Halo 3

Halo 3 is one of the most highly anticipated video games ever. We've been waiting for almost three years now. It's going to sell millions of copies on the first day. I am chomping at the bit to play it. The brief taste I had in the beta only made me want it more. Now I sit here and I wait. I wait for the ultimate application for the Xbox 360. The one game that will surpass every first person shooter I've ever played. That's a long list. I've played a lot of shooters. I'm starting to have some doubts, though.

Explosives. When I'm playing Halo 2, I have to worry about relatively few explosions. There are 2 kinds of grenades, 1 rocket launcher and the brute shot. In Halo 3 there are 3(possibly 4) types of grenades, 2 rocket launchers, the Spartan laser, the trip mine, the shield drainer, the brute shot and the banshee now fires a rocket in muliplayer. Counting vehicles Halo 3 doubles the explosions of Halo 2. I'm not even counting the Brute Hammer, which explodes on contact in Halo 2 and is rumored to be playable in 3. Lots of explosions. I can't even count how many times in Halo 2 I was killed by an explosion out of nowhere. In Halo 3, It's going to be far worse. If you add in the fact that you can change the amount of grenades of each type you can carry in the customs menu up to six and the rumored fourth grenade type the player can potentially carry 24 grenades and two different rocket launchers. That's nuts.

Rumored map editor. This can be a double edged sword. In Halo 2 you had a bunch of maps, but you played them all so much, you knew every nook and every cranny of every map. In Halo 3, if you have a map editor somedbody will always be laying new maps on you. "Hey, guys, wanna check out my new map?" Get used to hearing that. It may be said a lot. Look what it does for FarCry. In FacCry what killed the gamed for a lot of people was having to download a map every time they played. FarCry now is just basically an arthouse style game where people just exchange maps and look around at eachother's creations. I can see this happening in Halo 3. On the other hand, the controls and the way the weapons work in Halo 3 are far smoother and the game is so much easier to play, that this might not happen.

On the other hand, there are a bunch of things in Halo 3 that I really enjoy. The game has unrivaled customizability. You can change just about anything from the customs menu, if the beta is any indicator. A certain friend of mine will not be allowed to host a game. Ever. The saved films thing is going to be awesome. You can save your ultimate victory or your friend's utter humiliation for posterity. The assault rifle is back, thank God. Spawning with an SMG for three years really casts the assault rifle in a charming, even romantic light. The customizable armor is just awesome. That will not only help me look cool while I'm getting my ass kicked. I'll also be easily identifiable to my teammates. And if they do the four player co-op, I will cry tears of pure joy.