The Problem with Halo 3's Campaign 

I hope someone mentions how the gravemind goes from being a terrifying creature, wise and centuries of wisdom to a creature that roars like an animal and gets angry quickly.

My feelings for Halo3s campaign can be summed up in two words That's it?

One of the biggest problems with Halo 3's story is it's just Halo 2's cut final 3 levels stretched out to 9 levels, and one of those levels isn't even a part of it (Forerunner Dreadnought). I really wish they could've kept "Lost City" and "Guardian Forest" as those two levels could've really helped with The Ark as a location.

"I am a monument to all your sins" is a line that lives rent free in my head

people say halo 3 ended the story but they *legit added a post credits scene where REQUIEM IN H4 IS TEASED* and nobody talks about it or brushes it off as "microsoft forcing it in"

Gears of War 3 was a far better conclusion to it's trilogy. It built on everything the first two games set up and tied everything up beautifully. Halo 3 never really does that.

It’s shame we can’t get a directors cut of the halo trilogy like the lord of the rings, turning 6 hours of movies into 12 hours of movies, Double the length with all the cut content, not for the casual run through, but making it a true monolith

I felt insane that no one else felt this way I’m so glad I found a video explaining how I feel. I’m rather new to halo so I had no nostalgic bias going into these campaigns. I remember playing halo 2 and being blown away by how rich the story felt and how excellently written characters like the arbiter and gravemind were. Then when I finished halo 3 I felt disappointed for how poorly written the narrative and characters were compared to halo 2 but everyone online would just tell me how amazing halo 3 was because of nostalgia😭and the fact that people used to think the arbiter was bad for the game blows my mind. After videos like these it made me realize that a good majority of the halo fanbase just prefers dumb but fun gameplay over well written story’s which makes me question the average age or intelligence of these people💀 I can’t deny halo 3 is very fun gameplay wise but overall to me is very disappointing coming off one of the best written single player experiences I’ve ever played in halo 2 and it makes me sad of the potential halo 3 could of been if the fanbase in 2007 weren’t…morons…and coukd could actually appreciate good writing and good characters over “space man shoot alien deep story hurt brain” I’ve wanted to make this rant for so long thank you for letting me rant here

The problem with Halo 3's narrative is that wasn't supposed to happen. Bungie admitted that Halo 2 was supposed to finish the fight. However because the ending of Halo 2 was a blue ball ending. Halo 3 then had to be made because there was no way the series could end like that. Halo 3 had to somehow make it all worthwhile. This explains why Halo 3 spins it's wheels so much. Even then it is disappointing how so many characters get a massively reduced role. The Arbiter and Johnson are footnotes in this game. The latter is a damsel in distress. The former a sidekick. Even the villains get a reduced role. Truth lost everything that made him the greatest villain of the series. The Gravemind doesn't even appear not even once. We could have still got the amazing sandbox with a narrative that actually followed up on it's predecessor's narrative. Halo 3 is my least favorite of the original trilogy because of this. It's great but could have been so much better still.

Arbiter was definitely snubbed in this game. With such a great character arc they gave him in 2 seeing how is portrayed here is just insulting. Basically being just another companion when there should have been a brotherly dynamic between Chief and Arby. There's this dream I always had since I was young about a deleted cutscene or part of the game where Chief and Arbiter are just sitting by a fire and talking about things. Arbiter learns a lot more about humanity from Chief and vice versa does John learn a lot more about the covenant. Together they understand so much from just one friendly conversation than just what they were told to believe by their kind. Believe, that's what I kept hearing in that dream. Believe that there can be a future where the two most strong forces in the galaxy could set aside their arms and just come together. And then they both just shake hands or even hug whatever would be more fitting of their character. The point of the matter is Arbiter had a lot more of a presence in the Halo story than I think even Bungie knew. And seeing how Halo Infinite pretty much ignores his entire existence is just...hurtful. Maybe we will see him again and the two can reunite again. Not as just soldiers but as friends that they made themselves out to be in the second and third game.

Im glad its being mention as such i remember everyone just talking about multiplayer but never about the campaign i never personally was a fan of 3 comparing with halo 2 being a story masterpiece

Thank you for putting this into words. For years, I've felt Halo 3 was my favorite of Bungie's campaigns, but always felt that Halo 2 had the better story. This perfectly encapsulates what I've been feeling. I still love all of Bungie's Halos, but now I have a better explanation for my "All of them for different reasons" details for Halo 3 in particular.

