Halo 3

Halo 3 is a first person shooter (FPS) video game based on the science fiction events and setting of the Halo Universe. It was developed by Bungie Studios and has been released as an exclusive for the Xbox 360 console.

Halo 3, is the sequel and concluding part to Halo 2 which wraps up the current story arc that the previous two games have shown. It involves SPARTAN John-117, the Master Chief, returning to Earth to stop the Prophet of Truth from activating The Ark which would result in the total extermination of all sentient life in the galaxy. He then also has to contend with finding a solution to the subsequent problem of the arrival of Gravemind's infestation of High Charity and imprisonment of Cortana. Although the final game does not continue on from the end of Halo 2's cliffhanger, Halo: Uprising a mini comic book series released by Marvel will fill in the missing segments between Halo 2 and Halo 3.

It was released on September 25 in North America and Australia. The 26th in Europe and the 27th in Japan. It has been rated M for Mature (blood, gore, violence, and language) by the ESRB, but only M 15+ (Recommended for 15 years or older, but not restricted) by the OFLC.

Versions
The release date for the final game was September 25, 2007. Since its September release date it is currently one of the most successful video games ever released. Halo 3 made $170,000,000 on opening day and over $300,000,000 in the first week of its release.

An internal build, the Halo 3 alpha build, was released in April 2007 for Microsoft employees. A public beta test, the Halo 3 Beta, was rolled out in Spring 2007 and was scheduled for online play at midnight (US West Coast Pacific-Time) on May 16th, 2007 - June 10, 2007, although there were certain technical difficulties in its distribution. After that, Bungie collected all the feedback from the beta and sought to improve their multiplayer through it, with the final game coming out four months after the end of the beta. On August 10, 2007 another Halo 3 build, Halo 3 Epsilon, was released to Microsoft employees, featuring Forge and multiplayer aspects. Halo 3 went gold on August 29, 2007.

There are three versions of Halo 3: the Halo 3: Standard Edition, a Limited Collector's Edition, and the very limited Legendary Edition.

* Additional content on DVD

To see a list of all the content on the interactive Xbox 360 disc and DVD, please see Halo 3 Essentials.

Reviews
Reviews were recently released from a number of high profile gaming websites:


 * Gamepro - 5/5
 * Gamespot - 9.5/10
 * IGN - 9.5/10
 * TeamXbox - 9.3/10
 * 1up - B+/A+
 * Gametrailers - 9.8/10
 * ComputerVideogames - 9.6/10
 * OXM UK - 9/10
 * OXM US - 10/10
 * OXM Australia - 10/10
 * Famitsu - 37/40
 * X-Play - 5/5
 * Reviews on the Run -10/10
 * Average: 98%, 9.8/10

Controls
Because of differences between the Xbox original and Xbox 360 controller, and the addition of the new "equipment", there are a few differences on controls.
 * Right bumper: Click-Reload, Hold-Pick up weapon, exchange equipment, get in/out of vehicle, activate. Also used to open doors in the Campaign Mode and multiplayer.
 * Left bumper: Click-switch grenades, reload (if dual-wielding) Hold-dual wield (when available).
 * Right trigger: Fire weapon.
 * Left trigger: Throw grenade, Fire secondary weapon (if dual-wielding).
 * Left thumbstick: Move (Forward, Back, Strafe Left, Strafe Right).
 * Left thumbstick (click): Crouch.
 * Right thumbstick: Look/Aim (Up, Down, Left, Right).
 * Right thumbstick (click): Activate scope/zoom.
 * D-pad: Scroll through menu, up-team talk channel (Multiplayer), up-toggle Editor/Player mode (Forge), toggle flashlight (Campaign).
 * A button: Jump/Select.
 * B button: Melee/Back, pick support weapon up if in stationary mode.
 * X button: Deploy/Activate equipment.
 * Y button: Switch weapons.
 * Hold Right Bumper, Left Bumper, Click-in Left Analog Stick, A, Down on D-Pad for 3 seconds: Lowers weapon.(Only works in split-screen or system link).
 * Hold Right Bumper, Left Bumper, Click-in Left Analog Stick, A, Up on D-Pad for 3 seconds: Makes current camera angle/position coordinates visible.(Only works in split-screen or system link)

Many other layouts have returned, such as the Southpaw, Legacy and Legacy Southpaw. There are also new layouts such as Bumper Jumper and Walkie Talkie.

