In the latest installment of the Halo franchise, Bungie puts us back into the shoes of super-solider Spartan 117 aka Master Chief.  Since the Halo franchise began it has spawned several books, an online phenomena by the name of Red vs. Blue, and of course a record selling sequel we all know as Halo 2. Well the dust has finally settled on part two of this massive trilogy and it's time for the finale we've all been waiting for since 2001.

            Halo 3's story mode starts off right where Halo 2 left off. Master Cheif has chosen to "finish the fight" and has crash landed on a little place we call Earth. After being discovered by some old friends, he's right back to his old tricks. Halo 3's story mode is fairly straight-forward with little surprises. It is, however, a blast to play either alone or with three buddies. That's right - Halo 3 has four player co-op. One of the few complaints with Halo 2 was the lack of online co-op, but that has also been rectified. Bungie has gone leaps and bounds to make Halo 3's story experience the best one yet and they have succeeded.

            Story mode is just half of the experience though. Multiplayer is where you're going to be spending your days, weeks, and months after beating single-player. Arguably just as addictive as Halo 2's, Halo 3's multiplayer mode (specifically it's online form) will dominate your life. You probably wont eat, drink, make twosies, or shower too often... but who cares?! You're playing Halo 3 my friend! With a handful of excellent maps and more to come via downloadable content, multiplayer is and always has been the bread and butter of the Halo series. Halo 3 also introduces numerous new weapons, like the Spartan Laser and the Gravity Hammer, so anyone who grew bored of Halo 2 will get a breath of fresh air

            But wait, there's more! Halo 3 also introduces new Forge and Theater modes. Forge mode allows players to act as a sort of dungeon master, with the ability to drop weapons and vehicles at hand. Theater allows you to rewatch previous matches from any angle and any player's perspective. Ever wanted to see how that sticky looked from the dead guy's perspective - Now you can. I guarantee you will get so entranced with Theater mode that you may forget to actually play the game.

            That's it for all the new stuff. How does the game look? The graphics may literally make your jaw hit the ground, especially in 1080p. Environments are lush and full of life and color. Detail was obviously a big part of the development cycle. Master Chief has never looked better nor have any of his friend or foes. Along with amazing visuals, the audio is stunning as well. Whether it's the opening score or just the ambiance of forest life, this game will make you want to crank the volume all the way up and possibly invest in surround sound.

            Overall, Halo 3 is the definitiive game for the Xbox 360. No game will manage to top what this one offers until Halo 4. Let's just hope the wait isn't so long this time.

10/10

~David Lowe-Bianco