'Halo 3' brings series to satisfying close

MSBNC review Halo 3

"Games don't come much more review-proof than "Halo 3," the much-anticipated capper of the blockbuster "Halo" trilogy. Praising the wildly ambitious online multiplayer half of the game and lamenting that the single-player campaign plays it far too safe will not matter to the legions of ardent "Halo" fans. What matters is finishing "the fight" between the alien Covenant and the human race - and this is indeed brought to a satisfying conclusion.

Seeing the curtain fall doesn't take long in "Halo 3," which was developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft. The single-player game stretches across a surprisingly limited nine missions. The default difficulty is called "normal," but would be more aptly named "cakewalk." Dialing down the difficulty has its purpose - it's been three years since the cliffhanger ending of "Halo 2" and forcing the die-hard to push through twenty-plus hours of play seems almost like a perverse punishment..."