Plot
The game begins some time after the events of Halo 2. John-117 (Master Chief) jumps out of a crashing object in an east African jungle. Sergeant Major Johnson, the Arbiter, and a handful of Marines retrieve the Master Chief. The group then begins to venture to a designated extraction point until Johnson decides to split up to reduce their chances of getting spotted by Covenant forces in the area. Master Chief and the Arbiter continue on their way to the extraction zone until Johnson's Pelican is shot down by Banshees. Johnson and his men are then captured by Brutes. The Master Chief, Arbiter, and company fight their way through hordes of enemies and eventually rescue Johnson and his men. A Pelican arrives to pick them up.

The Pelican brings them to the Crow's Nest, a 20th century facility used as a local base of operations by the UNSC. Here, Commander Miranda Keyes and Lord Hood plan a last-ditch effort to stop the Covenant leader, the High Prophet of Truth, from activating a Forerunner artifact uncovered outside the ruins of the city of New Mombasa. This is quickly interrupted when the Covenant discovers and mounts an attack on the facility. After a brief struggle, in which the outpost is lost, Master Chief receives orders from Commander Keyes to clear a way into the African City of Voi, and destroy all Covenant anti-air defenses so that Hood can lead the last of Earth's ships against Truth and the artifact. Using the opening caused by the ground attack, Hood mounts an all-out attack on Truth, but the Prophet activates the artifact and creates an enormous slipspace portal, into which all the Covenant ships retreat. At the same time, a Covenant ship controlled by the Flood suddenly arrives by slipspace and crash lands nearby, and the parasite quickly spreads throughout the city of Voi.

As the human forces attempt to fight the infestation, the allied Elites arrive at the scene via the carrier ship Shadow of Intent, and inform Keyes that a human construct is aboard the crashed Flood ship, and identify it as Cortana. The Master Chief and the Arbiter and the Elites fight off the Flood and retrieve Cortana from the Flood ship. 343 Guilty Spark arrives by an Elite vessel, and insists that he take Cortana somewhere where he can make repairs, claiming that now his Installation has been destroyed he has no more preset functions, and wants to help the Master Chief destroy the Flood. Once the Arbiter and Master Chief are evacuated, the Elites glass the half of Africa to prevent the parasite from spreading, which amplifies the hard feelings between Lord Hood and Rtas 'Vadum, Shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent and Fleet Master of the Elites.

Guilty Spark manages to make efficient repairs to Cortana, but the Master Chief realizes it isn't her, but only a recorded message from her. The message states that through the portal that Truth retreated into is unknown to the Gravemind, and on the other side is a solution to the Flood infestation, without having to fire the rings. Lord Hood questions Cortana's plan, saying it could be a Flood trap, but the Master Chief firmly tells Lord Hood he completely trusts her.

Once the Elites and Commander Keyes decide to follow Truth, the remaining Elite and UNSC ships (approximately 12 ships total) leave Earth via the slipspace portal and find themselves near an immense artificial structure, which is soon revealed to be The Ark. Arriving at the Ark, they engage a Covenant fleet three times their size. After landing on the structure, Guilty Spark helps lead the human forces to the Cartographer, or map room, of the Ark. After fighting their way in, The Master Chief and the Arbiter find out that the Ark is in fact positioned at the edge of the Milky Way, just beyond the Halo rings' effective firing range. The Monitor explains that the humans and the Elites must deactivate three shield generators, which are inside three separate towers, to access the Control Room of the Ark, where Truth is located and plans to activate the rings.

Upon arrival at the three generators, the Master Chief takes a squad to the first tower, The Arbiter takes his Elites to the second, and Sergeant Johnson takes another squad to the third. While Master Chief and The Arbiter succeed, Johnson tells Keyes that the enemy forces are too heavy and he must retreat. Keyes tells the Arbiter and Master Chief to go and help him. On arrival to the third tower, Johnson and his men are nowhere to be seen. The Master Chief, Arbiter, and the Elites kill the Brutes defending the tower and deactivate it. Just after the shield protecting the Control Room drops, the Flood-infested High Charity arrives by slip-space and crashes onto the Ark, releasing Flood Dispersal Pods as it falls. 343 Guilty Spark insists that he assesses the damage that High Charity did to the Ark, so the Arbiter and Elites leave the humans to avoid Guilty Spark being captured by the Flood. The Master Chief leads the remaining human forces in an attack on the citadel containing the Control Room, which is defended by countless Covenant forces. After all the forces are defeated, Guilty Spark and the Arbiter return, and they and the Master Chief enter the citadel. Once inside, they see that Truth has captured Johnson, knowing that only humans can activate Forerunner Installations, but are too far away to save him. Keyes commandeers a Pelican and crashes it in the Control Room, keeping the Brutes at bay with a Shotgun while tending to Johnson, but knowing she can't kill all of the Brutes there, she realizes she must kill Johnson and herself to stop the rings from being activated. She is about to shoot Johnson before Truth grabs a Spiker and shoots her several times in the back with it, killing her. Truth then forces Johnson's hand down on the Ark's terminal, activating all of the Halos in the galaxy.

