So about a week ago I got my hands on a prerelease copy of Halo 3 (thanks, Matt). I was a huge fan of both parts 1 and 2 and had high hopes heading into part 3. First off let’s start with graphics; the engine is basically the same as part 2 but with enhanced visuals. The lighting is much improved and Master Chief looks even more bad ass than before. As I said, a lot of the game looks like a high res version of part 2 though it is not a bad thing and does not take away from the experience.

Second, the sound is suburb. Everything sounds great in 5.1 and the Halo theme never sounded better before - I had my speakers up as loud as they would go as I was taking on the Covenant. The dialog is the same as before and the grunts’ lines are even better. After killing a grunt, one said “he was my best friend,” so the game still has some humor here and there.

Now to the most important part: the gameplay. The game stays true to its roots and offers fast-paced shooting with a tactical side. The enemy has been beefed up and stages that would have taken 20 minutes to complete now take around 40 due to the tougher enemies. The controls are tighter than ever and the new guns are impressive. One of the coolest things is being able to dismount a turret gun and carry it around in third person mode. Very cool. The new shields help you stay alive when up against a massive amount of enemies. All in all, if you’ve played Halo before, this should feel like home to you.

I really enjoyed the game’s campaign mode, and while I do not play on Live often, so far it feels better than any other live game out there. So this game is a must buy! So trade in your Wii and PS 3 and get a copy today. It’s worth it.

[tags]halo 3, xbox 360[/tags]