1. It doesn't do much that Halo 2 and CE didn't do already. 2. It's too damn short. Noticeably shorter than the previous two. 3. The writing is noticeably weaker. 4. They changed voice actors for the worse. 5. Has none of the atmosphere that CE or 2 had. 6. The story holds little emotional weight and is fairly forgettable. 7. Not as many brilliant levels. 8. Elites aren't the enemies. 9. Gameplay isn't as smooth as 2. It's slower and technically more polished, but not for the better. 10. It's a bit too easy. All imo. Still one of the greatest FPS campaigns ever thanks to the gameplay and level design.

Your editing is amazingly on point man. You deserve way more views.

Lived my whole life saying Halo 2 was my favorite. As I get older, I see how Halo CE might be the best fps ever made.

The gravemind and cortana shouting at eachother gets my back up just like hearing parents argue as a kid, and just like hearing your parents arguing takes you right out of the game

Tru7h, I agree we needed more levels set on the Ark exploring it and learning more about the Forerunners.

If I could change one thing, it'd be to add significant Elite representation. Maybe post-Floodgate, you get a lot of Elite allies and cute moments with them and the Marines fighting back-to-back, have Elites and humans using each other's weapons (like that awesome cutscene, WHY IS THAT NOT REFLECTED IN-GAME), riding together in vehicles, coordinating assaults, yadda yadda. When I was a little kid, my brother and I didn't give a damn about Spartans. We wanted to be ELIIIIIIITE

Man, I am a big time Halo fanboy and I am so glad at least one RU-vidr understands the mess that is Halo 3's story. As I got older the more I continued to see more issues with it and how it's mostly just some nostalgia and some okay gameplay but Halo 2, 4 and Infinite are def leagues ahead in story.

Amazing video essay

Halo 3 has an even worst narrative problem: it has almost nothing of character development, especially with the main characters. Despite what Halo CE and Chief's part of Halo 2 may lead you to think, a story isn't simply a setting or themes, but you've got to develop your characters so there will be a good reason for your audience to care, not simply because the game tells you to do it.But I guess Halo fanbois back then wanted dumb action with Chief than actually a good arc for him and Arby...

I fully admit I cannot look at Halo 3 through a objective lens. It is too tied to a moment in time in my life where everything seemed good

I actually agree with a lot of the things stated here but I think something that is important to remember (not an excuse for the stories shortcomings) is that in the context of 2007 all halo 3 had to do was finish halo 2s story but it did so much more than just finish the story, it brought endless hours of custom games and forge to a lot of people. Yeah the story is mid but it's still my favourite halo game, though that's just because I played it from launch until Reach.

H3 problems are because it’s technically cut content from H2’s lost act 3 stretched into a whole campaign Another problem it had is it’s lead campaign designer left mid development causing the remaining devs to try salvage what he was working on. they had to combine a few missions into 1 such as Floodgate, that originally was two missions and the mission cortana being drastically dumb downed because of time and engine restraints

Brilliant video!

10:55 it does look unbelievably good for 2007. I don't think 3's graphics get nearly enough praise as they deserve.

Halo 3 is the exact same haunting reminder that Fallout 4 is Never listen to the fans when you have already made something great, they don't know what the hell they want and if you try to please them you will waste the chance to make something even more amazing that you had thought up on your own without considering anyone else.

Halo 3's main staying power in my mind was its multiplayer. I don't just mean the online part, which let's be real is still entertaining to play today even compared with modern titles... I mean the friends on the couch beside you kind of multiplayer. I remember nights playing the campaign with friends. Feeling so accomplished beating it on Legendary, despite it being a gimmie with a friend. And yes the 4 player FFAs too. Shotty Snipers, Team BRs and my favorite weapon - THE LASER.

You know, I respect the hell out of this video. These are all things I've felt and said for a long time now especially when I hear people make arguments against Halo CE and it's campaign/level design yet Halo 3 is arguably a worse offender. I love Halo 3 but it's not as flawless as people make it out to be. Halo CE will always be my favorite.

How does this man have so few subs? great friggin content!

I loved Halo 3's campaign. The set-pieces were incredible! But after replaying the whole series multiple times, I must say, it isn't my favorite. Favorite story may have to go to H2. And I ALWAYS dread playing through the gravemind level in H3. lol But hot damn Halo 3 is still my favorite Halo ever. The campaign is still AMAZING even if it isn't as narratively impactful as H2 and the multiplayer/creative offerings were a tier above the rest. 2007 was a stacked year, but Halo was always on a different playing field.