The Master Chief and Arbiter take an elevator up to the Control Room, despite knowing it is too late. As they reach the top, two Flood Tank Forms confront them, but say that the only way to stop the Halos is by joining forces. With the Flood's help, the Master Chief and Arbiter kill all the Covenant forces defending Truth. Upon arrival to the Ark's terminal, they find Johnson mourning over Keyes' dead body, and Truth partially infected. After the Arbiter executes The Prophet of Truth and the Chief deactivates all the Halos, the Gravemind betrays them. Johnson attempts to escape with Keyes' Pelican, but the Gravemind prevents the Arbiter and Chief from escaping with him.

Johnson radios Chief, telling him to find another way out, so he and the Arbiter shoot their way back to the entrance elevator, but it is deactivated. Behind the elevator is a hole, leading to a lower level of the citadel. Cortana briefly shows herself to the Chief, and leads him to a control panel which reveals her plan - The Ark releases a 'replacement' Halo in the event of one being destroyed. The Chief decides he's going to light the single ring in order to destroy the Flood for good. However, Guilty Spark tells them it will take quite some time to fabricate an Index needed to fire the Halo, but the Master Chief remembers that Cortana still has the Index that she acquired in Halo: Combat Evolved. He infiltrates the crashed High Charity, which is completely overrun by Flood. Cortana becomes rampant before the Chief can reach her, but Cortana is able to contain the functional part of herself in a stasis-field, where she waits. Master Chief breaks the stasis-field and retrieves a perfectly functioning Cortana. She tells him to overload High Charity's engines in order to destroy the Gravemind. The Arbiter arrives via Banshee and helps the Chief fight the Flood. They find a Pelican, which had presumably crashed while humans were inside High Charity during Halo 2. Damaged but still flyable, the Master Chief uploads Cortana into the Pelican and flee High Charity before it explodes.

Cortana makes contact with Johnson, who safely made it back the Shadow of Intent along with the other human and Elite survivors. He tells her that he will land the frigate Forward Unto Dawn near Halo's Control Room, and will be ready to pick them up and head back to Earth after they activate the Installation. When they arrive on the newly built Halo, they quickly discover that Gravemind is attempting to reconstruct itself on the new ring. The Chief, Arbiter, and Johnson quickly make their way to the Control Room, where they attempt to fire Halo. However, Guilty Spark realizes that this will destroy his new ring because it is not fully ready yet, as well as the Ark, and shoots his defensive laser at Johnson as he tries to activate the ring. Master Chief destroys Guilty Spark, but Johnson is critically wounded. He tells Chief to send him out "with a bang" and dies. Cortana activates Halo, and Chief takes Johnson's Warthog with the Arbiter and race towards the Frigate. With no time to reach the cockpit, the Master Chief uploads Cortana into the frigate to start taking off before the Arbiter is able to take the controls. The front half of the Dawn, containing the Arbiter, makes it through the portal. However, Halo shakes itself to pieces during it's firing sequence and damages the Ark, deactivating the portal before the half of the Dawn containing Chief and Cortana make it through.

Back on Earth, Lord Hood holds a memorial service in respect for those who died in the Human-Covenant War, with the Arbiter and many Marines in attendance. Lord Hood thanks the Arbiter for standing by the Master Chief until the end. It is apparent that Chief is dead. After the service, Shipmaster tells the Arbiter that he wants to make sure the Elite home world is safe. The Arbiter tells him that with the eradication of the Covenant, they have made it so. He tells the piloting Elites to take them home, and the credits roll.

