Halo 3

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

Template:Ratings Template:Game Info Box Halo 3 is a first-person science fiction shooter game developed by Bungie Studios that was released for the Xbox 360 console. Although the final game is not continuing from the end of Halo 2, Halo: Uprising fills in the missing story.

It is the sequel to Halo 2 and finished up the current story arc that the previous two games have followed. It involves SPARTAN John-117 returning to Earth to stop the Prophet of Truth from wiping out all life in the galaxy, while attempting to find a solution to the subsequent problem of Gravemind's infestation of High Charity and imprisonment of Cortana.

It was released on September 25 in North America and Australia, the 26th in Europe and the 27th in Japan. It has been rated M for Mature (blood, gore, violence, and language) by the ESRB, but only M 15+ (Recommended for 15 years or older, but not restricted) by the OFLC.

Release

The release date for the final game was September 25, 2007 World wide. Halo 3 is officially out in stores across the world. It is currently one of the most successful and triumphant video games ever released.

An internal build, the Halo 3 alpha build, was released in April 2007 for Microsoft employees. A public beta test, the Halo 3 Beta, was rolled out in Spring 2007 and was scheduled for online play at midnight (U.S. West Coast Pacific-Time) on May 16th, 2007 - June 10, 2007, although there were certain technical difficulties in its distribution. After that, Bungie collected all the feedback from the beta and sought to improve their multiplayer through it, with the final game coming out four months after the end of the beta. On August 10, 2007 another Halo 3 build, Halo 3 Epsilon, was released to Microsoft employees, featuring Forge and multiplayer aspects. It went gold on August 29, 2007.

There are three versions of Halo 3: the Halo 3: Standard Edition, a Limited Collector's Edition, and the very limited Legendary Edition.

Version Standard Collector's Legendary
Price $59.99 USD $69.99 USD $119.99 USD
Game Disc & Manual Yes Yes Yes
Interactive Xbox 360 Disc No Yes Yes
Bestiarum No Yes Yes*
Legendary DVD No No Yes
Master Chief Helmet Replica No No Yes
* Additional content on DVD
 
                       To see a list of all the content on the interactive Xbox 360 disc and DVD click HERE.

Reviews were recently released from a number of high profile gaming websites:

  • Gamepro-4.8/5
  • Gamespot - 9.5/10
  • IGN - 9.5/10
  • TeamXbox - 9.3/10
  • 1up - B+/A+
  • Gametrailers - 9.8/10
  • ComputerVideogames - 9.6/10
  • OXM UK - 9/10
  • OXM US - 10/10
  • OXM Australia - 10.0/10
  • Famitsu - 9.69/10
  • X-Play - 5/5
  • Reviews on the Run -10/10
  • Average: 98%, 9.8/10

Controls

File:Controller Halo3.jpg
Default Halo 3 Control Scheme

Because of differences between the Xbox original and Xbox 360 controller, and the addition of the new "equipment", there are a few differences on controls.

  • Right bumper: Click-Reload, Hold-Pick up weapon, exchange equipment, get in/out of vehicle, activate.
  • Left bumper: Click-switch grenades, reload (if dual-wielding) Hold-dual wield (when available).
  • Right trigger: Fire weapon.
  • Left trigger: Throw grenade, Fire secondary (if dual-wielding)
  • Left thumbstick: Move (Forward, Back, Strafe Left, Strafe Right)
  • Left thumbstick (click): Crouch
  • Right thumbstick: Look/Aim (Up, Down,Left, Right)
  • Right thumbstick (click): Activate scope/zoom
  • D-pad: Scroll through menu, up-team talk channel (Multiplayer), up-toggle monitor/spartan mode (Forge), toggle flashlight (Campaign)
  • A button: Jump/Select
  • B button: Melee/Back, pick support weapon up if in stationary mode.
  • X button: Deploy/Activate equipment
  • Y button: Switch weapons
  • Right Bumper, Left Bumper, Click-in Left Analog Stick, A, Down on D-Pad for 3 seconds: Lowers weapon (proof its real: [1])
    • Right Bumper, Left Bumper, Click-in Left Analog Stick, A, Up on D-Pad for 3 seconds: Makes current camera angle/position coordinates visible.

