system.

.

 

[cool_dude_2049]

Oh yeah, I saw the exchange too. I was like, wtf? Very cool.

It was Griff and Simmons from Red Vs Blue

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Yeah, but it still feels like bullshit.....having to sit through shitty gametypes and shitty maps, all in the name of some crappy e-penis system.

Can't you start up a Custom Match whenever you want with whatever gametype you want? Can those games be made public?

 

[voltron]

Yeah, but it still feels like bullshit.....having to sit through shitty gametypes and shitty maps, all in the name of some crappy e-penis system.

Its not e-penis its to allow people of similar skill level to play against each other. Just play custom games if you want specifics... whats the big deal? You can specify the play-list and theres a good chance youll get what you want some of the time.

 

[giga]

Can't you start up a Custom Match whenever you want with whatever gametype you want? Can those games be made public?

Yes.

 

[Cornballer]

Only one person needs to pick it up for it to unlock for everyone.

Cool. Thanks for answering all of our questions.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Yes.

Well then, shit, what's the problem then? If you want Ranked games then, well, that's the breaks. You don't get to pick the events in a triatholon. But if you just want to play, make yourself a Custom CTF Rockets game and open the doors.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

It should be noted that by public it means that you can invite friends or recent players to your game. You can't simply start up a custom game and then it appears on a list somewhere where others can join in.

Which is my main beef with multiplayer.

I'd love to visit other people's forge games randomly just to see the shit they're pulling off but nope, I have to be a friend or a friend of a friend to get in.
Still haven't played a coop game either *grumble grumble*.

 

[tralfazz]

LOL Yes I remember that! I loved the last line given by the guy at the other side of the door...

Spoiler

C'mon Master Chief is out here and needs help?

Does he know the password?

I shot at the door and the guy on the other side said

Spoiler

"Well I'm definately not opening the door now!"

I chuckled pretty good at that one.

 

[gohepcat]

Yeah, but it still feels like bullshit.....having to sit through shitty gametypes and shitty maps, all in the name of some crappy e-penis system.

Well. Halo 2 used this system and was the most popular online game on Live until a few days ago.

It's just not about the ranking system, it's about matching you up with people who have a balanced skill level.

It's never really bothered me, mainly because I'd rather gouge my own eyes out than be involved in the general Halo online population.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Wow...we are back to 2004 again.

Yes this is how all Halo games are. It's not an oversight. It's used to balance players skill and is a part of the matchmaking process.

BS.

For Social non ranked games people should be allowed to play the game modes that they want to. I am not going to play all snipers when i want to play regular team deathmatch.

why not give us the choice?

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

It should be noted that by public it means that you can invite friends or recent players to your game. You can't simply start up a custom game and then it appears on a list somewhere where others can join in.

Which is my main beef with multiplayer.

Ah, I thought it would plug people in who just hit "Quick Social".

 

[fse]

The multiplayer is fine. It rocked in Halo 2, it will rock better in Halo 3.

 

[StoOgE]

So, evidently I made CNN for their Halo 3 release story. Really wierd, I just went to a random Walmart in Austin. One of our reps in the field (in Florida) called today and asked if I bought Halo yet, which I thought was odd considering we have only met 2-3 times (but speak on the phone alot). Then she told me that she is sure she saw me on CNNs Halo 3 story. Oh man.. I called out yesteday too.. backfire am total. :lol

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Well. Halo 2 used this system and was the most popular online game on Live until a few days ago.

It's just not about the ranking system, it's about matching you up with people who have a balanced skill level.
It's never really bothered me, mainly because I'd rather gouge my own eyes out than be involved in the general Halo online population.

they could have done that and LET us choose our Gametype.

Its just insane not to let the players choose their gametype.

 

[Smidget]

The multiplayer is fine. It rocked in Halo 2, it will rock better in Halo 3.

.

 

[border]

Its not e-penis its to allow people of similar skill level to play against each other.

The reason they won't let you specifiy map or gametype is that they don't want you inflating your score by specializing.....but who gives a shit, really? Only the e-penis brigade. If my score is inflated by playing nothing but Zanzibar CTF and then I go get my ass kicked in other gametypes, then I reap what I sow. They just want to avoid having a bunch of babies cry about some guy that gets a high rank by playing the same thing over and over.

There was no way to make Custom Games public in Halo 2, which was my complaint over the series' XBL integration. I guess it's better if they allow it in the new game but if everyone is in Matchmaking how are you supposed to get people to join your game? (EDIT: Nevermind, apparently you can't make custom games public -- FAIL)

As others have said, a game with a userbase this size shouldn't have to funnel everyone down these tight paths.