After the credits, it is revealed that the Master Chief and Cortana are still alive on-board the rear section of Forward Unto Dawn, which had apparently torn off during the slipspace jump; the pair are drifting through space. Cortana tells the Chief she will drop a distress beacon, but that it could be years before they are found. The Chief floats to a cryotube, and as he is climbing in Cortana comments "I'll miss you." He replies "Wake me when you need me."

If the game is completed on the Legendary difficulty, the section of Forward Unto Dawn that Cortana and the Chief are aboard is seen drifting towards an unknown planet.

Halo 3 Levels
Levels in Halo 3 are as follows:


 * 1) Arrival - Brace for impact. (No actual gameplay).
 * 2) Sierra 117 - Rise up. Start the fight.
 * 3) Crow's Nest - Clear the base, whatever it takes.
 * 4) Tsavo Highway - Mount up. Get to Voi.
 * 5) The Storm - Reclaim the city. Make a hole.
 * 6) Floodgate - Stop the infestation. Find Cortana.
 * 7) The Ark - Search the waste for the Cartographer.
 * 8) The Covenant - Breach the barrier. Stop Truth.
 * 9) Cortana - Cleanse High Charity. Save Cortana.
 * 10) Halo - Light the ring. Destroy the Flood. "Finish The Fight."

Major Characters
UNSC
 * Master Chief Petty Officer John-117.
 * AI Construct Cortana
 * Commander Miranda Keyes
 * Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood
 * Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson

Covenant Separatists
 * The Arbiter
 * Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadumee

Covenant Loyalists
 * High Prophet of Truth

Flood
 * Gravemind

Forerunner
 * 343 Guilty Spark

Minor Characters
UNSC
 * Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker
 * Unnamed Marine Lieutenant

Covenant Separatists
 * SpecOps Minor N'tho 'Sraom
 * SpecOps Minor Usze 'Taham

Forerunners
 * 05-032 Mendicant Bias

Sentient
UNSC
 * UNSC Marine Infantryman
 * UNSC Marine Shock Troopers
 * UNSC Marine Dropship Pilots
 * Office of Naval Intelligence Personnel
 * UNSC Citizens

Covenant Separatists
 * Sangheili
 * Mgalekgolo
 * Unggoy

Covenant Loyalists
 * San 'Shyuum
 * Jiralhanae
 * Mgalekgolo
 * Unggoy
 * Kig-yar
 * Yanme'e

Flood Gravemind
 * Flood Combat Forms

Non-Sentient

 * Infection Form
 * Combat Form
 * Carrier Form
 * Pure Form
 * Tank Form
 * Stalker Form
 * Ranged Form

Forerunner
 * Sentinel

Weapons
These are the weapons known to be in the game:

Covenant Standard

 * Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle
 * Type-26 ASG
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon
 * Type-50 Sniper Rifle System
 * Type-51 Carbine
 * Type-52 Automatic Plasma Cannon

Jiralhanae

 * Type-2 Antipersonnel Fragmentation Grenade
 * Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer
 * Type-3 Antipersonnel/Antimatériel Incendiary Grenade
 * Type-25 Carbine
 * Type-25 Grenade Launcher
 * Type-52 Pistol

Forerunner

 * Sentinel Beam

United Nations Space Command Standard

 * BR55HB SR Battle Rifle
 * MA5C Individual Combat Weapon System
 * M6G Personal Defense Weapon System
 * M7/Caseless Sub-Machine Gun
 * M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade
 * M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher
 * M90A Close Assault Weapon System
 * SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * W/AV M6 G/GNR Spartan Laser

Support Weapons

 * AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun
 * LAU-65D/SGM-151 Missile Pod
 * M7057/Defoliant Projector
 * Type-52 Automatic Plasma Cannon

Equipment

 * Bubble Shield
 * Power Drain
 * Trip Mine
 * Portable Gravity Lift
 * Radar Jammer
 * Flare
 * Regenerator
 * Deployable Cover
 * Invincibility - Campaign only
 * Automated Turret - Campaign only
 * Cloaking - Campaign only
 * Active Camouflage - Multiplayer only
 * Overshield - Multiplayer only
 * Custom Power Up - Forged maps only

Covenant

 * Banshee
 * Ghost
 * Wraith
 * Anti-Air Wraith (Usable through a glitch).

