I know its part of the orange box, but I'm just gonna review TF2, mmmkay?

All online, all shooting and all cartoonish, Valve has a good sequel to the questionably "good" Team Fortress. Because there is no storyline, i guess thats all for that part.

TF2 is an all multiplayer class based shooter, much like its predecessor. There are nine classes which include Scouts, Pyros, Soldiers, Demoman, Heavies, engineers, medics, snipers,and spies. The presentation when it comes to connection is usually terrible. Joining games take unneccesarily long times and half the time the game displays rooms with open spaces but in turn states that its full or "no longer accepting players" (whatever the hell valve meant by that) when you try and join them. The classes are fairly well-balanced, but when it comes to the grind, the game can be terribly unfair, far worse then Halo or Gears., However, the game is terribly addicting, like Halo or Gears.

Easily one of the best parts of the game is the character development, despite never having a story mode. You just kinda figure out their individual personalities and traits just by using them. Unfortunately, it doesn't go much further then that. The class based multiplayer sure is a blast, at least, when its fair. When you've got 3 enemy sentries, 2 soldiers, a medic, and 2 demomen placing bombs right outside your spawnpoint, its easy to tell Valve really didn't give a crap about the cheapness factor in the game so much as throwing it on the market.
In other words, it can be a good game. But to games like R6V, Resistance, and Halo which ARE good games instead of CAN be good games, it falls pretty short.

The graphics are another great thing about this game. Its endearing cartoon-style graphics perfectly compliment its blow-you-limbs-off with a rocket style of gameplay. All the characters are hilarious at times, the things they say. And the CG makes all of it possible.

Sooooooo.....

Presentation: 2/5
Horrible connection issues, boring interfece and lack of gameplay modes kills it. Bad. Glitching is absolutely terrible and causes many games to where the opposite team has a terribly unfair advantage.

Gameplay: 3.5/5
While its a blast while the class-based multiplayer is WORKING, many a time the game will make absolutely no sense as to why some things happen.

Graphics: 4/5
Best part of the game. The cartoonish CG is perfect and original.

Sound: 3/5
While the gunshots and beats of a wrench work, there are no amazing things about the effects. Music is non-existent.

Replay value: 4/5
With nine classes, 6 maps and 3 gameplay modes it makes for a decent time. With more maps, weapons, and classes on they're way, it makes for a fun time. Granting you can bear the issues.

OVERALL:


I'm sure this will be argued. Alot. but the fact is, while I'm hopelessly addicted to it, I've easily seen all the crap this game has to offer. Still, its a solid experiance. At least, most of the time. ...

I'm a dedicated tales fan. Really, I am. In all fairness, I have put that aside for now for this miniview.

Ahem...cough.

Now that thats out of the way, the 2005 addition to the Tales RPG series, Tales of the Abyss, is very much like Tales of Symphonia, from battle system to monsters. Through personal experience, I can safely say that I believe this game to have surpassed Tales of Symphonia, as awesome as it was. Aaaaannnnyway....

In Tales of the Abyss, you are cast in the role of Luke fon Fabre, an heir to the throne of Kimlasca, one of two peaceful nations that exist in this world. Spoiled and arrogant, Luke is soon sent half across the world when trying to guard his master. The attacker, who happens to be his masters sister too gets sent with him. An adventure begins that will not only shape the futures of the two nations, but change the entire future of history itself.

Graphics, for its time anyway, are nothing special. Slowdowns do occur at very rare instances, and for detail its about average for a game of its time. The real highlight to these are how believable the characters became, based on the small feature changes in their faces, and the slight movements of their bodies at the needed time. For its day, this was as close to lifelike as you might've gotten. Still, graphics work, but are nothing special.

Voice acting is great. All the voice actors seem well placed in the game, with the exception of Sync and Ion, all the characters sound fine. Music is as it always has been for a Tales game...good. They even threw in a few hard rocks songs for fight scenes. Who would of though for an RPG, right? No.

