Believe; one simple word. The tagline for Halo 3, the final installment of the incredibly popular Halo franchise by Bungie studios, may yet seem obscure, possibly cryptic. But after playing the game, you will understand what it means. For Bungie, it is the culmination of nearly a decade of work on the Halo series, and the finale to the refinement and perfection of the formula they developed back in 2001.

The single player campaign for Halo 3 picks up almost exactly where Halo 2 left off (so abruptly). The Covenant, sworn enemy of mankind, has discovered the location of Earth and has assaulted en-masse. The Master Chief, humanity’s last hope for survival, has stowed himself onboard a Forerunner ship destined for our home planet, piloted by the last religious leader of the Covenant, the demented Prophet of Truth. Halo 3 starts instantly, with a rough landing from the descending Forerunner ship to Earth’s surface, where the Chief is welcomed by a handful of Marines under the command of Sergeant Major Johnson and The Arbiter, former Covenant warrior now allied with the Humans. At this point, the game spends several hours seemingly making up for the unsatisfying ending to the previous game by having the Chief lead the human resistance against the Covenant invasion across the battle-scarred plains of Africa.

The scale of the combat is much larger than that of either of the prequels. Most areas pace the combat well, by having a contrast between tight linear corridor sections; be it underground or scrambling over the ruins of human cities, and wide and open ‘pitched’ battlegrounds; much like the first Halo level of Combat Evolved. The game really gives you a sense that this is the final fight - the Covenant is throwing everything they have at wiping out humanity, and the defending forces of the UNSC are stretched thin. You may turn a corner and find Marines already balls-to-the-wall overrun with Covenant, and when you get out and lend a hand they cheer you on and find their second wind; this never fails to please. It makes you feel like a savior of mankind.

Bungie has really refined the combat of Halo 3 to the point where you don’t need a tutorial (though for the sake of accessibility, there is one), as it all feels so familiar. The Covenant itself, now devoid of Elites (who have sided with the Humans after their betrayal in the prequel), takes on a similar dynamic as before by upgrading the Brutes to more than ‘damage sponges.’ They now operate in packs, working together to outwit and overpower the player. Fighting against them takes the place of fighting Elites; they control the Grunt forces in much the same way, and they definitely take on the mantle of the top warrior tier of Covenant hierarchy. Bungie required an Elite-like enemy for their gameplay to remain as it has been for the first two games; so much so that Brutes now have a similar shield mechanic as the Elites, and recognizable patterns to combat. Even the way they fire with one arm when using the Brute Spiker weapons is reminiscent of the stance Elites took in the first game with their plasma rifles.

The UNSC, though, has been saving the big guns for when times got really desperate, as Marine allies now actually aid in a mission, rather than hinder. You do not need to baby-sit them, as they work well with the environment, and maintain a cohesive and strong squad dynamic, working well as a fighting force. The AI in Halo 3 is improved in all areas, with a larger variation in combat maneuvers and enemy attacks. You will never take Grunts for granted again. The only problem with this huge variation in species is that the Drone race, small insect-like enemies, is used almost as a ‘monster closet’ in some areas; where it seems there was a lull in battle, they just appear out of nowhere for the sake of keeping the action going. The Brutes also exhibit some AI bugs, most notably failing to notice the player’s presence even when shooting them, or becoming stuck behind objects and unable to walk a path correctly through the space; uncommon but still annoying problems. The Marines too, while definitely improved and exhibiting clever AI, at the worst possible times also seem to screw up and cost you dearly; there are moments when you will shake your head in pity at the stupidity of your human allies.

But it might not cost you the game, because in order to finish the fight, the Master Chief has been equipped with some serious firepower. Halo 3 has an abundance of guns at your disposal; with Brutes elevated to top tier in the Covenant, they roll out a whole line of new gear, with a Brute equivalent to nearly every Human weapon. Standard weapons such as the Brute Spiker and Mauler, and Brute Shot make up the bulk of the standard troops, but Brute Chieftains wield the powerful Gravity Hammer, capable of knocking back enemies and even grenades, usually cracking skulls in the process. These devious enemies also have the ability to deploy the same equipment you do, like throwing down a bubble shield right as you fire a rocket at them. It’s as though they know. The UNSC have also been busy developing new technology, with the Spartan Laser being the most prominent addition to the arsenal, an anti-vehicle sniper of immense power, though not so useful against infantry targets due to its minimal splash damage. The Halo 1 Assault Rifle also comes screaming back into the fray and kicks all sorts of ass. It is a worthy starting weapon, and grounds the rest of the weapons to a solid base. There are so many weapons available to the player, and equipment for every possible scenario, that pretty much the only thing the Chief can’t do in Halo 3 is nuke the site from orbit.