Brute Sandbox

 * Brute Chopper
 * Brute Prowler

Non-Usable

 * Phantom
 * Assault Carrier
 * CCS-class Battlecruiser
 * Seraph Fighter-Interceptor
 * Scarab
 * Anti-Air Wraith (Used only by glitch)
 * Forerunner Dreadnaught

UNSC

 * Elephant - Multiplayer only (Only Spawns on Sandtrap)
 * AV-14 Hornet
 * M12 Warthog LRV
 * M12G1 Warthog LAAV
 * M274 Mongoose ULATV
 * M808B Scorpion MBT
 * M831 TT Warthog - Campaign Only (Can Be Acessed On The Multiplayer Map: The Pit)

Non-Usable

 * D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship
 * Albatross Heavy Dropship
 * C709 Longsword Fighter-Interceptor
 * (FFG-201)
 * (FFG-307)
 * Military Cargo Trucks
 * Military Cargo Trucks

Standard Maps

 * Construct
 * Epitaph
 * Guardian
 * High Ground
 * Isolation
 * Last Resort
 * Narrows
 * Sandtrap
 * Snowbound
 * The Pit
 * Valhalla

Heroic Map Pack
The Heroic Map Pack is now available for download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace for free. The maps included in this Map Pack are:
 * Foundry
 * Rat's Nest
 * Standoff

Legendary Map Pack
The Legendary Map Pack is now available for download from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. The maps included in this Map Pack are:
 * Avalanche
 * Blackout
 * Ghost Town

Other Maps

 * Purple Reign - Working Title
 * Space Camp - Working Title

Service Tag
The Service Tag is how you and your teammates can be identified quickly on the battlefield. The service Tag is comprised of a letter followed by two numbers. A few examples of Service Tags are K90 and C27. When certain specific Service Tag coding is entered for example I17 (117) a message will appear stating "This Service Tag is currently in use by the UNSC". Another error will happen when "N64" and "P52"are entered but this is due to trademark infringement, and as a result the service tag will not be allowed. If you put in "A55" it will also state that you can't use the tag. There are also bans on the tags, "N00", "P00", and "J00"

According to Bungie, as of March 13th the most used Service Tags by players of Halo 3 are, in descending order, O07, M16, I69, P26, S80, H20, I87,and finally D13.

Armor Permutations
There are two player models which you can choose from, the standard Spartan models or the Elite models. Each model has several armor variants which can be combined. To unlock these armor types certain achievements and single player actions must first be taken. A lot of them come naturally from accomplishing the campaign on various difficulties but most of them come from earning achievements.

Some of these have been unlocked due to complaints about glitches, and are attainable through a patch.

Spartan

 * MJOLNIR Mark VI armor
 * MJOLNIR Mark VI [C] variant - Close Quarters Battle (CQB) armor
 * MJOLNIR Mark VI [V] variant - Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) armor
 * MJOLNIR Mark VI [EOD] variant - Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) armor
 * MJOLNIR Mark VI [A] variant - Rogue helmet
 * MJOLNIR Mark VI [S] variant - Scout armor
 * MJOLNIR Mark VI [R] variant - Recon armor
 * MJOLNIR Mark V armor - Halo: Combat Evolved helmet
 * MJOLNIR Mark V [m] variant - Security helmet and shoulders
 * ODST armor - Orbital Drop Shock Trooper helmet
 * HAYABUSA armor

Elite

 * Elite Combat Armor - Worn by normal Elites.
 * Elite Assault Armor - Worn by SpecOps Elites and Usze 'Taham.
 * Elite Flight Armor - Worn by pilot Elites.
 * Elite Commando Armor - Worn by Commando Elites.
 * Elite Ascetic Armor - Worn by Ascetics Elites.

Colors
There are 10 base colors, each with three shades that are used to customize your multi player color and emblem.

Steel, Silver, White

Red, Mauve, Salmon

Orange, Coral, Peach

Gold, Yellow, Pale

Sage, Green, Olive

Teal, Aqua, Cyan

Blue, Cobalt, Sapphire

Violet, Orchid, Lavender

Crimson, Rubine, Pink

Brown, Tan, Khaki

Matchmaking
Matchmaking is where people can play with and against each other through a specially designed search system and multiple playlists. In Matchmaking EXP and Skill can be earned to raise up ranks.

Playlists
Playlists are lists of different game variations from free-for-all to team games. They are split into Ranked, Social, Community, DLC, Tournaments and Double EXP Weekends.