Many other layouts have returned, such as the Southpaw, Legacy and Legacy Southpaw. There are also new layouts such as Bumper Jumper and Walkie Talkie.

Campaign

Plot

Promotional image for Halo 3 featuring John-117 with an MA5C assault rifle and Thel 'Vadam with a Vostu-pattern carbine on the campaign level Sierra 117.
The Master Chief and the Arbiter

When the game begins, John-117 is back on Earth, where the Covenant Loyalists (Brutes, Drones, Grunts, Hunters and Jackals), led by the Prophet of Truth, have laid waste to most of the planet. Humankind's population has been reduced to at least 200 million people, and is backed up against a wall, fighting for its very survival. The only reason that they have survived for this long is that the Covenant is preoccupied by an excavation site a few miles from the ruins of the East African city New Mombasa. There, they have uncovered a massive Forerunner structure, which is seen in the E3 2006 trailer, that has been buried under the planet's surface for thousands, if not millions of years. It was partially uncovered due to the Slipspace jump that was attempted in Halo 2.

Sergeant Major Johnson and the Arbiter retrieve the Master Chief from a hasty jump from orbit, landing in a section of the east African jungle. The three of them manage to make it to Crow's Nest, a 21st century facility used as a local base of operations by the UNSC. Shortly after they reach their destination, the Covenant mounts an attack on the facility, and it is during this time that the Chief starts receiving disturbing transmissions from Cortana. After a brief struggle, in which the outpost is lost, Master Chief receives orders from Commander Keyes and Lord Hood to clear a way into the African city of Voi, and destroy all Covenant anti-air defenses in preparation for an all-out assault on Truth and the artifact. After the Master Chief and the Arbiter destroy the defenses, Truth activates the artifact and creates an enormous slipspace portal, into which all the Covenant ships retreat. As Keyes follows the Dreadnought a Covenant ship controlled by the Flood arrives by slipspace and crash lands nearby, and the parasite quickly spreads throughout the city.

The Elites tell Commander Keyes that a human construct is aboard the ship, and identify it as Cortana. The Master Chief and the Arbiter attempt to fight off the Flood and retrieve Cortana from the Flood ship. After they have completed all of their objectives, 343 Guilty Spark arrives by an Elite vessel, and insists that he take Cortana somewhere where he can make repairs, claiming that now his Installation has been destroyed he has no more pre-set functions, and wants to help the Master Chief destroy the Flood. Once the Arbiter and Master Chief are evacuated, the Elites glass the whole of Africa. This amplifies the hard feelings between Lord Hood and Ship master Rtas 'Vadum, the Spec. Ops Leader of Halo 2, Shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent and Fleet Master of the Elites.

Guilty Spark manages to fix Cortana, but the Master Chief realises it isn't her, but only a recorded message from her. The message states that through the portal that Truth retreated into is unknown to the Gravemind, and on the other side is a solution to the Flood, without having to fire the rings. Lord Hood questions Cortana's plan, saying it could be a Flood trap, but the Master Chief firmly tells Lord Hood he completely trusts her.

Once the Elites and Lord Hood decide to follow Truth, the remaining Elite ships and UNSC Frigates (approximately 12 ships total) leave Earth via the slipspace portal and find themselves near an immense artificial structure, which is soon revealed to be The Ark. Arriving at the Ark, they engage a fleet three times their size. After landing and fighting their way to the Cartographer of the Ark, the Master Chief and the Arbiter find out that the Ark is in fact positioned at the edge of the Milky Way , just beyond the Halo rings' effective firing range. The Monitor explains that the humans and the Elites must deactivate three shield generators, which are inside three separate towers, to access the Control Room of the Ark.

