Gamestyle gives Halo 3 a perfect score, but that doesn't mean it's a perfect game:

The craftsmanship here is astounding, but unfortunately the game is not perfect, as there are a couple of shortfalls. The first is the game's storyline, which throws players in at the deep-end and requires prior knowledge in order to fully appreciate it. This isn't a problem for fans, but anyone else who wants to enjoy the game will be wondering what is going on.

Call me crazy, guys, but it is a sequel. There were two other games. Expecting to know exactly what's going on in Halo 3 without having either played the other two, or at least done a bit of reading, is like expecting to walk into a showing of The Two Towers and know exactly what's going on without having seen the first two films. It's nuts.

TVG awards Halo 3 a score of 8 out of 10, giving it kudos for multiplayer and setting the game on Earth, but points off for the visuals, "disappointing campaign" and... pretentiousness?

GameRevolution gives Halo 3 an A- for upgrading Halo 2's graphics to high definition and tweaking gameplay balance, but points off for weak ally AI and a lack of "custom match searches". Seems to me customs are designed to be private... but whatever.

The O'Collegian (the college newspaper of Oklahoma State) thought Halo 3 was the best Halo ever.

Fox News didn't think Halo 3 was all that and a bag of chips. Good, but not great.

Three reviewers at Entertainment Weekly all give Halo 3 their highest marks:

On its own, the single-player campaign would've earned a B+ from me. But when I factor in all of the innovative ways players can share in the experience online, Halo 3 gets bumped up to a solid A.

To see why the other reviewers gave Halo an A, read the full review.

UConn classics professor Roger Travis reviewed Halo 3 for the Hartford Courant. Strangely enough, unlike the Internet pundits who find Halo 3's story lacking, he finds unexpected depth:

Through the stories of old, and Halo, the young men are transported into a world of heroic myth, where warriors fight more fearlessly than real warriors could ever fight, and quarrel with one another, and laugh, and even cry sometimes. The warriors deliberate, suffer, make choices and enjoy those choices' consequences. For the young men, the gamer and the ancient herdsman, these heroes live.

Hey, prof... how about putting Halo in the classics curriculum? Just kidding.

Claudine Beaumont at the Telegraph found Halo 3 a thrilling experience:

Bungie has done an incredible job with the online elements of Halo 3, which allow you to participate in online co-operative battles across the Xbox Live arcade, or indulge in multiplayer operations where you can create your own battle maps. It’s a thrilling, visceral experience. One of the highlights is a fully dynamic in-game camera that will record the action as you play, allowing you to review it from literally any angle in the game and make screengrabs of your best kills or near misses.

Beaumont finished Normal in six hours, which she calls a "single sitting" for a hardcore gamer. If you're really that hardcore, though, you should be playing at Heroic, like Bungie keeps saying.

Drost at 2Old2Play reviews Halo 3:

In Halo 3, you're going to war. In a very real sense, Bioshock and Halo 3 are different genres. Sure, they're both shooters, both FPS, which technically makes it seem as though they're the same, but ... no.

Which you like better may come down to a matter of preference, but make no mistake, Halo 3 is a damn good game. It's all the good parts of Halo with the visuals that were promised in Halo 2 if not quite delivered. A little repetition on a couple of levels, but there are some battles you'll fight in this game that are larger I've ever participated in any game.

Bungie kept saying there were huge encounters. They weren't kidding.

His final verdict: the "most fun I've had playing a videogame."

On an interesting sidenote, he had this to say about graphics:

Seems to me comparing and contrasting the graphics between games is not unlike a pixilated Johnson-measuring contest, and it's a no-win anyway. If you say, "but Halo's visual style is different than that of Gears or Bioshock," it sounds like you're making an excuse.

I think we're finally starting to get into the era of game design where we need to start talking about art direction. We're now comparing cinematography, not just level of detail. There are bigger things to consider.

If you ask me, we're about ten years late in talking about that; there were clear differences to be seen even back then, but the gaming press was starting to ramp up to judging everything in terms of maximum resolution and frames per second.

Look at Doom and Marathon. Marathon contains locations that feel real; a massive colony starship and an eerie alien scout craft.

Doom contains a Mars base inexplicably strewn with burning, exploding garbage cans, and a lot of half-baked Satanic imagery.

Another review that points out that Halo 3 is a game, and as such, should be fun:

After several hours spent exploring and blasting my way through the "Campaign" levels of Halo 3, I can safely say that in addition to the game's stunning graphics, highly realistic sound effects, haunting score and unprecedented hype...it is also a lot of fun!

Glad to hear it, I was worried. For the full review, check the Rome News Tribune of Georgia.

Fantastic sound and near-unlimited replay value figure highly in PlanetXbox's review of Halo 3, but the story gets a shout-out, too:

Lucky for gamers Bungie gives everyone the chance to finish that fight in Halo 3, this is the epic conclusion everyone has been waiting for and no storyline tidbits will be left unanswered; no cliffhangers here. When the end credits roll for Halo 3 you will know there is nothing left, this is the end of the series.

In short the plot of Halo 3 is up there with both of it’s predecessors and on some levels is one of the best storylines seen outside of a Japanese RPG.

PlanetXbox gives Halo 3 a score of 9.8 points out of 10.

TGDaily says Halo 3 is definitely the Xbox 360's killer app:

It is quite undoubtedly the best single-player campaign of the entire Halo series, and anyone who buys the game needs to run through it at least once before getting too involved with the multiplayer modes.

That brings me to the most important point of the game. Halo 2 essentially defined online multiplayer for any console shooter. That is no longer the case, however. Halo 3 has brought a new definition for online battling to the table, and it rocks.

Delivers what, pizza? No. Single player and multiplayer fun.

G4 gave Halo 3 a perfect 5/5 score. Unlike most sites, they considered multiplayer first and campaign second, but they say either way, the game is pretty:

Ever since the multiplayer Beta, Halo has come under fire for its graphics, and comparisons to Halo 2 and Gears of War have been numerous. With the release of Halo 3, many of those dissenting voices will be silenced. Halo 3 is beautiful. And much of that beauty lies in its depth.

How much game is in Halo 3? G4 calls it Bungie's 'Orange Box'. That ought to answer that.

Dean Takahashi at the San Jose Mercury News thinks Halo 3 deserves the hype it got:

But "Halo 3" and the entire trilogy deliver what few games do. It combines artistic peaks - in graphics, game play, music, sound, witty dialogue and epic story - into a cohesive whole that makes you feel like you're in a struggle to save the world. Just about every scene is fun.

On an odd note, that's one of the few reviews that used the word 'fun'.