Hindsight: Halo 3
Here, you’ll find analyses of each campaign level in Halo 3. Each level is played on Legendary in solo play to allow for the full effect that Bungie intended each player to have while experiencing the conclusion to the trilogy.
These are not walkthroughs.
Each level will be reviewed from a gameplay and story perspective, and some light will be shed on a few things that many players may be missing.
There are many scripted events, sequences, and dialogues that are simply missing from cooperative play due to the second player controlling the Arbiter. In addition, some levels include moments that the player does not typically encounter throughout the normal course of playing. As well as these interesting events, some areas of the game include direct references to other parts of the Halo universe which are oftentimes missed by both casual and hardcore fans alike.
Each level (other than Arrival) includes an addendum with a link to the Blog’s File Share where you can download the Legendary playthrough, as well as read a few gameplay tips. While by no means do we consider ourselves pro players, if you’re getting stuck at a certain section our saved film may help by showing you how we completed that particular level.
Select a level for a detailed analysis!
- The Ark (Addendum)
- The Covenant (Addendum)
- Cortana (Addendum)
- Halo (Addendum)
this is great, even after reading all the novels i still have a few unanswered questions and these really help fill in the gaps. keep up the good work, looking forward to the next level analysis (especially near the end!).
Comment by xrjxarsonx — April 1, 2008 @ 8:15 am
I love these articles. Its been like two months, where are the rest of the articles?!
Comment by alex — April 12, 2008 @ 4:31 pm
Nice job indeed.
Comment by Paavi — April 22, 2008 @ 6:42 am
Hey man, these are just great. Also loved the pieces on the Terminals. I’m sure the time commitment to do this is no small feat so just wanted to say thanks for putting it all together. I’m relatively old for a gamer, and so the stories tend to be as important to me as the gameplay - this goes back to Marathon and the Myth Series for me (I & II at least) (altho I do spend plenty of time in slayer). The tiebacks to the novels are awesome. Looking forward to the rest of them.
Comment by PJ — April 23, 2008 @ 6:22 am
Just throwing this out i don’t know if anyone knows this or not but when your fighting the brute chieftains (the ones with the hammer) even though u cant stick them u can if u stick them on their hammer. the head or the hammer is the best part to stick because it works even if he has his shields up.
Comment by Ahsim — April 28, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
This is great, I love take on all of the levels, it really is fascinating.
Comment by Steven — May 4, 2008 @ 11:08 am
really awesome. i can’t thank you enough for all the information you’ve given about the levels and the terminals.
this is the best halo info site since i found halopedia.
Comment by thijsbos — May 9, 2008 @ 11:36 am
I feel halopedia pales in comparison to this site. Even though this site has less info, what it has is really in depth and awesome! I love how the author writes and expresses his feelings, and how he connects the dialog and stuff in the game to the much richer and interesting halo story bible. I wish they could incorporate all the cool hidden stuff into the game, so that we wouldn’t have to analyze it, but at the same time it is pretty rewarding when you finally get it. but bungie should really include more from the halo bible, and not just cater to the less hardcore halo players, and by hardcore I mean the ones who follow the story and read every book. This site is cool.
Comment by tim — May 13, 2008 @ 4:13 am
I completely agree with you, Tim. But the one thing I think the site needs more of (unless I’m just really bad at navigating the site) is forums on what’s next in Halo, not just analysing what has happened, but what’s to come as well. From things like Halo Wars to what could the “project” with Peter Jackson be? As well as new storylines like w/e that planet was after the credits the Chief is drifting towards, or what does the Arbiter and Half-Jaw find when the leave Earth for thier homeworld in the aftermath of the prophets downfall?
Just saying, this is another good place to apply all our analysing energy, and one that I think would be even more “rewarding”, if we can predict what’s coming next before Bungie even knows they’ve hinted at it. So to the makers of Ascendant Justice: please make a forum for post-Halo 3 discussion! Talk about the future in addition to the past!
Comment by Badodar — May 15, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Umm one thing. At the top you said that Legendary was how bungie wanted us to play the game. Now I have studied Halo some and one thing is that actually Heroic was how it was meant to be played. Read the description on the different difficulties.
Comment by FENRIS — May 22, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
hey, i like the way you acknowledged those hunter worms “It bears a strong resemblance to the orange “worms” that make up the Hunter species.” I noticed that too and thought it was interesting and that maybe the whole scarab it self is ‘alive’ the way a hunter is, you know? Like the worms are the pilot.
Comment by Confalone — May 26, 2008 @ 8:28 am
I really appreciate these Hindsight articles. My first experience of Halo 3’s campaign was 4 player legendary co-op when the game shipped (our desire for group play overpowered us) and because of this a lot of the epic feel was lost. If I could do it all over again, I’d play it alone to experience it properly. These articles help fill the void.
Comment by ARCThunder — May 26, 2008 @ 12:02 pm
Have you ever considered that Master Chief could, in some way, have been associated with the Flood before the first game? Think about it. He didn’t act suprised at seeing those things, or even ask what they are!
Comment by BungieJump — June 11, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
Well, I have to say that it’s quite an impressive look at the Campaign, I absolutely adore it and you provide very interesting things I have never noticed, like the worms on the core. I like your insight into references and connections to the Halo universe and overall, I’m simply amazed by your work. Keep up the good work and don’t stop being a thinker.
- Don Edward
Comment by Don Edward — June 11, 2008 @ 11:50 pm
Love this, I would have been the first comment if comments were allowed early on. Yet I digress.
Thank you for all you do for the Halo community. I notice most of this as well, but not even close to your level of care and critique.
I just want to point out that as you enter the second half of the first warehouse you can see a marine using a flamethrower. The only time a marine will be seen using a mobile support weapon in the entire game. Be quick though, he perishes quickly.
Comment by Jack — June 15, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
Please huury and finish the rest of the hindsights, so I now the secrets of Halo 3.
Comment by Spartan-039 — June 20, 2008 @ 6:10 pm