Halo Infinite seems to be making the same narrative mistakes. A sequel that tosses asides a lot from previous games. Which is frustrating that it is happening again. I get that Halo 5 had a bad story but it ended in a cliffhanger. I expected it to be resolved. Albeit I had a feeling that would be the case as soon as it was revealed to be a semi open world game. They tend to suck at storytelling. To me with a subpar story it nullifies a lot of the fun out of games. It makes it hard to care about anything. We can have both Halo.

It's my favorite halo game but not my favorite story halo 1 had just such an excellent story and beginning halo 3 is my favorite for the gameplay and multiplayer and I still love the campaign

3:15 me too, although I've never heard anyone call CE the best story.

I'm gunna say it..... Halo 3 is Great but extremely overrated

A part of me did wish Halo 3 had more missions. Yea, the campaign would have feel longer, but it would have made the narrative better. Which has been a problem since they dont want to break the 10 mission structure, but keeping 10 makes you rush the story. Like a part of me wanted a longer ODST or Reach campaigns than what we got. Heck, you can do a lot with the ODST story. While Reach, back then to even today, the story literally left me with a "Oh no... anyway, moving on!" type of feeling.

The last stand?!?? How dare you lol. Dark Knight Rises yes, that is a great comparison. Great explanation on why it feels lacking. Surprised you didn’t mention the lack of Elites being present here. That to me was disappointing even though I know it’s the story.

I was first introduced to halo by halo 3. I had no idea what they meant by Cortana and I normally skipped cutscenes Even when I didn’t on some replays I didn’t exactly understand what our first few missions where and not so much getting to the ark Then I was scared to even start Cortana just nope out after the covenant Went back a few months or so later to finish it and I had to wonder “okay. So where’s the covenant. Did we just. Win after killing their leader? There’s no stragglers? Did we send those brutes into extinction?” However that’s not the full story. My dad had Halo 3 so I played Sierra 1117 only I believe. When I went wanted my own copy I got Halo wars instead and learnt it was the wrong one. Instead of returning it I just played that Then I got Halo 3 and the beginning story happened. Then I believe I got odst, then reach. Can’t remember the exact timeline. I was at the age where my halo trilogy would’ve started with Halo 4 so you can image how confused I was from Halo 3 to 4 when I barely had any context. I went from beginning of 3, Wars, the rest of 3, Reach, Odst, then halo 4 Reach I understood the story defend our planet. Kat death hit me hard. Same for everyone and that transitioned to Halo 1 which I got later to play. Only experience I had was seeing some gaming channel thing on well On demand which walks through the first mission and I kept rewatching that. What was the point of this ramble session? Well after getting older and learning the orders of the games and replaying them alot I came to understand them alot more. Including now after finally finishing some books and starting others After the Halo tv show basic failure at story telling and other shows following I looked back on these games I love with nostalgia and critics it. I never experienced Halo 2 until MCC. And even then I came up with it Halo wars had a good solo story in the earlier stages of the war Halo Reach had a very good story explaining what’s going on, how bad the war is and the desperation of trying to win and stay alive. A story of sacrifice when it’s needed. The real “finish the fight” as every sacrifice or death was pushing you the player to their ultimate goal of passing the rest off to Chief and in a sense. Holding back most of the covenant forces in your final stand so not all of the covenant followed the Chief Halo 1 was great at exploring a new world as one lone ship that was on the run from the covenant. If you read fall of Reach which came out before it had the context. Losing war, final gambol that had some payoff Halo 2 was the fallout of what happened. survivors of the ring is hailed as heroes for destroying what they learnt the covenant wanted and stopping an even greater threat. To everyone at Earth the survivors of the ring are basically the only survivors of Reach. On the covenant side you have a fallout after a ring was destroyed. A highly decorated soldier is denoted and shamed before getting a choice of redemption. Which only sparked the end of the covenant Not much to go into on 2, the Arbiter story is self explanatory and that’s where most of the story is anyways aside from the side with Chief basically setting this downfall into motion. Killing Regret, and storming through high charity was just his highlights Halo 3 is where this all comes together yet fall apart. We learnt of the Ark in Halo 2 yet everyone is back at Earth like they don’t know where Truth is heading. Yes they didn’t have a way to get to the Ark and the monitor wouldn’t know the location and yes the covenant was invading across the whole planet, but there only goal was quite literally destroying an AI to attempt to destroy the key ship which didn’t work and then in floodgate everything changed My best memories of halo 3 was crows nest, the storm, flood gate and everything after. Going back to 3 I can admit the story sucks from where it left out and it reinforced this hot take I heard, bungie got lucky Halo changed how console first person shooters are and it had a unique interesting story Trying something different made people mad because they’re not Chief but he barley spoke in the first game, so like what’s the big issue Then. Their complaint lead to Arbiter being a background character in 3 where they either wish he had more to say or that’s where he became everyone favorite and they was crying for his appearance in Halo 4 Miranda who was introduced in 2 died in 3 from being impulsive and stupid. You tell Chief to hurry yet dont I dunno. Pick him up and crash through the same window with a literal Spartan? Maybe grab everyone outside and ram through? Cut out the middle man? Just. Shut the ark down and fly away covenant can’t turn it back on. Johnson death was okay. I could probably come up with why he didn’t have to die, like Spark whole thing is stopping the flood and he’s suppose to listen to the reclaimers he made that much clear to Miranda. Yet when they have to wait for a ring to get done with the flood spreading on the ark he wants to just wait Looking over the story and how halo 2 and 3 were potentially rush, or damn near every single halo game besides maybe 343 era you can see it from playing The downgrade of health and shields in 2 while buffing up enemies time to kill to 3 lackluster cutscenes and campaigns at times. Reach has some things cut out but it was still good and Halo odst isn’t that much of a game Then 343 screws up everything else It’s been 4 years and somehow the UNSC managed to build its navy up to fighting capabilities I can excuse Jul. The covenant was so large I can believe a few ships and planets of the covenant would be left and wouldn’t know the war ended The biggest disaster by far was retconning the forerunners

