I love the wholesome little accomplishments that make us feel so good; like the well earned rewards for our perseverance to keep on fighting, our commitment to learning the skills needed for success, and the joy in just being able to play the game.  Then of course there is joy of blowing your opponents face off with a rocket launcher to the noggin or sticking him with grenade and watching his body plummet to the depths below.   With a long way to go, I climbed one minor rung of the Halo 3 success ladder; I got my **UNSC Spartan achievement today and I couldn’t be any happier.  So look out you Lone Wolves cause I’m getting better everyday and I’m coming for ya!   *bang bang*

**UNSC Spartan is a Halo 3 Multiplayer Achievement. It is earned when the player earns the rank of Sergeant (20 won ranked or social matches) on Xbox Live. This Achievement gives 15 Gamerpoints to the player and unlocks the MJOLNIR Mark V Armor Permutation.

Kiss kiss

Dawngrrl Gametart

No game has caught my interest as much.  No other game gives you such an enormous playing field AFTER your story mode levels are done.  I play it with the guys at the office, I play it on Live, I play it on home with the Boy Genius or the Boy Kid, and for times of needed solitary gaming refuge, I continue to work my way through legendary difficultly mode.  It never gets old! 

Never playing its predecessors, I was a Halo virgin when I got Halo 3 and from the moment I strapped on the battle rifle and made my way through jungle following the Spartan I was hooked.  The game play is incredibly natural; from swapping weapons to dual wielding and tossing grenades, it’s an easy quick swap of the bumpers and the left and right triggers for shooting.  I am not  a fan of stop wheel inventory or select button menus for weapons swapping in FPS games so this is right up my virtuoso alley!  

The available weapons, maps and customization options keep it freshy fresh, especially with the new heroic map pack that released earlier this month, and if I loved the hammer anymore, I’d marry it.  The unique feel of the different weapons is remarkable and the granular differences in their use and effects truly means the more you use the weapons and get to know them, the better you will play; learning the nuances of each one and how that makes them more or less useful on the different maps or in different game play modes.  Custom games allows you to create your own games with specific weapons and maps, i.e., everyone spawns in the center ring of Guardian and stays there to fight, or The Narrows with only swords and rocket launchers - chaos indeed - but if variety is the spice of life then Halo 3 gives you all the salt and pepper you need to create a zillion flavors of play!  Live is a whole different ball game where you can customize your character even further, join in the ranking fray, earn extra achievements, and play with peeps from a pool of many many thousands of online players at any given time. 

You’ll read a zillion reviews of Halo 3 and if your doing so to make that final decision of “Buy or don’t buy”, I hope this one convinces you that Halo 3 really is all its cracked up to be and the game goes far beyond beating story mode.  I’ve been playing since the day it released and it’s still putting out the most bang for my XBOX buck!

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart