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thedrifter
09-25-07, 05:59 AM
Long-awaited Halo 3 is a surefire hit <br />
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BY ROBERT ASHLEY <br />
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS <br />
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Tuesday, September 25th 2007, 4:00 AM <br />
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It has become almost a sacred ritual: Grown adults reduced to childish,...

thedrifter
09-25-07, 06:00 AM
Halo 3 storytelling takes video games to next level, and then some

Peter Hartlaub

Tuesday, September 25, 2007


Halo 3: Combat game (Microsoft for Xbox 360. $59.99. ESRB Rating: Mature.)

It's no surprise that video games have replaced movies as the No. 1 entertainment choice for the younger generation. Halo 3 is like the best science-fiction action film, except you're the star, you get to play with your friends and this time you can also be the director - creating your own battle zones and sharing them with others over Xbox Live.

The last part of the Halo trilogy delivers everything you'd want from the most eagerly awaited video game of the year, with greatly improved visuals on the Xbox 360 and some explosive new weaponry that even the National Rifle Association would admit warrants a 30-day waiting period.

But strong storytelling makes this game a classic and points to a potentially brighter future for video games. Narrative structure has been a huge weakness in the industry, but it's one of the strongest elements in the Halo saga. Even if you take away all the first-person carnage, "Aliens"-style chaotic firefights and the turret-mounted machine gun that could level a shopping mall, Halo 3 would still make a decent sci-fi paperback.

This is important, because if there's one thing holding back video games from acknowledgment by the general public as art, it's the horrible dialogue, repetitive plots and over-reliance on licensed material such as movie and cartoon characters. For every creative concept such as Okami or the Oddworld series, there are five lackluster Harry Potter sequels, 10 underwhelming Grand Theft Auto knockoffs and another mediocre James Bond game. Franchises that started during the Reagan administration, such as Frogger and Pac-Man, continue to spawn sequels. Imagine if more than two decades later, Dexys Midnight Runners continued to put out an album every year.

But as game developers adjust to the opportunities that come with more powerful and dynamic consoles such as the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, the writing is starting to catch up with the cosmetic elements in games such as graphics and sound.

Halo 3 begins with the space Marine protagonist Master Chief rocketing toward Earth, which has been devastated by an alien invasion. A confederation of space bugs called the Covenant is in a civil war, with the largest faction determined to destroy mankind (and every other species in the universe) while a smaller group sides with the humans. Meanwhile, a Borg-like parasite called the Flood threatens to assimilate participants in both sides of the conflict.

There's a lot more to this space opera, and it's all very geeky. But despite maybe three too many twists and turns, the science-fiction element of the series is just a hair behind the best "Farscape"/"Battlestar Galactica"/"Firefly" story arcs. Halo 3 in the first half of the game wraps up many of the frustrating loose ties from Halo 2, while amping up the emotional and patriotic toll. After spending the first two Halos fighting mostly on alien worlds and space stations, Halo 3 has Master Chief, a pro-mankind alien called the Arbiter (a leftover from Halo 2) and a few others fighting to defend the future of our home planet.

The game play in Halo 3 is tweaked, not overhauled, to the point where there's zero learning curve if you've played Halo and Halo 2. Still, the changes are immediately noticeable, with controls that are tighter, far more depth of field and much sharper graphics. The experience of moving from Halo 2 to Halo 3 is not unlike putting on a new pair of glasses after going way too long without updating your prescription.

The physics of the game is also much improved. Water looks particularly realistic in Halo 3, and the shadows, reflections and use of light are often amazing. If there's a small disappointment, it's in the artificial intelligence. Halo 3 is challenging in single-player mode, where all of the bad guys and some of the good are computer-controlled. But the AI hasn't experienced a quantum leap from Halo 2 to Halo 3, and your fellow Marines in particular are still prone to bonehead moves.

There are several new toys, which are mostly relevant for the millions of gamers who play Halo online in last-man-standing death matches and other multiplayer competitions. My personal favorite additions are the so-big-it-slows-you-down flamethrower, the girder-like gravity hammer and a portable bubble shield, which instantly generates an igloo-like force field where your character can get temporary refuge from ranged attacks.

Halo developer Bungie Studios could have stopped there and Halo 3 would be declared a huge success, but they've added a feature called Forge, where gamers can edit pre-existing maps to create their own combat arenas. Other video games have offered this kind of feature, but the concept seems particularly well realized here, giving the hard-core Halo gamers a chance to make their own mark with the game.

The main game in Halo is excellent, but some of the best battles will be fought long after the fate of the galaxy is revealed.

New game releases

For the week of Sept. 23-30 (partial list):

-- Halo 3 for Xbox 360

-- Hour of Victory for PC

-- Jackass the Game for PS2

-- NBA 08 for PS2, PS3 and PSP

-- Skate for PS3

E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub@sfchronicle.com.

Ellie