Immensely anticipated Halo 3 scores sky-high with fans

Game developer Bungie Studios released the conclusion to their Halo trilogy last week.Gamers have anticipated the release of the game since Nov. 22, 2004.

Halo 2 sold 2.4 million copies its first day, bringing in $125 million, out-grossing all other releases in entertainment history until the release of Halo 3, which brought in $170 million on its first day.

The midnight release occurred at many specialty electronics and gaming locations, such as Gamestop and Best Buy.

"Halo is going to be the biggest game in video game history," said the manager of a local Gamestop.

Many gamers, young and old, bought an Xbox 360 specifically for the release of Halo 3. Many specialty stores opened their doors for the midnight release because of the expected revenue from game sales.

A local Gamestop in Fayetteville, Georgia got approximately 600 pre-orders. These numbers are nothing compared to other shops nearby. Another Gamestop in Fayetteville had 1,000 pre-orders, and the Gamestop in nearby Peachtree City received 2,000 pre-orders.

With all the hype surrounding Halo 3, many wonder: is it good? Good is an understatement. Game Rankings, an aggregator for reviews on game launches, listed it at 94% according to the reviews of major gaming magazines and websites. Several authorities that gave Halo 3 a perfect score of 10 include the Australian Official Xbox Magazine, 1Up.com and the UK-based www.edge-online.co.uk, the last of which has given only five other perfect scores for all games in the past 25 years.

Undoubtedly, the critical reception for Halo 3 has gone as expected and beyond in some cases.

The gameplay will not be affected by the game disc edition, except for one feature available in the extra disc for both limited and legendary editions.

Bungie has included an audio/video calibration tool for televisions and sound systems so that a gamer may achieve maximum utilization from his or her home theater systems if he or she so chooses.

The engine in Halo 3 is an original engine from Bungie, unlike the engine of Halo 2, which was provided by Havok.

The game is played very similarly, especially in controls, but new features exist which many Halo 2 fanatics will appreciate.

The Xbox 360 controller, which does not have the black and white buttons from the original Xbox controllers, but has bumper buttons instead, utilizes those for reloading and actions.

The X button has been switched to accommodate only the use of "special items" that completely change the gameplay and strategy. These items include the power drainer, the radar jammer and the bubble shield, which appeared on the ESPN TV "Starry Night" advertisement.

The campaign story has been fulfilling for most gamers. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the story will not continue. Bungie Studios has stated that the story arc and that of Master Chief, the protagonist of the game, will be concluded in Halo 3.

The story revolves around the loss of Cortana, the best friend and guide of Master Chief, as she is still in the clutches of the Gravemind. For Master Chief, this is a personal endeavor and battle.

While Master Chief has to bear the burden of Cortana, he must also fight the Covenant invasion on Earth and stop the Prophet of Truth from activating "the Ark," from which he may activate all the other Halos.

These are two of the numerous conflicts that are both reintroduced and settled. Obviously, the game has an epic conclusion, as the main slogan for the game is "Finish the Fight."

Gamers will get to "finish the fight," but start a completely new one that could last a much longer time.

The multiplayer component of Halo 2 logged in nearly five billion hours of ranked games among five million unique players.

In the first 20 hours of the official release of Halo 3, over a million players logged on Xbox Live, the online service for gaming on the Xbox and Xbox 360.

For this feat, Halo 3 has set yet another record in the video game and entertainment industry.

The multiplayer system in Halo 3 has improved in nearly every way.

The user interface has become more intuitive, more game types have been added and the options for gaming have increased in almost every dimension. From the customizable armor to the new maps, gamers can easily find hours of enjoyable gameplay at least as good as in Halo 2, if not better.

Many find Halo 3 has set a long-lasting standard for gaming. In a year where games like Bioshock, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and the upcoming Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III have and will dominate many platforms, Halo 3 still stands strong. Many have left other popular titles like Forza Motorsport 2 on the Xbox 360 and World of Warcraft on PC to indulge in Halo 3.

From the artistic value to the competitive multiplayer, Halo 3 has dominated the world of gaming for only weeks - the trend, if similar to Halo 2, will last years.