Finishing the Fight... a little late (Newspaper posts: part one)

For the next few posts, I'll be putting up some reviews I've done for my local newspaper. There is no particular order, but I thought I'd just start off the the "end" of a series. Enjoi

Time to Finish the Fight

It’s been a long time since we last saw John-117. Many of his kind have come and gone, yet Master Chief and the Halo trilogy have stayed at the top of, not only the first-person shooter genre, but the action genre as a whole. While other action titles may focus on their strategic elements (Gears of War) and their thought-provoking stories (Half-Life 2), the Halo trilogy has always had one very strong thing in its arsenal: it’s just plain fun. This (supposedly) final installment in the Halo trilogy really is a testament to how much work has gone into making Halo 3 on the Xbox360 a true masterpiece that pretty much anyone can pick up and play.

It starts with the story. For those of you who have never finished the Halo 2 campaign, shame on you. The basic rundown is that the Covenant alien invasion has moved onto trying to conquer Earth in an attempt to find an ancient artifact known only as The Ark. The only thing in their way is you—well, really the elite Marine Spartan-class soldier Master Chief, but you’re the one controlling him, so good job on your part. Your job is to travel through South Africa and stop the Covenant Prophet of Truth from burning the entire planet in his quest to find the Ark, and you must do this at all costs.

Now, the Halo trilogy isn’t exactly held in the highest of praises when it comes to intricate storylines, but that’s because most of the story lies beneath all the pretty explosions and destructive weapons. For a deeper understanding of why the events in the game are taking place, you’d need to look to the novels and the comic book, but what you do get from the games are fun stories and moments that are both interesting and really pivotal to the overall saga that is Halo. Surprisingly enough, the campaign [story] mode of Halo 3 is really satisfying to play through, either by yourself or with a few—up to three on campaign—friends. What I’m trying to say is that the story and certain moments are epic, and somewhat re-inventive (sort of a religious spin on the aliens invade Earth cliché), but most of it is overshadowed by the frantic action that goes on if you aren’t paying close enough attention.

A lot of what makes all of the non-stop, frenzied, over-the-top, explosion-heavy, action so satisfying is the extremely comfortable control system. If anybody reading this has ever played an FPS [First-Person Shooter], or even a normal action game, you should be able to pick up the Xbox360 controller and jump right into the action. If you have never played an action game this intense before, it should take a little bit of practice and a quick look-over of the control scheme to be able to play as if you had been doing so for years…give or take a few. For those returning to the series, there have only been a handful of changes to the controller’s layout. The right and left bumpers at the top are now used to switch grenades and dual-wield weapons, while the X button is used to deploy equipment (Auto-Turrets, Deployable cover, the now-famous Bubble Shield, etc.). This control layout works like a dream and the only thing I can think of that can top it is the classic keyboard-mouse combination of the PC shooters.

While everything else is very important, the heart of the game—and the reason most people will buy it—is the multiplayer. Whether you’re playing online with people halfway around the world or in your living room with people halfway across the couch, Halo 3 multiplayer is the most fun you’ll be having with a videogame for the rest of the year, at the least. In addition to the familiar modes (Slayer, King of the Hill, Oddball, etc.), developer Bungie Studios has added a new game type called Forge. Forge is something completely different from what you’d expect from Halo 3 and more from PC games. This new mode is essentially a map editor in which you can move around, change, and add different objects, vehicles, and weapons while simultaneously playing a live match. It’s pretty unique for a console shooter, and can lead to some really fun matches. What’s even better is that you can share said fun matches with the world through Bungie’s new online File Share option, in which you can upload (or download) screenshots, movies, maps, and even game types that you or anybody else playing this game has created from the comfort of your TV screen. It’s almost like a highlight reel that you have saved on your Xbox.

When you aren’t blasting your way through enemy opposition, you’re almost definitely taking in the beautiful, colorful vistas that you don’t normally see in mature-rated games such as this. There are moments that are purely epic and larger-than-life that will make your jaw drop. Yes, the game is M-rated, but it doesn’t go anywhere past a little bloodshed and flying bullets. What I’m about to say, you should have figured out from the rest of this review: Halo 3 is pure, adrenaline-rush fun. Bungie truly has gotten the “science of fun” down (30 seconds of heart-racing fun at a time), and that spreads throughout every single moment of this stellar game. From the campaign to the addictive multiplayer, this is a fitting end to the fantastic Halo trilogy, and it deserves every bit of a 5 out of 5. Halo 3 is pretty much perfect, converting even a non-believer such as myself into a contributing member of the addicted masses. Now get out there and “finish the fight.” Oh, and one more thing: you may want to stick around after the credits roll.

What Constitutes a Good Review? or: how to rate a rating and not look like a dick

There's something that I have been wondering about for a while. What exactly makes a review--specifically, videogame reviews in this case--actually good? More than that, how can you tell that a review is good, and then attempt to go on about critiquing someone else's review in a constructive way?

Right now, however, I don't really feel like being very constructive. There are some things that need to be said about people who decide to put their reviews up on YouTube or whatever other sites they decide to infest. I'll be honest that I'm not exactly a professional, but I've had my own reviews going on for quite some time. Because of that, I'm going to take a cue from every other idiot and start to review reviews. Right now, I won't name any names because that's just not what I do. If those people read this, then they know who they are and they should get the point.
If anybody who has seen these videos reads this, please speak up and say something about it.
Let me start with the YouTube videos. This may not even be all about people who put reviews up, but for the love of all living beings on this planet, you do not have to constantly say the F-word over and over and over and over and over. It gets old, and the crappy microphone you're using can't quite take much more of you screaming in your high-pitched voice anymore. Trust me, it hurts all of us.

For everybody who actually gets paid to write reviews, you have a much higher responsibility to your readers/listeners than anybody else. The amateur reviewers (those who get paid, but don't write for big-name companies) should really take this more as advice than anything else.

As was said before, all profanity that isn't funny -- yes, there are times in which the F-word isn't very funny -- and using even very little of it could get you pretty much fired. You don't want to alienate your audience by being condescending, either. Nobody likes a prick and insulting a game automatically stamps prick on your forehead. Yes, you can poke fun at the game, but somebody worked on that end product for a long time and it's not fair to just knock that person down just for the sake of some lame joke. I'm not criticizing against all reviewers who try to make a joke and fail, I'm just talking to those who continuously make horrible jokes and are idiotic enough to think they are funny. I'm not trying to say be boring, just know what you're talking about and try to actually get a smart opinion across without resorting to the worst of the worst.

Sex jokes = Not funny. Just needed to clarify that, so stop talking about how hot Lara Croft is and grow up just a little bit, no matter how many polygons she has.

I feel like I'm going to get a lot of flak for what you might think is attacking people who are just trying to get the word out, but I'm not. The people who want to get the word out are the ones I'm trying to support. I like those guys and girls. I'm not attacking anybody, but some people are just too annoying for me to take it anymore and so many people suck up to them for absolutely no reason whatsoever. If you ever find yourself starting a review with "so" for the fifth time in a row, try to get a little bit more creative, please.

I'm definitely not looking down upon everyone from my high horse nor am I some kind of videogame god. I have no high horse, and I'm just like all of you, I just need to speak up for those who don't. You're annoying; face it and try to fix it. No offense, I'm just a bit blunt.
:P