halo 3 armor

I lay here dying in the cold snow, with my blood splattered across the barren tundra. Unable to move, trapped inside bulky metal armor, I helplessly watch as my killer, FLUFFY BUNNY 419, stands over me. "Clank, clank, clank." He repeatedly squats over my corpse, grinding his metal armor against mine in a humping motion to drive home the humiliation. Welcome to the world of "Halo 3."

Although it's not always murder and vulgar displays of sexual
dominance incurred, the Halo series has had a history of
churning up an assortment of human emotions, such as passion and excitement. "Halo 3," the last installment in the series, is no different. Halo 3
Xbox 360
4 1/2 stars!!
Rated M for Mature
List price: $59.99


The game opens where "Halo 2" left off: You are
Master Chief, the last of a platoon of soldiers genetically engineered from birth to stave off an invading alien race. The situation is grim as you hitch a ride on an alien ship as it descends toward Earth to eradicate humanity's last stand.

The Halo games are known for their intricate plot and story arcs that surround a series of ring worlds named Halos. The "Halo 3" narrative keeps pace with the previous installments but is more abstract. During the campaign, Cortana, an artifical intelligence left behind during "Halo 2," interrupts your missions echoing
cryptic messages. In the end, the "Rescue Cortana" theme is a little too reminiscent of the "Super Mario Bros." save-the-princess staple.

The plot is interesting but constantly reuses old story devices from the original game. The cinematics are great, but as in "Halo 2," the campaign mode lacks the surprises and twists that made the first game so memorable.

While the story lacks, gameplay is where "Halo 3" exce ls. The game boasts some of the most enjoyable and well-rounded gameplay ever crafted. Terrain, enemies and weapons all factor into to how and where to attack enemies.
Continued...
NEW YORK -- Hundreds of fans gathered at the Best Buy in Manhattan on Monday night for the midnight release of what might be the most hotly anticipated videogame of all time, Halo 3.

Fans clamored for exclusive swag -- baseball caps, posters, ThunderStix and T-shirts proclaiming "I am Master Chief!" -- and cheered for the chance to go into the store early and play the game hours before it was officially released.

The game's violin-heavy soundtrack echoed down the street while fans waved "We love Master Chief" signs.

The long-awaited first-person shooter sequel drew crowds that delayed traffic on 5th Avenue and completely closed two blocks of East 44th Street.

The gamer buzz built into a buying frenzy when three Mongooses and a custom Humvee delivered the final installment of a videogame legacy promptly at midnight.

Jim Cush (right), 34, donned his 65-pound Master Chief costume for the launch event. Cush, who took the day off from his IT job to wait in line outside the Best Buy in Manhattan, said he plans to play Halo 3 through the night (and take tomorrow off). He'll probably be one of Tuesday's many workplace casualties -- more than 4 million people pre-ordered the game.

When the numbers are tallied, will the Halo 3 launch smash Spider-Man 3's $151 million opening-weekend record?

Microsoft remains coy about sales predictions, but many are calling this the biggest game launch ever. Outside New York City, a reported 10,000 U.S. stores held "midnight madness" sales, and special launch events took place in Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami. In London, authorities fearing mob scenes banned "midnight madness" events, according to The New York Times.

Wired News columnist Clive Thompson blasted his way to the end of his review copy of Halo 3 this weekend. Read his review to see if he thinks the game lives up to its hype.

See more photos of the Manhattan launch event after the jump.




Mongooses take over 5th Avenue minutes before midnight, blocking traffic as the crowd chants, "Ha-lo! Ha-lo!"



A customized Halo 3 Humvee sits on the street outside the Best Buy after delivering a batch of games promptly at midnight as the crowd screamed.



At midnight Tuesday, the Halo 3 countdown finally ends.



Carl Gunther, an ex-Marine and 15th in line, gets an arm massage before he gets his hands on the new game. Gunther said he's flying out of town Tuesday morning for work as a game tester, but is hoping to play Halo 3 on the televisions in the airport bar. "My father waited in line for Star Wars and Woodstock," Gunther said. "(Halo 3) is like our Woodstock."



Fans watch scenes from the new release high above the crowd on a 10-foot-by-6-foot screen.



Joe Meehan (left) and Chase Stone enjoy free samples of Halo 3-branded Mountain Dew Game Fuel as they wait in line to buy the game so they can "finish the campaign." Both say they will pause their play of Guitar Hero and Gears of War to try out a game featuring customizable armor and a new type of grenade.



