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I’m afraid I can’t exactly say what bored me about this game. Perhaps it was the level design that felt uninspired and generic. Perhaps it was the plot clichés and constant reminders that the “Main Character is so powerful.” Perhaps it’s because I just finished playing Dusk (and started a new run of Dark Souls). Whatever it was, it’s sad to think that after waiting 13-ish years to finish the fight that I may not be interested in doing so now that I have the chance.
Halo 2 was a bit of mixed bag. I feel that it lacked the purity of sci-fi FPS combat that Halo CE did and that the campaign lacked that certain je ne sais quois that made CE one of my favorite games. Nevertheless, it was still a fun enough game to play occasionally. Halo 3, unfortunately, fell further to FPS tropes and the gradual sanding down of what made the franchise unique. Yes, there are a variety of guns and grenades, but they also feel more disposable because of it: enemies drop such a variety of weapons that it’s hard to keep enough ammo for a single one (other than plasma pistols) throughout a level.
Level design also seems to have suffered. In an attempt to make levels more open, the game often loses a sense of direction. In an early level, you are directed to several locations with little description of where those locations are. Because you traverse the area several times, there are sometimes multiple obvious exists – only one of which is correct. Marines occasionally dropped audio cues, but several times I found myself waiting for a HUD marker to appear.
The levels are also more cluttered than in previous games. Enemies stand out less and places of interest are lost among the scenery. Even stranger, I found several locations that were fully fleshed out yet entirely empty, save for a weapon or two. Perhaps these were meant as secrets and the game simply doesn’t have a proper system to reward the player – otherwise, I couldn’t guess why they existed.
My last point of contention is the plot. In the first game, marines would often cheer your arrival or comment something like “Look – it’s a Mark V!” This was mostly relegated to the background, but in Halo 3 there are very few moments that pass where you aren’t reminded how awesome you are. In some ways, the Master Chief of Halo 1 was treated almost like equipment – respected, but also seen as a tool to accomplish things. The Master Chief of Halo 3 is far more like a superhero – people stand in awe of your presence and the villains swear that they’ll “get you this time”. Though this effect is common even in good games, it’s still a bad trope.
I’m reminded of Star Wars – if I only like half of them (and less if we exclude fan edits), is it really any good? There are good ideas, the setting is fascinating, and there are many great moments (and both have amazing soundtracks), but there are also so many flaws with so much of the material. Whatever the answer, Halo 3 on its own goes to Tier Three.