Ranked
The Ranked playlists are the more serious playlists, these playlists allow Skill to be raised and EXP to be gained.
 * Lone Wolves - Various free for all games with up to six players.
 * Team Slayer - Slayer based games with teams of three to four players.
 * Team Objective - Objective based games with teams of three to four players.
 * Team Control - King of the Hill and Territories games with teams of three or four players. Will be deleted in the May playlist update.
 * Team Doubles - Slayer based games with teams of two players.
 * Ranked Big Team Battle - Various games with teams of six to eight players.
 * Team SWAT - Starting in the May update Team SWAT will become a full time Ranked Playlist!

Social
The Social playlists does not involve skill. Instead, players are matched according to their rank. Only EXP can be gained and guests are allowed.
 * Rumble Pit - Various slayer and objective games of free for all up to five players.
 * Big Team Battle - Various games with teams of five to eight players.
 * Social Slayer - Slayer based games with teams of four to five players.
 * Social Skirmish - Objective based games with teams of four to five players.
 * Multi-Team Various slayer and objective games with four teams of two players.
 * Rocket Race - Goal based VIP on race map variants with four teams of two players.

Community
As of the May playlist update, Community will be replaced by Hardcore and will contain Team SWAT in addition to MLG. Hardcore will be a Ranked section for professional gameplay.
 * MLG - Various MLG games on MLG map variants with teams of three to four players.
 * Team SWAT - SWAT with teams of three to four players.

DLC
The DLC Playlist is a Social playlist that contains the maps from the Legendary Map Pack.
 * DLC Slayer - Slayer based games on Avalanche, Blackout,and Ghost Town with teams of 4 players.
 * DLC Objective - Objective based games on Avalanche and Ghost Town with teams of five to six players.

Tournaments
The Tournaments are temporary Ranked playlists involving prizes.
 * Living Dead - Infection games up to thirteen players.
 * Valentines Day - Various gametypes with teams of two.
 * US Championship - Various gametypes with free for all up to six players.
 * INTL - Various gametypes with free for all up to six players.

Double EXP Weekends
The Double EXP Weekends are temporary Ranked or Social playlists in which the double amount of EXP can be gained. These playlists usually involves new gametypes.
 * Grifball - Neutral Assault on a Foundry map variant with teams of four. No longer available.
 * Team SWAT - SWAT with teams of four. No longer available.
 * Living Dead - Infection games up to thirteen players. No longer available.
 * Legendary Brawl - Various gametypes on Legendary maps free for all up to twelve players. Available from 04/18/2008 until 04/20/2008.
 * Team Snipers - Date unknown.

Veto
The Veto system is a new system for the Halo franchise. Vetoing a map and Game Type is a very useful thing now days. It is also easy. If there are a total of eight people in the game (a classic four versus four), and five or more people veto, the map and game type will change. If only four veto however the map and game type will remain and played on. Sometimes you will see the map and game type change, but you still get the veto option, this is just because the host's connection cannot support the map, or if anyone in the party cannot play the map. When this happens, you still have the right to veto the next map and game type.

Ranks
There is a ranking system based on real military ranks, to progress in rank you must have a certain amount of experience (EXP) and for officer ratings you'll need a certain skill level (as well as a certain amount of EXP).

Enlisted Ratings

 * Recruit
 * Apprentice (grades 1 and 2)
 * Private (grades 1 and 2)
 * Corporal (grades 1 and 2)
 * Sergeant (grades 1, 2, and 3)
 * Gunnery Sergeant (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Master Sergeant)

Officer Ratings

 * Lieutenant (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/First Lieutenant)
 * Captain (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Staff Captain)
 * Major (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Field Major)
 * Commander (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Strike Commander)
 * Colonel (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Force Colonel)
 * Brigadier (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Brigadier General)
 * General (grades 1, 2, 3, and 4/Five Star General)

Custom Games
In the Custom Games Lobby you can choose the gametypes and maps you want to play with your friends, these include Custom Game types and Map Variants. You can also choose the maps you've edited in Forge.

Standard Game types

 * Assault
 * Capture the flag
 * King of the Hill
 * Oddball
 * Juggernaut
 * Slayer
 * Territories
 * VIP
 * Infection

Custom Game types
In Halo 3, there are a number of options that can be changed. Press X in the lobby to change the default options, when changing press X again to save as custom game type.