Gameplay mixes the best of the Tales genre has to offer, and some new, often useless ideas. For instance, the idea of combining Artes (special powers) with fonons (elemental forces) really makes some attacks really awesome. Sadly, if it doesn't tell you which element you attack is compatible with, how will you know? However, that is only a detail of the battle system. The FRLMS (Flex Range Linear Motion System, I think I got it right...) is the Tales series signature battle system. And like I've said before, its the best system for an RPG I've seen. I have no complaints. Its difficult to explain, but mix a bit of Kingdom Hearts, Phantasy Star Online, and a fighter game, and you've got it.

For the presentation, they really help you to get to know the characters. Although there are mandatory cut-scenes (Like every RPG, obviously) with full voice acting, there are many, many, MANY optional cutscenes that you initiate by pressing "Select" when it gives you the options. These range from giving hints and tips as to what you ought to do next, to talking about one girls obsession of "cute" things. The storyline really is epic, and the animated cutscenes often give you a feeling of just how important your actions are in reference to the future of this world.

And in the immortal words of the Spy...I never really was on your side. You'll know if you play it.

Graphics: 3.5/5
Perfectly fine for a Tales game. not so fine if your looking for something to blow you face off.

Presentation: 4.5/5
As always, a great tales storyline, except this one dwarfs Tales of the World by 100 fold. Menus are easily navigated, but the constant talk of fonons, and fonstones will more then likely confuse some.

Gameplay: 4.5/5
its great to be able to see your enemies on the overworld, hence being able to run from them, but they chase you FAST, Not as fast as Symphonia has them though. And the FRLMS only gets better and better.

Sound: 4/5
Voice acting is great. Pity that much of the good Tales music repeats itself for every battle. But then again, which RPG doesn't?

Replay Value: 4/5
Its an RPG. Enough said. It does have a few parts where you have to choose to go with one group or another, leading to a different experience. item gathering and the norm, but after you beat it....but don't expect to beat it in the first day. Or week. Or month. Its taken me at least 60 hours, and I haven't even beaten it yet.

Overall:

A great addition to the Tales series of RPGs. Improvements on good leads to great. Where Symphonia left off on features TotAbyss picked up. Though if your expecting an RPG where everyone is always nice and happy...heh heh.... ...

PSP RPGs are here and there, they're everywhere they're up the stairs and behind the chairs. Yes, i did make that off the top of my head as I went but the point stands that there is an abnormal amount of sh**ty PSP RPGs out there. And then there are some good ones. Then there are some o.k. ones. Yadda yadda. Breath of Fire III seems like your average RPG, turn based, plot, stuffzes that make it an RPG...you know how it is. So lemme get to the review before you jump to conclusions....

You start out as a dragon (huh?) that ends up being found, abandoned as a human child, found by a duo named Rei and Teepo, 2 juvenile thieves. You soon become family, and have a time together...until two assassins named Balio and Sunder attack you and your family, who presumably kill Rei and Teepo after you black out. You soon set out to try and find them, in the way learning of your origins as a half-dragon, half-human race, and the most powerful in existence. Along you way you befriend a princess, a guardian, a wacko scientist, and a list oft friends as you journey to find out just what happened to you and you dragon race.

Graphics are sprites. But they are some darn fine looking sprites. However, for the first part of the game, the main character's sprite doesn't look much like the character himself, so it really doesn't matter. backgrounds are full 3D, however, and look pretty nice, not terrible and not stunning. They're just what they need to be.

Now for a turn based RPG (which I used to hate, btw) this one is pretty deep. Physical attacks, magical attacks, over 100 spells, weapons, armor, secondary armor, rings, quite a lot of stuff you can customize your characters with. but theres different strategies that you have to employ in every different battle, as all enemies have resistance, weaknesses, abilities, stats, all that may seem normal for RPGs, but Breath of Fire forces the player to take each one of these factors into consideration, as your normal strategy will almost never work all the time later on in the game. Each character that joins you, too will have they're owns abilities you must factor in. You may find yourself frustrated at times, but I'm just a really impatient person myself. But boy, playing as dragon Ryu sure is fun!