Liked the video and I agree with most of it. I would say the real reason why Halo 3's campaign is still remembered fondly despite its lackluster plot is that its presentation is incredible. There really isn't all that much happening in the story of 3, but it constantly has these incredible looking cutscenes with really cool things happening. Also a little criticism of the video. Try and keep your asides or joke montages trimmed down. It's better to be quick and snappy than to tell a joke and then have it linger on after it, waiting for it to end so the video can continue.

halo 2 was awesome

What some people forget is that halo 3 campaign is basically the rest of halo 2 seeing storyboards and them talking about it the ark levels was straight up the climax originally for halo 2 there was never supposed to be a halo 3 halo 2 was cut down so much that the campaign is probably less than half of the original length the ending of halo 2 many have said was supposed to be the start of the sec9nd half being on earth them having to cut so much is also why modding halo 2 is about as easy as running a marathon on a wet log while having rocks Withrow at you its crazy what the world would be if halo 3 didn't exist but halo 2 was the original length

Good video even if I disagree with it - but liking halo 3 to x3 almost hurts the rest of your argument. Just a few points for discussion- halo 3 was never going to be an all about bloody depressing nightmare because that’s not the halo vibe The silent relationship with arbiter and chief works way better than any dialogue heavy cut scene laden narrative would - these are sworn foes who are thrown into a situation where they must cooperate - not a buddy cop movie.

Halo 2 was the best game ever made

Halo 3 feels like a Michael Bay movie. Fight me.

As someone that's played every halo except 5 2 remains to be my go to for halo fun, the campaign anyway. 3's multiplayer isn't torture to play, but the campaign is just really boring in my eyes. (Also Kat's death in reach was dumb as fuck, did the writers forget about SHIELDS? That was a needle rifle, even on legendary that takes a bunch of shots to kill a spartan) (Oh and if you say the EMP overcharged and dropped them? No, they would've absolutely been back by the time they got to that point. You can't convince me that an elevator is more stable than top of the range power armour.)

It does feel a little rushed, the gameplay variety was scattered too short, it has less levels than Halo CE, some reused elements like the warthog run only a bit more frustrating the first time, cliffhanger ending which sadly leads to a disappointing sequel, the gravemind/cortana forced listenings, flood slog while most weapons were less effective fighting them.

I blame Microsoft for not giving bungie enough time to finish Halo 2.