This Pontiac G6 GXP on display outside Best Buy features leather interior and Halo 3 exterior. Xbox 360 is optional -- see your authorized dealer for details.


Halo 3" is a lot of things: an exciting science fiction action adventure, a rich online first-person shooter and the end of a popular trilogy.

But let's cut through the enormous hype: It's not the best video game ever.

"Halo 3" (Rated M, $59.99, $69.99 or $129.99) does refine many aspects of the first-person shooter genre on the Xbox 360 console. And new multiplayer features make it the most robust online experience on any console.

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Since receiving my early copy of "Halo 3," I've indulged my senses and blistered my fingers in nonstop game playing. I've completed the single-player campaign and experimented with the game's voluminous multiplayer features.

It turns out there are two very different sides to "Halo 3." I suspect only one aspect will keep gamers going for more than a few days.

It's been three years since the infuriatingly obscure end of "Halo 2" left us all wondering what happened.

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'Halo 3' Video Review Will Master Chief, the game's mysterious, armor-clad superhero, survive? What about all those angry aliens: the Prophet of Truth, the Covenant, the Flood? And what of Cortana, the female artificial intelligence who shares an oddly intimate relationship with Master Chief?

"Halo 3" answers all these questions and more in a narrative that sometimes stumbles but at least provides a sense of closure.

Without any prologue, "Halo 3" picks up with Master Chief crash-landing on Earth in the year 2552. The gunplay-driven action is relentless from there as you blast droves of aliens back from the front lines of our future home world.

Master Chief's motivation is nothing less than survival of the galaxy.

Earth's population has been decimated by the Covenant, a diverse collection of religious aliens who believe the key to activating a network of "halos" ― massive ring worlds floating in space ― is buried somewhere under the sands of Northern Africa.

These halos, crafted by a mysterious ancient race known as the Forerunners, are seen by the Covenant as a path to salvation.

There's one catch: Turning on the halos would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy.

This doomsday premise drives the action forward through levels that occasionally falter with unclear goals or too much repetitious backtracking.

The game slowly builds in intensity but suffers from some uneven difficulty. A showdown in a Flood-infested spacecraft was by far the most difficult section for me to complete. However, I was far from finished and the real final battle felt like a letdown by comparison.

Like its predecessors, "Halo 3" liberally uses cinematic interludes between the action to advance the story. And again, it sometimes cheapens the gaming experience.

Instead of watching a movie where Master Chief performs some daring move, shouldn't I be the one controlling him?

If anything, life as Master Chief is predictable: aim, shoot and reload. The weaponry this time around has been upgraded and includes some devastating armaments like hefty turret weapons, which Master Chief can rip from the ground and use to mow down foes.

Another favorite is the Gravity Hammer, a slow weapon that when swung turns enemies into a bloody pile of their former selves.

New to the game are a slew of equipment upgrades such as a personal bubble shield and a special grenade that temporarily blinds with a flash of white light.

"Halo 3" is the first game in the series for the Xbox 360, and the colorful graphics shine for the most part.

Close-ups on many of the character's faces were far from high-definition, however, and the overall visual quality drops markedly once you jump to the online modes.

"Halo 3" rolls out some interesting new vehicles that can make or break a mission, including the Mongoose, a speedy ATV with room for two people. The Scorpion tank, meanwhile, returns as my favorite vehicle of destruction.

Most of the game's innovations lie in the multiplayer modes. For the first time you can play with three others online in cooperative mode, offering a fresh and fun new way to finish the fight.

Then there's the Forge system, which allows gamers in multiplayer matches to manipulate certain aspects of the environment in real time. You can't rebuild the landscape, but you can move around turrets and make other changes to the battlefield.

While Forge doesn't seem particularly robust compared to mapmaking tools on many PC games, it adds a strategic twist to online "Halo 3" games and should keep people interested for years.

Theater mode is another innovation that lets players record their favorite "Halo 3" action moments, then share them online with others. So remember: your next loss could be someone else's "Halo 3" highlight reel.

"Halo 3" wraps up an interesting, if somewhat scatterbrained, story line with some really compelling online features.

The result isn't going to change how we play or perceive video games. But it's an overall package that's definitely worthwhile for any fan of action games.

Three stars out of four.