The "Halo 3" Hype Machine
Microsoft proudly boasts that on Sept. 25, 2007, the release of Xbox 360's "Halo 3" was the biggest launch in entertainment history, with approximately $170 million in sales the first day and $300 million the first week.
It might have also been one of the most profitable. About $10 million was spent on advertising and Newsday.com reports that development cost $30 million.
The "Halo 3" hype machine notwithstanding, is the game worth the $60?
The answer is a resounding yes.
The audio effects are simply stunning. You can hear the shell casings hit the floor after firing off a round or the sizzling crackle of the grunt plasma pistol. If a technical achievement award was to be handed out it should go to the audio environment geniuses at Bungie.
But know this before playing the single player campaign mode: if you haven't played through the first two "Halo" games or know nothing about the sordid history of the "Halo" universe, you will be lost. "Halo 3" doesn't offer the uninitiated information on Master Chief's back-story or how he came to crash land in the African jungle when the game begins.
My only gripe about the single player campaign is that it's too short. But the beauty of "Halo 3" is that you can play through the game again, co-operatively, with up to three additional players with varying degrees of difficulty to unlock certain items and achievement points.
As great as the solo game campaign mode is, the game really shines in the multiplayer modes and, honestly, that's mainly why most people purchased the game in the first place. Within the first 24 hours of the game's release, more than 1 million multiplayer matches were played. This is "Halo's" bread and butter and the reason for countless sleepless nights.
The Theatre mode in "Halo 3" gives the player the opportunity to save films of and take screen shots of multiplayer and single player matches, for bragging rights and to analyze opponents. The amount of data and scorekeeping records on Bungie.net is staggering. Just type in an Xbox live ID and a record of a player's statistics show everything, most used weapons, how many kills a player got, achievements, history of ranking and the list goes on and on.
"Halo 3" is the reason to own an Xbox 360. If you don't own the game yet, wait no longer. It's worth every penny, the replay-ability is endless, the multiplayer modes are light years ahead of any other console based first person shooter out right now, and over 3 million people (and counting) can't be wrong.