Upon arrival at the three generators, the Master Chief takes a squad to the first tower, The Arbiter takes his Elites to the second, and Sergeant Johnson takes another squad to the third. While Master Chief and The Arbiter succeed, but Johnson tells Keyes that the fire is too heavy and he must retreat, so she tells the Arbiter and Master Chief to go and help him. On arrival to the third tower, Johnson is nowhere to be seen. The Master Chief and Arbiter kill the Brutes defending the tower deactivate it. Just after the shield protecting the Control Room drops, the Flood-infested High Charity arrives by slipspace and crashes into the Ark, releasing Flood Despersal Pods as it falls. 343 Guilty Spark insists that he assesses the damage that High Chaity did to the Ark, so the Arbiter and Elites leave the humans to avoid Guilty Spark being captured by the Flood. The citadel containing the Control Room is defended by countless Covenant forces and two Scarabs. After all the forces are defeated, the Guilty Spark and the Arbiter return, and they and the Master Chief enter the citadel. Once inside, they see that Truth has captured Johnson, knowing that only humans can activate Forerunner installtions, but are too far away to save him. Keyes commanders a Pelican and crashes it in the Control Room, keeping the Brutes at bay with a shotgun while tending to Johnson, but knowing she can't kill all of the Brutes there, she realises she must kill Johnson and herself to stop the rings from being activated. She is about to shoot Johnson before Truth grabs a Spiker and shoots her several times in the back with it, killing her. Johnson is overcome with sadness and Truth is easily able to force his hand down on the Ark's terminal, activating all of the Halos in the galaxy.

The Master Chief and Arbiter take an elevator up to the Control Room, despite knowing it is too late. As they reach the top, two Flood Tank Forms confront them, but say that the only way to stop the Halos is by joining forces. With the Flood's help, the Master Chief and Arbiter kill all the Covenant forces defending Truth. Upon arrival to the Ark's terminal, they find Keyes dead, Johnson mourning, and Truth partitially infected. After executing The Prophet of Truth before he can submit to the Flood and deactivating all the Halos, the Gravemind betrays them. Johnson attempts to escape with Keyes' Pelican, but the Gravemind prevents the Arbiter and Chief from escaping too.

Johnson radios Chief, telling him to find another way out, so he and the Arbiter shoot their way back to the entrance elevator, but it is deactivated. Behind the elevator is a hole, leading to a lower level of the citadel. Cortana briefly shows herself to the Chief, and leads him to a control panel which reveals her plan - it releases a 'replacement' Halo in the event of one being destroyed. However, Guilty Spark tells them it will take quite some time to fabricate an Index needed to fire the Halo, but the Master Chief remembers that Cortana still has the Index that she aquired in Halo: Combat Evolved. He infiltrates the crashed High Charity, which is completely overrun by Flood. Cortana becomes rampant before the Chief can reach her, but Cortana is able to contain the functional part of herself in a statis-field, where she waits. Master Chief breaks the statis-field and retreives a perfectly-functioning Cortana. She tells him to overload High Charity's engines in order to destroy the Gravemind. The Arbiter arrives via Banshee and helps the Chief fight the Flood. They find a Pelican, which had presumably crashed while humans were inside High Charity during Halo 2. Damaged but still flyable, the Master Chief uploads Cortana into the Pelican and flee High Charity before it explodes.

Cortana makes contact with Johnson, who safely made it back the Shadow of Intent. He tells her that he will land the frigate Forward Unto Dawn near Halo's Control Room, and will be ready to pick them up and head back to Earth after they activate the Installtion. When they arrive on the newly built Halo, they quickly discover that Gravemind is attempting to reconstruct itself on the new Halo. The Chief, Arbiter, and Sergeant Johnson quickly make their way to the Control Room, where they attempt to fire Halo. Guilty Spark realizes that this will destroy his new ring because it is not fully ready yet, as well as the Ark, and shoots his defensive laser at Sergeant Johnson as he tries to activate the ring, critically wounding him. Master Chief destroys Guilty Spark with a Spartan Laser, but Johnson tells Chief to send him out "with a bang" and dies. Cortana activates Halo, and Chief takes Johnson's Warthog with the Arbiter and race towards the Frigate. With no time to reach the cockpit, the Master Chief uploads Cortana into the frigate to start taking off before the Arbiter is able to take the controls. The front half of the Dawn, containing the Arbiter, makes it through the portal. However, Halo shakes itself to pieces during its firing sequence and damages the Ark, deactivating the portal before the half of the Dawn' containing Chief and Cortana make it through.

