PC Magazine takes issue with a few flaws in Halo 3; the Arbiter's seeming invulnerability and the enemy AI's inability to see you coming (what difficulty did they play at?) bothered them. Nothing positive, in particular, seemed to stand out for them:
Game Informer liked almost, almost everything about Halo 3:
With a satisfying campaign closure to the series' epic story arc, unprecedented multiplayer options, an innovative video recording feature, and heretofore unseen console mod tools, Halo 3 lives up to every bit of its ever-expanding reputation. However, a few small disappointments chip away at the game's shot at perfection.
Halo 3 is worth waiting for, says Pro-G. Good thing the wait is short:
But don't worry. We can finally end the heart-ache, the anticipation and the unbearable need to find out for yourself. Halo 3 is everything we hoped it would be, and much, much, more.
Your patience, such as it is, will be rewarded with a game that scored 10 out of 10 according to Pro-G.
GamesRadar is pretty unqeuivocal in its praise. If you're asking if Halo 3 is good, or as good as they say...
Matt Peckham at PC World liked Halo 3 a bit more than last year's blockbuster shooter on the Xbox 360:
But long story short, I dig Halo 3. Maybe not every single last tiny score point as much as a few of the dedicated game sites, but I certainly dig it a smidgen more than I did Gears of War, which, someone please explain to me why, people keep calling a "tactical third-person shooter" while Halo 3 gets branded "tactical light," whatever that means.
What sounds like damning with faint praise from Eurogamer...
So far, so good; you could, if you were trying to review this game in a 200 word box in a newspaper, probably reduce the last section to "more of the same, but with some well considered tweaks which we like a lot". On the strength of Halo 2, that alone should guarantee a copy in the hands of every first-person shooter fan on the planet.
...turns out to be a perfect 10 out of 10.
With the embargo date now past, reviews of Halo 3 are going up all over the web. Rather than flood the front page with them, there's now a separate Halo 3 reviews page and a menu item in the left hand column.
Have you played Halo 3? Want to submit your own review? Go to your Halo 3 User Reviews section to do it (registration and login required).
Press Start Online gives Halo 3 a gold ranking.
Everything has come together in Halo 3 to form a comprehensive product that has been developed without fear of failure; a game that corrects the vast majority of the mistakes of the past; a game which combines user creativity and interaction across the campaign itself and Bungie’s own website to an extent never before seen in a console release. It’s not a Return of the Jedi, then, but a triumphant Return of the King.
Despite its name, Xbox 360 Fanboy somehow finds it odd that they can't find much wrong with Halo 3:
I never intended to write a review filled with nothing but praise for Halo 3, but it's just damned hard to criticize. Sure, there are things I could point out that are disappointing. The graphics aren't perfect. You can't save clips in campaign. The story will be confusing to newcomers. Yeah, I can pick nits all day if I wanted to, and doubtless many Halo detractors will do just that, but the game is good.
Halo 3 is good. Glad that's cleared up.
Some of you may have spent rather more pennies on Halo 3 than on other games, but GamePro thinks at least the regular edition is worth the price, ranking it 4.8 / 5.
CVG says that Halo 3 doesn't mess with success:
Halo 3 is the gaming equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster. It's not going to revolutionise the genre - it's not meant to - it's meant to be great fun, which it is. Never lose sight of that. The visuals, guns, vehicles, enemies, set-pieces, musical score... they've all been cranked up to 11 to create an experience up there with the best sci-fi properties.
They gave the game 9.7 out of 10.