Halo 2 was not what Bungie wanted and they worked themselves to exhaustion having to make it in like a year. They kinda lost the story and were also burned out by Halo 3. Microsoft should've given them 3 years, they literally wanted H2 to be 2 games (arbiter and Chief). Wouldve been the greatest sequel eva

Engagement for the algorithm.

honestly, i have to agree with you, the story isnt that great. but the gameplay is super fun!

ded af with the believe ad music and the close ups

Damn bro blowing up

Cortana reminds me of how wisdom is personified in the Old Testament, and also blue spirit in your head

Although I do enjoyed Halo 3's campaign, a few problems I have with it are much the inconsistency with Truth and the Gravemind who were both butchered to generic cartoon villains who become much boring and are not even game bosses since they were much better in Halo 2, mission changes and cuts in the campaign, we never get to play as Thel in single player mode with him being a side character, other fan-favorite characters like Rtas being not used too much and we only see the Sangheili and Jiralahane fighting each other in the mission The Covenant though he is still playable in co-op and I still love him because he's my favorite character of Halo. EDIT: Also the Scarabs in Halo 3, while good bosses, are somewhat weaker than the ones in Halo 2 and in storywise, the Flood didn't send much more ships to other surviving planets like Earth besides just sending one ship to Earth to the point of it being simply destroyed afterwards while the rest of the Flood are still in High Chairity and simply crashing it onto the Ark which kind of feels like an ironic wasted opportunity.

Hmm maybe one character decided to golf club the fan favorite from the first and the arbitor is actually cool. That was a horrible comparison.

I don't necessarily agree (Halo 3 is my favorite campaign in every way) but I can understand where your coming from. My only real problems with 3 are it's length, and I do kinda wish we got a Grave mind boss fight and maybe more scenes with dialogue. All of that is overshadowed by how good everything else is, at least for me. Interesting vid.

We were just hyped the npcs didn’t look the same haha

I'd love to see someone make a video on why Halo's multiplayer is so flawed. The originals. Because unless you're playing casually, they're filled with flaws.

I love H3, but I have always felt H2 is the best.

Halo 3 understood what makes a good game. Good Gameplay

halo 4 credits made me cry tears

Halo4 and gears 3 and mw3 please brotha make a review

Imaging grinding all the cool armour for halo 3 online. Seeing the rare flaming head just for MCC giving everyone all the armour.

Also I argue the ‘this is most peoples first halo’ Halo 2 sold incredibly well like the first did before it. Sure there were plenty of newcomers but the majority definitely had played Halo before. Also Halo 3 got over shadowed!?!? What? Did you not see the awards it ran away with that year? I love your videos man but I really think you’re ignoring a lot of the bigger picture here to make some of your points.

cool review!

I disagree.

I think it’s overall a great campaign/story even if it’s not my favorite out of the Halo series. I don’t think anything is missing per say though maybe if had some aspects or changes it might be my favorite campaign idk.

I absolutely LOATHE Halo 3. The graphics are awful and they screwed up the pistol! The zoom focus goes off to the side!

Thank you for putting this all onto words. The new games have suffered from these same problems so it's impossible to see anybody claiming this to be the best game as anything other than just nerd rage. All halo has at least something worth loving and something that is worth criticism

broooooooooooooo I agree hella hard!!!! My fucking thoughts ive had for years so much!

Criticizes Halo 3 "And so you must be silenced."

Halo 3 campaign was.....meh

I thought I was the only one who thinks halo 3s story was garbage

How dare you compare Halo 3 to The Last Of Us II, heretic

Halo 2 > 1 > 3 > 343 games At least story-campaign wise imo

The campaign sucks idk why people like it halo 2 is better

Halo 3 is just like halo reach, untouchable. Although reach still feels like the worst bungie game to me

ai lol

I really enjoyed the halo trilogy and halo 2 is probably my favorite out the series but halo 3 is the finally nut in the sock and I feel that halo 3 came to its sense late in the game and halo 3 ending is something I hated but liked because chief and cortana stood together but every game that 343 made I don't consider Canon like chief already saved the world just let him die already

the best game ever

I agree with this entire video

How dare you.

Hard disagree, Halo 3’s campaign is everything coming to a head, this argument seems to be ‘nothing new is added’ in storytelling the general rule of thumb is you don’t introduce crazy over the top new ideas towards the end. You build towards a conclusion and the conclusion is everything to that point coming together in conflict. That is what happens in Halo 3. I loved it although I do think a couple levels expanding the Arbiter’s conflict would have been nice.

You take you blasphemy somewhere else, lol

UH! I couldn't hit the dislike button any harder!

10 minuets in and all that's been said is halo 3 is a conclusion like 30 times cool I fucking get it now lets get to the point holy shit...

Meh. Reach is better.

was hoping someone made a video like this

I personally thought Halo 2 was the best out of the trilogy, especially the anniversary release. It's a shame the 3rd didn't end up having the same gusto and personality of the second.