Sound is fine, at least for what it is. It wouldn't have killed them to add some voice acting to the scenes, though would it? Music is so-so, and the battle cries are still in Japanese. Eh....

Replay value...well, its standard for an RPG. You should get a good 30 hours of gameplay, but theres little to do except collect items and dragon genes after your done.

Graphics: 3.5/5
Great sprites, decent battle animations. Nothing special, but their fine for what they are.

Sound: 2.5/5
Everything works, but it still would've been nice to have seen some voice acting.

Gameplay: 3.5/5
Pretty nice and deep for a turn-based RPG. Multiple strategies for enemies, all which must be utilized to the best of your characters abilities. Unfortunately, you have to guess the strategy for many opponents.

Presentation: 4.5/5
An interesting storyline through the whole experience will keep you coming for more. Combat is easy to learn as well.

Replay value: 3/5
Like I said, a good 25-30 hours of gameplay, but after that, your done.

Overall:

it was tough debating whether it'd be a 8, 7.5, or an 7...but its age is starting to show. Still, if you want a mix between old school and new age RPG that still is pretty fun, look no further. ...

Beowulf....just finished reading about it in English class. Turned in a 6 page essay and got an 85. Went and saw the movie, as unfaithfully inaccurate it was. Safe to say I know a good bit about the Geat's history and who he is. But I know one thing, if he was ever an actual character, and if he was alive today, he would have one hell of a time tearing out the insides of whoever made this pathetically awful mockery of his "good" name. This game is a mess. Yet another pathetic attempt at producing a God of War clone, although this one is so bad, Kratos would kill himself for this game even being a CLONE of his. Thats for introduction, you'll see my reason soon...

The story begins where you are on a flaming(?) island with your apparent friend Barrack (ever heard of him? No? Me neither....) After spending ten or so minutes mercilessly beating up crabs with your fancy , button mashing 4 attack combo, you then arrive on an island to fight some sea monsters ( :rofl: ). After "defeating" them you begin on your way to defeat a monster named Grendal for a King and his people. This soon sets a chain of events leading to Beowulf's kingship...and death.

Graphics don't look half bad...when you standing still. As soon as Beowulf starts moving, things become messy. To avoid wasting time for wording, I'll just say that the game soon looks like it was shoved up a horses ass then shot out through its mouth. Yes, its that bad. No need harping on what has already been quite nicely stated.

Sound is so bad, its funny. I can't even remember whether each level had music or not, and Beowulf's single grunt for every attack he does gave me a borderline migraine. It just doesn't work. Voice acting during cut scenes is, at best, only mediocre. Looking through the eyes of someone who would care, the lip sync is practically non-existent. Mass Effect this ain't.

Gameplay....wow.
That practically sums it up. But for the reader, I'll explain WHY its so freaking terrible. X button: Roll. Square: Punch. Triangle: Single, unchainable smash attack. Circle: Grab. Now this could even be moderately acceptable. But the makers of this game couldn't LET it be acceptable. The mechanism for attacks is so broken up, when trying to change directions during attack either never works, or when it does, spins you completely the wrong way. Not even a slight auto aim, and when the length of your weapon reaches barely past you face, that quickly becomes a problem.Blocking attacks does nothing. At best it'll make him take a small amount less damage, but still fly 12 meters northeast. Commanding your Thanes is an absolute needless and pointless feature. Your teamates suck, just like you; theres no point in sending a team of idiots to do one idiots job. Carnage mode is a mockery of power-modes such as Rage of the Gods. Yes, your invincible, but with no extra powers and still having the ability to be thrown from here to there with an enemy's pinky, its as worthless as they come.

Replay value for Beowulf...an oxymoron.

Overall:

Graphics: 2.5/5
These graphics don't even belong on a broken NDS. it is fun watching the background have a seizure every time you move, though.

Sound: 1.5/5
Terrible. I even feel bad for the people who had to MAKE the voiceovers.

