Halo 3 has arrived on PC as part of The Master Chief Collection. Halo is one of the most respected first-person shooters, and remains the Xbox's most popular series. The PC ports have been great for newcomers wanting to see why Halo is held in high regard, with Halo 3 finishing up the story that began in 2001. As expected, Halo 3 plays great today, and its PC port is absolutely fantastic.
Familiar, Satisfying Gameplay
Those who just played Halo 2 will be able to jump into Halo 3 with ease. Gameplay is identical, although with an interesting new feature. Master Chief can utilize equipment such as a bubble shield or trip mine. So, while the core gameplay remains the same as Halo 2, this new equipment adds a neat little strategic wrinkle.
Gunplay remains very satisfying. Like Halo 2, it's not wise to always run in with guns blazing. Health can deplete quickly if one is not careful. Sniping enemies is still an awesome feeling, as well as detaching a turret for maximum firepower. For the levels, they are well designed and avoid any tedium seen in the first Halo. Halo 3 also introduces a new Scarab type. The player has to injure a leg in order to climb aboard and kill it. It's a grand encounter the times it appears.
Controlling vehicles in Halo 3 is fun, with two big highlights. The escape sequence in the climax is fantastic. Once again, the Halo series has come a long way since Combat Evolved, which featured a terribly-controlled Warthog for its escape sequence. The most fun, however, was probably when the game gave players a tank. There was nothing more satisfying than taking out enemies with a single blast. Halo 3 knows how to make players feel epic.
Halo 3's soundtrack will sound familiar, but there are some fantastic themes elevating the atmosphere. Halo 3's PC port also brings with it multiplayer modes. There's nothing to complain about here; multiplayer is brought on over seamlessly. One can spend hours just playing Team Slayer rounds.
A Cinematic Conclusion
Although Combat Evolved began the storyline, it was Halo 2 that set the cinematic standard. Halo 3 concludes the story with an excellent script and overall atmosphere. When the Flood first appears in Halo 3, it's genuinely intense.
Perhaps the best thing about Halo 3's storytelling is it makes players feel like they are part of an important military operation. This is helped by the scripting and voice acting of the characters, from the Monitor to the Arbiter. Speaking of the Arbiter, although his role isn't as big as in Halo 2, it's a cool sight watching him and Master Chief teaming up.
One of the most interesting storyline aspects is Master Chief's mind being haunted with odd dialogue from Cortana. The Gravemind also speaks to Chief this way. This was really interesting stuff, but it surprisingly doesn't go as far as you would think. The Gravemind also surprisingly does not fully appear in the flesh. There could have been more done with these characters. Halo 3 is also probably the shortest Halo experience on PC so far. Overall, though, it's not criminally short, and it's a good conclusion to the story.
A Seamless PC Experience
Halo 3 is a very good game. As a conclusion to the storyline, it's hard not to be engaged with how things play out with the UNSC, Covenant, and Flood all appearing. Gameplay is very satisfying. Nothing beats sniping enemies, or dual-wielding and taking out the brutes. Although the campaign is shorter than in Halo 2, most players should feel satisfied with the amount of content overall. Multiplayer is a lot of fun. Finally, as a PC port, Halo 3 comes with no notable complaints whatsoever.
A PC copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection was purchased by TheGamer for this review. Halo 3 is available for PC, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Halo: The Master Chief Collection brings together six titles in the iconic FPS series from Microsoft, optimised for PC. All games have both single-player campaigns and multiplayer modes, as well as an improved form of the Forge map editor.