Back on Earth, Lord Hood holds a memorial service in respect for those who died in the Human-Covenant War, with the Arbiter and many Marines in attendance. Lord Hood thanks the Arbiter for standing by the Master Chief until the end. After the service, Shipmaster tells the Arbiter that just like they have made sure the Human homeworld is safe, he wants to make sure the Elite homeworld is safe. The Arbiter tells him that with the eradication of the Covenant, they have made it so. He tells the piloting Elites to take them home, the credits roll.

After the credits, footage is shown of the Master Chief and Cortana on-board the rear section of Forward Unto Dawn, which had apparently torn off during the slip-space jump; the pair are drifting through space. Cortana tells the Chief she will drop a distress beacon, but that it could be years before they are found. The Chief floats to a cryotube, and as he is climbing in Cortana comments "I'll miss you." He replies "Wake me when you need me."

If the game is completed on the Legendary difficulty, the section of Forward Unto Dawn that Cortana and the Chief are aboard is seen drifting towards an unknown planet or another halo.

Halo 3 Levels

Finish the Fight.

  1. Arrival - Brace for impact. (Level is not played it is just the intro video.)
  2. Sierra 117 - Rise up. Start the fight.
  3. Crow's Nest - Clear the base, whatever it takes.
  4. Tsavo Highway - Mount up. Get to Voi.
  5. The Storm - Reclaim the city. Make a hole.
  6. Floodgate - Stop the infestation. Find Cortana.
  7. The Ark - Search the waste for the Cartographer.
  8. The Covenant - Breach the barrier. Stop Truth.
  9. Cortana - Cleanse High Charity. Save Cortana.
  10. Halo - Light the ring. Destroy the Flood.

Characters

File:Brutecaptain.jpg
A render of a Jiralhanae Captain

Major Characters

UNSC

Covenant Separatists

Covenant Loyalists

Flood

Forerunner

Minor Characters

UNSC

Covenant Separatists

Forerunners

Unnamed Minor Characters

Sentient

UNSC

Covenant Separatists

Covenant Loyalists

Non-Sentient

Flood

Forerunner

Features

Weapons

These are the weapons known to be in the game:

Covenant Standard

Jiralhanae

Forerunner

United Nations Space Command Standard

Special Weapons

Equipment

Main article: Equipment

Vehicles

Covenant

File:Starry Night by the Ark.PNG
A Covenant Carrier Battle Group

Brute Sandbox

Non-Usable

UNSC

Non-Usable

Halo 3 Multiplayer

Maps

Standard Maps

File:H3 map.jpg
A concept model of High Ground.

Heroic Map Pack

The Heroic Map Pack is downloadable from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. The maps included in this Map Pack are:

This map pack will be free the 25th of March 2008.

Legendary Map Pack

The Legendary Map Pack will be downloadable the 15th of April 2008 from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. The maps included in this Map Pack are:

Other Maps

Appearance

Service Tag

The Service Tag is how you and your teammates can be identified quickly on the battlefield. The service Tag is comprised of a letter followed by two numbers. A few examples of Service Tags are P65 and G18.

When certain speific Service Tag coding is entered for example I17 (117) a message will appear stating "This Service Tag is currently in use by the UNSC". Another error will happen when "N64" and "P52"are entered but this is due to trademark infringement, and as a result the service tag will not be allowed. If you put in "A55" it will also state that you can't use the tag.

Armor Permutations

There are two player models which you can choose from, the standard Spartan models or the Elite models. Each model has several armor variants which can be combined. To unlock these armor types certain achievements and single player actions must first be taken. A lot of them come naturally from completing the campaign on various difficulties.

Spartan
Elite

Emblems

Main article: Multiplayer Emblems

Colors

There are 10 base colors, each with three shades that are used to customize your multi player color and emblem.

Steel, Silver, White
Red, Mauve, Salmon
Orange, Coral, Peach
Gold, Yellow, Pale
Sage, Green, Olive
Teal, Aqua, Cyan
Blue, Cobalt, Sapphire
Violet, Orchid, Lavender
Crimson, Rubine, Pink
Brown, Tan, Khaki

Matchmaking

Playlists

Ranked
Social
DLC
  • DLC Slayer - Slayer based games on Foundery and Standoff with teams of four.
  • DLC Objective - Objective based games on Rat's Nest and Standoff with teams of six.
Tournaments
  • Living Dead - Infection games.
  • Valentines Day - Various gametypes with teams of two.
  • US Championship - Various gametypes with free for all.
  • INTL - Various gametypes with free for all.
Double Exp Weekends
  • Grifball - Neutral Assault on a forged Foundery with teams of four.
  • SWAT- SWAT with teams of four.
  • Legendary Brawl - Various games on Heroic, Legendary and shipped maps with free for all with up to sixteen players.