Gameplay:1/5
Punch, punch, punch, get punted like a football. I am Beowulf.

Replay Value: 0.5/5
Haha, replay value....haha....

Overall:

I guess the basic point I'm trying to say it STAY AWAY. You'll be glad you did. Don't even get this if someone is willing to PAY you for taking it.

The MINIVIEW hath spoken! ...

Mass Effect is the start of what should be an RPG revolution, if RPG creators know whats good for them anyway. Mass Effect is a game set in the year 2148 after humanity discovers an advance called Mass Effect that successfully advances Earth's tech by 200 years. You are commander Shepard, male or female who had a past as deep as his/her future. It is soon placed upon you to save the earth from the geth civilization and Saren, they're "prophet". You will travers countless worlds, make decisions that will influence the universe. And this isn't a lie. This is the real deal.

This game is the peak of RPG evolution. Every choice, every action, every thing you do determines whether you, the universe, your friends, civilians, anybody and everybody, whether they live or die. In every conversation every choice you have is said in a full dialog with reactions fitting the choice you have chosen. Through words and a kind will, or threats and an iron will, EVERYTHING you do effects the world around you. You can became any character you can possibly imagine good or evil, or the often forgotten grey area that exists in the middle. You can even become romantically linked with others. This isn't your average romantics in a game. You have evry choice. You can talk to them, interact however you would in reality. However, unlike reality, you can actual get lucky in Mass Effect .

The visuals are absolutely some of the best out there. I have yet to see a game with such an amazing level of artistic design and execution as mass Effect. Textures and features are as detailed as they get, resulting in unbelievably realistic characters. Even the aliens look real! The problem: Slowdowns. Quite rare, and usually only during fight extremely explosive fight scenes, they are still there.

Gameplay is stunning. Gears style combat created extremely well, mixed with an RPG element that has no equal. The RPG allows you to became whatever you want, and allows you to effect the universe however you please. Combat is iffy at first, though, but you'll get the hang of it fairly quickly. Slowdowns annoy me constantly though, and glitches happen from time to time. Not enough to actually impact your experience very much.

Sound is just as spectacular as graphics. the loud booms of the ships, the sound of krogan warlord vying to attack or the haunting sound of undead creepers. Music is very fitting, as suspenseful sci-fi plays at points necessary as the adrenaline rush plays with intense combat scenes, and so on. The real deal is the dialog. The greatest voice acting a game has ever received since Bioshock.

This
Game
Rocks.

Final score:
This game is truly outstanding. This is a Pinnacle of the RPG genre, and there is as of yet not a single game with such innovation and choices as this gold in a DVD. ...

First off, let me tell you that I normally will raise the score because of combos in replay value. I'd normally do this because my personal tastes believe that when you have endless combos, that really enhances replay value. But for those whom combos do not help at all, I will set aside my feelings on this matter for now...

I'm not gonna lie. When I bought this game, I was desperate. Bored until Mass Effect arrived, and didn't want an overly gorey game (cough manhunt), I got Tales of the World and expected very little. What I got was a game brimming with polish and RPG elements that were enough at to make me instantly love this game (And I'm not that big an RPG fan either, fancy that.) The game begins in the land of Terresia, a land where man is the life force for all things. That mana has attracted a monstrous planet eater, the devourer, to it. You are a Descender, the planets last ditch effort to save itself. Immediately found by the Descender of another unfortunate planet, your quest begins to rid existance of the Devourer.

The character creator appears very simple at first, offering little in the way of clothing. Don't be fooled. Your clothes look like rags because every of the over 100 armors you can buy latch onto the character model, instead of raise defense without being seem. Helmets, boots, gloves, charms, all things have a model....and often a purpose.

Gameplay is the best aspect of it all. Fusing startegy from games like Final Fantasy and the physical real time combat of PSO and a small bit of Kingdom Hearts, Tales of the World has a combat system all its own. Quite difficult to explain, but let me put it this way: 360 degree fighting with 3 teamates and endless combos while controlling strategy for each and every character with special attacks and 7+ class groups?

