unbelieveable, i'm not trying to start anything, but honestly, if i didn't know better, i would have thought that i was looking at an xbox game. after playing halo1 and 2 on pc, i still to this day don't get what people see in the franchise, but hey, it has lots of fans, and makes lots of money for MS, maybe i'm missing something. ;)

@jmd749: i think you are ;)

jmd749 - The game runs off a tweaked version of the Halo 3 engine so what did you expect, that engine is old only decent thing is the HDR lighting effects. Gameplay is top notch, firefight is alot of fun, only HUGE problem I have is that its not part of matchmaking meaning you have to invite people to play then switch to the multiplayer disc if you want to play Halo3 =/

Fun game indeed. Unfortunatly, i think the game shows all it's cards in the first 10 min, and kinda dips thereafter. Still tons of fun when u get into epic fire fights

This game is a mixed bag for sure. If you are mainly into the SP part of the game, rent it, it's not worth the full price IMO. However, I love the firefight mode and have had lots of fun with that, a great mode for friends to have fun with. the price tag is too much imo, so those who aren't big fans might want to wait for a price drop.

I really hope they keep this firefight mode in future Halo games as it's by far the best addition to the series in a long time.

As for the graphics, I still don't see why MS didn't push Bungie for a more graphically sophisticated game. Especially when you consider it's MS number one flagship franchise that put them on the map in the console world.

Don't like the new maps much at all either.

I think thats people's number one annoyance with Bungie, hopefully they (and MS) have been listening and will really improve the visuals for Halo Reach, otherwise there is no way they will be able to compete against the new modern warfare, bad company and operation flash point, unless they somehow pull out something really innovative with the gameplay (but they have already said that the Natal will arrive too late for them to fully implement it into the game).

this is one of those very rare games that starts off strong, but then gets better with each passing chapter. So many games go out with a thud, but I was so impressed with the ending and the chapters right before- I felt really satisfied by the end. The graphics engine really isn't that amazing, but the art style plays off it really well. And there are very few games that really can touch Halo on it's lighting engine. The really best moments of this are the last two chapters. I won't speak on people's opinions- but from my point of view, this is the best game out this year. Well worth it's $60 and the most replayable yet. I'm sure I'll be floored by MW2, but the wait for it is made much, much easier by ODST.

like anyone is gonna fall for that... posting history and all that.

Absolutely not. In the first 10 minutes, you're barely even in the game. At that point you get to your first flashback... and that's almost nothing more than a great change of lighting. Later in the game you have Warthog fights, Banshee battles- Tanks... it just gets better and better. It's hard to believe you even played the game if you'd imply that in 10 minutes you've seen it all. JMD is starting bullshit and it's pretty hard to swallow what you're saying either... in 10 minutes you've hardly even scratched the surface.

unless he's talking about the HUB city, in which case you've pretty much seen it all in the opening 2 minutes. i genuinely fail to see the reason for the HUB, all it seems to be is a monotonus way to get from one mission to the other.

Getting dropped down was so awesome my heart was pounding! it felt like fresh in the halo experience, from then on it's just more of the same. Not to say it's not fun, cause i really think it is. I just wish they had more jaw dropping scenarios like that. But that's me, not right or wrong, just what i've taken away from it

Really fun game. Only one bad mission and that was the Hive towards the end. Great lighting, art direction, and music. Perfect for a rental.

The faces/hair on the two commanding officers is beyond horrible. I wouldn't even blame the old Halo 2 engine on it. That's just some bad work on the graphic designers part. Other than that it's just the jaggies that really stand out as the main graphic fault.

Some people do seem to get "art" and "engine" confused on occasion. Most usually with the Unreal based games.

I really liked it. I'd suggest playing through solo the first time on heroic/legendary to get a real feel for the hub world as any other way wouldn't do it justice. It's about crawling about, searching for ammo and trying to get past angry mobs. Getting caught by a hunter is seriously scarifying. Coupled with a very complimentary soundtrack it's very atmospheric, I thought. I could see how some might find it "boring", as in essence there's a lot of roaming about, but being directed by the Superintendent to the next Sadie story is quite effective and eventually you find yourself sucked into trying to get past the trickier areas alive.

Graphically it doesn't seem to do anything more sophisticated than H3. The engine's faster to load, for one. But the game itself... It's let down by the character models mostly. Who could make Tricia Helfer ugly? It's beyond redemption! :P Animation-wise it's the same cartoon style which mayhaps, whilst well done, doesn't compliment the setting. It does allow for some nice emotions though. Every cutscene is very well done and directed.

Yes, it's jaggy. But the lighting really offers a lot of solidity. I can see why they made the tradeoff. It'll be interesting to see if they can build on the smoothness with Reach yet get rid of the jaggies. If they can, considering everything else under the hood and lack of v-synch tearing and rock-solid framerate, that'll be an immense achievement for hardware knocking on five years old.

Granted, the graphics are occasionally ropey but solid, however some scenes are absolutely epic, particularly towards the end. Halo is about large groups of very sophisticated AI enemies and vehicles working co-dependently of eachother. The graphics considering this are actually very good - there's a hell of a lot going on particularly in the bigger scenes. There's still nothing, imo, that rivals the Scarabs in a shooter for the complexity of having AI bots roaming around the bridge whilst a building-sized AI mechanism roams about tagging you and your buddies. Let alone whilst being surrounded by snipers and aircraft!

Gameplay wise it's a bit more difficult than H3, but still rewarding for a game structure that's going on ten years old. It's just a smooth experience. It doesn't need fancy methods for ducking behind scenery, you just can. One absolutely idiotic decision though is to keep the archaic save system. IT'S BOLLOCKS.

I actually rate Halo 3:ODST well over Halo 3. The story is more intimate and not quite so banal, repetitious and sweeping. It took Bungie away from their comfort zone within the same framework and allowed them to create something a little different. I've certainly paid more for less, and far far worse. There's a level of quality here, which is why Bungie are successful - and really, I think those claiming it's an expensive expansion without having played it through first are fooling themselves. The amount of new art, the new areas, the story and some of the more epic scenes and confrontations means that whilst tighter (it's certainly not overly short in comparison with a lot of recent games for the SP - MW, looking at you) it offers a lot. I certainly don't regret spending my money on it, that's for sure.

I don't think it'll change anyones mind who hated Halo from the off though, but I think anyone willing to give it a try on rental will be more than a little suprised.

Who in here did you think had the two confused?

Guys, I seen this video mln times here, there and everywhere, but anyway thx)))
Finished game, btw, superb, cant wait reach

ITS A TRAP! Seriously, some people do.

The game rocks!!

they improved the halo 3 graphics a lot, still not what you expect from a flagship title. but the game plays good an firefight rocks!

"The Halo 3 engine is getting a bit old and it shows, especially when you see how poor the character faces look."

Really? Funny, I think it is artistically one of the best looking shooters in the past 2 years. Only started playing this weekend but fuck me, it's good. Underdog winner by a country mile.

Tbf, I think engine and art are intertwined. An engine should be developed around the art needs and art should account for what the engine can do. This is why most custom build engines look better than the UE3.

Was Halo2 ever released for PCs?

oh yeah, the whole DX10 fiasco.