When I first purchased this game, I was a tiny bit disappointed with the graphics because graphically there wasn't much of an improvement over Halo 2… that is, until I decided to invest in a HDTV once I saw it being demo'd in HD. I personally feel that this game is an amazing “experience” rather than a play once and forget… I've been back for every achievement, and I'm not even an achievement hunter, I simply enjoyed the game so much that I had to find a reason to play it again and again and again!
A fitting end to what (in my mind at least) can only be referred to as the most epic trilogy in gaming history! Of course this game has it's “nay sayers” as all games do, but I can't help but believe that there is some jealousy going on there from other sectors of gaming, and of course simply to say that not everyone is an FPS fan.
This game pushed the boundaries of what we see in modern gaming, and frankly; it has it all: dry humour courtesy of Spartan 117 himself, beautiful vista's (no not windows, even if Bungie are owned by MS), amazing set pieces that link the levels perfectly, and as for the playability? My goodness, I still return to this game time and again, if only to destroy (or very very occasionally get destroyed by) one of my friends on a multi-player map, heck, just because I could; I completed H3 on Legendary, which believe me wasn't what you'd call a walk in the park!
What else can we say about a series of games that has spawned numerous spin offs? To date we have a series of books, a table top warfare game, a spin off game due very soon, and a film rumoured to be in the works (however everyone is keeping very very quiet about this!)
So, over 1 year after its original release in my mind, what we have here is still one of the greatest FPS games in the history of gaming! This my friends is one of the greats that will be remembered by history as such, much the same way people still rave about the Doom games, so to in ten years time will people still speak of the day Halo 3 graced us with its presence, raising the bar for every other developer out there!
If you love FPS, if you know the Master Chief, if you have an Xbox 360 and you don't own this, you simply must add it to your collection, there is nothing else to say; this is THE must have game!