I’ll be the first to admit, I’m 100% biased. Halo 3 is probably one of my favorite games of all time. Which is why it really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sucked that it launched broken just like the rest of the games in the MCC. The main reason I didn’t review this game sooner is because I’d have to give it a thumbs down due to how bad the multiplayer shot registration was at launch. However, as of the launch of Halo 3: ODST, the hit registration has been fixed by 343.

Honestly, Halo 3 is now the best game in the entire collection. The game works and looks amazing at 1440p 144hz (which is far more than I can say for the stutter-filled blurry messes that are Reach and H2A at 144hz). The hit-reg fix implemented by 343 is a dream and shots land just as well as they did back in 2007. Hell, if anything, they land better than ever since internet connections have gotten so much better in the past 13 years.

Is it perfect? No. I don’t think that any game in the MCC is.

Map pools are still completely ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and need to be rethought by 343. For example, why the hell are there 12 flavors of Sandbox forge maps in the matchmaking when there were absolutely NONE back in the original. I don’t know what makes you think that you’re better at making maps than the creators of the game 343, but the ones I’ve played are all soulless and boring. Leave them out. In a similar vein, why the hell is a fan-loathed midship clone weighted so heavily versus fan-favorites like Valhalla, which practically never shows up?

It also kind of sucks that I still can’t play objective modes without BR starts. The game didn’t work like that back in the day and it shouldn’t now. We should be allowed to play flag and bomb with assault rifle starts like we used to. They’re also still missing auto starts in the 8v8 playlist for some reason, even though they said they would bring it back almost half a year ago.

My point is that the game has problems. I think most of them are problems caused more by the greater MCC than the game itself, but they’re still worth putting here because I want people to know that, while I love this game, I still recognize its faults.

Despite the few mentioned issues here, and a few others that I won’t get into right now since they’re in the known issues list from 343, I can safely say that Halo 3 is back! It’s been my go-to shooter game since the fix and I’m loving every second of remembering the weapon spawns and re-learning map control. There is nothing that brings a smile to my face quite like grabbing a few buddies and jumping into some Halo 3 exactly like I did over 10 years ago.

Even if it’s just for this one time - thanks, 343.