HE** YEAH!

With all its great parts comes the bad as well. Your teamates.... well, they are never just smart. Sometimes they are brilliant and do things just like a player would and other times....your glad with they get knocked cold, one less thing to block your view. However, as far as RPGs go, I have yet to find one par with Tales. (Kingdom hearts rivals it, but doesn't have much in the way of strategy...)

Graphics are great for what they are. Character models show up fine, weapons, armor, all the items are inspired, but there are slowdowns during some of the more crazy battles. Not as bad as Final Fantasy Tactics, but, they get annoying. The levels (and this is where some of PSO's influence comes in) are pretty bear (Yes bear. Grizzly bears. No I just forgot how to spell it right.) But it doesnt matter so much as you never fight on the level itself but an arena when you meet an enemy.

Sounds is nice, but forgettable.

Anyyyyywayyy, heres a fine summary:

Presentation: 4.5/5
Great story, easy menus, even online trading. Still, the artes can get confusing at times.

Sound: 3.5/5
Like I said, its fine for what it is, but you won't be humming it inside your head.

Graphics: 4/5
Great character models brought down by moderately bland backgrounds.

Gameplay: 4.5/5
Like I said, I'm putting my love of all things combo behind me for this. Yet this game still shines even if they weren't there.

Replay Value: 4.5/5
Yeah that right. Its high as the you were last year at the Christmas party. Yeah you remember it. I've logged 25 hours and have only done 27.6% of all quests, meager as they may be. Collecting items, armor, going on training excursions....good fun. Good fun.

Overall:

A must have for all RPG lovers out there. A thing you SHOULD have for everyone else.

THE MINIVIEW HAS SPOKEN! ...

A most anticipated game from the creator of undying, a freak the **** outta-you horror shooter, Clive Barker. People have been really hoping that this title is more then a POS outcast with high production values. What did they get?.....Silver. Half gold, half silver, all fun as the place that the monsters you battle are from. Cookie to the one who gets that joke.

The story begins as you, Capt. Devin Ross, wakes up to a call, apparently to get together with the rest of the Jericho squad for a mission tougher then any they've ever seen before. You arrive at the ancient city of Al-Khali, which has revealed itself, that being a very ominous sign. Through the game, you, Cpt. Ross, is killed in action by Arnold Lech...leach.... whatever his name is, the evil guy. Dying in the hands of your teammates, you somehow manage to transfer your life force into fellow teammate Frank Delgado. In the game you can transfer your "soul" between your six teamates, utilizing their unique talents and weapons. You soon find yourself trying to find a creation-gone-wrong called the Firstborn. You'll fight Crusaders, demons, cut in half ghosts of children, and pretty much anything else you can think of freaky as he**.

This game is seriously fun, whether be you an action fan or a horror fan. Although this game can hardly be called horror, it has some things simply freaky. Not horrifying, but freaky. The enemies are the creepiest things in Jericho by far. In fact, I've never seen another game with the creatures as twisted or horrific as this. if you don't think so, just wait till you fight the ghosts of the children crusaders. The horrific creatures also translate into the story, as every detail of it is splashed with horrific ideas of impalings, demonic nazis, floors covered in organs, flesh and blood. Pretty much any hellish texture, creature or idea you can think of, so did they.

However, don't think for a minute that this means its extremely scary or far too freaky for you action fans, and not so much horror (if your a horror fan, trust me, this game will do it great for you too.) Now the reason this isn't the scariest game on earth is because the atmosphere just isn't scary. Some parts are a little creepy, others disturbing, but just not horrifying. there are a couple reasons for this. When you constantly have 6 teammates with you, and they are always cracking jokes or calling a certain sniper a lesbian, its really hard to get scared. Another scare less aspect is the music. The music is sometimes pretty creepy, but when it comes to the massive battles in Jericho, light rock plays rather then haunting tunes.