Every one of these weapons I’ve mentioned, among all the rest, has a meaty punch when it fires. Players with an expensive set of speakers are going to appreciate the effort Bungie has put into making Halo 3 a feast of sound. Explosions are also impressive, with frag grenades giving a satisfying boom as they detonate. Plasma grenades giving off a high pitched whine as they explode will send chills down your spine, for that whine is the sound of your doom. The voiceover work for the game is also well-realized, and with many returning characters the cast feels familiar, while Miranda Keyes fills in the role left by Cortana as mission guide due to the Chief being out of contact with the AI. The backup cast also does a good job of conveying the story, with some real sinister work for the Prophets that will outline Bungie’s change in tone for Halo 3. A much more somber and dark story is being told. The music is also a brilliant throwback to the glory of the original Halo. The infamous theme is used much like the James Bond melody, kicking into high gear at moments in the game where Chief performs acts of heroism or becomes embroiled in particularly thrilling fights. There is also a haunting orchestral score to accompany the game, much less bombastic than its predecessors. The soundtrack for Halo 3 is definitely a high point among all its layers of atmosphere.

But no campaign would be as impressive as Halo 3’s without the visual fidelity that Bungie has given the series. The first half of the game takes place primarily on Earth, and features some dreary and war-torn locales, while the magnificence of the more fantastical sections of the first two games comes back with a bang in the second half, and pushes well beyond what you ever expected in terms of environmental detail. The graphics may not be as technically proficient as some recent stunners, but the density of the environments and the cohesiveness of the visuals create a solid world founded on impressive terrain and stunning lighting. Bungie takes you on a wild ride of jaw-dropping locations and incredible vistas, with the vast plains of Earth and the splendor of the Ark all realized in real-time in-engine to stunning results, and the more advanced Forerunner architecture seen later in the game will bring a gasp from even the most jaded of players.

But while for many the single player portion of the game will be its main selling point, the multiplayer aspect will give Halo 3 reach for many years. What is first noticeable is that nearly every part of the game has been given a competitive function. The single player most evidently, where you can compete in scoring for kills and objectives between up to four players online or off, receive medals and commendations (and of course achievements) for completing mission goals and gaining points for defeating powerful enemies. Halo 3 also ships with a wide variety of multiplayer maps to be fought over by handfuls of Spartans and Elites, ranging from vastly-scaled vehicle-based levels such as Sandtrap, designed with huge eight on eight battles featuring flying combat and moving bases, to the smaller, more confined claustrophobia of Isolation or Construct, which both shine at deathmatch or free-for-all game types. Each map, this time, is given grounding in the campaign plot. While not all of the locations are taken verbatim, most tie in with the locales and aesthetics of the single-player, with some having scripted sequences and plot-heavy environments to accentuate this feeling.

The wide variety of armor permutations for both Elites and Spartans in multiplayer allows you to customize your appearance beyond just color and emblem choice. The variety of game types is also staggering, with the appropriately titled Forge editor allowing you to customize every conceivable aspect of a game, from spawn timers to weapon placement to power-ups and map rotation. The game also features full support for online matchmaking and ranked games via Xbox Live, and has extensive stat tracking and replay support on the revamped bungie.net site, which allows you to pore over every possible aspect of your games, like kill and death-counts, screenshots and saved films, accuracy and medals. The multiplayer component of Halo 3 is so diverse and detailed, allowing for so much customization, that it puts other popular multiplayer games to shame - hard. Compared to a recent title like Gears of War, Halo 3 has seemingly endless options, allowing you to play the game with your friends online just how you like it.

Halo 3 is a triumph for Bungie. The game exudes so much quality from every facet of the design that it is nothing but groundbreaking. Featuring a mind-blowing campaign, a satisfying ending, and a cavalcade of impressive multiplayer options and longevity, Halo 3 will satisfy fans of the series and gamers alike in every possible way. This game is a truly remarkable achievement and a showcase for the Xbox 360. Halo 3 is exceptional in nearly every regard and is the conclusion to the trilogy that the first two games deserved.