Veto

New in Halo 3 is the veto system where all players can vote for another map and gametype. A map and gametype is vetoed when the majority of the players vote, like 6 out of 10 or 5 out of 9.

Side Note: If a player in the party has a faulty disc that fails to load a certain map then the game will auto veto a result of 100% against, you will still however get the option to veto the next game as per normal rules

Ranks

There is a ranking system based on real military ranks, to progress in rank you must have a certain amount of experience (EXP) and for officer ratings you'll need a certain skill level (as well as a certain amount of EXP).

Enlisted Ratings
  • Recruit
  • Apprentice (grades 1 and 2)
  • Private (grades 1 and 2)
  • Corporal (grades 1 and 2)
  • Sergeant (grades 1, 2, and 3)
  • Gunnery Sergeant (grades 1, 2, 3, and Master Sergeant)
Officer Ratings
  • Lieutenant (grades 1, 2, 3, and First Lieutenant)
  • Captain (grades 1, 2, 3, and Staff Captain)
  • Major (grades 1, 2, 3, and Field Major)
  • Commander (grades 1, 2, 3, and Strike Commander)
  • Colonel (grades 1, 2, 3, and Force Colonel)
  • Brigadier (grades 1, 2, 3, and Brigadier General)
  • General (grades 1, 2, 3, and Five Star General)

Custom Games

In the Custom Games Lobby you can choose the gametypes and maps you want to play with your friends, these include Custom Game types and Map Variants.

Standard Game types

Custom Game types

In Halo 3, there are a number of options that can be changed. Press X in the lobby to change the default options, when changing press X again to save as custom game type.

  • Damage resistance
  • Shield multiplier
  • Shield recharge rate
  • Immune to head shots
  • Grenade counts (grenade regeneration, on or off)
  • Infinite ammo
  • Weapon pickup disabled
  • Player speed
    • (25%, 50%, 75%, 90%, 100%, 110%, 125%, 150%, 200%, 300%)
  • Player gravity
    • (50%, 75%, 100%, 200%)
  • Vehicle use (passenger only)
  • Motion tracker range
    • (10m, 25m, 75m, 100m, 150m)
  • Indestructible vehicles (on, off)

Forge

Main article: Forge

Forge is an "object editor" that can be used to edit multi player maps. It was originally called a map editor until Bungie showed what one could do with it. In Forge, you can edit objects, spawn points, weapons, and properties of objects on the map, etc. And, when playing a map on forge, players may take control as a monitor (very similar to 343 Guilty Spark) and will obtain the ability to spawn weapons and vehicles in-game, as well as move/adjust them too. Players will also have the ability to set traps or create teleporters to warp their friends into other places or set traps for their enemies. The monitor also has the ability to claim the respawn points and create new ones.

Map Variants

To save a Map Variant while playing forge, press Start and select save changes to overwrite the previous Map Variant or select Save As and give it a name.

Theater

Films

Saved Films allow a player to view any game, campaign or multiplayer, from any angle. It uses game data to re-create the games, which makes file sizes very small (5 MB for a 15 minute multiplayer match). In the film, you can either watch your own player play through the entire mission or you can go a different way: bird's eye view. You can go anywhere you want, but they will limit your movement so that you cannot fly as high as possible or go very far from your character. You can also fast forward or rewind the film so that you can relive the parts you missed. On Campaign you can't rewind the film. Only your previous 25 games will be saved under the recent films category on your console. Older films will be deleted.

Clips

When playing a film you record a particular part of the film from any angle you want. Doing this allows you to look back at your greatest moments without having to watch the entire film. You cannot record parts of campaign films.

Screenshots

Screenshots can be taken in any kind of film; all screenshots taken by XBL players are sent to Bungie.net via Internet.

