Here's a collection of a bunch of reviews, just for your convenience.

ign- 9.5
gamespot- 9.5
worth playing- 9.6
gamespy 5/5
1up- 10/10
gamer 2.0 - 8.8
Pro G- 10/10
eurogamer- 10/10
gametrailers 9.8
computerandvideogames- 9.7
oxm austrailia-10
oxm brazil-9
famitsu-10/9/9/9 (9)
pressstartonline-10
kikizo-9
savingprogress-10
gamespot korea-9.7
Gamereactor Sweden-10/10, 10/10
Gamereactor Denmark-10/10, 10/10
Gamereactor Norway-10/10
Ars Technica-7

I'm dubious of that review because it comes from Ars Technica, because it's only half a review, and because he played the campaign on normal difficulty. Any review should be done based on either the heroic or legendary. Bungie clearly stated they made the review for casuals and fans(experts). The two easiest difficulty settings are for the casuals. The AI is dumbed down, enemies don't use as many weapons or as a effectively. It is made easier than previous games. Heroic and Legendary are made more difficult, and the AI and enemy tactics are far better, as is their use of weapons.

This is the first time ive seen IGN or Gamespot post a review for a game on a Sunday.

DAMN IT!! I just found out that my gamestop won't be open at midnite!! So I am going to call bestbuy tomorrow to see if they are still taking pre-orders and cancelling my gamestop order. WFT?

I just noticed that Sam's Club legendary edition online only for 114.64

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/nav...9&pid=_Froogle

I searched the thread did not see the info.

The Future of Halo...
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I can only hope you're joking...

Yup mine was the say way. Why oh why don't they ever learn.

Not all of the Best Buys will be, either.

Just go to Wal-Mart. Guaranteed in-stock.

Much as I detest that place, I'll be at my local store in twenty-four hours...

I'm debating whether or not to go for Midnight...the GS that has my preorder will be open for it...I just don't know if I care to go.

I know the lady who works the graveyard shift in electronics at the local Wal-Mart pretty well from going up every Tuesday morning for DVDs. While I was picking up gaming snacks for the next few days I figured I would swing by and wish her luck. She's old and slow so she'll need it tonight.

I figured I would edit my post a bit to add a photo of this Halo case mod featured on Kotaku.



I would of waited and used some of the McFarlane figures but otherwise it's pretty kick ass.

Man, that's pretty sweet.

Gametime, fellas. Anyone who's going to be playing after midnight, add me to your list...I'll play anything.

With the Halo 2 release, I remember they had the line forming at the front of the store (Customer Service counter) NOT the Electronics dept. I'm not sure if they will be handling this release similarly.

Anyone want to sell their 3rd disc out of the Legendary set for $50 Shipped?

Cool so for me that means i'll probably get 13-15 hours of gameplay. I still havent beaten Bioshock yet lol.

I have not played Halo 1 or 2.

Can I get Halo 3 and still enjoy it? or do I need to play 1 and 2 first? I've been dying to get another great HD game since Gears of War.

I have both 1 and 2 but never even played the campaigns. So as far as storyline, I don't really care for Halo 3. It's a must-own for me and that's for the multiplayer alone. I will probably play the co-op this time around though since you can do that over xbox live as well with up to 4 people. That sounds amazing. Who knows, maybe I'll even go back and play the 1 and 2 campaigns at some point if I'm rally bored.

As Thor said, if all you want is a fun multiplayer game, then yes, you can safely purchase and play Halo 3.

If you are more into the whole story, while you can buy and play through the campaign, you will be quite lost as to what is happening, etc. Id suggest, if that is the case, that you play through Halo 1 and 2 campaigns. At the very least, look on wikipedia for the story synopsis of Halo 1 and 2.

You could always rent 1 & 2 and play them through on the easiest setting just to get through them before Halo 3.

I like to play campaign mode - not too much into multi player.

I would love to play 1 and 2, but I only have so many free hours in a day I have Halo 1 - but have never played it... got it as a Black Friday sale or something.

I may do the wikipedia thing.

Just to add a contrary opinion, I have played through Halo 1 numerous times and start-to-finish on Halo 2 once...and I would be hard-pressed to tell you what's going on in either of those games. I only watch the cutscenes once, couldn't care less about the story and have a blast playing through single-player anyway.

So while you might not know every character or exactly what the plot is, I still think you'd have fun with it. And taking 5 minutes to read the Wikipedia entry is probably all you need.

This is getting asked quite a bit. My short answer is if you care about story in games, then you will want to play through the first two before you get to 3. If you're the type of gamer that skips cut-scenes and just wants to blow shit up, then yes you will have a blast.

EDIT: I got beat to the punch multiple times. Oh well, I'm at work.

You already spent money on it, you might as well play it. As for free time, that's why I said throw it on easy. You won't have to worry about dying and replaying sections. You can probably get through it pretty quick.

Thanks guys

Easy sounds like the way to go - While I do like getting my acheivement points, I think I will have to sacrafice them for the sake of time.

I'm a story guy - so I think I may do the Wiki, just so I could play the game in HD.....

Anyone going to any midnight parties/events tonight?

I guess at the Best Buy in Bellevue, they are having giveaways, specials and oppurtunity to play against Bungie employees and pro athletes.