You can switch between 6 different characters at the blink of an eye during the game. Each character has his or her own special weapons and abilities. Before you say anything, no there are no weapons to pick up or swap out. Trust me, there is absolutely no need whatsoever for extra weapons. Each characters has a wide variety of weapons and powers to take out the enemies. From wielding a katana to slowing down time, to throwing out blood circles to trap enemies, this game truly has inspired weaponry from every angle you can look at. The jokes that keep throwing out help to bring up the spirit while getting attacked by hordes and hordes of monsters. The levels are a fairly simple design, but if you didn't know what it was, you probably would see a very diverse environment of levels. Some are slightly more bland, and others are extremely detailed. The levels are fun, nonetheless. A personal favorite aspect is how the screen moves depending on the actions you take. This doesn't sound like much at all, but it really gives you a better feel for the characters, more life-like. Every cut-scene you'll find, you will always be playing it in 1st person, never seeing it from a 3rd person point of view.

Graphics are fairly splendid. They aren't Gears of War or Bioshock (Nothing really is) but they are very nice, especially on HD. the blood splattered walls, the nailed to walls bodies and the organs on the floor, they all looks great. The character models are really detailed, with blood dripping from they're eyes and even missing teeth, the character models range from fair to amazing.

Long story short, If you fit the bill of an action fan, horror fan, or FPS fan, missing this game would be a crime. It isn't terrifying, but it is a game that makes the adrenaline rush from time to time, and can even creep you out quite a bit if you've got the right mood set...

Final score: I can't understand a lower score then this, unless I only have 3 hours left. (Which will greatly lower the replay value, not yet added into the score.) I've played about 6 hours so far, and I'm loving every second of it. For those of you wondering about replay, I don't think it has multiplayer, but I've "unlocked" characters, during the game. I don't yet know ...

Fun...fun...erm, yeah.

I'll just start off out here telling that I'm sadly not the greatest of Yu-Gi-Oh fans when i got this game. So I guess to say I can only speak for the casual card gamer, even though its been about 2 years since I last laid eyes on a Yu-gi-oh card.

Now I had very very little expectations for this game when I got it. I have been surprised and must say that I initially underestimated this game. To the review, shall we?

You start out as a newcomer to the dual academy, an isle dedicated to teaching the arts of Dual Monsters (Pft, its Yu-Gi-Oh. Theres no difference, just name.) When you first arrive, its a pretty fun game. Exploring, meeting the characters of the hit show, yadda yadda. Now the highest point of the game (and I'm extremely confident about this) is the actually card battles. This is as close as your gonna get a to a real card battle in a game system. Everything looks as it should, and all the cards are easily read and seen. the AI isn't stupid when it comes to these battles. Which makes it challenging, but not annoyingly hard. Don't forget, this aspect of the game literally governs it, so I think its fair to say this is a fun, fun aspect.

And who wants to battle if you don't get a little something for your trouble? Depending on how you play, once you win, you'll be rewarded with a good number of DP (dual points, I guess) which you can spend buying booster packs. Yes, booster packs. There is a bit of fun here, but very, very much frustation too. Its about as easy to find super rare cards in the game as it is in real life, if memory serves. But fear not! There are still 3 good aspects to this:
1) Save whenever you want, so if you don't find the card your looking for, turn off the game, and go back and rebuy that same booster pack.
2) They cost very little DP. Very, very little. With one dual you can get up to 7 packs!
3)Its hard to get ultra rare cards, but its not like that till after you buy around 12 of that booster pack. Besides, theres an obscene amount of great cards that aren't even rare, so your cards won't lack any heat needed to take down the other guy.
Also, after you beat certain people, such as the main characters (I'm 4 hours in, I've beaten all the shows main characters with ease. Real ease.not that the games short [I'll get on that soon], but that you can challenge these guys anytime you want. You got to school with 'em after all.) you will be able to buy new types of booster packs. There 48 unlockable booster packs in all. I'm gonna say there is upwards 3000 different cards in the game, so don't worry about never finding something new.