Soundtrack

The Halo 3: Original Soundtrack album was released on November 20, 2007. It is a two-disc set featuring all the music heard in-game, in order of appearance. As the Halo: Original Soundtrack the music is in more of a medley format. However, similar to the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack, tracks are divided into 'suites' corresponding to each level in the game.

A number of bonus tracks and a third-party song will be contained on the second disc of the album, 'LvUrFR3NZ' by Princeton.

Previews of the Soundtrack can be heard on the official site[1].

Marketing Promotions

Viral Marketing

Main article: Iris

On June 11th, 2007, at 10:26AM PDT, a viral marketing campaign for Halo 3 started, called "Iris".

Trailers

Announcement Trailer

Main article: Halo 3 Announcement Trailer

At E3 2006, Bungie released their announcement trailer. It required long hours and hard work from many, many Bungie staffers, and utilizes real-game assets, fiction and locations from parts of the "real" game. It shows John-117 walking through some wreckage of the New Mombasa space elevator with Cortana appearing at several intervals to give her lines. He then arrives at a cliff where the Covenant forces are hovering over a Forerunner structure (believed to be the Ark). The trailer ends with the Forerunner structure opening and firing a beam of light.

The Trailer fueled speculation about what was going to happen in the game, particularly Cortana's last line in the trailer: "This is the way the world ends,"[2] which references the first of the Cortana Letters. The line itself refers to T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which ends:

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Cortana's emphasis on "this" implies she is rejecting the poem, and that the world will end with a bang - likely referring to the Halo installations being activated.

Starry Night Trailer

Main article: Starry Night

Starry Night Trailer was released on December 4, 2006 with its format designed for TV Ads. It shows two kids staring at the stars talking about whether there are aliens before switching to a dazed Master Chief recovering from some form of blast. Once he gets back on his feet, he uses a Bubble Shield to defend himself from an incoming Wraith plasma mortar and then charges forward, eventually jumping over a cliff into a swarm of Covenant Loyalists.

E3 2007 Trailer

Main article: Halo 3 E3 2007 Trailer

The final trailer for Halo 3 was released during E3 2007. Unlike the others, this trailer focused on showing various gameplay and movie clips. While the trailer did little to further knowledge about the Halo 3, it confirmed many speculations about the game, the least of which was that the Arbiter and the Master Chief will fight alongside one another in the game at some point.

Believe

Main article: Believe

A hero must rise. Believe...

Believe is a Microsoft marketing campaign for Halo 3.

It features the word "Believe" as a tag line, and appears to be honoring the legacy of SPARTAN-117, citing him as a hero of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force whose brave actions inspired other servicemen during the Human-Covenant War. It has also been cited that it has been linked to the popular message board Neogaf.

Landfall

Main article: Halo: Landfall

Halo: Landfall is a trilogy of short films designed to promote Halo 3 as well as test the potential for a live-action Halo Movie.

Products and Collectibles

Halo 3 Xbox 360.

Trivia

  • For Christmas 2006, Microsoft & Bungie gave the U.S. soldiers in Iraq a chance to play the Halo 3 multiplayer public pre-alpha. [3]
  • On Cops & Robbers commercial for the 360 at the XBL Marketplace one of the license plates says HA LO307 aka Halo 3 07.
  • The game has 39,377 lines of dialogue, most of them randomly triggered during gameplay.[4]
  • In several of Cortana's messages to the Chief, she quotes Dr. Halsey's lines from Halo: The Fall of Reach. This is logical considering Cortana was created with a flash clone of Dr. Halsey's brain.
  • The chances of two people having the same service tag (that is not commonly used, noticeably I69) on Xbox Live is 2574 to 1.
  • Throughout all of Halo 3's storyline, the Master Chief's codename is Sierra 117, the name of the first level.

[5]

Related Links

Internal

External

  1. ^ http://www.halo3ost.com/
  2. ^ Please have Cortana's lines pronounced so that I don't see 36 threads about it.

    "I have defied gods and demons."

    "I am your shield, I am your SWORD."

    "I know you, your past, your future."

    "This is the way the world ends."

    Frankie --Weekly Update May 12, 2006
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Halo Dialogue Statistics, from the source - HBO, November 12, 2007
  5. ^ {{{Text}}}
Retrieved from "https://www.halopedia.org/index.php?title=Halo_3&oldid=138030"