The Fourth Wall
page 5S
Video Game Reviews:
By Greg Reed
Features Editor
While Hollywood ends its
Summer blockbuster streak of
sequels and big action flicks, the
gaming industry enters its boom
and sequel season with the release
of Halo 3 on September.
By now, undoubtedly, you, your
friends, and even non-gamers
know how massive the Halo
franchise is. The third installment
alone brought in over 170 million
dollars in the first day alone. Of
course, the slew of stellar reviews
are in from the regular magazines
and internet sites. If the market
says anything, then Halo is clearly
the best game ever.
However, whilst I recommend
this game over any of the other
Halo games, it still has a share of
gripes and problems.
First, the storyline. It does
finish the war between the dregs
of humanity and the Covenant, etc.
But can the story hold itself up
under close scrutiny? Yes, this
being one of the few times in the
gaming world, the story of Halo 3
works, and does manage to
surprise, without being to
unpredictable. :
However, the characters need
work. Through the cast of well-
voiced characters, we see the
typical cast of gung-ho males and
females who always become weak
at the fighting moment. Of course
Master Chief has to drop down to
save them all.
The story aside the main draw
of the game should be, and
- definitely is, the online multiplayer.
I was never a big fan of Halo 2’s
multiplayer, it felt unbalanced and
clunky, but Halo 3’s vastly
improved system over Xbox Live
was clearly receptive to fan
complaints.
Which brings me to the best
part about the game. Obviously
the storyline is decent, and the
multiplayer, which brings the
standard assortment of gametypes
(Deathmatch-style, Capture-the-
Flag, etc), but the most fantastic
part of Halo is the company behind
it.
* You get this unrivaled sense of
community with Bungie, as they
appear to be open to the problems
found/created by the gamers. The
first week of online gameplay many
gamers found that one style of
online play would take precedence
over another. Gamers couldn’t do
much about, as the game decided
this aspect randomly, but after a
few days this nuisance was cleared
up.
They didn’t really have to
because the game would’ve sold
either way, but the inclusion of
features like unlockable armors and
a skill ranking system, plus their
fact that they want people to play
this game.
My biggest problem lies with
the graphics, and whilst it is unfair
to judge the quality of a product
on its aesthetic value, Halo 3 is the
flagship game of the Xbox 360. The
game is pretty, though, but I was
expecting gorgeous from the
system’s biggest game.
Should you buy it? You
probably already did, so let’s take
a look at a much heftier investment:
Guitar Hero 3.
Running at about $100, is the 3
installment of the veritable Guitar
Hero series worth the money?
Yes, yes it is.(I speak only for
the Xbox 360 version)
But the game mechanics haven’t
changed much, so let’s take a look
at the new.
The wireless Gibson is fantastic.
It addresses all the problems that I
had with the Guitar Hero 2’s
controller. The Gibson’s strum bar
is far quieter than GH2’s and the
controller itself feels well-built in
general. The buttons are smoother
as well. Also the bad boy is
wireless, which makes it much less
likely for those of who like to rock
]
out during the game to
accidentally pull the cord out
effectively ruining the momentum
of the song.
The only problem with the
controller, which seems to be the
norm for any new product
nowadays, is the glossy
fingerprint attracting external shell.
The sexy curvy, controller feels
ruined whenever you get a bit of
your filthy hand grease on it.
Next, we have the online
multiplayer, which alone makes the
game worth it. Itis the first time for
the GH series to have multiplayer,
and the foray into it is well worth
the price. The tracklist this time
around is more mainstream, but still
doesn’t forget its underground
roots.
But most people will be able to
recognize the tracklist, which is
somewhat unfortunate because GH
and GH2 really did help to open my
ears to some bands I’d never heard
before.
The only problem on my end is
really the ‘Career’ mode. Itremains
relatively unchanged except for the
entertaining animations in between
each set. The boss battles aren’t
spectacular, and I myself didn’t
particularly enjoy them.
So, what should you buy this
season? If you want something
wholly different and still haven’t
tried the series yet, save up for
Guitar Hero 3. If you want a well
polished game that improves
slightly on a tried and true shooter
formula, then go for Halo 3 if you
don’t already own it. Here’s me
waiting for the next big thing: Call
of Duty 4: Modern Combat.