Graphics. Which shall I do first, in battle or out? Mind as well out. They SUCK. There are no better words then that. Outside battle, everything is drag, plain, and boring. Some buildings don't even have textures, so they cover that up with a single bland color. Oh look at that purple building! Which purple building? Theres like 7! Oh well. They do what they are supposed to. Now, as for in CARD battles, they can't get better. This is mostly due to most of the pictures being sprites. However, they sometimes look like 3D models. They look exactly as they should, except they aren't jumping off the screen like in the show. They are simply cards, as they were meant to be. All the menus are easy to navigate, and it gives you the ability to use any card at the time it would be necessary. This doesn't sound like much, but given the scenerios, its helpful.

Im about 5 hours in, and only on the 4 out of 87 "virtual" days in the game till the Tag Force Tournament. I know there is a plot in the game that goes almost hand in hand with the show, but I'm still on the part about the teacher blabbing about dual monsters. Now if I wanted to, I could fly right through those days with a hit of the X button, so if you want to get right into the nitty, gritty, stuff, you can. I've so far fought about 32 duals for the DP and I've pretty much just been updating my deck, turning it into a beats before the game really even starts. Its safe to say that when it comes to replay value, theres little better. However, everything you do outside the duals is usually just flat out boring. If I've heard right, you need to find partners for the Tag Force, and they can be real pains in the a**es. I haven't got there yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to put it in this post.

Conclusion: Fun game. NOT a fun game if the only game you like is God of War, which is insanely awesome, but practically the opposite of this kinda of strategy tactics game. If you are a fan, this is an absolute must. If your a *meh* fan, still oughta check this out. I'd say...

3/5

I took a full point off for what I hear will be a pint, the Tag force dualing. If I were to determine it off what I've seen....

3/5, for its great replay value and ...

In the words of the immortal......screw it. Halo 3 f**ing rocks. End of story.

Or it would be, if I didn't want to explain why. Halo 3 as you know is probably the most highly esteemed and hyped game in the history of games, weighing in at a massive 1.5 MILLION preorders. Following the obviously badas* Master Cheif, the last of his kind of warrior-race, he and the rest of humanity continue their desperate attempt to finish the fight against the alien invaders, the Covenant.

Now as far as graphics go, they are pretty stunning. Great textures, framerate almost never misses a beat, and I have yet to see a graphical glitch. That said, they aren't as good as maybe Gears of War and Bioshock, but they hold a huge candle to pretty much any other game. Huge improvement over Halo 2, as character models are much, much, MUCH more detailed as well as the environment.

Sound...its Halo. You get what you expect, and what you expect, is pure awesome-ness. So you get it.

Gameplay, the greatest part (obviously) of the game. Plays almost exactly the same as Halo and Halo 2, but with revamped controls which I personally am not too fond of. Halo 3 brings the same excitement and thrilling addiction that the first 2 did, and as usual you just can't put your finger on just what makes it so fun and awesome. Well, it is. I could try to explain for 3 weeks and you'd still have to actually play the game to know what I'm talking about. And multiplayer....the only multiplayer yet holding a candle to this is Gears of War. No question. Still, expect people who can head shot with they're eyes closed. You get that from the Halo series which spawns tons and tons of people who live, breath, and eat Halo. Maybe even crap Halo, you never know. Guns are great as usual. Even though some are still lackluster such as the assault rifle, nothing quite beats the enjoyment of just smashing a brute in the face with the gravity hammer. AI is better then ever, such as the AI's new cover system. ya know, they cover and shoot around walls from time to time? Yeah. Your teamates are still dumb as he** and drive like they're drunk, but they're witty banter and helpfulness in combat more then makes up for it.

Well, conclusion time. Short, eh? Well, thats why its called a Miniview.



Like I said, its extremely hard to say just what makes Halo 3 so gosh-darn fun to play. Graphics are great, sound is great, replay value is off the charts, and gameplay is stunning. Whoot! :thumbup:

if you have a 360, don't waste time. Make your 360 happy too by buying Halo 3, and for cryin' out loud, Finish the Fight. ...