 * Damage resistance
 * Shield multiplier
 * Shield recharge rate
 * Immune to head shots
 * Grenade counts (grenade regeneration, on or off)
 * Infinite ammo
 * Weapon pickup (enabled, disabled)
 * Player speed
 * (25%, 50%, 75%, 90%, 100%, 110%, 125%, 150%, 200%, 300%)
 * Player gravity
 * (50%, 75%, 100%, 200%)
 * Vehicle use (full use, passenger only, none)
 * Motion tracker range
 * (off, 10m, 25m, 75m, 100m, 150m)
 * Indestructible vehicles (on, off)

Forge
Forge is an "object editor" that can be used to edit multi player maps. It was originally called a map editor until Bungie showed what one could do with it. In Forge, you can edit objects, spawn points, weapons, and properties of objects on the map, etc. And, when playing a map on forge, players may take control as a monitor (very similar to 343 Guilty Spark) and will obtain the ability to spawn weapons and vehicles in-game, as well as move/adjust them too. Players will also have the ability to set traps or create teleporters to warp their friends into other places or set traps for their enemies. The monitor also has the ability to claim the respawn points and create new ones.

Map Variants
To save a Map Variant while playing forge, press Start and select save changes to overwrite the previous Map Variant or select Save As and give it a name.

Films
Saved Films allow a player to view any game, campaign or multiplayer, from any angle. It uses game data to re-create the games, which makes file sizes very small (5 MB for a 15 minute multiplayer match). In the film, you can either watch your own player play through the entire mission or you can go a different way: bird's eye view. You can go anywhere you want, but they will limit your movement so that you cannot fly as high as possible or go very far from your character. You can also fast forward or rewind the film so that you can relive the parts you missed. On Campaign you can't rewind the film. Only your previous 25 games will be saved under the recent films category on your console. Older films will be deleted.

Clips
When playing a film you record a particular part of the film from any angle you want. Doing this allows you to look back at your greatest moments without having to watch the entire film, however, sometimes the HUD will not show up in a first person view, or the time bar showing the elapsed time appears, which is normally a problem because it normally can't be removed or the HUD can't be brought up for the start of the clip. You cannot record clips of campaign films, but you can take screenshots. If you are in a party viewing a film, you will not be able to record clips, nor take screenshots.

Screenshots
Screenshots can be taken in any kind of film; all screenshots taken by XBL players are sent to Bungie.net via Internet. You must be in single-player theater or film to take a screenshot.

Soundtrack
The Halo 3: Original Soundtrack album was released on November 20, 2007. It is a two-disc set featuring all the music heard in-game, in order of appearance. As the Halo: Original Soundtrack the music is in more of a medley format. However, similar to the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack, tracks are divided into 'suites' corresponding to each level in the game.

A number of bonus tracks and a third-party song will be contained on the second disc of the album, 'LvUrFR3NZ' by Princeton.

Previews of the Soundtrack can be heard on the official site.

Viral Marketing
On June 11th, 2007, at 10:26AM PDT, a viral marketing campaign for Halo 3 started, called "Iris".

Announcement Trailer
At E3 2006, Bungie released their announcement trailer. It required long hours and hard work from many, many Bungie staffers, and utilizes real-game assets, fiction and locations from parts of the "real" game. It shows John-117 walking through some wreckage of the New Mombasa space elevator with Cortana appearing at several intervals to give her lines. He then stops at the edge of a cliff where the Covenant forces are hovering over a Forerunner structure (believed to be the Ark). The trailer ends with the Forerunner structure opening and firing a beam of light.

The Trailer fueled speculation about what was going to happen in the game, particularly Cortana's last line in the trailer: "This is the way the world ends," which references the first of the Cortana Letters. The line itself refers to T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which ends:


 * This is the way the world ends
 * Not with a bang but a whimper.

Cortana's emphasis on "this" implies she is rejecting the poem, and that the world will end with a bang - likely referring to the Halo installations being activated.

Starry Night Trailer
Starry Night Trailer was released on December 4, 2006 with its format designed for TV Ads. It shows two kids staring at the stars talking about whether there are aliens before switching to a dazed Master Chief recovering from some form of blast. Once he gets back on his feet, he uses a Bubble Shield to defend himself from an incoming Wraith plasma mortar and then charges forward, eventually jumping over a cliff into a swarm of Covenant Loyalists.It has been rumored that the two kids are John and Kelly when they where young.

E3 2007 Trailer
The final trailer for Halo 3 was released during E3 2007. Unlike the others, this trailer focused on showing various gameplay and movie clips. While the trailer did little to further knowledge about the Halo 3, it confirmed many speculations about the game, the least of which was that the Arbiter and the Master Chief will fight alongside one another in the game at some point.

