My review for Halo 3.
At its core, Halo 3 is a very good game, and a worthy sequel to the two excellent first person shooters that preceded it. There is, of course, a fatal flaw in the game, and not the sort that only true Halophiles would notice. Many are aware of said flaw, and it causes literally billions of 13 year olds to switch over to the edgier, outdated Half Life in hopes that complaining about the release date for Episode 3 instead of BR spread will make them cooler.
You, the reader, being an avid poster on The Escapist and several other well-respected gaming communities, are obviously aware of the problem. The one thing preventing Halo 3 from winning the coveted Nobel Best Game Ever Peace Award is this:
Halo 3 is not Chrono Trigger.
Though the game series in general has often been praised for high quality graphics, and textures lovingly rendered in order to craft a beautiful game environment, hardcore players may have noted that Akira Toriyama's name was never listed under "Art Design" in the Halo 3 credits. This is, as many will tell you, because Halo 3's art style was not crafted by the creative mastermind behind Dragon Ball Z. Good try, Halo, but the real fans accept no substitutes.
Though many a fan will argue otherwise, the plot of Halo 3 was severely lacking. Though one may argue that the tried and true formula of "Aliens are Evil, shoot them all" sucked them into a story rich with depth and layered beyond belief, detractors of the Halo series will be quick to point out gaping plotholes. How, for example, does Master Chief escape from the Gravemind in a Pelican, when he should be a spiky-haired youth, escaping on a bird-shaped thing that flies through time? While on the subject of the Gravemind, Bungie's controversial decision of using this new villain as a replacement for Lavos was inspired but not appreciated. This reviewer found that the plot seemed more preposterous when the overbearing spiky doom turtle was removed and replaced with a talking spaceship; all the gravity of the situation was lost.
Weapon balance is key to Halo, a game that features a thriving online community, a community which keeps the game alive long after every single person on Earth has completed the campaign. While a small minority was sad to see the Battle Rifle become the MC's signature weapon, replacing the SMG of the previous iteration, the vast majority of Halo players seethed with rage when Bungie announced that the protagonist would not fight with a variety of Katanas. Equally controversial was the decision to remove combo attacks from the game entirely; in Halo 3, one will find no X-Strike technique with which to dispatch enemies, but instead grenades, which are scattered around the map and come in several flavors, none of which are as exciting as the special techniques of yore.
All in all, Halo 3 is a decent game. Sadly, it is no Chrono Trigger.