 

[KBox]

How do I take pictures in CO OP Campaign? I don't see the button on the Menu screen.

 

[RiskyChris]

The reason they won't let you specifiy map or gametype is that they don't want you inflating your score by specializing.....but who gives a shit, really? Only the e-penis brigade. If my score is inflated by playing nothing but Zanzibar CTF and then I go get my ass kicked in other gametypes, then I reap what I sow.

There was no way to make Custom Games public in Halo 2, which was my complaint over the series' XBL integration. I guess it's better if they allow it in the new game but if everyone is in Matchmaking how are you supposed to get people to join your game?

As others have said, a game with a userbase this size shouldn't have to funnel everyone down these tight paths.

It would suck for high skill people who want to play against tough opponents when you waltz in looking like a scrub.

 

[ALeperMessiah]

they could have done that and LET us choose our Gametype.

Its just insane not to let the players choose their gametype.

We've all been over this 3 years ago. Where's the fun in playing a gametype of your choosing with strangers, it's way more fun to make a custom gametype with friends. The server setup that many console games have I find to be a pain. You end up sitting in a lobby for 15 minutes waiting for it to fill so you can play a ten minute game. The best way to play custom gametypes is with a group of friends.

And how exactly would a group of 8 people pick which gametype they want to play after they got matched up by matchmaking. It would be utter chaos and no fun at all. If you've never played matchmaking Kabuki Waq, please give it a try, it's more fun than it sounds.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

It would suck for high skill people who want to play against tough opponents when you waltz in looking like a scrub.

Or for low level people (like me) to end up in a room and get completely demolished within seconds. The system works.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

Online co op and the Forge are pretty gimped with no way to search for the games, or view a list.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

If you've never played matchmaking Kabuki Waq, please give it a try, it's more fun than it sounds.

Especially with "Veto".

 

[ALeperMessiah]

Online co op and the Forge are pretty gimped with no way to search for the games, or view a list.

Ummm, .... What?

EDIT: Stealth edit me why don't you!

I still don't think they're gimped. Have you seen halo's community, it's pretty terrible. It would end up with you creating an awesome gametype, 7 other kids joining your game yelling racial slurs while they team killed and played loud rap music in the background.

Forge and Co-op is more fun with friends, not strangers.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

We've all been over this 3 years ago. Where's the fun in playing a gametype of your choosing with strangers, it's way more fun to make a custom gametype with friends. The server setup that many console games have I find to be a pain. You end up sitting in a lobby for 15 minutes waiting for it to fill so you can play a ten minute game. The best way to play custom gametypes is with a group of friends.

And how exactly would a group of 8 people pick which gametype they want to play after they got matched up by matchmaking. It would be utter chaos and no fun at all. If you've never played matchmaking Kabuki Waq, please give it a try, it's more fun than it sounds.

If the strangers Search for the gametype of their choice they will find it and make NEW friends. I just think i there should be an option atleast. You should not be FORCED to use matchmaking if you dont want to.

I really like the party system but the option for your own cusom search should have been there.

 

[Truelize]

has it been mentioned yet about the marine in the crows nest

Spoiler

banging on the locked door trying to get in but the marine on the other side being a dick and thinking hes being held by brutes?

anyway, funny stuff

Yeah I was playing 4 player co-op last night with some GAFers. Wellie killed the guy at the door :lol

 

[RSTEIN]

So, evidently I made CNN for their Halo 3 release story. Really wierd, I just went to a random Walmart in Austin. One of our reps in the field (in Florida) called today and asked if I bought Halo yet, which I thought was odd considering we have only met 2-3 times (but speak on the phone alot). Then she told me that she is sure she saw me on CNNs Halo 3 story. Oh man.. I called out yesteday too.. backfire am total. :lol

Sounds like she likes you and wouldn't mind touching your e-penis. FHUTA!

 

[Laguna X]

So, evidently I made CNN for their Halo 3 release story. Really wierd, I just went to a random Walmart in Austin. One of our reps in the field (in Florida) called today and asked if I bought Halo yet, which I thought was odd considering we have only met 2-3 times (but speak on the phone alot). Then she told me that she is sure she saw me on CNNs Halo 3 story. Oh man.. I called out yesteday too.. backfire am total. :lol

:lol haha... that's funny man. Did you make up some BS excuse like "I'm sick" when you called in?