Believe
''A hero must rise. Believe...''

Believe is a Microsoft marketing campaign for Halo 3.

It features the word "Believe" as a tag line, and appears to be honoring the legacy of SPARTAN-117, citing him as a hero of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force whose brave actions inspired other servicemen during the Human-Covenant War. It has also been cited that it has been linked to the popular message board Neogaf.

Landfall
Halo: Landfall is a trilogy of short films designed to promote Halo 3 as well as test the potential for a live-action Halo Movie.

Products and Collectibles

 * Halo 3: Collector's Edition.
 * Halo 3: Legendary Edition.
 * Halo 3 Spartan Edition Controller.
 * Halo 3 Covenant Edition Controller.
 * Mountain Dew Game Fuel is a new version of Mountain Dew soda which was released on August 13th, 2007 and was available for 12 weeks.
 * Bungie has worked with Jasman Toys and they will be showcasing the new Halo Laser Tag Replica Guns.
 * Tod McFarlane's line of Halo 3 Action Figures.
 * There is a Halo 3 edition of the Xbox 360. It was released on September 16th, and will have other things in the box like a wired Halo 3 headset.
 * The Halo 3 Zune is a Zune in a Halo Trilogy-theme. It features Halo content in many media formats. Included in the Zune, are trailers, music, and artwork, from the critically acclaimed Halo series.
 * Halo 3 scale replica weapons. These are just ornaments and are not toys.
 * Burger King announced a Halo 3 Promotion from a Microsoft press release on August 9th, 2007 including limited edition FRYPODS and 42 oz drink cups.
 * Halo ActionClix including special figures like brute jump pack, master chief with dual spikers, brute stalkers, and a few others.

Trivia

 * For Christmas 2006, Microsoft & Bungie gave the U.S. soldiers in Iraq a chance to play the Halo 3 multiplayer public pre-alpha.
 * On the Cops & Robbers commercial for the 360 at the Xbox Live Marketplace, one of the license plates says HA LO307, a.k.a Halo 3 07.
 * The game has 39,377 lines of dialogue, most of them randomly triggered during gameplay.
 * In several of Cortana's messages to the Chief, she quotes Dr. Halsey's lines from Halo: The Fall of Reach. This is logical considering Cortana was created with a flash clone of Dr. Halsey's brain.
 * The chances of two people having the same service tag on Xbox Live is 2574 to 1.
 * Throughout all of Halo 3's storyline, the Master Chief's codename is Sierra 117, the name of the first full level.
 * Like the other two games, Halo 3 has a demo that plays on the menu when you leave it for a length of time.
 * Halo 3 is the first of the trilogy that actually had Pelicans in the multiplayer maps. These are Valhalla, The Pit, and Rat's Nest. These remain unable to be piloted in the game.

Internal

 * Halo 3 Announcement Trailer
 * Halo 3 Credits
 * 60sec ESPN Commercial Starry Night
 * ViDoc: Et Tu Brute - a 7 min documentary about the Brutes ViDoc: Et Tu Brute
 * ViDoc: Is Quisnam Protero Damno
 * ViDoc: Cinema Paradiso
 * Halo 3 Beta
 * Mountain Dew Game Fuel - Halo 3 themed Mountain Dew
 * Halo 3 Zune - A limited edition Microsoft Zune.
 * Halo 3 Achievements
 * Halo 3: The Cradle of Life
 * Halo 3 Official Strategy Guide
 * Halo 3: Original Soundtrack
 * Burger King

External

 * HaloArena - Halo 3 Forums, Tournaments & Videos
 * Best Halo Vids - Collection of videos
 * H3Customs - Find Halo 3 custom game matches. The next best thing to the non-existent XBL Public.
 * Online Campaign & Multiplayer Guide
 * Skulls Guides - Skull guides with pictures
 * Bungie's Announcement
 * | IMDB Entry on Halo 3
 * Halo 3 Easter Eggs
 * Halo 3 Website - Main Halo 3 Website
 * Halo 3 at MSN.com
 * Tournamentfront - Create or play in various tournaments
 * Halo 3 News
 * Halo 3 Photoshop Brushes - Very detailed high resolution brushes.
 * Leaderboards and Player Stats tracked over time
 * Halo 3 at Gamepro.com

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