It’s rare that a videogames journalist sits down to write a review that is almost wholly redundant. After all, later this week Microsoft will inevitably announce that the game has ably leapfrogged Hollywood’s highest grossing films by some margin to claim the honour of becoming the most financially lucrative entertainment release ever. Despite the fact its release will go unnoticed by a surprisingly large section of the non-videogame playing public, Halo 3 will be, financially speaking, a guaranteed victory for Microsoft. Over the next 400 words or so we could tell you it’s a relentless disappointment, but doing so wouldn’t scratch the surface of the game’s unavoidable worldwide success.

Of course, the game-buying public’s unwavering confidence in Bungie’s closing chapter to the Halo 3 trilogy is well founded. The first game dazzled FPS fans, selling plucky newcomer Xbox to deeply skeptical consumers. The second title, while presenting a less satisfying single-player campaign introduced a dizzying array of multiplayer options so popular that, even today, years after its release, Halo 2 is currently the most played online game for the Xbox 360. So Halo 3 arrives with expectations ballooned to improbable proportions and, while the game frequently manages to match and even surpass these hopes in places, it falls short of the high bar gamers have set in others.

The story-led campaign mode, split into nine chapters, is bombastic, boisterous and bold: everything you’d expect from the next generation Halo. Visually arresting, the game continues to build from the same ‘30-seconds of brilliant gameplay repeated ad infinitum’ maxim made famous by its designers. You run and gun and grenade your way through the invading alien Covenant forces, supported by a cast of US marines who bicker and holler along with you.

Master Chief handles in exactly the same way as he always has, weighty and precise, albeit now with some added tools to his arsenal. These new weapons and defensive pick-ups (shields, mines, and eye-watering flares) expand the character’s tool set delicately without upsetting the balance of the game and the result is as close to FPS control perfection as one might hope for.

Enemies act believably and intelligently and, playing on anything above normal difficulty you’ll be astounded by their apparent tactics and intelligence. You’re now able to tear gun turrets from the placements, wielding them from a third person perspective as fearsome cannons and the sense of participating in huge battle nestled within an even larger narrative tableau is more tangible than ever.

However, the level designs, some of which see you traipsing backwards and forwards through surprisingly small environments feel a little lacklustre. Despite the new, beautiful visuals they lack the design brilliance of, for example, The Silent Cartographer in the first Halo, despite their admittedly enlarged scope and technical achievement. Indeed, the campaign, for all its bells, whistles and gorgeous set-pieces fails to match the elegance and memorable moments of its grandfather.

But the sugar-coating surrounding the campaign is delectable. The game records everything in a theatre mode that allows you to pause, fast forward and view the action from an infinite number of camera angles. The ability to upload screen captures and videos to the Bungie.net website to post on forums and blogs is ingenious and almost offsets the disappointment at not being able to rewind the footage on the fly. Likewise, with bonus skulls to find, an arcade score attack mode to tackle and the opportunity to play through the campaign with up to three friends the campaign’s feature set is elevated high above the game’s few rivals.

Similarly, the multiplayer mode is astonishing in scope and ambition. There are near limitless ways to enjoy the game thanks to supremely customizable play options, including the new forge level editor that allows you to edit maps while playing them. The integration to Bungie’s website (which tracks every kill, medal and achievement you attain) is compelling and, combined with the one-more-go addictive nature of Halo’s multiplayer modes ensures that this will be an area of the game that will keep on delivering for years to come.

While it’s difficult to pass judgment on the multiplayer maps after such a short period of play time, it’s hard to shake the feeling that some of them aren’t as enticing or well-executed ad those of Halo 2. That might just be because of a lack of familiarity or perhaps it is a demonstration of the supreme quality of those memorable levels that have gone before. Either way, we fully expect some of the classic Halo 2 multiplayer maps to wing their way onto the download service in time.

Halo 3 is a joyous videogame that manages to support the burden of expectation and avoid being broken by it. Of course, as anything this large and successful should expect, there will be an inevitable backlash from some quarters. But the game’s few shortcomings are overshadowed by its towering achievements. Halo 3 raises the bar for videogames not through revolution but by considered evolution that introduces new features and tools without upsetting the precise balance that marks Halo as one of the most popular series ever.

5 out of 5